‘We offered 40,000 above the asking price’

Image: Getty Images

After the arrival of their third child, it was clear to Floor that they needed a bigger house. But yes, try to find that, in this housing market.

Floor (41) is married to Robert (43) and mother of Sophie (11), Jens (9) and Olivier (6):

“Honestly, I felt a little guilty. It didn’t sit well with me that my student debt was killing us in finding a bigger house. Because of this debt we could not borrow what we needed for a more spacious home. So I quickly started paying off. I did that by working more hours – as a result I earned 500 euros extra per month. That entire amount went to DUO (Dienst Onderwijs, ed.), on top of the 200 euros that I already repaid anyway. I also used my holiday pay to make extra repayments.

Fortunately, the children didn’t notice much, because I used the ‘extra’ money for this and mainly paid attention to my own expenses. For example, I stopped ordering takeout sushi and hardly bought any new clothes. We did go on holiday that summer, and because of the lockdowns we couldn’t often take a trip. Within a year I had paid off the remaining debt of 9,000 euros. And then the search for a new home could finally begin.

first house

Fourteen years ago, Robert and I bought our first house, in Dordrecht. A charming 1920s house with three bedrooms, a garden and within walking distance of the center where we – then still childless – could regularly be found. We paid 167,500 euros for the house, and I was very excited to spend such a lot of money. Still, we did it with confidence. Even if we had two children, we could still live there just fine.

And that was right. We got Sophie first and then Jens. With two children, the eighty square meter house was a bit on the small side, but it all just fit. Until our wish for a third child came true six years ago. When Olivier came, we knew we had to give in. Sophie and Jens already shared a room, the third bedroom was my study. It now became the nursery. And then it got really tight.

“The laundry hung on the stairs to dry or in the master bedroom. It got really tight”

The laundry hung on the stairs to dry or in the master bedroom. We hardly had any storage space, only I could store things in the attic. So it was completely packed. I worked at the dining table, which was a crime especially during corona. The schools were closed, the kids were homeschooled, and Robert and I were trying to work at the table. It was spicy, and that’s an understatement. The lack of space really started to break us down.

To move house

But even before corona it was already clear that we had grown out of our house. Three years ago, Robert and I talked to the mortgage advisor about our options. There was a nasty surprise waiting for us. I had built up a student debt of more than 30,000 euros during my master’s degree. That debt wasn’t a problem when we bought our first house, but apparently the mortgage rules had changed in the meantime. Suddenly the student debt was included in the calculation.

I had already paid off quite a bit, but for the mortgage application they looked at the original debt, so the full blow. As a result, the amount we could borrow immediately plummeted by half a ton. My courage failed me. I saw everyone moving around us, but unfortunately it was not possible for us.

Also read – From city to countryside: ‘Making new friends is still a thing’ >

Outbid

So I quickly started paying off my student debt. After that was done within a year, Robert and I went back to our mortgage adviser and that conversation made us a lot happier. Not only were we able to borrow a lot more because of the low interest rates – we were just in the right time – and the disappearance of my debt, we also had a nice surplus value to contribute due to the overheated housing market. We were able to borrow much more than we thought, namely four and a half tons in total. Stunned, Robert and I looked at each other. This made the search a lot more concrete.

Our wishes were clear: we wanted a spacious, bright house with four bedrooms, so that everyone had their own room. Every day we looked at Funda. And then I noticed that we had to approach it differently than when we bought our first house. If I saw something nice, I had to call right away for a viewing. When I called a day later, I couldn’t even get through. We looked at more than twenty houses. And where you used to be able to negotiate the price, that was completely out of the question now. It had to be outbid.

“Where you used to be able to negotiate the price, that was completely out of the question now. It had to be outbid”

Robert and I made an offer five times. The first time we offered 40,000 euros above the asking price. We thought it was a very good offer, but then we got a call from the broker that someone else had offered another 20,000. I thought it was bizarre. We were outbid four times in total. I always had high hopes, but we were still disappointed. Because I didn’t just make an offer, I really had to like a house. It made me despondent and wondered if it would ever work.

Viewing

We had already visited a house in this street before, we liked the neighborhood. I saw a nice house online and because I wanted to act quickly, I requested a viewing without consultation with Robert. Then I sent him the Funda link, but he was not very enthusiastic. He thought the rooms were too narrow. Nevertheless, we went to have a look, and when we entered it immediately felt right. The living room was spacious, there were enough bedrooms and the neighborhood was very child-friendly.

“Nervous was the time after we made the offer”

Our offer had to be in by noon the next day. We offered 40,000 above the asking price. It was nerve-wracking, and at a quarter past twelve the broker called: ‘Congratulations, your offer has been accepted.’ Then I got a little hysterical. Finally we succeeded.

Adult house

The children were initially sad that we were moving, but they became more enthusiastic when we promised them that they could stay at their old school. We moved a few months ago. We have a playground right outside the door, where they immediately connected with other children. Now they are often out and about all day.

I love this grown house. I used to think this neighborhood was bourgeois, now I’m overjoyed. It’s so nice to have room for two bedside tables next to the bed, not having the washing machine in the kitchen and being able to work in peace at a desk instead of at the crowded dining table. We will continue to live here for now. Maybe Robert and I will move into smaller homes later, when the kids are out of the house. But now I really enjoy all the space.”

This article appears in Kek Mama 08-2022.

Would you like to read more beautiful and recognizable stories from fellow moms? Subscribe now and receive Kek Mama first on your doorstep every month.