How we found housing in The Netherlands without a makelaar or big advance

On a popular DAFT forum, questions about housing meet a consensus view that DAFTers are so disadvantaged, the only viable path is to hire a makelaar to make your case, offer 6-12 months rent up front, and be prepared to show tens of thousands in savings.

But for those who would find these requirements disqualifying, I want to share how my family (spouse + 2 small children) found great housing without a makelaar, savings, or an unusual deposit.

Expand your search area

Many people are zeroed in on Amsterdam, but there are so many beautiful, vibrant cities in The Netherlands. Crucially, they are also less expensive and less competitive, especially if you are open to looking outside the Randstad. Do lots of research for other places that might appeal to you. For us, we discovered a few towns by watching DAFT/expat YouTubers (NotJustBikes and Buncharted were favorites) and we spent many evenings watching city walk videos.

We made a list of the factors that were most important to us. We did not want to own a car, and prized strong cycling infrastructure (thankfully not a rarity in The Netherlands), walkability, and affordability. We were initially attracted to two towns that had won “cycling city of the year,” Houten and Groningen. Utrecht was also high on our list, despite being more expensive and competitive. Deventer, Maastricht, Zwolle, and Amersfoort were others that were bikable, affordable, and absolutely beautiful. To understand neighborhoods characteristics, I used a combination of ChatGPT, YouTube walking videos, and Hoodmaps.

Another thing benefit of smaller citiesis that the process is usually less formal. In Utrecht, inquiries were meant with demands for a lot of documentation. They wanted to see bank statements and pay slips BEFORE even inviting me to a viewing. Worse, some of the agencies used a platform that required a DigID, which is the government-backed identity login that residents use. That meant we couldn’t even inquire. By contrast, inquiries to smaller cities were usually met with an immediate invitation to a viewing. Only when applying were we asked for documentation.

Use a rental alerts service and wake up early

Stekkies and Pararius+ are two service that will email you the moment a new listing goes live. This is essential because desirable apartments or areas can get dozens, even hundreds of requests within hours, and only the first ~20 qualified parties will be invited for a viewing. It’s important to be early to even have a chance.

Stekkies monitors many listing sites, whereas Pararius+ is a premium service of Pararius, a listing platform itself. I found Pararius+ to be more useful for two reasons. One, when casting a wide net across the country, we needed to have alerts for a number of cities, and Stekkies limited us to four. Two, Stekkies included a lot of platforms that were inaccessible to us as non-residents, usually because of the DigID factor. Pararius, on the other hand, kept a template of the inquiry we wanted to send, which made it very simple to click one button to get in line for a viewing.

I noticed listings seems to go live in clusters around 3am in New York, which is the start of a business day in The Netherlands. For several weeks, I had an alarm going off around that time so I could groggily review the newest listings and submit inquiries before passing out again.

Floors not included

If a listing is “unfurnished,” you won’t be surprised to learn it doesn’t have furnishings, but you may be surprised to learn it doesn’t have flooring. Or most standard things you would expect. It’s like fresh construction.

Our apartment was listed as “upholstered,” and did include flooring, but not light fixtures or a washer/dryer.

On the one hand, listings like these expect you to bring a lot of basic necessities that are expected in the US. On the other hand, they’re often better deals, and you likely will have more freedom to do what you want with your apartment, such as paint.

One other new thing you might see on listings – a“diplomatic clause” gives the landlord the right to take the apartment back if/when they need it. They’ll need to provide an adequate notice like 3 months, but your tenancy will end if they invoke it.

Get ready for a totally different process

My experience in the US is that an apartment goes to the first to make a deposit. Not so in The Netherlands. It starts with a viewing, and most makelaars we heard from accommodated “virtual” viewings over WhatsApp. (If you don’t already use WhatsApp, you will need to for lots of business communication.) The viewing is essential. The first “dream” apartment we saw, we said we were unavailable for a viewing due to being overseas, but wanted to make an offer immediately anyway. We never heard from them again. The viewing is not just for you to see the apartment, but for them to see you.

If this raises an eyebrow, brace yourself for the next part. If you attend a viewing and then want to apply, you’ll need to write the landlord a letter, and you’re encouraged to include a picture. The landlord will pick their preference from these applications.

As an American familiar with our housing discrimination laws, this was stunning and, the first time I was asked, unnerving. I wasn’t sure if this was normal, or if this particular agency made room for bias in their application proces. Put off but also needing housing, I wrote a sparse, arms-length message about our family composition, where our income comes from, and what we liked about the apartment. The landlord chose someone else.

When this happened again, and again, I understood that this was the normal procedure in The Netherlands. I started writing warmer introduction letters, with Dutch and English side-by-side, adding explanations for why we were excited to move to The Netherlands, what kinds of lives we were trying to build there, and what about the listing was perfect for us. We were accepted on about the fourth application in Maastricht.

CAUTION!!!!!

If you apply to an apartment, you may be legally bound to rent it once the landlord approves. The application is considered an offer. If you have second thoughts and try to back out, you can be sued. (Some agencies have an explicit penalty in the application documentation.) After the viewing, if you are considering applying, make absolutely certain you want it before proceeding.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have more than one application out at a time, as long as you immediately withdraw other applications once one is accepted. If a second place notifies you of your acceptance before you withdraw… I don't know what happens, but good luck.

There are some agencies that notify you of your acceptance and ask you to confirm your intent to rent, giving you an out. But it’s obviously safer not to depend on this.

Other Notes

A few things that were different in our contract from what I was used to in the United States.

• Some variation on “No commercial activities” is standard. As a DAFTer, you’re required to start your own business and many of us work from home. If you’re starting a BV, this may block you from incorporating at your own address, forcing you to throw away money on a rented address. My listing agent clarified that this clause meant I couldn’t open a shop to the public, but incorporating my software consultancy was fine. I’ve heard from others though whose contracts weren’t so flexible. If you’re averse to paying for a business mailing address or want to factor that into your costs, inquire about before applying.
• A Dutch landlord is responsible for much less maintenance than a US landlord. You’ll need to handle basic repairs on your own. In our case, we’re supposed to get on a roof to clear it of leaves. We’re still looking for a ladder to borrow.
• Some places include utilities and some don’t. Ours includes a utility deposit, which we pay the landlord each month, and at the end of the year, we settle up the balance of what our actual costs were.
• Nobody uses checks or has payment portals like Stripe. Everything is done through bank transfers, including things like ordering food online. (It’s simpler than it sounds.) Make your life much easier and avoid international wire fees by getting a Wise account. It’s extremely helpful for a number of things you’ll need to pay during the DAFT process.
  

Stay open

When we were accepted to our apartment in Maastricht, we felt a mix of excitement and disappointment. Maastricht is beautiful, but at the southern end of the country, far (2 hours) from the many cities around the Randstad. And for some reason, we had fallen in love with the idea of Deventer and mentally planned a life there. Yet because housing is so competitive and subject to being a landlord’s favorite application, we had to take the first “good” place that accepted us, even if it wasn’t our dream place. (Mind you, we’d never been to either of these cities IRL.)

From that point on, everything was a blur with packing, shipping, flying, trains, contracts, selling belongings, and two small children. When we finally arrived, got our keys, and took our first walk through town, we were gobsmacked that we’d actually made it. And, everything was beautiful, and well-designed, and ours. The apartment layout wasn’t ideal for us, but we’re a block away from our daughter’s wonderful school. It’s a little more than we would’ve paid in Deventer, but so much less than our cost of living in the US. We’re far from the Randstad, but Limburg has a different charm that I’ve come to prefer. There is so much beauty in ordinary places here that we frequently joke that we're in a “fairy tale” country.

I’ve been incredibly lucky with how things have worked out. I wish you the same.