You want the house, and you don't want to pay too much. These tips for bidding on a house in the Netherlands cover everything around your offer: what to look up beforehand at the Land Registry (Kadaster) and the municipality, what to look out for at the viewing, what to ask the estate agent (makelaar) and how to make your offer stronger without bidding higher.
Each tip is short and has a source. Most sources are Dutch websites. How much to bid is explained in how much to bid on a house.
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By Niek (data scientist, MSc) and Dion Smits · Updated on
Before you bid: what you want to know
The 30 tips at a glance
The sooner you see a house, the sooner you get a viewing. So set up a saved search, for example on Funda (the main Dutch listing site), and you see new listings straight away4. With Home Alert you get the homes that fit you every evening.
In the third quarter of 2026, a house was on the market for 31 days on average2. Has it been for sale longer, or did the asking price go down? Ask the agent why. The longer a house is for sale, the more time you have to compare and negotiate2.
The seller gives you an energy label, which is required by law5. Also ask for the seller's questionnaire about the house (vragenlijst) and the list of items that stay or go (lijst van zaken). Then you already know what to look out for at the viewing.
Buying an apartment? Then also ask for the documents of the owners' association (VvE): the maintenance plan, the minutes of the latest meetings and how much is in the reserve fund. A VvE puts money aside every year for major maintenance6. If that fund is empty, you pay your share later.
The WOZ value is the official value the municipality sets for every home. In the WOZ-waardeloket (in Dutch) you can see the WOZ value of every house for free, so also of the houses next door7. Note that this value is based on 1 January of the previous year7. It is a guide, not an offer. How to choose an amount using sales in the neighbourhood is explained in how much to bid on a house.
The Land Registry (Kadaster) shows what houses in your postcode area have sold for since 2003, with the date and plot size. That costs €3.70 per postcode. You can also ask per address by text message: send KOOPSOM with the postcode and house number to 8118, for €1.508.
With the ownership information from the Land Registry you see who the owner is, which rights and restrictions apply and whether there is leasehold (erfpacht). The mortgage information shows which mortgages and seizures are registered on the house9. If there is a large mortgage on it, the seller often has little room to lower the price10.
What you can request from the Land Registry
With leasehold, the house is yours but the land belongs to someone else, usually the municipality. You then pay an annual ground rent (canon), and it can go up after a set period. The bank counts the ground rent, so you can borrow less11.
What may be built around the house is shown in Regels op de kaart (in Dutch) in the Omgevingsloket, the government's planning portal. It shows the environment plan (omgevingsplan) and the old zoning plans (bestemmingsplannen)12.
The government's Leefbaarometer (in Dutch) gives neighbourhoods a score for the surroundings, the houses, amenities, how people get along, and nuisance and safety13. That way you know how the neighbourhood is doing before the viewing.
Around half a million houses in the Netherlands have subsided. Houses built before 1970, houses on wooden piles, and houses on peat or clay are at greater risk. The map of the KCAF, the Dutch knowledge centre for foundation problems, shows the risk per town. If in doubt, have a foundation survey done. That costs a few thousand euros14.
Warning signs at the viewing
One sign does not mean there is damage. In a risk area it is a reason to ask more questions14.
Since 1994, asbestos may no longer be used in houses. If the house is older, it can still be in the roof of the shed or garage, around the central heating boiler, behind the kitchen units, in the crawl space or under old floor covering. If in doubt, have an asbestos survey done15. Removal costs money, so include it in your offer.
Ideally, bring someone who knows about building. Together, look for damp, the roof, the window frames and cracks in walls and floors. If you spot something, you know which questions to ask and whether you want a building inspection (bouwkundige keuring).
View the house in daylight, so you can see small cracks better. Measure whether your furniture fits and put a marble on the floor: if it rolls away, the floor may be sloping. Test the taps and the toilet, and take photos if the agent agrees16.
Has the seller already found another house, or do they want to leave later? Then you know which handover date matters to them. For sellers, conditions sometimes weigh as heavily as the price17. More on this in the tips for a sealed-bid sale.
If the seller knows of a defect that gets in the way of normal use of the house, they must tell you. Defects you can see yourself, you are expected to investigate yourself18. So keep asking, and put the answers in your email after the viewing.
Ask about the energy use, the VvE contribution (the monthly service charge for an apartment) and the ground rent for leasehold. Together they decide what the house costs you each month, on top of your mortgage. The bank also counts ground rent when it works out how much you can borrow11.
Take this list to the viewing
Ask the agent
Check yourself
Neighbours often know useful things about the area16. For example, ask how parking works, whether there is any nuisance and whether there is subsidence in the street.
Come back at a different time, for example in the evening or at the weekend. Then you see how the light falls and how busy the street is. There is room for that now: 24% more houses are for sale than a year earlier2.
The selling agent (verkopende makelaar) works for the seller19. So don't say the most you can pay, and don't show too much enthusiasm. That gives the agent room to push up the price20. Want someone on your side? That is a buying agent (aankoopmakelaar), see bidding advice or a buying agent.
Ask how many viewings there have been and whether there are already offers. You will not hear the amounts others offered19. What the agent may and may not tell you is explained in bidding with multiple interested buyers.
Can you negotiate, or is the house sold by sealed bid (inschrijving)? And is there a deadline? In a sealed-bid sale you get one chance, when negotiating you get more rounds21. The four methods are listed in bidding on a house.
A verbal agreement is not yet a sale. The sale is only fixed once you both sign the purchase agreement (koopakte), after which a private buyer has a three-day cooling-off period2217. If you negotiate with the agent, confirm your offer and every agreement by email, with an expiry date. In a sealed-bid sale you submit your offer through the bidding form. It is then already recorded in the bid log (biedlogboek)23.
At the end of 2025, 55% of buyers made an offer without a condition for a building inspection24. Want to do the same? Then have the house inspected before you bid. That way you know what is going on and you meet your duty to investigate (onderzoeksplicht) as a buyer18. If you do bid with a condition, read what goes in an offer.
Want a new kitchen, a bathroom or a dormer window? Add those costs to your offer. If you offer €400,000 and renovate for €40,000, the house costs you €440,000 plus buyer's costs (kosten koper, such as transfer tax and notary fees).
A renovation that makes the house worth more, such as a dormer or an extension, you can fully include in your mortgage. A kitchen or bathroom to your own taste only partly25.
You can borrow up to 100% of the value after the renovation, if a valuer (taxateur) sets that value in a valuation report. The money for the renovation goes into a construction deposit (bouwdepot). The bank pays your contractor's bills from it, and whatever is left goes towards your mortgage25.
Want NHG (the Dutch national mortgage guarantee)? Then your mortgage in 2026 can be at most €470,000, or €498,200 with energy-saving measures26.
Calculator: what does this house really cost you?
Enter your own amounts. The example amounts are already filled in.
Offer plus renovation is €10,000 more than the value after renovation. You pay that difference yourself, as you do the buyer's costs.
A financing condition (voorbehoud van financiering) lets you cancel the purchase without a penalty if you don't get your mortgage3. Don't want to bid without one, and do you have savings to put in? Then let the condition apply only to the amount you borrow20. The seller then sees that your own share is there no matter what. In Move, the online bidding system many agents use, you also enter the amount of your condition with your offer29.
Example: you offer €400,000 and put in €60,000
In your offer: subject to financing up to €340,000
If you bid with no condition at all and can't get your mortgage, backing out of the purchase usually costs 10% of the purchase price3.
Send a statement from your mortgage adviser (hypotheekadviseur) with your offer, with the amount you can borrow according to their calculation. Add their phone number, so the seller can check it30. In Move you state with your offer whether you have a mortgage statement (hypotheekverklaring).
A few sentences about who you are and why you want this house help when the offers are close together31. You will find an example under the motivation letter with your offer.
Tip from Dion
Leave nothing to chance: always write a short, clear letter.
For one address, the report works out how likely you are to get the house at every amount, using at least five sales from the neighbourhood. Then you bid on figures instead of on gut feeling. It costs €24.95 and opens on the website straight after payment.
Bidding advice report €24.95
The report works out per address how likely you are to get the house at every 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
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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Paste the Funda link or search by address. Then pay and see your report straight away.
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After payment your bidding advice opens straight away on the website.
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Continue with your requestWrite down your maximum before you start bidding, and stick to it. Missing out on a house feels bad. An offer that is too high, you pay off for years. You may bid on several houses at the same time32, so this house is not your only chance.
Tip from Dion
Don't bid on emotion alone.
Of all sales, 24% went below the asking price and 8% at exactly the asking price1. It differs a lot per municipality: in Terneuzen 35% sold above the asking price, in Utrecht 93%1. So look at sales in the neighbourhood, and not only at the asking price. How that works is explained in how much to bid on a house.
Where the sale price ended up compared with the asking price
Frequently asked questions
About this page
We were both looking for a house and got stuck at the same moment: the offer. A buying agent felt too expensive, and as if agents were arranging things among themselves. Read our story.
Data scientist (MSc) · co-founder
Niek spent ten months on the calculation model behind every report. He calculated the asking price figures on this page.
More about Niek
Online entrepreneur and marketing specialist · co-founder
Dion wrote the tips on this page, partly from his own experience of bidding on a house.
More about DionUpdated on . This page gives tips for bidding on a house and is not legal or financial advice.
Paste the Funda link or type the address. You see your chance of getting the home at every amount, backed by sales from the neighbourhood.