How much of your own money do you need to buy a house?
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 9
There is a lot involved in buying a house. An important part of this is financing, especially the amount of your own money that you need to contribute these days. Costs in Amsterdam and the surrounding area can vary from municipality to municipality and, of course, depending on how extravagant you want to be. However, the information below provides a good basis that you can rely on. In general, it can be said that the costs of buying a house are between 5-7% of the purchase price.
Financing your property
Since 2018, you can borrow up to 100% (as of 2025) of the market value of a home to finance a purchase in the Netherlands. And this is where you need to pay close attention. The market value may be lower than the purchase price of your dream home. You will need to make up the difference with your own money. In Amsterdam, it is advisable to reserve at least 30k of your own funds to cover this difference. For less popular homes, 10k. Certainly in the current market, due to high bidding, there can sometimes be a difference between the market value of the home and the final purchase price. The market value is determined by an (independent) appraiser.
Costs for the buyer
In the Netherlands, the costs of purchasing a home are borne by the buyer. This mainly consists of transfer tax and notary fees. The rest is largely optional. Below is an overview of the costs you can expect. These are the costs you will need to finance with your own money:
**These costs are tax deductible. *These costs are partially deductible.
The Transfer duty
Since the introduction of the starter exemption, the transfer tax scheme has not become any easier, but it has become more advantageous. Currently (as of 2025), there is an exemption for home buyers under the age of 35. If one of the couple is older, the 0% rate only applies to the person who is younger than 35 and applies to the part of the home that will belong to him/her. The purchase price of the home, including appurtenances, must be €525,000 or less to qualify for the 0% rate. In addition, the appraisal must not exceed this value. And if the home is on a long lease, have the notary calculate whether the value of the capitalized ground rent does not exceed that amount, incase you're 10k away from it. Please note that if you are not going to live in the property yourself, you will be liable for tax and will have to pay 10.4% of the purchase price to the tax authorities. You can also only use the starter exemption once in your lifetime. All other cases pay 2%. Useful overview from the national government: link
Where can you save costs?
As you can see in the overview above, there are some areas where you can make significant savings. But you can save the most on the purchase broker. There are many different rates available for this. Always check whether an agent is affiliated with a trade association such as VastgoedNederland or the NVM. You can submit your complaints to these associations, and they also maintain price databases with the latest sales prices. These are necessary to calculate the market value of your new home. These agents are better informed on a number of topics. There are still many real estate agents who charge a commission. However, this can cause the costs to rise significantly without you noticing. 1.5% may not seem like much at first glance. But for a home worth €500,000, you will quickly pay €7,500. This is where J-oost de AankoopCoach comes in, so that you can buy a home without a real estate agent and without any worries. This can easily save you €5,000-7,000 or even more. With your Personal Coach, you can ask unlimited questions via the app, your coach can accompany you to a viewing and go through the official documentation again for you and summarize it after you have made your purchase. This will only cost you around €1,000. Want to save even more? Then you could try buying without a buyer's agent or coach. The question is, however, whether this will ultimately save you money or cost you more. You can also save on notary fees. It is a good idea to request at least two quotes and then make your decision. However, our experience shows that cheap often turns out to be expensive in this sector. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. The smartest way to save money is with a bank guarantee. Check so that your mortgage advisor may not automatically purchase the bank guarantee from the mortgage lender. An independent bank guarantee provider can often be hundreds of euros cheaper. A good mortgage advisor will point this out to you themselves. And that brings me to mortgage advisors. Here too, prices vary. But so does quality. And the costs can be fully deducted from your taxes. The most important tip here is that an independent mortgage advisor can save you the most in the long run. They have more options to choose from than if you go directly to a bank. However, the bank will sometimes be cheaper in terms of advice (in which they obviously appear to be the best party themselves). If you know in advance that a particular bank has the lowest interest rate for the loan amount you need, then it may be the best choice to go to them directly. Otherwise, in most cases, it is better for your wallet to go to an independent provider.
Comments