For owners of retail, hospitality, office or practice space. I show what your space can become, choose the right tenant together with you and arrange everything until the keys are handed over.
Estate agent since 2008 · 4.8 on Google · Amsterdam, Amstelveen and Diemen
You don't need to prepare anything. I come by, walk through the space with you and also look at the street: who is there, who walks past, what is still missing.
Within an hour you know roughly what you can ask, which business owner would fit and how I would go about it. Free and without obligation, and then you decide.
Most commercial agents let square metres. I look at who is moving in. For the business owner who takes your property, it becomes his heart and soul. His name goes on the facade and he puts his time and money into it. Someone like that looks after your space and stays.
Someone who only offered the highest rent and doesn't fit is sometimes gone again after two years, and then the vacancy starts all over. A good baker on the corner does more for your property than the highest bid from someone who doesn't belong there.
Before I became an estate agent, I worked in hospitality for years. Then I started out on my own as a business owner with a franchise organisation, just as the financial crisis hit. In 2016 I started Makelaar in Amsterdam, and I rent our office on the Singel myself. So I know what it feels like to build a business of your own, sign a lease and hope it takes off.
That means I speak the language of the business owner who wants to move into your property, and yours as the owner. It makes negotiating easier, and fairer.
The rent depends on the location, the condition of your space and what is allowed under the zoning plan (omgevingsplan). I look at what comparable spaces nearby earn and at who wants to be on your street.
We also make a few choices together that matter just as much: which use you allow, whether you let with or without VAT, for how long, and how you deliver the space. And you know in advance which rules apply: a shop or restaurant falls under strong tenant protection, an office under the lighter rules. That saves you surprises.
On funda in business you mostly see a few photos of an empty space, or of desks and screens. No business owner dreams of that. Hadewij photographs your space with the light at the right moment.
I also make a brochure with impressions: what does your retail space look like as a boutique, a shoe shop or a florist? That way a business owner can already picture his own business. Every impression is clearly labelled as an impression, with the real photo next to it.
Example: our own office on the Singel, edited with AI.
And you get the information that is often missing on funda in business: what you are allowed to do there, the service charges, whether VAT applies to the rent, how the space is delivered, how to get there and who your neighbours are. Your space goes on funda in business and into our own listings.
Before anyone signs, you want to know who it is. I ask for the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) extract, the business plan and the figures or a forecast, and I agree what security will be provided: a bank guarantee or a deposit.
But the most important thing is the conversation. I sit down with the business owner and keep asking: what do you want to build here, how will you pay for the start, what will you do if the first year disappoints? After that I give you honest advice, and you choose.
That's all. I do the rest, and after every step you hear from me how things stand.
An example: if you let a shop for €3,500 a month, the annual rent is €42,000 and you pay €4,200 excl. VAT on signing. For a practice space at €1,800 a month, the minimum of €3,000 applies. If we can't find a tenant, it stays at the €495.
All my work is included:
For commercial property we quote amounts excluding VAT, as is usual. 21% VAT is added on top.
The lease has been terminated and in a few months your space will be empty. The sooner we start, the shorter the vacancy. Viewings can often take place while the tenant is still there, by arrangement and without the whole street knowing.
For years you were there every day. Now you're letting the property where your business was. I look for someone who will take as much care of it as you did, and I tell you honestly what the space earns now.
Inherited or bought a property, and never let commercial space before? I explain in plain language what you need to know: VAT, tenant protection, the lease and the security. You decide, I arrange the rest.
If your space has been empty for a while, it is usually down to the price, the presentation or the tenant you are looking for. I look at all three with fresh eyes and tell you honestly what needs to change.
If you want to sell your commercial property, empty or with a tenant in it, you can come to me for that as well. I set the asking price with you, show what is possible and guide you through to the notary. We agree the fee after the introduction, in advance and in writing.
For commercial property I am your agent, from the first cup of coffee to the handover of the keys. You call or message me directly, with no transfers. Hadewij takes the photos and keeps everything in order at the office.
Micha and Hadewij of Makelaar in Amsterdam make sure selling your home is stress-free.
Schreuder, via funda · 10Beautiful photos and a well thought-out strategy resulted in more offers than we had dared to hope for.
Kelsey Vaughan, via Google · 5/5After having several estate agents round, he stood out. With this estate agent you know exactly where you stand.
Van der Kolk, via funda · 10Selling my home from abroad, I was really dreading it. So glad I found Micha and Hadewij.
S. Lo, via Google · 5/5Real opening lines from funda and Google reviews by home clients of Makelaar in Amsterdam.
I find the right tenant for your retail, hospitality, office or practice space and arrange everything around it: the rent, the presentation and listing on funda in business, the viewings, screening the tenant, the negotiation, the lease and the delivery. You decide, I do the work.
€495 excl. VAT at the start, for the photos, the brochure with impressions and the listing on funda in business. Once the lease is signed, you pay 10% of the first year's rent excl. VAT, with a minimum of €3,000 excl. VAT. If we can't find a tenant, it stays at the €495.
I look at what comparable spaces nearby earn, at the condition of your space and at what you are allowed to do there under the zoning plan (omgevingsplan). Then we set the rent together. Not an attractive figure to win the assignment, but a price that attracts the right business owner to your space.
Under Dutch law the difference is big. A shop, restaurant or craft business with a space where customers walk in is called 290 business space. The tenant then has a lot of protection: a lease usually runs for five years plus another five, and the rent can be reviewed after a while. Offices and most practice spaces fall under 230a. There the tenant has only limited protection against eviction and you agree the term yourselves. I find out in advance which rules apply to your space.
Normally not: letting commercial property is exempt from VAT. You can choose together with the tenant to let with VAT, but only if the tenant's own business is almost entirely subject to VAT. A physiotherapist or dentist, for example, usually isn't. If you let with VAT, you as the owner can reclaim the VAT on a renovation, for example. If the tenant later uses the space less for VAT-taxed work, the choice lapses and you may have to pay back the VAT you deducted. We discuss in advance what works out best for you.
I work with the ROZ models (the Dutch real estate council), which are the most widely used for commercial property: one for retail and hospitality space and one for office space. In them we set out, among other things, the term, the annual indexation, the service charges, the delivery level and the use of the space. Good to know: an office building of 100 m² or more must have at least energy label C, otherwise it may not be used as an office. That rule does not apply to monuments and a few other situations. Whether it applies to your property, I check beforehand.
Usually a bank guarantee or deposit of three months' rent, including VAT and service charges. I also look at the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) extract, the business plan and the figures or a forecast, and I have a real conversation with the business owner. Only after that do you get my advice.
That depends on the location, the price and the type of space, and with commercial property it is harder to predict than with homes. After the introduction we plan the photo shoot and put your space online as soon as possible. I'll tell you honestly how the market looks for your space in our first conversation.
Yes, you don't need a company for that. There are a few choices you need to make carefully in advance, such as letting with or without VAT. I explain those in plain language, so you know what you're getting into.
Yes, and that's actually smart: the sooner we start, the shorter the vacancy. In consultation with the current tenant we plan the viewings, and if you want, we do it discreetly, without a sign on the facade.
Yes. Whether your property is empty or let, I set the asking price with you, show what is possible and guide you through to the notary. We agree the fee after the introduction, in advance and in writing.
The commercial spaces I am currently letting or selling are in our listings. If nothing there fits, feel free to call or message me.
Book an introduction and I'll come by. Or message me directly.
Or message 06 15 02 72 06 · micha@makelaarinamsterdam.nl
Singel 374, 1016 AH Amsterdam
