By Asher Brown, buying & selling agent at DMJ Makelaar Nederland · 3 November 2026
The selling agent e-mails you a PDF. Twenty pages, all in Dutch, your name on the first page. “This is our standard contract,” the e-mail says. “Could you sign it today?”
That document is the “koopovereenkomst”, the Dutch purchase agreement. It is the most important document in your entire home purchase, and for expats it is also the most misunderstood. In this guide I explain what it is, which clauses really matter, and how to read it before you sign.
What is a koopovereenkomst?
The koopovereenkomst is the purchase agreement between you and the seller. Expats sometimes hear it called the voorlopig koopcontract (provisional purchase contract) and assume it is not yet binding. The opposite is true. Once both parties have signed and your cooling-off period has passed, you are legally committed to buy, unless one of the resolutive conditions in the contract applies.
The notary deed you sign weeks later, the deed of transfer (leveringsakte), only carries out what the koopovereenkomst already says. The notary does not renegotiate anything.
Most agents use the standard model purchase agreement for existing homes, drawn up by the Dutch estate agent associations together with consumer organizations. That is helpful: the structure is familiar and balanced. But the blanks in that model (price, dates, deadlines, conditions, extra clauses) are where your deal is actually decided.
The key clauses at a glance
| Clause | What it decides | What to check |
| Price and transfer date | What you pay and when you get the keys | Does the date fit your mortgage and your current rental notice? |
| Deposit (waarborgsom) | Security for the seller, usually 10% of the price | Can you pay it in time, or will you use a bank guarantee? |
| Resolutive conditions (ontbindende voorwaarden) | When you can still cancel | Are the deadlines realistic for your situation? |
| State of the property | What the seller guarantees and what is your risk | Special clauses on age, asbestos or foundations |
| Movable items (lijst van zaken) | What stays in the home and what goes | Kitchen appliances, curtains, solar panels, shed |
| Leasehold (erfpacht), if applicable | Ground rent and when it changes | End of the current period, buy-off options |
| Default and penalty | What happens if someone does not perform | 10% penalty after a notice of default |
Your three-day cooling-off period (bedenktijd)
As a private buyer of a home, Dutch law gives you a cooling-off period of at least three days. It starts the day after you receive a copy of the koopovereenkomst signed by both parties. Those three days must include at least two working days, so a signed copy received on a Friday gives you more time than one received on a Monday: receive it on a Friday and you can cancel up to and including the following Tuesday. If the last day falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the period runs until the next working day.
Within that period you can cancel for any reason, without explanation and without costs. Do it in writing, so you have proof.
The cooling-off period is a safety net, not a reason to sign without reading. Three days is short, especially if you still need to ask questions about the contract or check your mortgage. Once it has passed, the resolutive conditions are your only way out.
Resolutive conditions: your legal way out
A resolutive condition (ontbindende voorwaarde) means: the purchase can be cancelled if a specific event happens before a specific date. Two matter most for expats.
The financing condition (financieringsvoorbehoud)
This allows you to cancel if you cannot get a mortgage for the amount stated in the contract. Three details decide whether it actually protects you:
- The amount. It must match the mortgage you need, not a rounded number someone filled in.
- The deadline. Three to six weeks after signing is common. Expat files often take longer: lenders want to verify foreign income, employer statements and residence documents. Ask your mortgage advisor how many weeks they really need, then add a margin.
- How you invoke it. You must cancel in writing before the deadline, usually supported by a rejection from a lender, depending on the exact wording. If your mortgage is delayed, ask the seller for an extension in writing before the deadline expires. The seller does not have to agree.
The structural inspection condition (bouwtechnisch voorbehoud)
This lets you cancel if a structural inspection reveals defects above an agreed repair amount. Sometimes the inspection is done before you make an offer instead. Either way, do not skip it.
Foundations deserve special attention. Since 1 April 2026, every valuation report for a mortgage gives the home a foundation risk class from A (low risk) to E (high risk), based on a foundation risk report from KCAF, the Dutch national knowledge centre for foundation problems.
What the class means for you: with an A or a B, the valuation simply continues. With a C, the valuer adds an explanation to the report. With a D or an E, a limited extra foundation investigation should in principle be carried out before the valuation is finalised, and its outcome is taken into account in the value. Because your mortgage is based on that value, a D or an E can affect how much you can borrow, and your lender decides what further investigation it wants to see.
The catch: the valuation usually takes place after you have signed. So before you bid, ask the selling agent for any known foundation information, such as an earlier valuation report, foundation research or repair records, especially for homes built before 1970. Foundation repairs can easily run into tens of thousands of euros, so you want to know the risk before you bid, not after.
In a competitive market, buyers are often encouraged to drop their conditions to make their bid stronger. That can be a reasonable choice, but only if the risk is already covered: the inspection done before bidding, the mortgage checked in advance.
The deposit and the 10 percent penalty
The koopovereenkomst usually requires a deposit of 10 percent of the purchase price, paid to the notary within a few weeks after signing. Instead of cash, you can provide a bank guarantee; banks charge a fee for this.
If you cancel within the cooling-off period, or through a valid resolutive condition, you get your deposit back. If you simply do not go through with the purchase, the seller can send you a written notice of default. If you still do not perform within the period stated in that notice, the seller can dissolve the contract and claim a penalty, under the standard contract 10 percent of the purchase price. The deposit serves as security for that penalty. It does not happen automatically, but it is very real: on a €450,000 home, that is €45,000.
The state of the property: who pays after the sale?
Under Dutch law, a home must have the qualities needed for normal use as a home. The seller has a duty to disclose what they know (mededelingsplicht). But you, as the buyer, have a duty to investigate (onderzoeksplicht). Defects you could have discovered with a reasonable inspection are often your risk, not the seller’s.
On top of that, many contracts include extra clauses that shift risk to the buyer, for example an age clause for older homes or an asbestos clause. Read them together with the seller’s questionnaire (vragenlijst), which is usually attached.
The practical conclusion: if you did not have the home inspected and the foundation turns out to be subsiding six months later, you will often have no claim.
> Want this as a checklist? The free Expat Home Buying Roadmap walks you through every step from first viewing to notary, including what to check in the koopovereenkomst. Download the roadmap
Three illustrative examples
These examples are illustrative and based on situations that regularly occur.
1. The financing deadline that was too short. A couple signed with a three-week financing condition, while their mortgage advisor had said four to six weeks. Their lender needed extra time to verify foreign income. When the deadline passed, the condition had expired and nobody had asked for an extension. The mortgage was approved a few days later, so it ended well. Had it been refused, they would have had no way out and faced a 10 percent penalty.
2. The inspection that was dropped. To strengthen a bid on a 1930s house, a buyer dropped the structural inspection condition and never had the home inspected. A few months after the transfer, foundation problems appeared, with repair estimates in the tens of thousands. Because a reasonable inspection would have revealed the risk, there was no claim against the seller.
3. The leasehold nobody explained. An expat bought an apartment in Amsterdam on leasehold land. The contract mentioned erfpacht, but nobody explained that the current leasehold period ended within two years. At that point, the erfpachtcanon was recalculated based on the current land value and rose several times over. The information was available. Nobody had walked the buyer through it.
Each of these is avoidable when someone reads the contract with you, clause by clause, before you sign.
How to read the koopovereenkomst before you sign
- Ask for the draft in advance. At least a day before signing, preferably more.
- Check the basics. Names, address, price, transfer date and the list of movable items.
- Check each resolutive condition. The amount, the deadline and how to invoke it.
- Check the deposit. The amount, the deadline and whether you will pay cash or use a bank guarantee.
- Read the special clauses and the attachments, including the seller’s questionnaire.
- Ask three questions for every clause. What does it say? What does it mean for me? What happens if something goes wrong?
- If anything is unclear, don’t sign yet. A reasonable seller will give you a day to understand what you are agreeing to.
For the local market, read Buying a House in Almere as an Expat. For the broader picture of buying without the language, read How to Buy a House in the Netherlands Without Speaking Dutch.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Dutch koopovereenkomst legally binding?
Yes. Once both parties have signed and your cooling-off period has passed, you are bound to buy, unless a resolutive condition applies.
Can I negotiate the clauses?
Yes, before you sign. The financing deadline, the inspection condition, the transfer date, the deposit and the list of movable items are all negotiable. Your buying agent handles this with the selling agent, in Dutch, in your interest.
Who drafts the koopovereenkomst?
Usually the selling agent, or sometimes the notary. That is exactly why you want someone on your side to check it before you sign.
Can I get the koopovereenkomst in English?
Yes, in the sense that you can understand every clause in English: a good buying agent gives you a written English explanation of the key clauses, and you can have a sworn translator translate the full document at your own cost. The contract you sign, however, stays in Dutch, and the Dutch version remains the legally binding text.
Do I need a lawyer to review it?
For most standard purchases, no: a buying agent and the notary cover what you need. For complex situations, such as buying with someone you are not married to, cross-border tax questions or a building with known disputes in the owners’ association, a lawyer or tax advisor can add real value.
How long does a koopovereenkomst remain valid?
Until the transfer at the notary, unless it is dissolved earlier through the cooling-off period, a resolutive condition, a default or mutual agreement.
Your next step
The koopovereenkomst is not something you master in one evening. It is the result of a process that should start before you make an offer.
1. Download the free Expat Home Buying Roadmap. Get the roadmap
2. Have your koopovereenkomst checked. Received a contract and not sure what you are signing? Send it to me and let’s go through it together, in English, Dutch, Spanish or Papiamentu.
E-mail info@dmjmakelaar.com or call/WhatsApp +31 6 40196433.
Asher Brown is a buying & selling agent (aankoopmakelaar en verkoopmakelaar) at DMJ Makelaar Nederland. He helps expats buy & sell homes in Almere and the surrounding area, from first viewing to the keys, in a language you understand: English, Dutch, Spanish or Papiamentu.
Together we make it happen.
