House Viewing Guide & Checklist

What to check when viewing a Dutch home, in the order that matters. Foundation problems cost €60,000–€120,000 to fix, and a twenty-minute viewing slot is where you find the warning signs.

A Dutch viewing (bezichtiging) is often a twenty-minute slot, sometimes shared with other buyers, in a market that expects you to bid within days. You will not have time to be thorough about everything, so it pays to be thorough about the expensive things and quick about the rest.

The rule of thumb: anything cosmetic is cheap and anything structural is not. A dated kitchen costs a few thousand to replace and is visible to everyone, so it is already priced in. A rotting foundation costs more than the kitchen, the bathroom and the windows combined, and is invisible unless you know the signs.

Before you go: read the listing properly

Five things on the Funda listing tell you what kind of viewing this will be:

• Year of construction (bouwjaar) — this predicts almost everything below.
• Energy label — and whether it is a real, registered label or an estimate.
• Ground lease (erfpacht) — does the land come with the house, or do you pay an annual canon? In parts of Amsterdam this materially changes the cost of ownership and what lenders will accept.
• Service charges, if it is an apartment — see Understanding the VvE.
• Floor area, and whether it is measured to the NEN 2580 standard.

The foundation is the one that can ruin you

Many older Dutch homes — especially in the west, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Zaandam, Dordrecht and the surrounding areas — stand on wooden piles driven into soft ground. When groundwater levels drop, the tops of those piles are exposed to air and rot (paalrot). Bacterial decay affects piles even below the waterline.

Repair is not a small job. Foundation restoration typically costs €60,000 to €120,000 for a single house, depending on method and access. It is rarely covered by insurance, and lenders will not simply add it to your mortgage.

What to look for in twenty minutes:

• Cracks in the exterior brickwork, especially diagonal ones near window and door openings
• Floors that slope — put a marble or a spirit-level app on the floor in more than one room
• Doors and windows that stick or no longer close square
• A visible lean, checked from across the street rather than up close
• Gaps opening between the house and an extension, or between neighbouring houses

None of these prove a foundation problem on their own — Dutch houses settle, and old houses are rarely perfectly level. But two or three together in a pre-war house on soft ground is a reason to commission a foundation inspection before bidding, not after.

The year of construction tells you what to look for

• Before 1994 — the property may contain asbestos, which was still permitted in construction until then. It is commonly found in old pipe lagging, corrugated roofing on sheds, and behind boilers. Undisturbed asbestos is not dangerous; removal is regulated and costs money.
• Before roughly the mid-1970s — assume little or no insulation unless someone has retrofitted it. Ask what was done, and when.
• Older electrics — an old fuse box (meterkast) with few circuit groups will struggle with an induction hob, a heat pump or an EV charger.

Exterior

• Window frames (kozijnen) — press gently on the wood at the bottom corners; soft or spongy wood is rot (houtrot). Check whether glazing is HR++ or better.
• Roof and gutters — missing or slipped tiles, sagging ridges, plants growing in the gutter. Ask when the roof was last done.
• Pointing and rendering — crumbling mortar joints let water into the wall.
• Drainage — where does rainwater actually go?

Interior and installations

• Damp and mould — dark patches or peeling paint in corners, along skirting, near ceilings, and in the crawl space (kruipruimte). Ask to look into the crawl space; standing water there is a real finding.
• Smell — trust your nose. A musty smell in a house that has been aired for your visit is worth a question.
• Water pressure — run the shower and a tap at once.
• The boiler (CV-ketel) — check the age plate. Beyond about 12–15 years, budget for replacement. Ask whether it is owned or rented.
• Ventilation — mechanical extraction in the kitchen and bathroom, and whether it actually works.
• Windows — open a few. Condensation between the panes means the seal has failed.

If it is an apartment

The building matters as much as the flat. A healthy VvE with a reserve fund and a current maintenance plan is worth more than a renovated bathroom, because the alternative is a one-off levy landing on your doormat. Ask for the VvE's annual accounts and the minutes of the last two meetings.

The neighbourhood

• Visit at more than one time of day. A quiet street at 11am can sit under a flight path or beside a bar at 11pm.
• Check parking: is a municipal permit required, what does it cost, and how long is the waiting list?
• Look at what is planned nearby. Municipal zoning plans are public, and an empty lot is not always going to stay empty.
• Ask the agent directly about the neighbours and about any known disputes.

Questions worth asking the agent

1. Why is the seller moving, and how long has it been listed?
2. What maintenance has been done in the last ten years, and is there paperwork?
3. Has there ever been a foundation inspection, and can I see it?
4. Is there asbestos, and is its location known?
5. Are there known defects the seller has declared?
6. Is the land freehold or ground lease, and if leased, what is the annual charge and when is it next reviewed?
7. How many viewings have there been, and is there a bidding deadline?

After the viewing

If you are serious, arrange a structural survey (bouwtechnische keuring) — and if you can, make it a resolutive condition in the purchase agreement rather than skipping it to make your bid more attractive. A survey costs a few hundred euros against risks in the tens of thousands.

Take the checklist with you

We built an interactive checklist you can work through on your phone during the viewing, covering everything above and more.

Open Interactive Checklist

Where to go next

• The Bidding Process — what to do once you want it
• The Purchase Agreement — the conditions to insist on
• House Valuation in the Netherlands — the appraisal your lender needs
• Understanding the VvE — if it is an apartment