FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

Hi All

My name is Sarah, I'm currently residing in England and I'm looking at moving to the Netherlands in the next 2 months with my partner of 8 years.

We are looking for a property to rent ideally in Rotterdam,Utrecht, Den Haag or Amsterdam. We would like a 1 bedroom place which preferably has an outdoor space as we have a dog who will also be moving with us. Our budget is 750euros per month. We would be willing to pay several months of rent upfront to put our new landlords mind at ease, and we can provide excellent references on request.

We can be quite flexible when it comes to location or property type so if you know or have any similar properties that you feel may be suitable please contact me.

Alternatively if you know of any good housing sites or connections that too would also be a great help

I look forward to hearing from you soon

Sarah

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

welcome to the forum Have you looked at the wiki at the top of the section covering The Netherlands? If has the information you are looking for plus more like how to register yourself at the police, obtaining a pet passport,etc amongst other things.
Most cities charge a dog tax. they must be registered at the council offices.
There will be areas like playgrounds or some beaches at certain times of the year where dogs are not allowed.
Dogs are only allowed to be off of a lead unless they are in a designated [I]hondenlosloopterreinen.
I have read that you should also clean up after your dog. Most owners do this, but there is still find something to tread in on pavements. :thumbdown: Fines can be issued if you do not clean up behind you.
Most Dutch have aansprakelijkheidsverzekering (public liability insurance). This covers you for a multitude of possibilities including accidents where your dog is at fault. These can be included within other insurances like household cover too. You may want to consider to cover yourself too.

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

If you want land, I'm guessing you'd be happy outside the city centres themselves? For that budget, a couple would only get a room in a shared house for your budget in any of those city centres (sorry).

If you're coming without a job contract, you are going to find it virtually impossible to get someone to sign a rental agreement with you (unless of course, you own a business and several years of accounts to show). At this point, I strongly advise you to spend the next two months trying to gain employment, because life will be so much easier for you. However you seem to have a very wide search area (I'm guessing you mean the whole Randstad area and not just the city centres), and places in the centre of the Randstad such as Alphen aan den Rijn or Woerden have much more affordable and 'greener spaces' which might suit you better, as commuter towns often are less desirable yet have more modern housing stock.

Zoek huizen en appartementen te koop in Nederland [funda] is the official website of the National association of estate agents (NVM): all NVM members advertise their available properties there (choose Huur, not Koop), and all homes advertised there will be legitimate. It has the bonus of being able to search on the kaart (map) until you narrow down where exactly you'd hope to settle. Alternatively, join Facebook groups for those cities and see what turns up, but be aware that the 'I'll post the keys to you' scam is very active here too, as there is a shortage of affordable housing!

With your budget, you might search things like Kamernet.nl in the hope of finding a studio, but beware of anything that says no registration (as you need to officially register with the town hall once you have a rental agreement, in order to get health insurance, bank accounts, BSN (tax number) etc. These are often illegal sublets of social housing and not worth the hassle, but sadly with your budget and no contract, you are not going to have too many options available.

Good Luck.

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

RWF. Funda is linked in the WIKI.The same with the website Pararius. Both are in English, but Funda's English version can be a bit flaky at times.
The question is would landlords be wiling to take pets? I have found nothing obvious from either of these websites to confirm or exclude pets.

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

With respect CSE, whether they'll accept pets is the last of their problems. Of course, accepting a pet depends on the individual landlords and not the makelaar, but this couple's biggest hurdle will be finding something with that budget (either a ground floor apartment or a house) without a job contract: few landlords will do that unless they take a short stay (airbnb?) and pay it all upfront, which could be their only option right now. Of course, there is nothing in the OPs post to imply that they're making a permanent move so this could be their intention to try it short-term and if it doesn't work out, return.

They need to be pretty open to living in a commuter suburb or substantially increase their budget. I doubt they'll find much on either Funda or Pararius without compromise. At least with AirBnB, they can check instantly about their pet (OP, go to Voorzieningen and look for Huisdieren Toegestaan Pets allowed)

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

Many thanks for the advice.

We are willing to move to more secluded areas as we will be bringing our car over so getting to places wont be a problem.

I will also be willing to pay about 6 months rent upfront as noted from previous posts that finding a property without employment would be difficult.

Has anyone heard or know of anyone who has used sites such as 'housing anywhere' or 'nestpick.com' - these sites seem to be coming up a lot when I'm doing searches. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with them and whether they are legit!

Thanks for your time!

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

Have you tried maaktplaats.nl ?

Re: FINDING A PROPERTY TO RENT
 

Never heard of Housing Anywhere. Nestpick is a newcomer with a big social media presence, they seem to be in at the top end of the price bracket (selling overpriced shoeboxes to international millenials who want to have the best postcode). One in particular to avoid is called Rots Vast, who have consistently nurtured a poor reputation among expats. The agency my son found his current rental place through is Domica.nl; so far so good.

I suggest that if you find someone that sets alarm bells ringing, this is one place you can check (the Dutch version of the British programme watchdog) https://radar.avrotros.nl/forum/viewforum.php?f=17. Your alarm should be ringing if they try to charge you one month's rent as a fee: it is illegal for them to take a fee of both the landlord and the new tenant (and they are working for the landlord, not you!)


If you bring a car, it's best to avoid the city centres anyway, as the waiting list for parking permits in many parts (of Amsterdam at least) runs into years. I do believe the best idea is to go to Funda, choose 'Huur', put in a central point + however many kilometres to expand the search area, add you budget (and gemeubileerd if you need furnished) and see what turns up by clicking Kaart (Map) and checking out some of the areas/towns to see if it's the kind of place you could live in.

Hopefully this link works:
Zoek huizen te huur op kaart [funda]