Dissolving conditions, cooling-off period, deposit and clauses. What must be included, what is not included and what happens if either party pulls out.
The short answer. A purchase agreement (koopovereenkomst) for a home must be in writing. A verbal agreement is not enforceable against a private buyer. As a buyer, you have a three-day cooling-off period after receiving the signed agreement: you can withdraw without giving a reason and at no cost. Anything you still want to be able to cancel after that must be included in the agreement as a condition.
If it is not in there, it does not apply. That is the whole rule.
The purchase agreement is the document everyone skims because the exciting phase has just ended. The offer has been accepted, the relief is huge, and then there is a ten-page document that you sign under time pressure.
That is exactly the moment when most damage is done. Not through bad intent, but because something is missing that should have been in there.
Most estate agents work with a model agreement, drawn up by the industry associations together with the Consumentenbond (Dutch consumers' association) and Vereniging Eigen Huis (Dutch homeowners' association). That model is reasonably balanced, which is reassuring: there is no hidden catch.
The danger is not in the model. It lies in what is added to it, or left out.
| Element | What to look out for |
|---|---|
| Parties | Names, addresses. With two owners, both must sign |
| The property | Address, cadastral designation, plot size |
| Purchase price | The amount, and whether it is buyer's costs (kosten koper) or costs paid by the seller (vrij op naam) |
| Transfer date | The day at the notary. Often six to eight weeks later |
| List of items | What stays, what goes, what can be taken over. An appendix, but binding |
| Dissolving conditions | Your way out. Not included as standard |
| Deposit | Usually ten per cent, held by the notary |
| Penalty clause | Ten per cent in the event of default |
| Age clause | For older homes. Shifts risk to the buyer |
| Cooling-off period | Three days for the private buyer |
The list of items is the most underestimated part. It looks like a form about curtain rails, but it is a binding part of the purchase. Half of all disputes at handover are about this: sun blinds that have gone, light fittings that have been removed, plants that have been taken.
This is the most important part of this entire page. A dissolving condition (ontbindende voorwaarde) gives you the right to get out of the purchase if a particular situation occurs. They are not automatically included in the agreement: you have to stipulate them when making your offer.
| Condition | Protects against | Usual period |
|---|---|---|
| Financing | The mortgage does not come through | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Building survey | Defects above a threshold amount | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Sale of your own home | Your current home does not sell | 2 to 3 months |
| NHG | NHG is not granted | Same as financing |
| Permit | Your renovation plan is rejected | Variable |
| Soil survey | Contamination | 4 to 6 weeks |
Mistake one: a period that is too short. Four weeks for financing sounds generous. But if the bank asks for extra documents in week three, or if the formal appraisal (taxatie) takes a week longer, it gets tight. Ask for six weeks. A seller who refuses is telling you something.
Mistake two: invoking it too late. You must invoke a dissolving condition in writing, before the deadline. One day late is too late, however reasonable your story. As soon as you realise it is not going to work out: request an extension, in writing, and make sure the seller agrees. Also in writing.
Mistake three: insufficient evidence. If you invoke the financing condition, you usually have to show that you tried. Usually with two rejections from lenders. Anyone who just calls to say it has not worked out, without paperwork, may still end up facing the penalty.
A buyer had a four-week financing condition. In week three it turned out the bank wanted an extra formal appraisal (taxatie). He called the estate agent, who said it would be fine. It was not fine. He was three days past the deadline and the seller held him to the purchase. In the end it was resolved, but with a lawyer involved and a lot of stress.
"It will be fine" is not an extension. Ask for it in writing and get it in writing.
As a private buyer, you have a three-day cooling-off period. It starts on the day after you receive the purchase agreement signed by both parties. During those three days you can cancel the purchase without giving a reason and at no cost.
You cannot waive this right by signing. Not even if the seller asks you to, not even if it is in the agreement. It is mandatory law.
That last point surprises people. The cooling-off period exists only for the buyer, and only for the private buyer. If you sell to an investor or a company, it does not apply.
Use those three days. Read the agreement calmly, in daylight, without the estate agent present. Have someone who knows about these things read it with you. It is the only period in which you can still change your mind at no cost.
Usually ten per cent of the purchase price, to be paid to the notary, often within four to six weeks of signing. It is not a down payment but a form of security: if you do not deliver what you promised, the seller can claim against it.
| Deposit | Bank guarantee | |
|---|---|---|
| What | You pay the amount to the notary | Your bank guarantees the amount |
| Costs | None, but the money is tied up | About 1% of the guaranteed amount |
| When | If you have the money available | If you do not have it in cash |
| Returned | Offset at the transfer | Lapses at the transfer |
On €350,000 that comes to €35,000. For most buyers a bank guarantee is the practical route: your mortgage lender arranges it and it costs a few hundred euros.
Watch the deadline. If the agreement states that the deposit must be paid within four weeks and your mortgage has not yet been finalised by then, your bank cannot issue the guarantee yet. That is a technical trap people fall into. Align the deadline with your financing condition.
This is where the model is adapted, and where you need to pay attention as a buyer or seller. Some clauses are reasonable, others shift the risk entirely.
For older homes, usually built before 1970. The gist: the buyer accepts that the home is old and that its structural condition and installations do not meet today's standards. The seller is not liable for defects consistent with that age.
Reasonable in principle, because a home from 1935 is not expected to have insulation. But the wording is sometimes so broad that the seller is no longer liable for anything. As a buyer: have it limited to what genuinely relates to age, and not to everything.
Homes built before 1994 may contain asbestos. The clause states that the seller is not liable for this and that the buyer bears the costs of removal. Standard for older buildings.
The seller has never lived there, for example with an inheritance or an investment property. So they do not know how the home behaves. The clause limits their duty to disclose to what they actually know.
For an heir this is reasonable and even necessary. As a buyer, however, it means you have to investigate more yourself, because there is no one who can tell you that the roof leaks when the wind is in the west.
Standard ten per cent of the purchase price in the event of default. Applies to both parties. This is the clause that bites if you want to get out of the purchase without a valid condition.
An age clause stating that the seller is not liable for "the structural condition" is too broad. It also covers foundations that start subsiding tomorrow. Limit it to what is consistent with the age, and include a building survey as a condition.
The purchase has been signed, the cooling-off period is over, the conditions have expired. And then someone wants to get out of it after all.
Without a valid condition, this constitutes default. The seller can do two things: demand performance, meaning force you to take the home, or collect the ten per cent penalty. It is usually the penalty, because that is simpler.
On €350,000 that is €35,000. That is not a theoretical amount: the deposit or bank guarantee is there precisely for this.
In practice a settlement is often reached. A seller who resells the home within two weeks for the same amount has suffered no loss and will rarely insist on the full ten per cent. But that is a favour, not a right.
This happens less often, but it does happen, usually because a higher offer comes in. The same rules apply: default, and the buyer can demand performance or collect the penalty.
As a buyer you have a strong weapon here: you can have the purchase agreement registered with the Kadaster. This is called Vormerkung. It blocks the home for six months: the seller cannot transfer it to anyone else, and neither an attachment nor a bankruptcy can get in the way.
It costs a few hundred euros at the notary and is used too rarely. In a market where offers are rising, it is your only real protection against a seller who has second thoughts.
| Situation | Your options |
|---|---|
| Buyer pulls out without a condition | Ten per cent penalty or demand performance |
| Buyer invokes a condition in time | Purchase dissolved, no costs |
| Buyer invokes a condition too late | Penalty may still apply |
| Seller pulls out | Ten per cent penalty or demand performance |
| Seller sells to someone else | Vormerkung blocks this |
You have lived there for three months and then the basement turns out to leak. Who pays?
The starting point in the model contract: the seller guarantees that the home is suitable for normal use as a home. Defects that prevent that normal use are at the seller's expense, even if they knew nothing about them.
But: the seller is not liable for defects that you knew about or could have known about. And that is where it gets tricky.
| Situation | At whose expense |
|---|---|
| Seller knew and did not say | Seller. Always |
| Seller did not know, defect prevents normal use | Usually the seller |
| Visible during the viewing, you did not ask further | Buyer |
| Age clause applies | Usually the buyer |
| Building survey reported it | Buyer |
| Cosmetic, not obstructive | Buyer |
The key lies in "normal use as a home". A leaking roof prevents that. An outdated kitchen does not. Cracks in the plasterwork do not either, unless they point to structural problems.
Always report a defect to the seller in writing as soon as possible. Waiting weakens your position: the longer you wait, the harder it is to prove the defect was already there.
These two duties overlap, and where they overlap, the lawsuits arise.
You must report everything you know that matters to the buyer. A leak you fixed yourself. A dispute with the neighbours. An extension built without a permit. Soil contamination. A previous buyer who pulled out after the survey.
You do not need to speculate about what you do not know. But concealing what you do know is not a clever move; it is a debt that will be called in later. And in case law, the duty to disclose in principle takes precedence over the duty to investigate: the buyer can hold you liable for what you concealed, even if they could have discovered it.
Whatever is visible or easy to find out, you must look into yourself. Damp patches. An old central heating boiler. The zoning plan. The owners' association (VvE) documents for an apartment. If you see something and do not ask further, it is at your expense.
A building survey is how you fulfil this duty. That is why skipping it is not only a risk of a defect, but also a risk to your position if something does turn up.
A seller did not report that the extension had been built without a permit. He knew. The buyer found out a year and a half later through the municipality. The bill ended up with the seller, including costs. The question was never whether he knew, only whether he had disclosed it.
Telling may cost you some negotiating room. Concealing costs you the whole amount.
Not with a private buyer. The purchase of a home must be in writing to be enforceable. This means that, up to the moment of signing, a seller can sell to someone else, however annoying that may be. As long as there is no signature, there is nothing.
Three days, starting on the day after you receive the agreement signed by both parties. It must include at least two working days. You can withdraw without giving a reason and at no cost. You cannot waive this right by signing, and it applies only to the private buyer, not to the seller.
Then you are in default. The seller can collect the penalty of ten per cent of the purchase price or demand performance. On €350,000 that is €35,000, and the deposit or bank guarantee is there precisely for this.
In writing, before the deadline, with supporting evidence. For a financing condition, usually with two rejections from lenders. One day late is too late, however reasonable your story. If you realise it is not going to work out: request an extension in writing and make sure you get agreement in writing.
Usually ten per cent of the purchase price, to be paid to the notary as security. If you do not have the amount in cash, your bank can issue a bank guarantee. This costs around one per cent of the guaranteed amount. Align the payment deadline with your financing condition, otherwise you will run into a technical problem.
A provision for older homes in which the buyer accepts that the structural condition and installations do not meet today's standards. Reasonable in principle, but watch the wording: a clause that releases the seller from liability for "the structural condition" in general is too broad.
Have the purchase agreement registered with the Kadaster. This is called Vormerkung and it blocks the home for six months: the seller cannot transfer it to anyone else, and neither an attachment nor a bankruptcy can get in the way. It costs a few hundred euros at the notary and is used too rarely.
It all comes down to normal use as a home. A defect that prevents this is usually at the seller's expense, even if they knew nothing about it. But the seller is not liable for what you knew or could have known. If they knew and did not say, it is always their problem. Report a defect in writing as soon as possible.
The exciting phase is over, the offer has been accepted and then there are ten pages of text. That is exactly the moment when most damage is done. Not through bad intent, but because something is missing that should have been in there.
We are happy to take a look with you, even if you are not buying or selling through us. Asking a question costs nothing.
Feel free to ask. Even if you are not buying or selling through us. We will take a look and tell you what we see.
Your language. We speak English, German and French. Write to us in Polish by WhatsApp and we reply in Polish.
No surprises in the contract. The purchase agreement is in Dutch and comes with an English translation, so you understand every clause.
Selling from abroad. We guide the whole sale remotely and arrange the paperwork with the notary.
