The OfferEventually (with any luck), you'll have someone come along and make an offer on your home. With us, we had an offer for more than €10k less than our asking price.
Our makelaar (realtor) told the guy right off the bat that the bid was unacceptable and he wouldn't even pass it along to us. In response, the guy came back with a bid €4k higher. This, our makelaar did pass along.
It was less than we were willing to accept, but we realized that, in today's market, getting your asking price simply isn't going to happen.
Still not willing to go quite so low, we came back with a tegen bod (a bid we'd be willing to accept). The guy instantly agreed to this and we had a deal.
The Contract
Our guy was able to sit down with the makelaar and discuss under what circumstances he would buy the house. In his case, this included that he be able to move in as of October 1st, and that he be able to borrow enough money from the bank to put in a new kitchen.
The makelaar drew up a written agreement, which he sent to us for our review. Once we had the chance to look over it, we made an appointment with the makelaar to ask any questions and sign the contract.
The contract basically states that the buyer will purchase the home and under what circumstances and that the seller agrees to selling the home to the buyer in question under these circumstances.
Be prepared before signing the contract. Read through it yourself and be sure you understand everything. There are sure to be mistakes (anything from typos to text that wasn't deleted which should have been to misspellings to missing letters, symbols, and punctuation), so make sure you circle them to be corrected when you go through the contract with your makelaar. Also be sure to highlight anything you don't understand and notate anything that's not clear and any questions you may have.
When you go in to sign the contract, be sure to point out any errors, ask any questions and have things clarified if you don't understand. Corrections will be made to the contract at this time, so what you sign will be the final, proofread version.
The contract is then sent to the buyer who will sign as well and then return the contract to your makelaar. Your buyer then has three days bedenk tijd (thinking time). This is a period in which he or she can safely back out of the contract. Once the bedenk tijd is over, you're another step closer to the sale, but it's still not a sure thing.
Financing
In the Netherlands, houses are almost always paid for by loans from the bank. Down payments and paying in cash or with credit card rarely (if ever) happen. Instead, you are given the money as a loan from the bank, which you then pay off little by little through mortgage payments during the time you live in your home.
When you are ready to sell and move on, the money you make from selling your home goes back to the bank to pay off your loan. Depending on how much of the loan you've paid off before the move and what the selling price on your home is, you may be able to make some money. Unfortunately, this isn't happening in today's market.
Once the consideration period is over, it's time for the buyer to get his or her finances in order. A request form will be sent to the bank of your choice, complete with information on your salary, any stocks, etc. The bank decides whether or not to lend you the money to buy the home. As part of this, they'll do a taxatie rapport where someone will come by the home and check everything out to determine how much the place is really worth.
Should they decide that the home is not worth as much as the selling price, the bank may offer to only pay what it feels the home is worth. Once the worth of the home and the financial situation of the buyer have been checked out, the bank will give permission for the buyer to borrow the money... or not.
Typically, the buyer has 2 weeks after the bedenk tijd to get their finances in order. Should this not happen within those 2 weeks, the buyer can be charged a penalty fee of 10% of the agreed upon price (this will be stated in your contract). In this market, banks are not as keen to lend money and much more picky when they do, meaning it can take much longer than 2 weeks to get finances in order.
After the buyer's financing has been cleared, the sale is a done deal. The only thing to do now is move your things out and hand over the key.
Have you sold a home recently? What was your experience?
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