Selling your house because you're going abroad
This article is useful if you are going to live abroad and still have a house in the Netherlands.
You will read about the following topics in this article:
- Selling or renting out
Guide for starting the sale if you are going to emigrate
Selling or renting out?
If you are going to emigrate, you do not have to sell your house. You can also keep the property and rent it out, for example. Below are the main pros & cons of selling or renting out:
+ The benefits of renting out when emigrating
- Possibility to return later
If you are not entirely sure if you will like emigrating, or if you know it is for a short duration (less than 2 years). Another reason to keep the property is for children who will return to study in the Netherlands later. - Possible increase in value
Some years the house prices rise (like the past few years). If you rent a house and sell it later, you benefit from this. You then keep more money. - Rental income
Renting out provides rental income. This is often more than the costs for your mortgage. But this is not always the case and differs per property. It can also happen that rental prices decrease. This was the case in 2020 in Amsterdam (due to Corona).
This income is entered in Box 3.
- The disadvantages of renting out
- Permission from the bank
The bank must give permission if you want to rent out your house. This permission is not often given. Are you renting out your house without permission? Then you violate the rules of your mortgage. - Rental risk
If there are complaints or tenants leave, then you have to arrange this from a distance. If you do not have a tenant, the property is vacant. You cannot then focus on the new future with peace of mind. Outsourcing this to a manager also costs money. This comes off the rental income you receive. - Maintenance costs, mortgage charges and taxes
You are still responsible for the maintenance and the part of the taxes that is for the owner. You will also have to continue to meet the interest and repayment.
+ The benefits of selling
- Sale proceeds
If you sell your property, you may have money left over (surplus value) after paying off the mortgage. This money can come in handy to buy a house in the new country, or to keep a buffer. - Weight off your shoulders
Because you no longer have a house in the Netherlands. You have no maintenance, tenants or taxes related to the property. A lot less worries.
- The disadvantages of selling
- No fallback base
If emigration is not permanent, but is temporary. Then you have to look for a new home. It is not always easy to immediately buy a house. In that case, you will have to rent first (this can be more expensive). - Selling takes 1 to 2 months
In an extreme case, selling takes a total of 8 weeks. At the moment (2021) it is quite easy to sell a house in a short time. However, it may be that if the sale is slow, your emigration plans will be delayed. - Possible residual debt
You can make a nice profit on the sale, but it may also be that the mortgage is higher than the sale proceeds. In that case you are left with a residual debt.
Guide to starting the sale if you are going to emigrate
You have a great advantage over regular sellers
If you know more than 2 months in advance that you are going to emigrate & you want to sell your house? Then you have a big advantage over other sellers: You have the time.
It is very attractive for buyers if the transfer is only in a few months. This gives a buyer all the space to sell their own old house.
Therefore, start the sales process as soon as possible. After all, you determine the transfer date yourself.
Do not yet empty your household goods
In addition to selling your house, the next question is: what do we do with all our belongings? Whether the answer is store, sell or take with, wait a bit.
The household goods can help you enormously with the sale of your house. Not all buyers can imagine what an empty house looks like when it's furnished. Therefore: start the sale first and then start getting rid of all the stuff.
Invite 2 or 3 real estate agents to your home
Eventually a real estate agent must come if you are going to sell. It is then handy to have 3 real estate agents show the house. You then hear 3 times what proceeds they expect and how much time they think they need.
If you only invite 1 real estate agent, the chance of making a wrong choice is greater.
This is the part where we can help well. You can give the address of the property, after which local real estate agents will let you know by email what rate they charge and what proceeds they expect.
In addition, it is possible to add a few photos of the interior, then you get more responses from real estate agents and a good estimate of the sales opportunities.
