Mortgage Orientation & Preparation

How to prepare for your first mortgage advisor meeting, what actually decides your maximum loan in 2026, and why you still need savings even with a 100% mortgage.

Before you view a single house, you need to know what you can actually afford. In the Netherlands that starts with an orientation meeting (oriëntatiegesprek) with a mortgage advisor. Doing this first is what separates a credible bid from a wasted Saturday.

Why this is step zero

Dutch estate agents (makelaars) routinely ask for proof of financing before they will pass a bid to the seller. In a market where desirable homes attract many bids, a buyer who can show a maximum loan statement is simply easier to say yes to than one who cannot. Arranging this before you start viewing also stops you falling in love with a house €40,000 outside your range.

What the meeting costs

Most advisors offer the orientation meeting itself free of charge — it is how they win your business. The paid work starts later, when they compare lenders, submit your application and guide it to a binding offer. Budget €1,500–€3,500 for full advice and arrangement. That fee is not wasted money at tax time: costs incurred to arrange the loan are deductible in your income tax return, unlike the costs of acquiring the property. Our closing costs guide explains which side of that line each expense falls on.

What actually decides your maximum

Your borrowing capacity is set by national norms the Nibud advises on each year, not by an individual banker's judgement. Every lender applies broadly the same table, so shopping around changes your interest rate far more than it changes your maximum. For 2026 the norms were built on a projected 4.1% income growth, so most households can borrow slightly more than in 2025.

Four things move the number more than people expect:

• Living alone. Single buyers may borrow an extra €17,000 on top of the income-based amount — unchanged for 2026.
• Student debt. Since 2024 lenders count your actual current monthly DUO payment, not a percentage of the original debt. Most advice online is still stale on this point, and it matters: if you have already repaid part of your loan, your capacity is higher than the old rule implied.
• The energy label of the house you buy. A home with label A+++ allows €25,000 extra and A++++ allows €40,000 extra (both reduced for 2026, from €30,000 and €50,000). The separate €10,000 that an A+++ buyer could borrow for further energy measures has been scrapped, because the financial return on measures like solar panels has fallen. For labels G through A++, the extra borrowing for energy-saving measures is unchanged.
• Existing credit. Phone contracts, private lease and revolving credit all reduce your maximum, often by more than their monthly cost suggests.

One ceiling applies to all of it: your ordinary mortgage plus any extra for energy-saving investments may together come to at most 106% of the home's value.

The 100% rule, and why you still need savings

You may borrow up to 100% of the home's value — but no more. That single rule is the reason first-time buyers get caught out, because the purchase costs sit on top of the price and cannot be financed. For an existing home, kosten koper runs to roughly 4–6% of the purchase price, and it must come from your own money.

On a €400,000 house that is €16,000–€24,000 in cash, before you have bought a single piece of furniture. Work out your own figure with the upfront costs checklist before you decide what you can bid.

NHG: the guarantee worth asking about

The Nationale Hypotheek Garantie is a government-backed guarantee that settles the residual debt if you are forced to sell at a loss after job loss, disability or divorce. In 2026 it is available on mortgages up to €470,000, rising to €498,200 when you borrow extra for energy-saving measures. It costs a one-off 0.4% of the amount borrowed, and lenders almost always reward it with a lower interest rate — which is usually worth considerably more over the term than the fee. See what NHG is for the full conditions.

The starter's exemption on transfer tax

Buyers aged 18 to 34 pay no transfer tax on a home worth up to €555,000 in 2026, against the standard 2% for owner-occupiers. Three traps are worth knowing before you bid:

• Your age is measured at the moment the notarial deed is signed, not when your bid is accepted. Turning 35 between the two costs you the exemption.
• It is all or nothing. At €555,001 you pay 2% on the whole price, not on the excess.
• The Tax Authority uses the higher of the purchase price and the property's market value, so a below-market purchase can still exceed the limit.

You may use the exemption once in your life, and you must declare in writing to the notary that you will live in the home yourself. Our transfer tax guide works through the arithmetic.

What to bring to the meeting

Advisors can only give you a real number if you arrive with real figures:

• Your three most recent salary specifications, plus an employer's statement (werkgeversverklaring) or an intention statement if you are not on a permanent contract.
• Tax returns for the last two or three years if you are self-employed — see the ZZP mortgage guide.
• The current monthly payment on any DUO student loan, and statements for any other credit.
• The savings you intend to put towards the purchase, separated from the buffer you intend to keep.
• Any gift (schenking) a family member has promised, and whether it is on paper.

Next steps

With a maximum loan statement in hand you are ready to model the actual monthly cost. Compare an annuity against a linear mortgage in the calculator, read what lenders check in mortgage requirements, and then start the house hunt. If the vocabulary is still unfamiliar, the mortgage glossary is the shortest way in.