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Sealed bid on a house in the Netherlands: how an inschrijving works

In a sealed bid, called an inschrijving in Dutch, you get one chance. You make one offer before a fixed date, and you do not know what others bid. Your offer contains the amount and your conditions, such as when you want to move in. Then the seller chooses1. The highest offer often wins. Your conditions can also tip the balance2. You hear the result from the seller's estate agent (makelaar), often first by phone. You usually bid through Move, the online platform many Dutch estate agents use to collect offers.

Calculate my bid How the seller chooses

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By Niek (data scientist, MSc) and Dion Smits · Updated on

A sealed bid in short

  • One offer, before the deadlineYou do not see what others bid.
  • Amount plus conditionsConditions and the date count too.
  • The seller choosesWhether and to whom they sell.

Sealed bid or regular bidding: the difference

In regular bidding you go back and forth in rounds. You make an offer, and the seller says yes, says no or makes a counter-offer. In a sealed bid everyone bids once, before the same date. Only then does the seller look at all offers at the same time. Sellers choose this when they expect a lot of interest. That way every buyer gets the same chance, and the seller keeps the final choice3.

Feature Regular biddingNegotiating in rounds Sealed bidOne offer, before the deadline
Number of rounds As many as needed, with counter-offers One round, until the closing date
Seller's response To each offer separately After the closing date, to everyone at once
Who sees the offers? Seller and agent Seller and agent. In a closed sealed bid (gesloten inschrijving), only after the closing date.
Do you see other offers? No No. Afterwards you can, in the bid log (biedlogboek).

Is the agent negotiating with several buyers at once, without a closing date? Then read bidding with multiple interested buyers

In Dutch, inschrijven also means signing up for a rental home or registering the koopakte (purchase agreement) at the Kadaster, the Land Registry. Those are different things. This page is about bidding on a house you want to buy.

How a sealed bid works in Move

Since 1 February 2026, offers through NVM agents go through an online bidding system1. The NVM, the largest association of Dutch estate agents, provides Move.nl by Realworks for this free of charge, also to agents outside the NVM4. Realworks calls Move the largest platform for online offers, with 1.5 million offers5. Agents of VastgoedNL, another association of estate agents, work with a different platform, Eerlijk Bieden6.

  1. Open the file

    If you book the viewing through Move, the house appears as a file (dossier) in your account7. No account yet? Ask the seller's agent for one8.

  2. Read the documents

    Under Documenten (Documents) you find the agent's papers, such as the questionnaire about the house and the list of what stays and what goes, the list of items (lijst van zaken)9.

  3. Make your offer

    Under Bod uitbrengen (Make an offer) you fill in your amount and your conditions7.

  4. Deadline

    After the closing date, Move switches off the bidding form10.

  5. Result

    The agent lets you know whether you get the house. Often the agent calls you first.

Move.nl, tab Bod uitbrengen (Make an offer): the bidding period for this home has expired, no more offers can be made through Move.nl.
After the closing date you can no longer make an offer in Move. Screenshot (in Dutch) from Dion Smits's own offer in Move.nl, amount made unreadable.

Three things you do not see straight away in Move

  • The deadline is not a hard limit

    Move itself calls the closing date and time “purely indicative”, without a legal basis10. If an offer still comes in after the deadline, the agent reports it to the seller, as long as nothing has been signed1.

  • Closed or open for the seller

    In a closed sealed bid (gesloten inschrijving), all offers are opened only after the deadline, also for the seller. In a regular sealed bid the seller already sees them come in10. In both cases you do not see the offers of others1.

  • The rules can change

    The agent may switch to a different way of selling halfway through. Everyone who has registered gets a message about it10, with the reason1.

What do you fill in for your offer?

Every offer contains at least three things: the amount, when you want to get the house and your conditions (voorbehouden)1. A condition is a way out. If you cannot get your mortgage, for example, you can cancel the purchase without a penalty11. This is what an offer in Move looks like:

Move.nl, a submitted offer with status Lopend (ongoing): offer on behalf of myself as a private individual, financing condition for the purchase price, no condition for a building inspection, handover at the seller's preference, no condition for the sale of my own home, mortgage statement and list of items viewed.
An offer in Move, under Mijn biedingen (My offers). Screenshot (in Dutch) from Dion Smits's own offer in Move.nl. The amount and offer ID are made unreadable, and the two columns are placed one below the other.

  • Amount, kosten koper

    This is your final offer, because there is no counter-offer. “Kosten koper” (buyer's costs) means that you pay the transfer costs on top of this amount, such as the transfer tax and the notary (notaris)12. Base your amount on what similar houses in the neighbourhood sold for and on what you can afford. How to do that is explained on how much to bid on a house.

  • Financing condition

    You choose a condition for the full purchase price, for part of it (you pay the rest yourself) or no condition13. If you bid without a condition and do not get a mortgage, pulling out of the purchase usually costs 10% of the purchase price. For a house of €400,000 that is €40,00011.

  • Building inspection

    With this condition (bouwkundige keuring) you have the house inspected after signing. You often add an amount, for example €10,000. If the necessary repairs cost more, you can cancel the purchase without a penalty13. Without this condition, a disappointing inspection is no longer a reason to pull out without a penalty11.

  • Handover date

    The handover (aanvaarding) is the day you get the keys. You choose a date, as soon as possible, or the seller's preference. That preference is on the bidding form1. The more flexible you are, the easier it is for the seller to plan their own move.

  • Statements and cover letter

    You tick whether you have viewed the house, whether you have a mortgage statement (hypotheekverklaring) and whether you know the list of items. You add a cover letter (motivatiebrief) as a PDF7, see below.

Cover letter from Dion and Derya with their offer: a photo of the two of them, who they are, why they want to stay in the neighbourhood and three certainties for the seller: no building inspection condition, financing calculated and handover on the date that suits the seller.
The cover letter (in Dutch) that Dion sent with his offer, address made unreadable.

A cover letter with your offer

In Move you can add a cover letter as a PDF to your offer7. Sellers often feel attached to their house. They sometimes choose the buyer they like or who fits in the neighbourhood14. This is what you put in it:

  • Who you are, with a photo

    Who you will live there with, and why you are looking for this house and this neighbourhood. A photo makes your offer easy to recognise.

  • What you make easy for the seller

    List the conditions that give the seller certainty: no inspection, your mortgage calculated, the keys when it suits them.

  • Nothing that differs from your offer

    Put the same conditions in the letter as in your offer. If the letter differs, the seller does not know which terms apply.

  • One page

    Short and in your own words, so the seller reads it in one go.

Bidding advice report €24.95

What amount do you put on the form?

In a sealed bid you get one chance. The report works out per address how likely you are to get the home at every offer amount, backed by at least five sales from the neighbourhood. After payment your report opens straight away on the website.

Example: your offerChance of getting the home

  1. €352,33130%
  2. €361,68750%
  3. €372,16370%
  4. €388,24390%

From the report for Karel Doormanlaan 378 in Hilversum: asking price (vraagprijs) €350,000, expected sale price €361,687. View the sample report

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How does the seller choose? The highest offer does not always win

After the deadline the seller looks at all offers with their agent. The seller alone decides whether and to whom they sell the house1. The amount counts heavily. According to the NVM, your conditions can sometimes count as much as the price2. That is easier to understand if you put yourself in the seller's shoes. The seller asks three questions.

  • “Will the sale definitely go through?”

    Every condition is a period in which the sale can still fall through. With a condition for selling your own house, that can take months. If it goes wrong, the seller starts again, sometimes after already buying another house. An offer with fewer conditions gives the seller certainty sooner14.

  • “Does the date fit my move?”

    If the seller is waiting for a new-build home, they want to leave later. If they already have another house, they want to sell quickly. A buyer who fits in with their date stands out14. The seller's preference is on the bidding form1. If it is not there, ask the agent.

  • “Do I want to sell to this buyer?”

    Sellers like to leave their house to people who fit in. According to Vereniging Eigen Huis, the Dutch homeowners' association, they sometimes choose a buyer they like or who fits in the neighbourhood14. That is what the cover letter is for.

Two offers on the same house

Offer A

€415,000

Financing
With condition
Building inspection
With condition
Sale of own house
With condition, three months
Handover
In five months

For the seller: the highest amount, and three months of uncertainty.

Offer B

€408,000

Financing
With condition
Building inspection
Without condition
Sale of own house
Not needed
Handover
Seller's preference

For the seller: €7,000 less and more certainty. For buyer B: a disappointing inspection is no longer a reason to pull out without a penalty.

A made-up example. A seller who wants certainty or wants to move quickly may choose offer B.

After the deadline the agent may still call you with questions about your offer, for example about your mortgage or the date. The agent may not tell you what others offered1.

After your offer: how long do you wait, and can you still change anything?

How long you wait is not fixed. It depends on the seller and on how many offers they compare. Often the agent calls you as soon as the seller has chosen. Under the NVM protocol, every bidder then also gets a written message, and if you are rejected, you hear why1.

  • Ask in advance when the seller decides

    The agent knows the planning. Ask at the viewing, or when you get the bidding rules, on which day you will hear something.

  • Changes before the deadline

    Do you want to raise your offer or change a condition? Ask the agent how that works for this sale. In Move, under Mijn biedingen (My offers), you see what you offered and what the status is7.

  • You can withdraw until you agree

    You get an immediate confirmation that your offer has been withdrawn1. If you withdraw your offer, you may not view the bid log afterwards1.

  • Chosen is not yet bought

    The purchase is only final once you both sign the koopakte (purchase agreement). If a higher offer comes in before then, the seller may act on it: hold a new round, keep talking to the new bidder or reject the offer1. After signing you still have a three-day cooling-off period (bedenktijd)15.

  • Afterwards you see all offers

    Is the sale final, so after the cooling-off period and once all conditions have passed? Then you can view the bid log for one month. You see the amounts, the time and whether there were conditions16, without names1. After that it disappears:

    Move.nl: the bid log could be viewed until Sunday 18 October 2026 09:03 and is no longer available.

What happens after signing, from the cooling-off period to the notary, is explained on bidding on a house

Pros and cons of a sealed bid for you as a buyer

A sealed bid feels tense, because you bid without knowing what others do. Here are the pros and cons side by side.

Pros

  • Every buyer gets the same chance and the same deadline3.
  • No bidding war in rounds. You decide on your offer once, calmly17.
  • With your conditions and a letter you can stand out, even with a lower amount2.
  • Afterwards you see in the bid log what others offered1.

Cons

  • You have one chance. If you bid too low, you cannot raise your offer17.
  • You do not know what others bid. So you may also pay too much18.
  • The deadline is indicative. A later offer can still count10.
  • The bid log only opens once the sale is final. By then it is too late for your offer1.

Tips for your offer in a sealed bid

There is no counter-offer, so there is no second chance either. Put everything you want to offer into your offer in one go.

21%

of houses sold for more than 10% above the asking price, and 69% sold above it. Biedadviseur calculated this over all sales from July 2025 to June 202619.

  • Set your limit

    Work out how much you can borrow and how much of your own money you put in. If you bid above the value in the valuation report (taxatierapport), you pay the difference from your own money12. How to choose an amount is explained on how much to bid on a house.

  • Look at your own municipality

    The overbid ranged from 0.0% in Meierijstad to 12.8% in Utrecht19. The figures per municipality and district are on overbidding per municipality.

  • Ask what matters to the seller

    Ask the agent why the seller is moving and when they want to leave18. Then you know which conditions count heavily for them.

  • Bid an exact amount

    If the offers are close together, €412,350 stands out more than €410,000. Vereniging Eigen Huis gives this tip too14.

  • Weigh every condition

    Without conditions you are a certain buyer for the seller. If your mortgage then falls through, pulling out usually costs 10% of the purchase price11. Only drop a condition once your mortgage adviser has calculated your financing17.

  • Make your offer personal

    A flexible date and a short cover letter help when the amounts are close together14.

Questions about sealed bids in the Netherlands

What does inschrijving met biedtermijn mean?
That is what the NVM protocol calls a sealed bid with a bidding period. You bid through the online bidding system before a fixed date. The seller and their agent see the offers, other buyers do not. After the deadline the seller chooses1.
Is the closing date in Move binding?
Not legally. Move calls the closing date and time indicative, without a legal basis. Move does switch off the bidding form after the deadline10. The agent still passes a later offer on to the seller, as long as the koopakte (purchase agreement) has not been signed1.
Can you bid without a Move account?
Yes. Send your offer by email or on paper to the seller's agent. The agent enters it in Move, and the system records it10.
May the agent tell you what others bid?
No. In a sealed bid the agent shares nothing about the offers received with other bidders or their agents. Even if the agent calls you after the deadline with questions about your offer, you do not hear what others offered1.
What if two offers are almost the same?
Then the conditions often decide: how certain the sale is, whether the date fits and whether the seller wants to sell to you214. The agent may ask bidders to explain their offer after the deadline. The seller decides1.
Does it help to bid at the last moment?
Hardly. No bidder sees the other offers, so the moment you bid changes nothing about what others do. It is better to bid well before the deadline and check that your offer appears under Mijn biedingen (My offers)7.
Can the seller decide not to sell to anyone?
Yes. The seller decides whether to sell and to whom. If they choose no one, every bidder hears why1. After that the seller can offer the house again, for example with a different bidding method3.
Do you see afterwards what others offered?
Yes. Once the sale is final, every bidder can view the bid log (biedlogboek) for one month, without the names of other bidders. If you withdrew your offer earlier, you do not get that access1.
Is your offer in a sealed bid binding?
No, as long as you have not signed the koopakte (purchase agreement). Being chosen by the seller is not yet a purchase either. After signing, a private buyer has a three-day cooling-off period15. You can read more about the rules on bidding on a house.

Who wrote this, and where the information comes from

We were both looking for a house and got stuck at the same moment: the offer. A buying agent (aankoopmakelaar) felt too expensive, and as if agents were arranging things among themselves. Read our story.

  • Niek

    Niek

    Data scientist (MSc) · co-founder

    Worked for ten months on the calculation model behind every report and calculated the overbidding figures on this page.

  • Dion Smits

    Dion Smits

    Online entrepreneur and marketing specialist · co-founder

    Wrote the explanations on this page. The Move screenshots come from his own offers.

Updated on . This page explains how a sealed bid works and is not legal advice.

Sources (19)
  1. NVM, Protocol Transparant Bieden Woonruimte (in Dutch, mandatory for NVM agents since 1 February 2026): sealed bid and closed sealed bid, and no information about offers to other bidders (art. 3.1), choosing a buyer and asking bidders for an explanation (art. 3.2), offers after the closing date (art. 3.3), the bidding form with the handover preference, the content and withdrawal of an offer (art. 3.5) and the bid log (art. 4).
  2. NVM, Bieden op een huis (in Dutch): the bidding methods, and that conditions are sometimes as important to a seller as the price.
  3. Eerlijk Bieden, Gesloten inschrijving spelregels (in Dutch): an equal chance for every bidder, the seller's right to choose and a new sales method if nobody gets the home.
  4. NVM, NVM lanceert Protocol Transparant Bieden Woonruimte (in Dutch, 17 December 2025): Move.nl free of charge for the whole sector, also outside the NVM.
  5. Realworks, Move-biedlogboek and Move.nl (in Dutch): more than 1.5 million recorded offers, and Move.nl as the largest platform for online offers (as stated by Realworks).
  6. Vastgoed Actueel, NVM-biedingsprotocol vanaf 1 februari verplicht voor leden (in Dutch, 18 December 2025): VastgoedNL works with Eerlijk Bieden.
  7. Move.nl, offers in Dion Smits's account (viewed on 18 October 2026): the tabs of a file, the fields of a submitted offer, the status under Mijn biedingen (My offers) and the message after the bidding period.
  8. Tophuis, Move.nl (in Dutch): you request a Move account from the selling agent.
  9. Schipbeek Makelaars, Alles over Move.nl (in Dutch): the tabs Overzicht en acties (Overview and actions) and Documenten (Documents) for buyers.
  10. Move.nl, Toelichting over verschillende verkoopmethoden (in Dutch): the bidding form, the indicative closing date, sealed offers in a closed sealed bid, offers outside Move and messages when the sales method changes.
  11. KNB, Een huis kopen. Hoe werkt dat? (in Dutch, October 2025): conditions and the penalty if you pull out of the purchase after the cooling-off period.
  12. Nibud, Hypotheek afsluiten (in Dutch): maximum mortgage and buyer's costs.
  13. Snelder Zijlstra Makelaars, Bieden via Move (in Dutch, 25 September 2026): financing condition for an amount and building inspection condition with an amount.
  14. Funda, Succesvol bieden bij een inschrijving (in Dutch, April 2023): Vereniging Eigen Huis and an NVM agent on flexible conditions, the seller's handover wishes, conditions, an exact amount and whether the seller likes the buyer.
  15. Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek), article 7:2 (in Dutch): a private buyer's purchase of a home is in writing, with a three-day cooling-off period.
  16. NVM, Biedlogboek (in Dutch): when and for how long bidders see the bid log, and what is in it.
  17. Frits, Bieden op inschrijving (in Dutch): pros and cons for buyers, and bidding without a financing condition after your financing has been calculated.
  18. Hypotheek.nl, Bieden op inschrijving (in Dutch, February 2025): the risk of bidding too much or too little, and questions for the agent about the seller.
  19. Overbidding: Biedadviseur.nl's own calculation, sale price compared with the last asking price for transfers at the notary from July 2025 to June 2026. Explained on how much to bid on a house.

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