Mortgage for expat advice

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Unfortunately, Dutch financial institutions will not grant mortgages to non-residents, you having a BSN number is indicative that you are living in the Netherlands and have registered with the authorities.  You can't open a bank account until you are registered.

We normally advise you to use something like AirBnb until you can get sorted.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks. Yeah, I understand that I need a BSN number to get the mortgage but was surprised that because I'm married we both (my spouse and I) have to have BSN numbers and be on the mortgage. In the U.S. I am able to carry the mortgage on my own even though I am married. This doesn't seem possible in the Netherlands - just trying to understand if that is in fact true. Thanks for responding!

Hi again.

Just asked my daughter who has recently got a mortgage in NL.  Could be tax-related because mortgage tax-breaks exist for couples and what your bank quoted you is dependent on you both being on the mortgage to qualify for the breaks.  From my experience, it could be the bank protecting their interest in the event you default on the mortgage, there are very strict laws on evicting people.

Have you asked the bank or perhaps another bank?  Could also ask your future employer if their are any benefits in you banking with their bank.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Personally, I would not advise you to take out a mortgage because it broke my life

***

@kasaduss

You cannot buy a house in the Netherlands the way you describe. That is simply impossible.
Like Cynic already said you have to be a resident in the Netherlands to buy a house.

Most couples that buy an house work both, so it's a double income. You also must have some savings to get an mortgage. You have to pay the "kosten koper'" (don't know what it is called in English) of your own money.

Also finding a affordable house is very difficult, there is still a mayor shortage on the housing market.  In The Hague it's nearly impossible, try the surrounding villages/towns.

OK - I just know I'm going to regret trying to explain this.

Kosten Koper - is currently 6% of the lender's valuation of the property; it only applies to existing property (so, not new builds); it's the lender's fee; neither the seller nor the buyer gets any of this money.  Warning - if the lender thinks a house is worth (for example) 100k euro, and you agree to pay that much; the lender will do a detailed survey of the property and if they agree with the value, then assuming all else goes OK, you'll get your mortgage; however, if they don't agree (again, assume they think on 75k euro), that's the maximum mortgage you will get for that property in its current condition; there is no point in hunting around other lenders, the property inspection is professional public record, you won't get a different assessor to give a lesser (or higher) value.  If this happens, the easy solution is that you make up the shortfall with your own cash.

New builds have a system called VON (Vrij op naam) - is 2% of the estimated value.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team