For the past six months, Riccardo and I have been looking for a house, and we finally found THE one! I had only experienced selling property in the Netherlands, which was pretty easy. We decided to sell the apartment in Amsterdam, hired a makelaar who took care of the photos, listing, promotion and taking potential kopers. Once we had an offer we liked, we signed the purchasing agreement, waited for the buyer to take care of the loan with the bank, and concluded the sale with the notaris.
Buying a house has been a lot more time consuming and tiring. We opted to not hire a makelaar to help us look for a house; we relied on websites such as Funda and family and friends to find potential houses. We scheduled appointments or went on open days, and proceeded to check the house asking questions such as:
Hoeveel slaapkamers heeft het huis?
Hoe groot is de woonkamer?
Heeft de keuken afwasmachine?
Heeft de zolder isolatie?
Is de verwarmingsketel inbegrepen of als te huur aangeboden?
Ligt de tuin in het zuiden?
Wanneer was het huis gerenoveerd?
Heeft het huis een parkeerplaats?
Hoe oud is het huis?
Wat is de vraagprijs?
Once we were done with the first inspection, we talked about the pros and cons, and depending on that, we made a second appointment to see the house. We were a lot more observant and inquisitive during the second visit. I had a hard time getting used to the idea of one big bathroom (plus a toilet room downstairs). I am so used to the big Texas homes with master bedrooms and master bathrooms, big front gardens and big back yards (like the say…everything is bigger and better in Texas!), and the homes here seemed so small. I eventually got used to the idea, and the house visits became easier. We visited about 15 houses; some needing urgent remodeling, others ready to move in, one new home project, and a couple that needed small renovations. We ended up choosing one that requires complete remodeling, but the advantage is that the house isn’t so old, and everything will be just like we want.
The following video gives you a tour inside a home in the Netherlands!
Since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with languages and writing. I speak English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and a little bit of French. I am a writer, reader, language teacher, traveler, and a food lover!
I now live in The Netherlands with my husband Riccardo, our cat Mona, and our dog Lisa, and the experience has been phenomenal. The Dutch culture is an exciting sometimes topsy-turvy world that I am happily exploring!
Comments:
Marian:
There are quite a few ‘advanced’ Dutch words in your article on Buying a House, which is great. I also like the wide and original range of topics and fun content of the blog in general.
However, to get the very basics correct is also worth something–or a lot, really. For example, it’s ‘het huis’ (NOT ‘de huis’); it’s ‘de zolder’ (NOT ‘het zolder’); the third person singular of the verb ‘hebben’ is ‘heeft’ (NOT ‘heb’). The south is ‘het zuiden’.
Again, I’m very appreciative of the blog, but cannot help myself as a teacher of Dutch as a foreign language.
Drew:
Talking over the pros and cons of any home that you look at is a great idea. It can definitely help you figure out how much you really like it. Thanks for sharing!
Comments:
Marian:
There are quite a few ‘advanced’ Dutch words in your article on Buying a House, which is great. I also like the wide and original range of topics and fun content of the blog in general.
However, to get the very basics correct is also worth something–or a lot, really. For example, it’s ‘het huis’ (NOT ‘de huis’); it’s ‘de zolder’ (NOT ‘het zolder’); the third person singular of the verb ‘hebben’ is ‘heeft’ (NOT ‘heb’). The south is ‘het zuiden’.
Again, I’m very appreciative of the blog, but cannot help myself as a teacher of Dutch as a foreign language.
Drew:
Talking over the pros and cons of any home that you look at is a great idea. It can definitely help you figure out how much you really like it. Thanks for sharing!