Selling a house in the Netherlands is certainly easier than buying one — but don’t be mistaken, selling your home is not as simple as waving the keys above your head and waiting for the best bid to come in.
There are a number of steps you can take to make the process much easier for yourself — and to ensure you optimise your home’s value. Let’s run through them!
1. Get your house assessed — by a professional
Before you get your home up on the market, you need to know how much it’s worth. There are a few people you can turn to for this:
The first option is a registered and licensed appraiser (taxateur) which will set you back approximately €750.
However, if you choose to get a real estate agent involved in selling your home, it’s worth noting that they can also provide this service. An experienced realtor can inform the seller about the value of the house, how much the asking price should be, and estimate how much it could actually sell for.
Worried about how the process of selling a house will work as an international in the Netherlands? Don’t! Professionals such as Dutch Real Estate Company offer services specifically for internationals. They’ll be by your side through every stage and can provide professional advice at each hurdle.
2. Make sure your house looks its best for the market
While we’re sure your house is gorgeous, you need to make it look extra fabulous for the viewing. We all love a house that looks lived in — but it still needs to be just as tidy as when your mother-in-law comes to visit.
Scrub everything until it shines and give the walls a lick of paint. Even better, real estate brokers can offer stylists to make your house really shine for viewers. They can also arrange to get professional pictures taken and create a floor plan for when it goes online.
Heads up: If you’re selling your house, you’ll likely want it on the biggest Dutch housing platform: Funda. But to do so, you’ll need a broker — the website, unfortunately, doesn’t work directly with owners.
3. Go ahead with those renovations — it will be worth it in the long run
Thinking of adding a snazzy conservatory to your kitchen? It’s definitely worth considering! In many cases, a stylish renovation can add to the value of a home. Especially since emotions also come into play when people are preparing to potentially massively overbid for your house.
But before you decide to pull up the floorboards, consult with a professional about whether it’s the best idea. They can tell you whether the time and effort will pay off (literally) when you sell.
4. Allow plenty of time for viewings
Once your house has sparkled and caught the eye of many potential buyers, you’re going to need to set aside some time to host the viewings.
If this isn’t possible, it’s time to get a professional involved! Real estate brokers can manage everything involved with showing your home. They will manage the correspondence, set a date and time, and host the viewing for you.
In fact, they will do more than just host. There may be some aspects of your house that you didn’t realise were valuable, a broker is trained to spot these and highlight them for viewers. This in turn can add some extra value to your home in the eyes of potential buyers. (eyes emoji)
Hot tip: A realtor will also be able to answer any legal questions that viewers may have about the house such as the leasehold and Homeowners association — so if you plan on taking on the challenge yourself, make sure you know your stuff!
5. Consider your offers carefully — you’ll probably get a lot of them
Given the Dutch housing crisis, you will likely receive a lot of offers once your house is on the market. In fact, the entire process may be a very speedy one. In 2021, houses in the Netherlands came up for sale and then sold within an average of just 24 days!
This means that you will have a lot of options when it comes to who you choose to take over your home. As a seller, make sure to properly consider the offers given to you. While one hopeful buyer may offer more than another, you need to consider other aspects of the sale.
Take a look at their resolutive conditions for example, do they suit you? And what about the buyers themselves? What are their intentions for your home?
A resolutive condition is a condition given by the buyer that is written into the housing contract. This means that the sale will only go ahead if this condition is met.
For example, a potential buyer may have the resolutive condition that they can also keep all the furniture in the house if you accept their offer.
6. Don’t celebrate too early
It’s important to be mindful of when everything is actually final. You may have snagged a buyer and shook on it — but bear in mind that the buyer can also pull out last minute. For example, because of:
- The cooling-off period: In the Netherlands, when a buyer makes an offer on a house and it is formally accepted, they have three days to reconsider their offer. This means that they can decide that they actually don’t want to buy the house, they can withdraw their offer with no legal consequences — as long as it’s within the three-day timespan.
- Unable to arrange their mortgage: Another potential reason as to why a buyer may still pull out last minute is if they are unable to secure a mortgage loan after all. It sucks, but it happens.
The moral of the story is don’t pop the champagne until everything is certain and certified, you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache.
7. Get the professionals involved
There are many things that, as adults, we can do on our own without a helping hand — but selling your home in the Netherlands without some professional help will prove to be quite difficult. Especially when the entire process is in Dutch.
The best thing to do to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible is to get the professionals involved. You should consider enlisting:
- a licensed appraiser (taxateur) to value your house,
- a real estate agent (makelaar) to walk you through every step of the sale, (determining how much you should sell for, getting your home online, arranging a stylist and floorplan, hosting viewings, etc.)
Where to start? Professional real estate brokers such as Dutch Real Estate Company can hold your hand through all of the steps involved in selling your home as an international in the Netherlands. Reach out to them and check out their social media to see what they can do for you!
Ready to sell your home at its best value? Tell us about your experience with selling your house in the Netherlands in the comments below!
Feature Image: ArtureVerkhovetskiy/Depositphotos
