Buy an apartment

Buy an apartment! What should you pay attention to?

Buying an apartment is slightly different from buying a house. When you buy an apartment you automatically become a member of the VvE (Owners' Association). It is important that the VvE has everything in order. In this blog we tell you what is important when buying an apartment and what you should pay attention to.

When buying an apartment, it is important to know that different rules apply than when buying a single-family home. One difference is that you are dealing with other owners and therefore also with the Owners' Association (VvE). You will have to deal with, among other things, a deed of division and a model and internal regulations. This may, for example, include a ban on renting out the apartment, laying tiles on the floor or not being allowed to keep pets. So read all the documents about the apartment carefully!

What is an Owners Association?

Every building in the Netherlands that is divided into apartments and/or business premises must have a homeowners' association. The moment you buy an apartment you automatically become a member of the VvE (you cannot cancel this membership).

The VvE is responsible for building insurance, maintenance and maintenance of the building. Since January 1, 2018, it is even legally required that a homeowners' association has a reserve fund for future maintenance. Is there insufficient money in the reserve fund and does major maintenance need to be carried out? Then each individual owner will have to pay from his own pocket. It is therefore important for you as a buyer to check whether there is sufficient money in cash. Most homeowners' associations charge their members a monthly amount. This is also called service costs. This amount usually includes a reservation for maintenance, a contribution to insurance premiums for, for example, building insurance, energy costs of communal areas, cleaning costs and other payments. If you sell your apartment, the accrued share in the reserve fund remains with the VvE. On the other hand, you take over the accrued share from the previous owner when you buy his apartment. Please note that this is not a fault! Otherwise you will also adopt this. In short: carefully check all financial documents such as the annual accounts and the maintenance plan.

Which documents are important to review?

• Deed of division
• House rules
• Annual accounts, budget and balance sheet
• Minutes from recent years
• Multi-year maintenance plan (MJOP)

Is the VvE active, or is it a dormant VvE?

An active or dormant homeowners' association, it makes a big difference! Curious about what your homeowners' association is? Investigate the following points:

• Is the VvE registered with the Chamber of Commerce (Chamber of Commerce)? Registration with the Chamber of Commerce is mandatory.
• Does the homeowners' association have building insurance? And what additional insurance are there? Building insurance is mandatory. The insurance insures the building against fire, storm damage, etc.
• What is the amount of the service costs? And what do the service costs consist of? In general, the service costs consist of maintenance, insurance premiums, cleaning and energy costs for the general areas and possibly a lift.
• Check the deed of division. This deed stipulates which parts of maintenance are borne by the VvE and which parts are borne by the owner.
• Is the current owner in arrears in paying the service costs?
• Is the homeowners' association managed by a professional party or is it managed by the owners themselves?
• How much money is in the reserve fund? And is that sufficient for the upcoming maintenance?
• Has a Multi-Year Maintenance Plan been drawn up? Or are the minimum criteria of 0,5% of the reconstruction value met? Please note that banks and mortgage providers are now increasingly checking whether a homeowners' association meets the legal requirements. This even goes so far that if this is not the case, sometimes no mortgage at all or only a limited mortgage will be granted.

Hire a purchasing agent!

When buying an apartment, there are many important points to pay attention to. We from ECHT Makelaars & Taxateurs recommend that you always engage a purchasing agent to check all legal pitfalls. We have knowledge of the division deed, the division regulations, reading a Multi-Year Maintenance Budget (MJOP) and the internal regulations.

Do you want to use our knowledge? Please feel free to contact us for a no-obligation introductory meeting. The coffee is always ready! 072-202 131 20 | info@echtmakelaar.nl