A huis te huur

I have looked at so many houses on the various websites that I'm having to keep a notebook just to remember those I've eliminated. I've now toured a total of 7 properties, but looked at hundreds on the internet.

Our only real criteria is more than one bedroom (slapkamer) and a garden (tuin). Most every house/apartment has multiple levels. At least 3 and sometimes 4 so lots of staircases! Plus keep in mind this city is really old and most of these houses/apartments are too. We toured one that's pretty new and a bit expensive, but nice. It was big too. We really don't need 4 slapkamers, a cellar, and an attic! We visited another one we sort of liked. It did have all those extra rooms and a teeny, tiny kitchen, but it seemed "homey". The kitchens are usually about half the size of my bathroom at home. Plus in this one house/apartment, we'd have to supply our own appliances! I'm talking stove AND refrigerator! The only thing they leave is the kitchen sink. Seriously!

Anyway, over the course of these few weeks we've gotten the beginning of an education on leasing here. There are laws regarding lease agreements and they are enforced by the government. From what we understand, the lease is for 9 years. This is divided into 3 year segments so you are really only obligated for 3 years, we presume. If you leave before your lease has ended (your 3 year lease) you are penalized through a graduated penalty system. I think it's a way to protect the renter from being evicted.

You pay a deposit of usually 3 months rent and from what I hear you may not get this back for as long as a year after you move out. I was reading on the internet that you have to be careful that the lease doesn't say the property will be in "perfect" condition when you move out because in this case you could be responsible for an entire renovation! This probably almost never happens and I'm sure that website was talking about "worst case scenarios", but since the contract will be in Dutch, we decided the advocaat (lawyer) in Brussels who helped with Jim's work permit should review our lease before we sign any dotted lines!

Here's the strange part of it all. If you decide you like a house and want to rent it, it's not up to you whether or not you get it. Many people may apply for a particular house/apartment. In this application you provide a declaration of your salary and a copy of your passports. Then the owner of the property reviews all the applications and decides who gets it. No discrimination here! I am a little worried that if we find the perfect place the owner may not "choose" us knowing we surely aren't going to fulfill the 9 year lease and maybe not even 3 years. I guess this is the only control the owner has since he/she is also entering into a potential long term relationship with the renter!

After all the looking, we decided to "apply" for the nicer, slightly expensive huis for fear it may be the only one that comes up and also meets our needs. The realtor said he would contact the owner who may want to meet with us personally. Should that happen, we will try to portray ourselves as the perfect huurders and he/she will wonder where we've been all his "renting" life.

Here are some photos of just a few of the houses we've considered. The houses are connected and very narrow. It looks like apartments, but they are considered houses because you have the whole thing to yourself. Apartments are multi-level and you usually only have one level. You can tell by the roof line where one huis stops and the next begins. These rent from 650 to over 1000 Euro. That's ~$950 to $1,600 per month. A lot, huh?

I'll keep you posted . . . Oh, and the title to this post is "A house to rent".