27 House Real Estate: ‘It’s A Renter’s Market!’

In 2020 ‘home’ matters like never before. If we can’t go out, we need to feel good staying in. Rachel Perry spoke to Amsterdam mama and real estate agent Roos Pham of 27 House Real Estate about the state of the Amsterdam rental market in late 2020 and why this could be a fantastic time to move house!  

Personal Attention

Roos is an immensely experienced and personable real estate agent who genuinely cares about finding you the home to suit your needs. She listens. She’s open and generous with the information she shares. And she knows that ultimately your choice of home is an affair of the heart and not a matter of ticking off requirements from a checklist.

Whether you want to seize the opportunity of the current market to upgrade to a bigger house, or whether you need help moving from abroad during these times of challenging travel, Roos is there to help. Give her call at 27 House on +31 (0)20 428 07 21. She’s the one who picks up the phone and she also handles rentals. 

It’s a Renter’s Market! 

The Corona crisis means that at the current time fewer internationals are relocating to Amsterdam. After all, if you can’t meet clients in person there’s little point in moving to where they are. And many people prefer the familiarity of their home country in times of lockdown. Restrictions on tourist travel have caused the bottom to fall out of the Airbnb and B&B markets and some properties previously available for short term rentals are now on offer for longer term contracts.  

This has caused a drop in demand and a surge in property available to rent. The news could hardly be better for prospective renters! There is more on offer at lower prices than before. This is a very good time to move to or within Amsterdam.  

There are also very good reasons to move right now too; working from home, occasional home learning, multiple Zoom calls happening simultaneously, has made that extra room feel necessary! Roos say that now is the time to “upgrade for less money”. If you are an international relocating to Amsterdam without a generous old-style expat package, now is a good time to sign a contract for a lower rent. If your family includes a pet – which historically added an extra challenge to finding a place that would have you – landlords are more likely than ever to agree to rent to you their property nonetheless. And if you want to cash in on the current high property sales prices, you could do that too and rent for a while before buying again in anticipation of a post-Covid drop in purchase prices. 

Properties 

27 House Real Estate lets out properties from a starting rent of 1,500 euros/month exclusive of utilities which will get you a 40 m2 apartment in central Amsterdam. At the upper end they let out entire houses for as much as 8 or 9,000 euros/month. Most properties fall between those two extremes. For the greater part they are fully furnished and include everything from beds and couches to saucepans and cutlery. Others are unfurnished but come with flooring, window treatments and a fitted kitchen. Roos assures me that they only have “nice properties” on their books.  

“Upgrade for less money”?! The news could hardly be better for prospective renters!

Who Pays the Agent? 

It is nearly always the landlord who pays the agent’s fees  in Amsterdam (one month’s rent plus 21% VAT). As a renter, you normally shouldn’t have to pay. 27 House Real Estate does get paid by the landlord, but as it is an upstanding business, you do not have to fear the shenanigans of less scrupulous market operators. If you want the reassurance of further references from the Amsterdam Mamas community, try asking in the main Facebook group; several of our members have a longstanding relationship with 27 House Real Estate.  If a renter contacts 27 House Real Estate for help finding a home, the same fee (one month’s rent lus 21% VAT) is charged to the renter, but as agencies cannot represent both the landlord and the renter, properties in their portfolio cannot be rented. Nevertheless, there are advantages to using 27 House as a rental agent: their relationships within the industry mean that properties can be shown before they go online, and the renter benefits from their expertise around new Dutch rental laws, contracts, check-in, setting up utilities, and other questions.

Which Rental Contract Is for Me? 

Under Dutch law, rental contracts come in three versions, A, B, and C.

• A is an indefinite period contract.
• B is a contract for a limited term of up to two years which can be terminated by the tenant with a single month’s notice.
• C is for landlords renting out their private home with a contract that can be broken from the landlord side only if they move back into their own house.

27 House Real Estate will guide you to understand what you are committing to before signing. But prospective tenants can also get informed and seek additional advice free-of-charge from !Woon. 

In-person, Covid-safe Viewings 

27 House Real Estate has adapted their working methods to the Dutch Public Health (RIVM) guidelines to make everything as Covid-safe as possible in the current situation.

• Roos gets to the property in advance, opens the windows and dons a mask and gloves.
• She opens all internal and external doors for the potential renters; minimising touching surfaces is particularly important if the house is currently occupied.
• She no longer schedules viewings back-to-back but plans for pauses in between to avoid different viewers crossing paths.
• Prior to every viewing she sends clients a copy of the 27 House safety protocol.
• Potential renters are asked to enter properties alone, wear a mask and adhere to the 1.5 metre distance rule.  

Distance Viewings  

If you are moving from abroad, the Corona situation makes house-hunting more challenging. Ten-day quarantine is compulsory upon arrival in the Netherlands, and as many travellers also have to quarantine upon arriving back in their home country, reconnaissance visits and house-hunting trips have become next to impossible. If you are in that situation, you could do well to call Roos for a chat. If you decide that you want to take the plunge and rent from abroad without visiting in person, she will bend over backwards to help you. As well as the usual floor plans, photos, descriptions and videos, she’ll also take you on a live WhatsApp video tour of the properties that interest you. No one is going to pretend that it’s as good as viewing in person, but it comes a close second. 

If you decide to take the plunge and sign a lease on a new place in Amsterdam this winter, we wish you every success! 

To find out more about 27 House Real Estate, see their website and Facebook page.

Disclaimer: 27 House Real Estate has paid to be featured on Amsterdam Mamas because they believe that their services would be of interest and benefit to our readers, and we think so too. For more information on sponsored posts and advertising on Amsterdam Mamas, please see our Advertising and Disclosure policy.