Housing advice
 

Hi there
Im looking for a place to stay from Feb onwards and I do not want to be scammed or anything, has anyone got any advice about renting flats/room and how to look out for dodgy landlords!
Kind Regards :)

Re: Housing advice
 

Assume all landlords are dodgy and you won't go far wrong ;) Seriously, keeping hold of your deposit is a national sport here. Common sense applies: I know 40 year olds who flat share like students because they 'must' live in Amsterdam - housing in city centres within the Randstad means paying top euros for minimal space. Where there is desparation, there are scammers. They are all over Facebook, but this is another way to find a (shared) living space.

If you can go for unfurnished and have a reasonably paid job, then use a housing association 'free rental' (ie, not income controlled/social housing - you wouldn't qualify for that anyway). But this will require you to have a monthly income 4x your rent: So to rent somewhere at E750 per month, your gross salary will need to be 3000 per month, etc.

You didn't say which city or town you were interested in and so you can find your own www.rooftrack.nl - giving the agents who advertise on there a call, rather than waiting for something to turn up on the site, can get good results; they will know if they have any refurbished or newbuilds coming available soon which aren't yet advertised (we got a home this way). You also get the convenience of a 24 hour service (eg plumbers, electricians) paid for by the company. I heard too many horror stories of private landlords who lived in sunnier countries over winter and tenants suffering with no hot water because landlord didn't 'get around' to sorting out repairs :(

If you really need furnished, or you aren't earning above national wage, you really are at the mercy of private landlords.



I'll add a caviat before liveaboard sees this - there are some landlords with ethics (but from the experience of many friends and colleagues they are few and far between).