Selling a home quickly in the Netherlands sounds easy enough in this climate — but to get the best price, you need to make sure you go about it in the right way.
Sit back, relax, and let us walk you through seven tips to sell your Dutch home efficiently, quickly, and with top results.
1. Find yourself a realtor
The first favour you can do for yourself is to get the professionals involved. The process of selling a house is no small feat. Especially if you’re new to the various steps involved — or the language!
Trying to sell your own house in the Netherlands without a professional background leaves you with a high chance of falling into various pitfalls — and trust us, that’s not exactly conducive to a quick sale.
READ MORE | 7 ways a realtor will sell your Dutch home as fast as possible
In order to save yourself time, stress, and potentially even money, you should find yourself a highly trained selling realtor (verkoop makelaar.) 😉
Ok, you want a realtor — but where can you find one? Mijnverkoopmakelaar was made to help people find and choose a selling realtor that suits their personal situation. The site compares different realtors, allowing you to reach out to someone with expertise in the area that you are hoping to sell in, the type of house you’re selling, or more.
2. Make your house look its best
As a homeowner who really wants their home to sell fast, one of the best things you can do for your case is to make sure that your house is freshly polished, wearing a bow tie, and sporting its best smile for potential buyers.
And how do you do that? Fix that broken skirting board, give the walls a fresh lick of paint, and maybe have the windows cleaned — a little goes a long way.
Of course, balancing the cost of renovations and the value that they’ll bring to your property is a tricky business and sometimes requires a professional evaluation.
3. Ensure that people can find your house (and are impressed!)
It’s all well and good if you’ve made your house sparkle, but it’s equally important that you ensure people actually see it.
So, how do you make sure your house gets the love and attention it deserves?
- 📸 Get professional photos taken. Sure, your iPhone camera may be good, but it takes more than a good lens to highlight your home’s best features. Many realtors will help you arrange for this.
- 📣 Make sure that people know your house is on the market. The next step is to take those pretty pictures and share them with the world. Try traditional platforms such as Facebook or Instagram — the more people that know, the better. Your house’s quirky interior could be the dream house for that friend of a friend on Facebook.
- 🏠 Get it up on Funda. Perhaps one of the best platforms for your home is the Dutch real estate website, Funda. Think of it as Tinder for houses for sale. It’s one of the first places hopeful homeowners in the Netherlands will check when they decide they want to buy.
Note: Sadly, you cannot upload your home to Funda by yourself. Only real estate agents have access to the platform.
4. Write down your home’s strongest selling points
Is your home freshly insulated? Does it have a state-of-the-art roof? You may know these things, but potential buyers are coming in blind. It’s time to show off!
Really think about your home’s assets. Buy yourself some fancy stationery if needed and write. Them. Down. If you’re hosting your own viewings, make sure to point these out to viewers.
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If you’re unsure of what the unique selling points of your home are, it’s always worth getting a professional to take a look at it. They will likely see points that you wouldn’t consider, ensuring that you’re ready to wow your viewers and get the bids flowing.
5. Decide exactly what you want from the sale
So you’ve bedazzled your house, put it out there for everyone to see, flaunted its best assets — and now you have interested buyers!
However, one thing that will slow down the process of selling a house in the Netherlands is the negotiations.
To ensure that things run as smoothly as possible, you should enter talks knowing exactly what you want in terms of resolutive conditions and know where you’re flexible.
What are resolutive conditions when selling a house in the Netherlands?
Simple! When you agree to hand over the keys, both the seller and the buyer may lay out certain conditions (for example, the sellers don’t have to take the ginormous piano on the third floor.) If these conditions aren’t met, one or both parties may decide not to continue with the sale.
6. Know how much your home is worth
While it may be easy to receive an offer on a home in the Netherlands, you need to make sure that it’s a worthwhile one. This takes time, so don’t wait for an offer to come in before determining the true value of your home!
This can be done beforehand by either a taxateur or a trained real estate agent.
Mijnverkoopmakelaar also allows you to get a professional opinion on the selling price of your home. When you reach out, realtors can give you a competitive quote in advance, and you can even compare the average selling times and estimation accuracy of different brokers.
7. Set a deadline for potential buyers
You don’t have to be the only one working under a deadline! In the Netherlands, it’s common practice to set a deadline for potential buyers in order to speed up the process.
For example, you may decide that you want to sell your home within eight weeks. Let the hopeful buyers know this and hold your ground.
This way, you know when you should expect an offer and can keep the process running smoothly towards a swift sale!
Now, are you ready to have your lovely home loved by others? Good for you! We hope these tips take you swiftly and safely to the finish line.
Have you sold your home in the Netherlands? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in March 2022, and was fully updated in July 2023 for your reading pleasure.