New to the Netherlands? Words with a have a short explanation. Tap or click them.
Buying a home is probably the biggest thing you'll ever pay for. In the Netherlands it often goes fast: one or two viewings, an offer within days, and many people bidding. That makes it easy to miss a problem. And here's the surprise for many newcomers: in the Netherlands, finding problems is mostly your job, not the seller's. This guide explains, in simple words, what to check before you make an offer, what the age of a home tells you, and when to call in an expert.
The idea in simple words
Imagine buying a second-hand phone from someone. They must tell you if they know the screen is broken. But if the screen has a big crack you could easily have seen, and you didn't look, you can't complain later.
Dutch law works like that for homes. The seller must tell you about problems they know of. But you have a duty to investigate (onderzoeksplicht): you must look and ask. If you could have found a problem, it usually becomes your problem after you buy. So look carefully, ask your questions in writing, and get an expert to check what you can't.
The most important facts
- You must look for problems yourself. Ask every question by email, so you have the answers on record.
- The year the home was built tells you which hidden problems to look for: lead pipes, asbestos or a weak foundation.
- A building inspection costs about €300 to €550 and is almost always worth it.
- Make your offer "subject to" the inspection, so you can still step back if it finds serious problems.
- Buying an apartment? You also buy a share of the building. Check the owners' association's money and plans.
- A foundation repair can cost €50,000 to €100,000 or more for one house. It's the biggest risk in many older Dutch homes.
Words you need to know first
- Asking price (vraagprijs): the price in the advert. In busy cities, homes often sell for more.
- Buying agent (aankoopmakelaar): an expert you pay to help you buy. The seller's agent works for the seller, not for you.
- WOZ value (WOZ-waarde): what the town thinks the home is worth. It's free to look up.
- Building inspection (bouwkundige keuring): an expert walks through the home and writes down what's wrong and what it costs to fix.
- Foundation (fundering): the part under the ground that holds the house up.
- VvE (Vereniging van Eigenaars): the owners' association. In an apartment building, all the owners together look after the roof, the walls and the stairs, and save money for repairs.
- Leasehold (erfpacht): you buy the home, but not the land under it. You pay a yearly fee for the land, often to the city.
Step 1: Before the viewing (at home)
Look up the energy label
The energy label is a grade from A (warm, cheap to heat) to G (cold, expensive to heat). Search the address on EP-Online. A low label isn't always bad: it can mean a lower price. But you'll pay more for heating, or for insulation later.
Compare the price with the WOZ value
Every year, the town decides what each home is worth, for local taxes. This is the WOZ value, and anyone can look it up for free on the WOZ-waardeloket. It's usually a year or so behind the market, so in busy cities homes often sell above it. But if the asking price is far above the WOZ value and above similar homes in the street, ask why. A buying agent can show you what homes nearby really sold for.
Is the land leasehold?
Look in the advert for eigen grond (you own the land) or erfpacht (leasehold). Leasehold is common in Amsterdam and some other cities. Then you pay a yearly fee for the land, and it can go up. Ask how much it is, until when the price is fixed, and whether it's already paid for in advance (afgekocht).
Ask for the papers
Ask the seller's agent for two documents and read them before you make an offer:
- The seller's questionnaire (vragenlijst): the seller answers questions about problems they know of, such as leaks, damp, cracks or asbestos.
- The list of items (lijst van zaken): what stays in the home and what the seller takes. Curtains, lamps, the oven, even the kitchen.
Buying an apartment? Also ask for the VvE papers. More about that in step 3.
What the building year tells you
You'll find the year in the advert as bouwjaar. Building rules and materials changed over time, so a home's age tells you which hidden problems to look for.
| Built | What to watch out for |
|---|---|
| Before 1960 | Foundation: in the soft, wet ground of the west and north, many homes stand on wooden poles that can rot. Lead water pipes may still be there. |
| 1950 to 1980, apartments | Concrete rot (betonrot): the steel inside concrete balconies and walkways can rust, and the concrete starts to crumble. |
| Before 1994 | Asbestos: a building material that was banned in 1993. Any part of a home that was built or renovated before then can contain it. |
| 1994 or later | Fewer hidden risks. Focus on damp, the energy label and the price. |
Why Dutch foundations can be a problem
Much of the Netherlands is built on soft, wet ground, a bit like a sponge. To stop houses from sinking, older homes were built on long wooden poles pushed deep into the ground. Wood lasts a very long time under water, because it can't rot without air.
But when the water under the ground goes down, for example after dry summers, the top of the poles dries out and starts to rot. Then the house slowly sinks, and often more on one side than the other. That's when you see sloping floors, doors that stick and cracks above windows. Fixing it means putting new poles under the house, which is very expensive.
Step 2: At the viewing
Take your time, and open the Property Check on your phone to tick things off as you go. You're looking for warning signs, not for perfection. Every home has small things.
| What to check | How | What's a warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Cracks | Walk around the outside. Look above windows and doors. | Diagonal cracks, cracks shaped like stairs in the bricks, or cracks you can fit a coin in. Thin cracks in the plaster inside are normal. |
| Sloping floors | Put a marble or round pen on the floor, or use the phone level in the Property Check. | The marble rolls away on its own, or the slope is more than 1 cm per metre. |
| Doors and windows | Open and close every one. Press a key into the bottom corners of wooden window frames. | Doors that stick, uneven gaps, or wood that's soft (rot). |
| Damp and mould | Sniff. Look in corners, behind furniture and on the bathroom ceiling. | A musty smell, black spots, peeling paint, or fresh paint in just one spot. |
| The crawl space (houses) | Most houses have a low space under the floor, with a hatch (luik) in the hall. Ask to open it and shine your phone light in. | Water standing on the ground, a strong smell, or wet, soft wood. |
| The roof (houses) | Look from the street, and at the top-floor ceilings. | Missing tiles, a sagging roof line, or water stains. A flat roof lasts about 20 to 25 years. |
| The boiler (cv-ketel) | The sticker on it shows the year it was made. | Over about 12 years old: plan for a new one, which costs a few thousand euros. |
| The fuse box (meterkast) | Open the cupboard near the front door. | Old round fuses that screw in, few switches, or loose wires: the wiring may need renewing. |
| Balconies (apartments) | Look under and along the edges of balconies and walkways. | Brown rust stains, cracks, or pieces of concrete missing. |
For homes built before 1994, also look for possible asbestos: grey roof sheets on sheds, the pipe on top of the boiler, and panels under the roof edge. Don't touch or break it. Take a photo and ask about it.
Step 3: Before you make an offer
Book a building inspection
A building inspector spends an hour or two in the home and gives you a report: what's wrong, how urgent it is, and what it will cost to fix. It costs about €300 to €550, more for big or old houses. Choose your own inspector, not one the seller's agent suggests.
Then make your offer subject to the inspection. In Dutch, this is called an ontbindende voorwaarde bouwkundige keuring. It means: if the inspection finds problems that cost more than an agreed amount, you can still step back. In a busy market, some buyers leave this out to make their offer look better. If you do that, have the inspection done before you make the offer. Our guide Buying a home with or without a makelaar explains the conditions and the 3 days you get to change your mind.
Older home? Ask about the foundation
For a home built before 1960 in the west or north of the country, ask the seller if the foundation was ever investigated (funderingsonderzoek) or repaired (funderingsherstel), and ask for the report. Some cities, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Zaanstad and Dordrecht, have a foundation help desk (funderingsloket) that knows which streets have problems. Saw sloping floors or big cracks? Ask a specialist to check the foundation before you buy. A first check can cost a few hundred euros; a full survey where they dig down to the poles costs more.
Possible asbestos? Three ways to check
- Look and ask: photograph anything that looks like asbestos and ask the seller if the home was checked.
- Home test kit (about €30 to €50): you send a tiny piece to a lab. Only with the seller's permission, and wet the material first so no dust gets into the air.
- Asbestos survey (asbestinventarisatie, about €300 to €600): a certified company checks the whole home. You need one anyway before most renovation or demolition work.
Buying an apartment? Check the VvE
When you buy an apartment, you join the owners' association. If the roof needs replacing, all owners pay together. So check that the VvE has money saved. Ask for:
- The long-term maintenance plan (MJOP): which big repairs are coming, and when.
- The latest annual accounts: how much money is saved.
- The notes of the last two meetings (notulen): this is where you read about problems and extra payments coming up.
A "sleeping" VvE that never meets and has no savings is a red flag. Our guide Apartment or house? explains how a VvE works.
Questions to ask the seller
Send them by email to the seller's agent. Good questions to start with:
- Can you send me the seller's questionnaire and the list of items?
- Has the foundation been investigated or repaired? Can I see the report?
- Have there been any problems with damp, mould or leaks?
- Is there any asbestos in the home, or has it been checked?
- How old are the roof and the boiler?
- Is the land owned or leasehold? If leasehold, what does it cost each year?
The Property Check makes this list for you, in English and Dutch, from what you marked as a problem or "not sure". Copy it into an email in one click.
What checking costs
| Check | Cost |
|---|---|
| Energy label, WOZ value, Leefbaarometer | Free |
| Who owns the home (Kadaster) | €3.70 |
| Asbestos home test kit | About €30 to €50 |
| Building inspection | About €300 to €550 |
| Asbestos survey | About €300 to €600 |
| Foundation check | From a few hundred euros; more for a full survey |
That can feel like a lot of money before you even own the home. But compare it with what a hidden problem costs: a new roof, a new boiler, removing asbestos, or €50,000 or more for a foundation.
Be extra careful if...
- the seller won't let you have an inspection, or won't answer questions in writing;
- the floors clearly slope, and there's no foundation report;
- there's fresh paint on just one wall or ceiling;
- the VvE has no savings, or the meeting notes mention big repairs;
- everyone tells you to decide today.
Your checklist
- Look up the energy label and the WOZ value.
- Find out if the land is leasehold.
- Ask for the seller's questionnaire and the list of items.
- Check the building year, and what it means for this home.
- At the viewing: cracks, floors, doors and windows, damp, crawl space, roof, boiler, fuse box.
- Older home: ask about the foundation, lead pipes and asbestos.
- Apartment: read the VvE's plan, accounts and meeting notes.
- Book a building inspection, and make your offer subject to it.
- Send all your questions by email.
Official sources and useful links
- EP-Online: look up the energy label of any home
- WOZ-waardeloket: look up the WOZ value (Dutch)
- Leefbaarometer: how good is the neighbourhood? (Dutch)
- KCAF: the national foundation help centre (Dutch)
- Kadaster: who owns a home, and what it sold for (Dutch)
This is general information based on the rules in October 2026. It doesn't replace a building inspection or advice about your own situation from a buying agent, a notary or a lawyer.
