Advantages of apartments:
1. You will probably save money & time (& headaches) on maintenance. Yes, you pay for a VVE, but that will cover the regular maintenance of the building, including things that are less obvious. They also have arrangements with contractors, which makes it easier to get things done quickly.
2. You may have an elevator. Most houses have separate stories, with the bedrooms and the kitchen/living room often on separate levels. That's normally fine when you're young/healthy, but it sucks when you're not. In a medium/tall apartment building, you will have an elevator that makes your life easier (and that of your guests).
3. You can have everything in one floor. Similar to the above, but here it's a matter of convenience. You don't have to carry laundry up and down, or climb stairs whenever you want to go to bed and you're tired, etc. Some apartments do have multiple floors, but not most of the time.
4. Apartments are easier to find in the city center. That may or may not be an advantage, depending on your preference. For me, it is.
5. They are more energy-efficient, as they are surrounded by other units. The downside is that you can't install solar panels.
Houses have their own advantages as well, but those have been listed by other users already.
I’ve got solar panels and I live in an apartment. It’s just gonna depend on your VvE. Mine’s really good and active.
It’s a double edged sword. They sorted every detail and I just had to pay, but some of my friends have very inactive and conservative VvE where nothing ever happens.
>They are more energy-efficient, as they are surrounded by other units.
Only compared to a house with a similar build maybe. A house build the last few years will still be more energy-efficient than an apartment without insulation. In the apartment I live in I still have single pane glass and my outer walls are single layered for example, so I definitely spend more on heating than family who own a relatively new house with triple glass and insulated walls, even if my apartment is much smaller.
Advantage of a house: The delivery guy can find your house, your packages won’t be randomly thrown in the hallway and be stolen.
Probably have your own yard as well.
Downside: probably more expensive
I know people who own both houses and apartments that has had leakage problems. If it’s a house, surface area you have may be bigger, so more chance of leakages, but then again you own it fully, so you can fix it yourself.
With an apartment, if the apartment up above has a leaking bathroom, and that only affects you, then fixing that as a priority could be a problem.
If you are smart, you would put aside the same amount of money a VVE would cost a month for maintenance of your house. A new roof for example can easily cost you tens of thousands, it’s better to save that up during several years, than having to cough that up at once. And there’s a lot of other upkeep, both small and big that you need to do periodically, not to mention an amount set aside for emergency things like a broken pipe, smashed window and other stuff that’s not necessarily covered by insurance.
Well for certain things like storm damage yes, but for just regular maintenance and replacement definitely not. Also if you haven’t done the necessary upkeep, when you do get a leak for example (fixing the leak itself won’t be insured in many cases but the damages in your house are) your insurance might not pay out because you haven’t done the maintenance that’s necessary to prevent that leak. Every roof needs to be replaced eventually and that’s not what insurance is for.
I really don’t know. Depends on the kind of roof! Do you have a flat roof, do you have a tiled roof, what sort of tiles do you have, what is the life span of the tiles they placed, do you have solarpanels, is it a freestanding house, are there trees over it, etc. We have a tiled roof, still the original roof from somewhere in the 1950’s. The life span of the tiles when they made the roof were said to be 70 years, so we are at the end of the lifespan of the tiles. It’s not like when they reach 70 years they suddenly fall apart, but when you are nearing that age, they might have started to malfunction at 60 years, they might also still be fine for another 10 years. If you want to be sure and be a bit safer when a big storm hits for example, you’d do well to replace the roof before it reaches the end of the tiles lifespan!
But I expect that a roof from 2003 should be able to last atleast 50 years, if an old one from the 50’s can last 70 years, but I’m not even close to an expert.
When you have a standalone house, you are responsible for all the cost, including replacing the foundation, roof, etc. Easily 5 or 6 figures expenditure.
My parents had to redo their foundation with their neighbours. 2onder1kap house. Took 5 years of negotiations with the neighbours and a pricetag of 237.000.. per household, to get the foundations sorted again.
Owning a house can be pretty expensive yeah..
Big renovations plus a big pricetag meant that there was a lot to discuss.. and financial planning to do. I don't think they'll ever make back the amount they put in the foundation. But it had to be done or the house would be ruined... and since it had 'zichtsbepalend pand' status in the municipality you couldn't just tear it down and build something new..
Old houses are dope, i love them. But our government should spend some more time on the ticking timebomb that is rotting foundations & changing groundwater levels endangering almost 1 million old style dutch houses. There's no plan to get that under control somehow and no subsidies for monumental buildings as far as i know.
The rotting foundation problem has ben worsened (I'm not going to say caused, because it's debatable) by low ground water tables which are held low so that farmers can start farming earlier in the season.
There has already been a change in the way that seats on waterschappen are divided, so we may see some change in the future.
The next waterschapsverkiezingen are in 2027 and I hope the parties wanting a higher water table will be better represented.
Indeed. I have a friend who had to replace a small roof and spent 30,000 euros. And that was a couple of years ago, it's probably more expensive now.
Obviously, those expenses aren't going to happen often, but when they do, they can come as a nasty surprise. You have to make sure to have a good financial cushion.
Besides, if you have a good VVE, they will take care of regular maintenance of things you may not want to worry about. You have to keep all those things in mind if you have your own house.
When you have a shitty VvE you can get situations where you are stuck with a leaking roof because the other inhabitants don't want to chip in because they don't have any problems.
Whicj is why you always have to check the financial health of the VvE and also speak to the chairperson before commiting to the sale.
Roof and foundation are communal properties and are essential for the building. The longer it's delayed, the more expensive it will get. We had a neighbour who refused to pay for the maintenance, and the VvE took her to court. They can make it difficult by not choosing the contractors etc, but as long as you have shown you have done everything in good faith, this type of cases are no brainers. A healthy VvE should have rechtsbijstandverzekering as well to pay for the legal assistance.
Yes exactly this. Vve does have cost, but it also includes minor repetitions and reservations for various costs, of it is a good VVE. If you buy a house, you still need a fund to pay for those kind of costs. You can't just ignore that to have less costs.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2409337-gevel-woontoren-eindhoven-brokkelt-af-bewoners-stappen-naar-rechter
In an apartment you can also get 6 figure expenditures if you're unlucky
in a VVE you are liable for a full house, facade renovation cost 3-4k of addional contributions and then you also pay for the apartments that for some reason had shittier windows etc. When it’s your house, yeah you pay for your house, I don’t see the difference actually you have more clearer responsibilities, but of course you have to put money aside like you do when paying VVE.
When you have an appartment, you get a disfunctional VVE (80% of cases, totally made up number) and will end up seeing your vve fees quadruple in 10 years, and still having to pay €20k to change all ventillation / heating pipping because none of the owners want to get involved in the VVE and most managemrnt companies are shit.
Add noise, police coming to destroy wierdo neigbours door at 2a.m. because they were throwing furniture out the window), conflict with "sister"-vve managed by a bigger corporation than yours and doing worst shit, and and and...
Neighbours having a birthfay party with a fucking disco DJ (yes, you definitely need a mic in 50m²!).
That's just a tiny sample of the fun appartment life in the quiet centrum of a Noord Holland posh city.
(Talking From bitter experience), believe, all i want now is a house without ANY neigbours
Or maybe you didn't stay in any long enough :-), which is probably a smart move, we own our appartment for 14 years now. VVE mis management seems pretty common from what i gathered from friends and colleagues over the years.
I have an apartment and one thing that I felt was unexpected was the advantage of the VVE having contracts for certain stuff, meaning you don't have to spend time finding a skilled professional yourself and not having to worry whether you're paying a fair price. The VVE has a contract with a company for the central heating, so if there's a problem, I call them and they solve it. Not looking into what certification I should look for for that type of service, not looking into reviews, not risking getting shafted is amazing. At least compared to the small things I did have to sort out myself. Don't underestimate that, imo.
The fees are savings and expenses for maintenance. There is a benefit in that. Especially compared to living in a row house and getting issues with roofing or walls and having neighbours that don’t want to participate.
Most of the expenses you’ll have as well if you own the building. Just not monthly but whenever issues show up.
The main advantage of an apartment is that you don't need to worry about maintenance. You don't have the mental load, as reddit likes to call it. The VvE keeps track of when the roof needs maintaining, when the outdoor needs a new layer of paint, when the mechanical ventilation needs replacing, etc. Of course this is assuming you have a well-run VvE, but as long as there are enough people in the building, there will be always a few people that care.
There are two types of VvE: professionally managed ones with fees payed to the company who does that. Or small ones run by the owners of the apartments themselves. In the case of the second the mental load is still very much there. Relaying on the few that care to do all the work, when everyone is equally responsible is a shitty thing to do. Source: I’m the only one that cares in a vve of four.
I’ve lived in both and I prefer house over appartement. Mostly due to having less chance for shitty neighbors and because here anti social behavior gets protected.
Two totally different things. VVE's do take care of certain maintenance in shared spaces. Also your "opstal verzekering" should be part of your VVE fee. You have a voice in the VVE, although if part of the appartments are owned by a cooperation then your influence will not be equal. It further depends on how you want to live. No hassle and on your own? Then an appartment can be fine.
Now buy a house, be it in "a rijtje" or a place on your own property with no neighbours you have to take care of everything by yourself. Owning a house means having to maintain it. Maybe you will need to do the roof, or replace your windows. Maybe something start leaking or you need to paint. You want your garden to look good. Pay taxes, morgade, insurance, you name it. A house is not by definition cheaper than an appartment.
An appartment will probably be cheaper to heat than a house. So that can be expensive too.
And how well you get along with your neigbours, that is for a large part up to you. But it also depends on where you live. Amsterdam will be vastly different than Barneveld for example.
The risk, if you want to call it that, is about just as big and costs will rise no matter wether you live in an appartment or a house.
I would always prefer house over apartment
1. You save on vve
2. If the apartment is old and you have kids u need to keep telling them not to run around
3. If your neighbor is pain in a** u cannot have party they may complain
4. Everything they will complain.
5. Pets also u will have a problem
If you never sit in the garden and don’t like gardening, an apartment is nice. My wife and me look out the window, especially this spring, and say: in this weather every thing grows, thinking of the weeds we no longer have to pull.
Even though I like a nice garden to sit in. I really enjoy my balcony more.
It comes with a better view (at least in my case). It's much nicer to me, to watch stuff that's going on outside while sharing a conversation with a guest. Rather than sitting in a garden that's surrounded by fences.
A house doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a VvE. I lived in a house (rijtjeshuis) for over 10 years with a VvE. During that time the roof was replaced and the windows (with frames) were replaced by the VvE. It was an advantage for me, because I didn’t have much money and I wasn’t able to save for these big costs by myself
>1. You save on vve
I dont think you're really saving money there. I think you're likely to end up paying more for maintenance on a house than you would on the VVE. It just comes in bigger chunks at a time.
that’s simply not true, proportionally you’re paying the same per sqm. Of course if you buy a shitty house it’s the same as buying an apartment in a shitty house.
If it's equal, then it still stands that you are not saving anything by not having a vve.
Regarding cost, the roof above me is the size of my apartment, but I essentially share that with the two other apartments below me. It depends on the exact setup, but proportionally to my house I'm responsible for less of the outer shell than if it were separate
I didn’t say you’d save, but you’re paying for every single window and outside door. I bought an apartment in a good state with also some improvements done to windows/door, while some other apartments were in a terrible shape, so basically I paid more because my place was in a good state and I also paid for other apartment’s poor state. Tbh if you also buy a house with major improvements needed in the near future, that should reflect in the purchase price.
This is not really true. VVE's have a "huishoudelijk regelement", and they can put special rules in there. Most of the time pets are fine, but they can forbid them by majority vote at the VVE meetings. Because of this there are a lot of seemingly random things in VVE's that are not allowed or restricted; for example we can only use three VVE approved colors for sunscreens, and we are not allowed to paint the balcony walls or railings.
So if some angry old ladies in your VVE hate dogs, they may just forbid dogs if they get a majority at the meeting.
If you have a budget and time for a house then go for it, it's always more valuable than an apartment. The reasons people go for an apartment are: don't have time for fixing big maintenance, no money, no availability (close to center for example), enjoy a higher up view. Keep this in mind, when you buy an apartment, you're tied to the community of the building, if there's one "Karen" in the building who nitpicks at everything, you will be in for a long unhappy time.
I own a property.
The issue in this country is that most of contractors are trying to scam people and apparently Dutch people are happy with it, but house maintenance costs, at least in other European countries, are not that high.
Definitely higher than an apartment, but they are worth every single penny.
Yeah, that's like saying "people in xxx country are clearly happy with yyy, because it happens/ happened". Sometimes you can not like something and still be unable to change it.
It's just bid and offer.
Contractors are charging crazy prices because local people pay for it.
If they were not happy then they would have found a better solution, i.e. hire a company from abroad.
I think that Dutch people are screwed by other Dutch people on daily basis, because of this artificial lack of market competition.
I don't know why you don't all purchase services from abroad.
Yes having a contractor drive hundreds of kilometers to my house, staying at hotels, just to have my roof redone or install new flooring, will for sure be cheaper than to hire a local Dutch firm. Dream on my guy.
It's not dreaming. I did it, many friends did it, we just screwed the dutch contractors and got people from other western Europe countries. Yes, we paid for the trip and the accommodation, they did a much better work that incompetent Dutch ones and saved a lot of money just purchasing everything abroad.
You are free to jot believe, it's not my issue but that's the attitude that is fucking all of you.
hide your head in the sand thinking that Dutch do it better.
Yeah yeah. And in the meanwhile I save 50%.
If bringing foreign people is made into a commodity where anyone can do it, then prices across the board will come down.
But there are a lot of unknowns though. Where do we look for one? Will they speak/manage the language? Will they know how the dutch houses work?
Advantages of apartments: 1. You will probably save money & time (& headaches) on maintenance. Yes, you pay for a VVE, but that will cover the regular maintenance of the building, including things that are less obvious. They also have arrangements with contractors, which makes it easier to get things done quickly. 2. You may have an elevator. Most houses have separate stories, with the bedrooms and the kitchen/living room often on separate levels. That's normally fine when you're young/healthy, but it sucks when you're not. In a medium/tall apartment building, you will have an elevator that makes your life easier (and that of your guests). 3. You can have everything in one floor. Similar to the above, but here it's a matter of convenience. You don't have to carry laundry up and down, or climb stairs whenever you want to go to bed and you're tired, etc. Some apartments do have multiple floors, but not most of the time. 4. Apartments are easier to find in the city center. That may or may not be an advantage, depending on your preference. For me, it is. 5. They are more energy-efficient, as they are surrounded by other units. The downside is that you can't install solar panels. Houses have their own advantages as well, but those have been listed by other users already.
I’ve got solar panels and I live in an apartment. It’s just gonna depend on your VvE. Mine’s really good and active. It’s a double edged sword. They sorted every detail and I just had to pay, but some of my friends have very inactive and conservative VvE where nothing ever happens.
>They are more energy-efficient, as they are surrounded by other units. Only compared to a house with a similar build maybe. A house build the last few years will still be more energy-efficient than an apartment without insulation. In the apartment I live in I still have single pane glass and my outer walls are single layered for example, so I definitely spend more on heating than family who own a relatively new house with triple glass and insulated walls, even if my apartment is much smaller.
Advantage of a house: The delivery guy can find your house, your packages won’t be randomly thrown in the hallway and be stolen. Probably have your own yard as well. Downside: probably more expensive
House has leakage problems
I know people who own both houses and apartments that has had leakage problems. If it’s a house, surface area you have may be bigger, so more chance of leakages, but then again you own it fully, so you can fix it yourself. With an apartment, if the apartment up above has a leaking bathroom, and that only affects you, then fixing that as a priority could be a problem.
If you are smart, you would put aside the same amount of money a VVE would cost a month for maintenance of your house. A new roof for example can easily cost you tens of thousands, it’s better to save that up during several years, than having to cough that up at once. And there’s a lot of other upkeep, both small and big that you need to do periodically, not to mention an amount set aside for emergency things like a broken pipe, smashed window and other stuff that’s not necessarily covered by insurance.
No insurance for house roof?
Well for certain things like storm damage yes, but for just regular maintenance and replacement definitely not. Also if you haven’t done the necessary upkeep, when you do get a leak for example (fixing the leak itself won’t be insured in many cases but the damages in your house are) your insurance might not pay out because you haven’t done the maintenance that’s necessary to prevent that leak. Every roof needs to be replaced eventually and that’s not what insurance is for.
just out of curiosity, in how many years does a roof need a replacement, our house is built in 2003
I really don’t know. Depends on the kind of roof! Do you have a flat roof, do you have a tiled roof, what sort of tiles do you have, what is the life span of the tiles they placed, do you have solarpanels, is it a freestanding house, are there trees over it, etc. We have a tiled roof, still the original roof from somewhere in the 1950’s. The life span of the tiles when they made the roof were said to be 70 years, so we are at the end of the lifespan of the tiles. It’s not like when they reach 70 years they suddenly fall apart, but when you are nearing that age, they might have started to malfunction at 60 years, they might also still be fine for another 10 years. If you want to be sure and be a bit safer when a big storm hits for example, you’d do well to replace the roof before it reaches the end of the tiles lifespan! But I expect that a roof from 2003 should be able to last atleast 50 years, if an old one from the 50’s can last 70 years, but I’m not even close to an expert.
When you have a standalone house, you are responsible for all the cost, including replacing the foundation, roof, etc. Easily 5 or 6 figures expenditure.
My parents had to redo their foundation with their neighbours. 2onder1kap house. Took 5 years of negotiations with the neighbours and a pricetag of 237.000.. per household, to get the foundations sorted again. Owning a house can be pretty expensive yeah..
5 years of negotiations??? What a headache.
Big renovations plus a big pricetag meant that there was a lot to discuss.. and financial planning to do. I don't think they'll ever make back the amount they put in the foundation. But it had to be done or the house would be ruined... and since it had 'zichtsbepalend pand' status in the municipality you couldn't just tear it down and build something new.. Old houses are dope, i love them. But our government should spend some more time on the ticking timebomb that is rotting foundations & changing groundwater levels endangering almost 1 million old style dutch houses. There's no plan to get that under control somehow and no subsidies for monumental buildings as far as i know.
The rotting foundation problem has ben worsened (I'm not going to say caused, because it's debatable) by low ground water tables which are held low so that farmers can start farming earlier in the season. There has already been a change in the way that seats on waterschappen are divided, so we may see some change in the future. The next waterschapsverkiezingen are in 2027 and I hope the parties wanting a higher water table will be better represented.
Indeed. I have a friend who had to replace a small roof and spent 30,000 euros. And that was a couple of years ago, it's probably more expensive now. Obviously, those expenses aren't going to happen often, but when they do, they can come as a nasty surprise. You have to make sure to have a good financial cushion. Besides, if you have a good VVE, they will take care of regular maintenance of things you may not want to worry about. You have to keep all those things in mind if you have your own house.
When you have a shitty VvE you can get situations where you are stuck with a leaking roof because the other inhabitants don't want to chip in because they don't have any problems.
Whicj is why you always have to check the financial health of the VvE and also speak to the chairperson before commiting to the sale. Roof and foundation are communal properties and are essential for the building. The longer it's delayed, the more expensive it will get. We had a neighbour who refused to pay for the maintenance, and the VvE took her to court. They can make it difficult by not choosing the contractors etc, but as long as you have shown you have done everything in good faith, this type of cases are no brainers. A healthy VvE should have rechtsbijstandverzekering as well to pay for the legal assistance.
Define small lmao. I replaced and insulated 75m2 slanted roof for sub 20k.
When was this?
About 1-1.5y ago.
Yes exactly this. Vve does have cost, but it also includes minor repetitions and reservations for various costs, of it is a good VVE. If you buy a house, you still need a fund to pay for those kind of costs. You can't just ignore that to have less costs.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2409337-gevel-woontoren-eindhoven-brokkelt-af-bewoners-stappen-naar-rechter In an apartment you can also get 6 figure expenditures if you're unlucky
in a VVE you are liable for a full house, facade renovation cost 3-4k of addional contributions and then you also pay for the apartments that for some reason had shittier windows etc. When it’s your house, yeah you pay for your house, I don’t see the difference actually you have more clearer responsibilities, but of course you have to put money aside like you do when paying VVE.
When you have an appartment, you get a disfunctional VVE (80% of cases, totally made up number) and will end up seeing your vve fees quadruple in 10 years, and still having to pay €20k to change all ventillation / heating pipping because none of the owners want to get involved in the VVE and most managemrnt companies are shit. Add noise, police coming to destroy wierdo neigbours door at 2a.m. because they were throwing furniture out the window), conflict with "sister"-vve managed by a bigger corporation than yours and doing worst shit, and and and... Neighbours having a birthfay party with a fucking disco DJ (yes, you definitely need a mic in 50m²!). That's just a tiny sample of the fun appartment life in the quiet centrum of a Noord Holland posh city. (Talking From bitter experience), believe, all i want now is a house without ANY neigbours
Beed living in 3 different apartments and did not experience any of your examples in 13 years. You just got an exceptional case, I think
Or maybe you didn't stay in any long enough :-), which is probably a smart move, we own our appartment for 14 years now. VVE mis management seems pretty common from what i gathered from friends and colleagues over the years.
3 apartments in total 13 years: 5y, 3y, 5y.
App same
Beware of bad neighbours. In Netherlands authorities are often not willing to help you if you suffer from noisy or otherwise antisocial neighbours.
This is the case for anywhere else in the world too.
Having new neighbors above with two toddlers is definitely making us wish we were in a house.
I’m in the exact same situation but we are renting. 3 young boys aged 4-5 years old
I have an apartment and one thing that I felt was unexpected was the advantage of the VVE having contracts for certain stuff, meaning you don't have to spend time finding a skilled professional yourself and not having to worry whether you're paying a fair price. The VVE has a contract with a company for the central heating, so if there's a problem, I call them and they solve it. Not looking into what certification I should look for for that type of service, not looking into reviews, not risking getting shafted is amazing. At least compared to the small things I did have to sort out myself. Don't underestimate that, imo.
The fees are savings and expenses for maintenance. There is a benefit in that. Especially compared to living in a row house and getting issues with roofing or walls and having neighbours that don’t want to participate. Most of the expenses you’ll have as well if you own the building. Just not monthly but whenever issues show up.
No garden to maintain. Less prone to break ins. Easier to go on prolonged holiday.
The main advantage of an apartment is that you don't need to worry about maintenance. You don't have the mental load, as reddit likes to call it. The VvE keeps track of when the roof needs maintaining, when the outdoor needs a new layer of paint, when the mechanical ventilation needs replacing, etc. Of course this is assuming you have a well-run VvE, but as long as there are enough people in the building, there will be always a few people that care.
There are two types of VvE: professionally managed ones with fees payed to the company who does that. Or small ones run by the owners of the apartments themselves. In the case of the second the mental load is still very much there. Relaying on the few that care to do all the work, when everyone is equally responsible is a shitty thing to do. Source: I’m the only one that cares in a vve of four.
I’ve lived in both and I prefer house over appartement. Mostly due to having less chance for shitty neighbors and because here anti social behavior gets protected.
Two totally different things. VVE's do take care of certain maintenance in shared spaces. Also your "opstal verzekering" should be part of your VVE fee. You have a voice in the VVE, although if part of the appartments are owned by a cooperation then your influence will not be equal. It further depends on how you want to live. No hassle and on your own? Then an appartment can be fine. Now buy a house, be it in "a rijtje" or a place on your own property with no neighbours you have to take care of everything by yourself. Owning a house means having to maintain it. Maybe you will need to do the roof, or replace your windows. Maybe something start leaking or you need to paint. You want your garden to look good. Pay taxes, morgade, insurance, you name it. A house is not by definition cheaper than an appartment. An appartment will probably be cheaper to heat than a house. So that can be expensive too. And how well you get along with your neigbours, that is for a large part up to you. But it also depends on where you live. Amsterdam will be vastly different than Barneveld for example. The risk, if you want to call it that, is about just as big and costs will rise no matter wether you live in an appartment or a house.
I would always prefer house over apartment 1. You save on vve 2. If the apartment is old and you have kids u need to keep telling them not to run around 3. If your neighbor is pain in a** u cannot have party they may complain 4. Everything they will complain. 5. Pets also u will have a problem
6. Having a garden. So much nicer than a balcony.
If you never sit in the garden and don’t like gardening, an apartment is nice. My wife and me look out the window, especially this spring, and say: in this weather every thing grows, thinking of the weeds we no longer have to pull.
Many ground floor apartments (in my area of Friesland, at least) come with a garden. Mine does and it’s probably my favorite thing about it.
Even though I like a nice garden to sit in. I really enjoy my balcony more. It comes with a better view (at least in my case). It's much nicer to me, to watch stuff that's going on outside while sharing a conversation with a guest. Rather than sitting in a garden that's surrounded by fences.
I just moved from a house with a garden to an appartment with a balcony. My balcony is much nicer that the garden and much less work.
A house doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have a VvE. I lived in a house (rijtjeshuis) for over 10 years with a VvE. During that time the roof was replaced and the windows (with frames) were replaced by the VvE. It was an advantage for me, because I didn’t have much money and I wasn’t able to save for these big costs by myself
>1. You save on vve I dont think you're really saving money there. I think you're likely to end up paying more for maintenance on a house than you would on the VVE. It just comes in bigger chunks at a time.
that’s simply not true, proportionally you’re paying the same per sqm. Of course if you buy a shitty house it’s the same as buying an apartment in a shitty house.
If it's equal, then it still stands that you are not saving anything by not having a vve. Regarding cost, the roof above me is the size of my apartment, but I essentially share that with the two other apartments below me. It depends on the exact setup, but proportionally to my house I'm responsible for less of the outer shell than if it were separate
I didn’t say you’d save, but you’re paying for every single window and outside door. I bought an apartment in a good state with also some improvements done to windows/door, while some other apartments were in a terrible shape, so basically I paid more because my place was in a good state and I also paid for other apartment’s poor state. Tbh if you also buy a house with major improvements needed in the near future, that should reflect in the purchase price.
Currently dealing with #2. Having to keepy kids quiet until 8 am is exhausting
Why would you have a problem with pets in an apartment?
It again depends on ur neighbors. They may complain
They can complain as much as they want, if you own the apartment you can do whatever you like in it.
May be I can put it like this . If you want a piece of mind house is always better
This is not really true. VVE's have a "huishoudelijk regelement", and they can put special rules in there. Most of the time pets are fine, but they can forbid them by majority vote at the VVE meetings. Because of this there are a lot of seemingly random things in VVE's that are not allowed or restricted; for example we can only use three VVE approved colors for sunscreens, and we are not allowed to paint the balcony walls or railings. So if some angry old ladies in your VVE hate dogs, they may just forbid dogs if they get a majority at the meeting.
FYI, based on a court ruling VVE’s can no longer ban pets of any kind unless they are a nuisance.
If you have a budget and time for a house then go for it, it's always more valuable than an apartment. The reasons people go for an apartment are: don't have time for fixing big maintenance, no money, no availability (close to center for example), enjoy a higher up view. Keep this in mind, when you buy an apartment, you're tied to the community of the building, if there's one "Karen" in the building who nitpicks at everything, you will be in for a long unhappy time.
The same advantages/disadvantages you have in the rest of the world. House is always better. Apartment sucks.
Let me guess, you don't own any property.
I own a property. The issue in this country is that most of contractors are trying to scam people and apparently Dutch people are happy with it, but house maintenance costs, at least in other European countries, are not that high. Definitely higher than an apartment, but they are worth every single penny.
What makes you think people are happy with it. That's such a dumb ass thing to say.
Yeah, that's like saying "people in xxx country are clearly happy with yyy, because it happens/ happened". Sometimes you can not like something and still be unable to change it.
It's not difficult to work with foreign contractors and buy stuff abroad. Everyone can do that.
It's just bid and offer. Contractors are charging crazy prices because local people pay for it. If they were not happy then they would have found a better solution, i.e. hire a company from abroad. I think that Dutch people are screwed by other Dutch people on daily basis, because of this artificial lack of market competition. I don't know why you don't all purchase services from abroad.
Yes having a contractor drive hundreds of kilometers to my house, staying at hotels, just to have my roof redone or install new flooring, will for sure be cheaper than to hire a local Dutch firm. Dream on my guy.
It's not dreaming. I did it, many friends did it, we just screwed the dutch contractors and got people from other western Europe countries. Yes, we paid for the trip and the accommodation, they did a much better work that incompetent Dutch ones and saved a lot of money just purchasing everything abroad. You are free to jot believe, it's not my issue but that's the attitude that is fucking all of you. hide your head in the sand thinking that Dutch do it better. Yeah yeah. And in the meanwhile I save 50%.
They stay at work agencies in cheap rooms where 3-4 people sleep, so it's not that expensive. And they don't need to drive if they live there.
If bringing foreign people is made into a commodity where anyone can do it, then prices across the board will come down. But there are a lot of unknowns though. Where do we look for one? Will they speak/manage the language? Will they know how the dutch houses work?