Bidding over the asking price: how much, and how do you negotiate?

Why an average percentage over asking tells you little

You hear stories about homes sold tens of thousands of euros above the asking price. So you start looking for a rule of thumb: how much do you have to bid over asking in Amsterdam, Haarlem or Alkmaar? The problem is that those figures keep shifting, and they say nothing about the one property you are interested in.

In Amsterdam an offer at the asking price is often not enough. In Haarlem and Alkmaar the pressure is usually somewhat lower, and in Purmerend and Hoorn it is generally less extreme. Even so, it differs per neighbourhood and per type of home. An average for the whole of Amsterdam says little about an apartment in the Jordaan or a family home in Amsterdam-Noord.

There is something else an average hides: the asking price itself. Some homes are deliberately priced below their real value to attract offers. Bidding well over the asking price is then not expensive, it is simply the market price. Other homes are priced too high, and then even bidding at the asking price is too much.

Start with the valuation, not with a percentage

We do not work with rules of thumb from the internet, but look at what is happening in that street right now. That is why your dedicated agent always starts with a valuation: a substantiated estimate of what this home is worth. That is something different from the valuation report (taxatie) you may need later for the mortgage.

From that valuation follows how much room there is between the asking price and what buyers are actually paying now. On that basis we decide together on a bidding strategy that fits that specific property.

• Recent sales of comparable homes in the area
• The condition of the property: maintenance, insulation, expected costs after purchase
• How the asking price relates to that real value
• How much interest there is and how the selling agent is running the bidding process
• Your limit: the amount you do not want to go above

An offer is more than a number

Bidding over asking is not only about naming a price. A good offer consists of several elements, and that is often where the room sits to win without paying the maximum.

Conditions precedent are clauses that let you withdraw from the purchase if something does not work out, for example if you cannot arrange the financing or if a building survey reveals defects. They protect you, but they also make your offer less certain for the seller. So what you include, and for how long, carries weight.

• The price you offer
• The conditions precedent for financing and a building survey, and their deadlines
• The preferred transfer date
• Possibly a short response deadline, so the seller sees you are serious without boxing yourself in
• Agreements about movable items that stay behind

The negotiation: why you do not have to do it alone

A selling agent negotiates every day and knows exactly how to play several candidates off against each other. As a buyer you often face that alone, while it is the biggest financial decision of your life.

Your dedicated agent conducts that negotiation for you, by phone or at the table, and explains which steps we take and why. You do not get a rotating team or a call centre: the same person you speak to in the first call also makes the last phone call to the selling agent and comes along to the handover of the keys.

What bidding over asking costs in agent's fees: nothing extra

A buying agent who works on commission charges a percentage of the purchase price. That means their fee rises as you have to bid higher. That interest works against you, precisely when it gets tense.

That is why we work with one fixed fee of €2,499 for the entire purchase, including the valuation and the negotiation. Whether you buy at the asking price or have to bid well over it: the amount does not change. You pay only at the notary through the deed, and only if the purchase goes ahead. If the negotiation fails and you do not buy the home, you pay nothing. That is no cure no pay.

Note: all-in refers to our agent's fee, not to the total buyer's costs. Transfer tax, notary fees, a valuation report, a building survey and mortgage advice are paid separately to independent parties.