Purchase agreement at the notary in Amsterdam: how it works

In Amsterdam, the purchase agreement is usually drawn up by the civil-law notary, not by the estate agent. In Dutch, that contract is called the koopakte or koopovereenkomst. The buyer chooses the notary and pays for them, and it usually takes one to two weeks from the moment you agree to the moment you sign.

Why does the notary draw up the purchase agreement in Amsterdam?

In much of the Netherlands, the estate agent puts the purchase agreement on paper. In Amsterdam and the surrounding municipalities, the notary has been doing this for years. The notary works for both the buyer and the seller, and checks in advance what the Land Registry (Kadaster) knows about the home, such as ground lease (erfpacht) or a right of way. That way, everything that comes with the home goes into the agreement correctly from the start.

What happens once you have agreed?

Once buyer and seller agree on the price and the conditions, we, as the selling agent, send the documents for the home, the agreements made and your details to the notary the buyer has chosen. The buyer’s details come from their buying agent. If the buyer does not have a buying agent, we ask them for the details ourselves, so the notary has everything they need. After that, it goes like this:

• The notary drafts the purchase agreement, for an apartment together with the documents of the owners’ association (Vereniging van Eigenaren, VvE).
• Buyer, seller and the estate agents read the draft. If something is not right, the notary changes it.
• Then it is signed, digitally or at the notary’s office. Both happen.
• The buyer receives a copy of the signed agreement. From the day after, their statutory three-day cooling-off period (bedenktijd) runs.

Take your time to read the draft carefully. What is in the agreement is what counts.

What is in the purchase agreement?

The purchase agreement contains all the agreements you have made together:

• who is buying and who is selling;
• the purchase price;
• the date of transfer, the day the home changes hands and the buyer gets the keys;
• the deposit or bank guarantee;
• the conditions under which the sale can be cancelled (ontbindende voorwaarden), with the date until which they apply;
• the list of items (lijst van zaken): what stays behind and what you take with you;
• special arrangements, for example an age clause (ouderdomsclausule) for an old building, which tells the buyer about the age and condition of the property and protects the seller against claims later on.

Sellers mainly ask us about four of those points. We go through them below.

How does the deposit or bank guarantee work?

The buyer pays a deposit (waarborgsom) of 10% of the purchase price to the notary, or has their bank issue a guarantee for the same amount. The purchase agreement states the date by which this has to be arranged. We check with the notary that it has come in on time.

The deposit is your security as the seller. If the buyer does not keep to the agreements without a valid reason, you can claim that 10% as a penalty. If the buyer withdraws from the purchase in time through their cooling-off period or one of the conditions, they get the money back.

What are the conditions (ontbindende voorwaarden)?

With a condition (ontbindende voorwaarde), the buyer can withdraw from the purchase without a penalty in certain circumstances. The best known is the financing condition (voorbehoud van financiering): if the buyer cannot get their mortgage arranged, they may cancel the purchase. A structural survey (bouwkundige keuring) is also common.

Each condition has an end date. If that date passes without word from the buyer, the sale is final. What that means for you in the meantime, you can read in sold subject to conditions.

What stays behind in the home?

The purchase agreement comes with a list of items. For each item it says whether it stays or goes: lamps, curtains, the floor, built-in appliances, a made-to-measure cupboard, the shed in the garden.

It looks like a detail, but in practice this is where things go wrong most often. An example we see regularly: at the final inspection, the lamp above the dining table is gone, while the buyer assumed it would stay. Or the curtains have been taken, while the list said “stays behind”. On the day of the transfer, nobody wants to discuss that anymore.

So go through the list room by room before you sign. If you want to take something that is fixed in place, such as a special lamp or a mirror, put it clearly on the list. Or remove it before the viewings start, so there can be no misunderstanding.

When is the date of transfer?

You agree on the date of transfer during the negotiation. It has to fit your move and the time the buyer needs for their mortgage. After that, it can only be moved if buyer and seller both agree.

On the day itself, we first do the final inspection and then go to the notary for the deed of transfer (akte van levering).

What does the purchase agreement at the notary cost?

The buyer pays the costs of the purchase agreement. These fall under the buying costs (kosten koper), just like the deed of transfer and the transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting). You can read more about that in what are the costs involved in buying a house in Amsterdam.

As a seller, you only pay your own costs at the notary. Think of cancelling your mortgage registration at the transfer and the searches the notary carries out for you. If you do not speak Dutch, an interpreter joins you at the notary, and those costs are yours as well. You will see everything on the statement of settlement (nota van afrekening).

Would you like to know how we arrange this process for you when you sell? Take a look at our selling agent page. Unsure about your situation? Feel free to call or email.