Step 3 continued

If you have engaged an estate agent, he will make an offer for the house you want to buy to the selling estate agent on your behalf. That will ultimately lead to negotiations on a price between the two parties. Once that has been agreed, a provisional contract of sale will be drawn up.

It is also possible that the house is being sold by tender. In that situation, all those interested in buying the house make their offer in a sealed envelope submitted to the appointed civil-law notary or estate agent.
The party making the highest offer that is approved by the vendors can buy the house.

The contract of sale sets out information about the house, the price, the obligations of the buyer and the vendor, the date of conveyance and the guarantee. The guarantee comprises a 10% down-payment to the civil-law notary's third-party account.
That forms security for the vendor. That 10% can be paid in cash to the civil-law notary's third-party account if sufficient liquid assets are available. Another option is to pay the 10% in the form of a bank guarantee. EM arranges the bank guarantee on your behalf.

The contract usually includes a clause stating that the agreement is subject to financing being arranged. That clause specifies the amount of time you have to arrange financing so that the purchase can proceed. If you do not succeed in obtaining a mortgage within the agreed period, you can unilaterally terminate the contract. You will however need a written statement from two banks confirming that they have refused to issue financing.

Buying a home and the accompanying costs
The price of a house in the Netherlands is always followed by an abbreviation, either ‘KK’ or ‘VON’
‘KK’ means that all of the costs related to buying a house are borne by the buyer ('kosten koper', or 'purchasing costs payable by the buyer').
‘VON’ stands for ‘vrij op naam’, or 'purchasing costs payable by the vendor', which in most cases only applies if you are buying a brand new home.

For that reason, we will concentrate on ‘KK’.

These costs include:
- Transfer tax (6%)
- The costs of registering the immovable property in your name and having that information filed in the usual registers (civil-law notary). 
- The costs of the purchasing estate agent 
- The financing costs 
- The costs of registering the financing facility in your name and having that information filed in the usual registers (civil-law notary). 
- The costs of the appraisal provided by an independent surveyor 
- The bank guarantee costs 
- The costs of an architectural survey, if required.