We realize this news may come as a shock to our family and friends, but Pete and I just bought a house here in Amstelveen!! Serious House Hunting International!
How did this come about??
We moved here on Pete's two year contract, which became a permanent contract at the end of this school year. Early on, we realized two years would not be enough time to get the most out of this experience. For one, Pete has worked his patootie off to establish himself at his job. Now that he has two years of planning under his belt, he *claims* that the next year will not be as demanding of his free time. We'll see about that... And then there's the free school that starts for Jude this year (he will enroll in the nursery program this August). Our European travel list remains long and we need more time to see it all. Other expat friends agree that a two year assignment is hard. You spend the first year settling in and the second year preparing to move back so you never are just "here," enjoying the experience. I thought that if I couldn't get a job here, that I would be eager to return to the US so that I wouldn't be out of my field for too long. But now, I am able to work here in my profession. So all of this had left Pete and I pondering just how long we'd like to stay. The answer is that we don't know, but we imagine it will be at least a few more years.
We have loved our apartment, but really wanted a garden for the kids, a ground floor entrance and more space for our growing family. Rental prices for what we had in mind were through the roof. We toyed with the idea of buying, but were turned off by stories of bidding wars and the financial risk so we put it out of our mind.
Then, about a month ago, one of Pete's coworkers told Pete about a house for sale down the street from him. We checked it out on the Dutch home sale site, Funda, and made a viewing appointment, figuring it wouldn't hurt to look. Before our viewing, we got a call that the house had sold. It is a sellers market!
But now Pete and I were hooked at looking at Funda daily to see what other houses were available. We still weren't serious about buying a place, but made some more appointments to see other properties in the area for fun. We walked into a great open house and swooned over the property and the possibilities of home ownership. The property went into a bidding war and we realized we were in a bit over our heads, so we decided a real estate agent (makelaar) would be a big help to navigate the market and buying process. We found one based on a recommendation and started to look at some properties with him. We also made an appointment with Expat Mortgages to find out what our options were. We saw a few places that were fixer-uppers with potential, but decided that we didn't have the budget or the patience for major renovations. We liked the 5th house we saw and when everything seemed to be in good shape we decided with our agent to make an offer right away given how quickly homes around here were selling. After some back and forth negotiation, we had a verbal agreement with the sellers! It all happened so fast. Within a week an inspection took place, the house was appraised and our advisor applied for our mortgage! There were ups and downs during the process, uncertainty and cold feet. Ultimately, our desire to own a house won out and we signed the purchase contract Friday morning! Apart from my badly bitten nails, the process was surprisingly painless!
Of course we hope this was a good financial decision. There is a lot of added uncertainty with the Brexit, which was happening just as our offer was accepted. The best case scenario is that Amsterdam becomes the next EU business center and the housing market blows up even more. The New York times predicts this? Worst case, the euro tanks and our transferred US dollar savings lose significant value. Only time will tell and now that the decision has been made, I will try not to worry about it.
It all feels a bit surreal, especially since we aren't scheduled to get the keys until October 5th (but this could change if the owners find a new place sooner). I will share details about the house soon!
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