Thank you for showing the reality behind the 'yay we bought a house and its perfect' narrative. As an Amsterdammer I am totally hooked and would love to witness your journey - might help me in future 😅. You guys are doing amazing! Rooting for you 😊
You guys are absolutely killing it with the renovation! Being an architect myself, I totally get the struggle of those unexpected surprises along the way. But I have no doubt you’ll push through and hit that move-in date right on target. Wishing you all the luck! 🍀 And hey, if you ever need any help or advice, don’t hesitate to reach out. Always happy to support! 😇
The challenge with immigration is that even with language, I don't know culture. So I really don't understand this comment unfortunately. I see Femke was a mayor, but that's all?
@@michelle_kahn while it is expensive for the Netherlands it isn’t in comparison with cities as London or Paris. And the quality of living is higher 🏆😊🙏
@@kaydesign Indeed! I don't know Paris but London blew my mind in June. We looked at a couple of listings just out of curiosity and my thoughts were "oh, so it can get worse" 😬
Maybe you mentioned it in the video but did you use a buying agent? And if not why? Here in The Hague I have been told that it is advisable to use one.
We did use a buying agent. I actually want to dive into this a bit more in another video. So many people here talk about the makelaar mafia, but while being in the market for over a year, I actually question if this is truly a thing. I was not at any advantage to anyone else by having a makelaar, and based on reactions from the selling agents (and I met a lot of them) they were not at any advantage either. I just think the market is wild and there's nothing you can truly do to predict what to bid. We had a number of properties taken off before we could even view or bid and I think this must just be through connections. We had a South African reach out to us when he was considering selling, and that could have potentially worked in our favour. I'll never know.
This information will eventually be public anyway but I don't want to discuss my finances too much here. Listing price was €675k but you have to overbid. For a bit more context, we would have won another house potentially when overbidding 100k but unfortunately that one didn't workout. This one we overbid less because the house needs work done to it and unfortunately I think we overdid it so it's a touchy topic.
@@michelle_kahn Thank you for that. When I came back to see your comment I notice you only have a few hundred subscribers and aren't full time RU-vidrs, so that definitely makes sense that you aren't sharing all your details on here. I really appreciate it still!! That is quite a lot but comparable to some places in my country (Vancouver, Toronto) so I understand. Really appreciate you answering my comment though - thank you :)
@@anonuser12345 indeed! I'm a newbie here haha! 😎 Thanks for respecting that ☺️ I don't know how much more our properties can rise, because salaries are just not matching it. I hear Canada is insane too.
@@michelle_kahn Thank you for sharing those details. I am sure you have it all worked out but it must be quite a high monthly payment. A few weeks ago we were told we could borrow €650k for a monthly payment of €3,051 and we felt we could not stretch it. We earn 11k net but €2,700 goes in childcare and school fees (and that's after the state subsidy) so this might be something to take into account depending on your future plans...
Van harte gefeliciteerd! (congrats). It's a challenge to find a place, but you did it. Even as a Duchie it's not easy to find a suitable home. So good on you two.
Congratulations. I’m a South African who just bought an apartment in Utrecht. I have a lot of renovations to do as well. It would be great if you could share the costs and advice you have received for the renovations of your apartment 😊
Congratulations to you too! I will share. For now, if you can try and get access to a Facebook group called "expats renovating in the Netherlands", I think this might be of help! Message me on Instagram if you have issues with this and I'll try help :)
I stand to be corrected, but I think this is the only country that does something like this. It's genuinely wild and it feels controlled but also totally out of hand. Even all the jubilees in the UK would not compare to the madness that is Koningsdag.
Oh wow! The cinematography on this! Beautifully written, well thought out and beautifully executed. I just wanna appreciate the work you’ve done. As a South African who migrated to Europe, I can very well relate to most of the things here. Thank you for the great work!
I don't think I've ever been so naive about something in my life before. The housing market here is really intense. We have placed 5 bids and not won any, even after having the highest bid on one. Everyone wants to live in the same areas.
No idea of the relevancy of Marina Ambrovic :) There are ways to make these trips cheaper (specifically accommodation), but I think the cost was reasonable for everything it included. Nobody ever said skiing is a cheap activity/holiday. Groceries were nearly double the cost of Amsterdam so even self-catering was pricey AF for food.
@@michelle_kahn she is in a billboard in the background in the first 15 seconds of the video. just a joke because she is involved with diddy and jay z currently being in large controversy. skiing is not cheap but very worth it
I would say the reviews are most likely true. I read a couple talking about how luggage all gets placed at the back etc. In the Netherlands, on big train trips on Thalys or Eurostar, luggage also gets placed at the back, so this wasn't unheard of to me, but it does make you a bit anxious (especially coming from South Africa). But at the end of the day, we got to Milos from Santorini safely (a little nauseous from the motion because the sea was quite choppy) and on time. I had just accepted this is how things are done in Greece so I don't know if I would do it differently. Good luck with planning your trip and don't hold back on the Catamaran trip in Milos if that's where you're headed!
Ik doen het even in het Nederlands (lijkt op Afrikaans) :-) De vriend van mijn dochter komt uit Zuid-Afrika en jawel, Johannesburg. Hij woont hier nu zo'n vijf of zes jaar meen ik en heeft inmiddels ook de Nederlandse nationaliteit. Ik ben benieuwd hoe hij de dingen die jij noemt heeft ervaren. Hij heeft het wel regelmatig over de gevaren (misdaad) in Zuid-Afrika. Soms zelf escortes per auto om van A naar B te komen. Criminaliteit is een groot probleem daar begrijp ik van hem. Huizen die aangemerkt moeten worden als complete fortificaties. Best eng! Leuke video trouwens. Top Kwaliteit.
I will go in English because I have slacked heavily in my Dutch lessons since middle of last year 😅 I didn't want to pry too much on the things that I feel negatively towards because it is still my home, but I just don't know how I could ever return there aftwr experiencing the freedom that I have found here. Within my running community I was constantly hearing about home invasion, attacks on the road (cellphone's and wedding rings), and so on. My husband has had three very sad experiences and a friend of mine ex boyfriend was shot dead over a laptop. That is a phonecall I will never forget. It's a beautiful country and if it was run well I think it would be one of the best in the world. The government just desperately needs to change, just like in Turkiye, for example. Thank you very much for your comment and for the compliment! Have a lovely day!
Ik heb sinds kort ook 2 zuid Afrikaanse "vluchtelingen" als collega's, gevlucht voor geweld, discriminatie. ( hé zijn niet altijd blank, shoot the boer more everybody)
Absolutely loved this video. Recently immigrated here with my hubby from SA so I could definitely resonate with a lot of this video! Keep them coming 😂
In the Netherlands, blue letters are like the blue screen of death 😂 it's the tax offices coming after you. Especially as a zzp'er which is a self employed person.
I am not responsible for our housing crisis. The lack of housing and the demand for housing in Amsterdam is the reason why this has happened. Instead of pinning your anger towards expats, rather focus on the way that perhaps the public transport systems need to be more reliable to encourage people to live elsewhere in the country or perhaps more homes need to be built. Perhaps companies need to be incentivized to setup outside of Amsterdam to encourage people to live in a variety of cities as opposed to just Amsterdam. I did not even qualify for the 30% ruling, along with many of my friends who I have met. Additionally, everyone else in my building is Dutch. Single women being able to afford to buy AND rent in De Pijp (How??). I couldn't do this on my salary. So your comment is unnecessary and invalid. Have a good day :)
