Viewing a house in the Netherlands: what to actually check

At a viewing you do not have to spot every defect. You want to decide whether the house suits you, and which questions have to be answered before you bid.

Walk through the rooms first, unhurried, and look at the layout and the light. Then go through the maintenance, the installations and the documents. That way both the living and the condition of the house get your attention.

Look at how you would live here day to day

Look at how you would use the rooms. Notice the routes through the house, the storage and the space for your desk and the large pieces of furniture. Look outside as well: where do you park, and what is the route to work?

A second visit at a different time of day helps you compare light, traffic and noise.

Watch the parts that can cost money to repair

Look at the roof, the external walls, the window frames and any visible cracks. Inside, look for damp patches, a musty smell, damage and ventilation. Note what you see and ask the agent about it. You do not have to work out the cause yourself on this round.

Ask about the age and the servicing of the heating and the other installations. A recent appliance says nothing automatically about the rest of the house.

Where you have doubts, have a component investigated before your offer or within an agreed survey condition. A structural survey is visual and has its limits. Ask which parts it does and does not cover.

Ask about the condition and the history

Ask concrete questions:

• Which defects are known?
• Which renovations were carried out, and by whom?
• Has there been any leak or damp?
• Which maintenance is still planned?
• Which items stay behind?

Ask for the list of movable items, so you can see which things stay behind. Put the maintenance documents available and the report behind the energy label alongside it. That lets you set the answers you were given against the documents.

With an apartment, look at the building too

Ask for the VvE documents: the maintenance plan, the minutes, the annual accounts and the deed of division. A well-kept apartment says little about maintenance of the roof, the facade and the communal installations.

Make a list of what to investigate before your offer

Write up your findings per address afterwards. After a few viewings the details run together. Put three things side by side: what you liked, what you want to ask about and what you will have investigated. Take photographs where that is allowed.

Answer the open questions before you fix your offer and your conditions. How you then arrive at an amount is in how much to bid on a house.

What to do now

• Write down before the viewing which questions you want answered.
• Do the two rounds: first without a list, then along the roof, damp, window frames and installations.
• Ask for the documents that belong to this house, and for an apartment the VvE papers.
• Decide which points you still want investigated before you bid, and whether that includes a survey.