Buy a house
Although most people will rent for a while before buying a house, the difference in monthly payments can make purchasing a property an attractive option for those staying longer.
The difference comes largely from the fact that (for the time being at least) the Dutch government repays some of the mortgage interest as tax relief. The mortgage interest payments are tax deductible if the house is your main residence. Your monthly expenses will be lower because of this tax refund.
Note that buying a house will take a few official steps and will cost a certain amount (which partially is tax deductible ) like getting a mortgage and finalize the process at a notary.
Much will depend on the financial situation, your personal needs and the expected length of your stay in the Netherlands.
Before you acquire your new property, you need to go through a time-consuming process with quite a lot of third parties involved, such as the real estate agent (property broker), the bank that is granting you a mortgage, the civil law notary and the tax consultants.
Most people will hire a real estate agent who will do the house search, arrange for viewings, get a building report and assist you with the formalities like a mortgage and notary.
Some parts of the process include:
- Starting to look around for the house (research).
- Doing the negotiations with the selling estate agent and making sure that the right conditions for the purchase are accepted.
- Taking care of the technical survey.
- Making a proper judgement of the (legal) contents of the purchase agreement.
- Taking care of the mortgage with the requested conditions.
- Collecting the required documents for the mortgage.
- Contacting the civil law notary for setting up the legal deeds for delivery to you of the property and the mortgage (including translations).
- Taking care of the involved tax matters.
Mortgages
It is common in the Netherlands to get advise from a bank or an independent mortgage broker to guide you through the process of getting a mortgage. The broker can will look at your specific (financial) situation and will advise a few options from which you can chose. He can also introduce you to a notary and explain what will change in your tax situation now that you will be a house owner. The broker can be independent or an advisor from your bank.
We can recommend our service partners on these financial topics who will gladly assist you: Elfrink ten Bokum tax advisors and ABN Amro bank.