Financial advice with your purchase
We do not give mortgage advice ourselves. For this we work with our partner HONK Hypotheekadvies. They independently compare the options of around forty lenders active in the Dutch housing market, and can give their advice in English. That way you know how much you can borrow and what your monthly costs will be before you make an offer.
The main advantage of a good working relationship between estate agent and mortgage adviser is close coordination, and timing is essential if you want to buy successfully. Your agent and your mortgage adviser both know your financial position, when the statutory cooling off period ends and when the financing has to be in place.
Who are HONK Hypotheekadvies?
HONK Hypotheekadvies is an independent mortgage firm in Amsterdam, based on Kuipersstraat in De Pijp and active since 2016. It has deliberately stayed small: you speak to the adviser who actually handles your file, not to a changing back office. Gerbert Jan ter Braake is a registered financial adviser (Erkend Financieel Adviseur).
The firm is not tied to any lender and compares the products of around forty lenders, from the big banks such as ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank to insurers such as Aegon and a.s.r. The advice therefore follows from your situation, not from the range of a single bank.
The firm is supervised by the AFM, the Dutch financial markets authority. Advieskeuze currently lists seventeen reviews . They advise in Dutch and in English, which makes the difference for our international clients.
The first introductory conversation is free of charge. Appointments can take place at their office, at ours on Bosboom Toussaintstraat or by video call, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays also in the evening.
honkhypotheekadvies.nl
From first conversation to completion at the notary
Introductory conversation
Your income, your own savings, your current mortgage and your plans. From this follows what you can borrow and what is sensible to borrow. Those are not always the same amount.
Your budget is fixed
You know your maximum bid and your monthly costs before you start viewing. That keeps you from getting carried away in a bidding round.
Bidding on the right terms
Together we decide whether you bid with or without a financing condition and which deadline is realistic. Your adviser confirms that deadline before we submit your bid.
Application and appraisal
Once the deal is agreed, the application goes to the lender. If a validated appraisal report is needed, we arrange it with an independent valuer.
Offer and binding commitment
Your adviser goes through the offer with you: the fixed rate period, the repayment type, early repayment penalties and the terms that will still affect you in thirty years.
Completion
The mortgage deed and the deed of transfer are signed on the same day at the notary. We attend the final inspection and the handover.
Request an introductory conversation
We put you in touch with HONK Hypotheekadvies. The first conversation is free of charge and you are not committed to anything.
Why we do not do this ourselves
Mortgage advice is a profession of its own, with its own licences and its own duty of care. We would rather work with a firm that does nothing else than offer it on the side as estate agents. HONK compares independently, and we keep our own role clear: your interest in the purchase or the sale.
You are never obliged to arrange your financing through us. If you already have an adviser or your own bank, we coordinate with them just as well.
What buyers ask us about financing
What does mortgage advice cost?
HONK works with a fixed fee that you hear in advance, before your file is taken on. The introductory conversation is free of charge.
Can I bid without a financing condition?
It makes your bid stronger, but if the financing falls through you owe a penalty. We always discuss this in advance with you and your adviser, never in the rush of a bidding round.
When should I start?
Before you start viewing. Anyone who only starts calculating after a successful bid runs short of time and sometimes gets a nasty surprise. One conversation in advance saves you both.
I have not worked in the Netherlands for long. Can I borrow?
Often yes, also with a temporary contract or a fixed term residence permit, although it takes more documentation. The expat scheme counts as well. HONK advises on this in English.