Why It Might Be Hard to Rent An Apartment in the Netherlands #netherlands #expat #life

you've got pets your income is too low your income is too high so how do you overcome that are you looking to rent an apartment in the Netherlands but keep getting rejected if you keep getting rejected after submitting your documents following the viewing of the apartment there might be a bigger problem behind it in this video I'm gonna list the most common reasons your potential landlord might not be choosing you at the moment but will improve your application and increase your chances in renting an apartment of your dream I'm Anna I'm an expert entrepreneur living in the Netherlands for quite a while in my previous video guide to renting an apartment in the Netherlands I said that there might be some aggravating circumstances and today we'll be looking at a lot of them without further Ado let's start first you've got pets as always I'm not gonna sugarcoat it finding an accommodation with pets is difficult but it's possible so how do you do it first if you can get a recommendation letter from your previous landlord and ask them to specifically mention that there was absolutely no damage or smell or anything from your pet next you can look for apartments that don't straightforwardly have the no pet lines in the description on Funda or pararis and once you are invited to the viewing you might discover that the previous tenant has a dog or a cat what does it mean the landlord is pet friendly that's an excellent opportunity so make sure that once you have found such apartment you create the nicest presentation about your family and your pets you can honestly add that finding accommodation with pets is very difficult and you really love the apartment and it's perfect for you and you're also gladly willing to offer an increased deposit to compensate the damage from your pet now here's another question the landlord states that they don't accept tenants with pets is there any way to change their mind for real If a landlord is asking for one month deposit something you could try is increasing this deposit so when it when you're submitting the documents to the landlord you might create a message that you understand them you are aware that they are not looking for tenants with pets but you really love the apartment it's great and you are willing to go the extra mile um to be chosen so you might want to compose a message like this hi I've seen that no pets are allowed and I can see how important it is to you to keep the place in great condition however your apartment is so perfect for us describe the place or its location that we decided to give it a try this is our photo description of your pet we've had him for years and we never witnessed any damage we are aware of your risks and we are ready to offer triple deposit so that you also feel protected moving next and another reason you might have problems with finding accommodation in the Netherlands is because your income is too low it doesn't matter how expensive is their partner that you're looking for if your income is lower than three times the rent and in some cases that can be up to four times the rent a potential landlord might be unwilling to choose you to make things clear we're talking gross income so don't freak out I guess it used to be a nice to have but uh then it migrated to rules like to the golden standards and now everyone's on the market is asking for it so what do you do if your income is lower that was actually something I faced on my second year here in the Netherlands because when when I was submitting my documents my income was extremely low at that time I just Incorporated a company and I was afraid of paying myself a big salary because I didn't know when when was I paying taxes when am I paying some kind of other payments and I was really stressed out and Afraid so I just kept my salary at the minimum which kind of led to the fact that I was looking for an apartment for two and a half months at some point I was so desperate that I started to offer to pay a year or six months in advance as I mentioned in the previous video your one and only task is to convince your landlord that you can and will pay the rent until the end of the contract so if you can strengthen your application with additional documents like savings for instance do it another tip would be instead of offering to pay in advance offer a bigger deposit that's something that works better here in the Netherlands because if there is any problem with you as a tenant the landlord just keeps the deposit to themselves why do Dutch people don't like these Advanced payments you basically have no risk at all I mean you get a payment for the whole year in advance isn't that just perfect well there are two issues with this approach first of all if there is a very significant problem in the middle of the contract for instance you you break the contract terms you do something that's clearly forbidden and your landlord learns about that and they want you out they will have to return this Advanced payment the second problem is a little bit deeper however when you're providing an advanced payment for a year that's a pretty considerable amount of money right so you transfer this amount to the landlord's account and at some point their Bank might be interested where does the money come from the landlord would present a contract and it seems like that's it right not exactly because their next question would be for a tenant where is it from and it's great if you have a specific contract like you sold a car or sold your apartment but in many cases that's just savings and that kind of explanation never ever works with Dutch Banks so to sum up Advance payments almost never work but increasing the deposit is a great chance to get the apartment of your dream and the next possible reason why you keep getting rejected might be that your income is too high one that's right if you're trying to get an apartment in the Netherlands you need to be aware that Dutch people might have an acute sense of fairness the system offers a lot of benefits for people with lower income like the tax brackets which are favorable to those who earn less or affordable housing permits that a lot of municipalities in the Netherlands have which basically tell you that only a certain group of people that earn less than a specific amount can have a shot at renting affordable property so if your cross salaries five six times the rent some landlords might reject you just because it's fair to people who need this affordable housing more than you do and you'll be just fine you'll just find another accommodation that is aligned with your income and this approach was kind of refreshing because in in the country where you used to live it's the opposite like money solve everything if you have it you get the apartment if you have more then it's great the landlord will feel safer and I'm not saying everyone's like this in the Netherlands it's just if you come across it don't be surprised and the last reason you might be constantly rejected for an apartment in the Netherlands is because you're self-employed or you're an entrepreneur now on this real estate market you always have a deposit and deposits can vary it can be one month two months or three months unless it's something really outstanding three months is the highest deposit you might expect and in general a triple deposit is quite rare however if you belong to the categories of not so reliable tenants which sadly entrepreneurs fall into the deposit will almost always be three times the rent having said that it doesn't mean that you are favorable candidate even if your deposit is bigger then deposits from other candidates your risk profile is also different and you're seen as a tenant with higher risks that's why in many cases the landlord will not Choose You So how do you overcome that well as always you can offer a higher deposit as always starting with four months I also believe in the power of openness and visibility so if you're an entrepreneur if you're doing something great you have some Publications you you have your website videos so insert something into your presentation to let the landlord know what values you have and who knows your values might just click and that was it now I would love to hear from you if you have a question a comment or you would love to share your experience of running an apartment here in the Netherlands please leave a comment below you might also want to check out this video because I share a lot of useful tips on how to respond on Funda and perarious and how to get viewings and how to develop a presentation that highlights everything your landlord needs to know to choose you thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe to the channel and see you next week

Channel: Ana Denis

Views: 1,128

Keywords: marketing, seo, digital marketing, business, online business, how to earn money online, side hustles, blogging, how to make money online, blogging tips for beginners, online courses, solopreneur, entrepreneur

Id: ihI1ZylHnWk

Length: 9min 12sec (552 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 24 2023