18 minutes reading time
Furnished vs Unfurnished Rentals in the Netherlands: Which Saves You More Money?
The cheaper rental isn’t always the cheapest. Here’s when furnished, semi-furnished or unfurnished saves you the most money.
Back to all tips
1. You’re might be seeing listings too late
New rental listings can receive hundreds of applications in just the first hour, especially in popular cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
This means that you genuinely can be one of the first to respond, using our AI-generated response letter, every single time you get a match. It takes a couple of clicks and a few seconds to do.
2. Your application might not look complete
If you’re a landlord with 80 applications to sift through to decide who to reply to, who would you prioritise?
Naturally, you’d choose people who send the second type of message, and only consider others if there aren’t enough of them to fill up your viewings slots.
This might feel unfair or annoying. That’s reasonable: spending time writing a message to a landlord about a property that might not even be available feels like a waste of time.
Why Dutch landlords rarely reply to rental applications (and what to do)
3 weeks ago
7 minutes reading time
Spoiler: it isn't you. Here are the 3 real reasons you're not getting replies, and what you can do about each one.
If you’ve been searching for a rental home in the Netherlands for a while, chances are you’ve sent 10s or 100s of messages to try and book viewings without getting a reply.
Even if you email the landlord the second you see the listing pop up on Funda, and you think that surely, this time you must be at the front of the queue…
You hear nothing. And this often feels much worse than getting a polite rejection. At least if you hear a ‘no’, things are clear. If you just hear nothing, then you’re never quite sure whether you might still be in with a chance.
Especially if it’s a property you really like, and have started imagining yourself living in (easy to do, even if you know you shouldn’t).
When you get multiple rejections, it feels even worse. You begin to wonder if your messages are even being read, or if there’s something about you that makes you unappealing.
The real problem is far simpler: Dutch landlords are often completely overwhelmed with responses, and yours can easily get buried under the weight of all the other hopeful would-be tenants.
Does that mean you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best? No. If you know how the market works, there are things you can do to get your application to the top of the pile.
Here are 3 things you must know to maximise your chances of getting a viewing:
1. You’re might be seeing listings too late
New rental listings can receive hundreds of applications in just the first hour, especially in popular cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
This means that seeing listings early is vital. And if you’re relying on manually refreshing Funda, you’re almost certainly seeing them too late.
It probably doesn’t feel this way. No doubt, you feel like you’re doing everything you can to be one of the first to message the landlord.
But the reality is that you’ll only be one of the first if you’re incredibly lucky, or you have 24 hours a day free to refresh Funda.
The rental market just doesn’t work for humans with jobs and lives to live. That’s why Rentbird provides instant home alerts to your phone, thanks to 24/7 search bots that scan 1400 rental sites every minute.
This means that you genuinely can be one of the first to respond, using our AI-generated response letter, every single time you get a match. It takes a couple of clicks and a few seconds to do.
2. Your application might not look complete
If you’re a landlord with 80 applications to sift through to decide who to reply to, who would you prioritise?
- Those who send a basic message that just asks ‘is this still available’?
- Those who send a detailed message that includes employment, income and confirmation that they have their deposit ready to go.
Naturally, you’d choose people who send the second type of message, and only consider others if there aren’t enough of them to fill up your viewings slots.
This might feel unfair or annoying. That’s reasonable: spending time writing a message to a landlord about a property that might not even be available feels like a waste of time.
But it is important. It’s not just about whether you have the income or deposit you’ll need (though those things are important).
It’s also about showing the landlord that you’re an organised, communicative person who will be easy to deal with. Many landlords have experience of dealing with unhelpful, flaky tenants who let them down (yes, even in this market!) – so proving you’re not one of them is vital.
It’s also worth remembering that landlords will need to see the following documents before they can go ahead with a rental contract:
- Employment contract or other proof of income
- ID card or passport
- Sometimes recent payslips and/or bank statements
- References from your previous landlord
- For expats, proof of your right to live in the Netherlands
- Occasionally a guarantor
You won’t need these when you’re still at the stage of trying to get viewings, but it’s really helpful to have them all ready to go in a digital or hard copy folder once you get to the point of a full application.
It’s also helpful to be able to tell landlords when you apply for a viewing that you have all of this ready. That way they know you’re serious, and can move fast if needed.
3. You might be searching in the most competitive areas or for the most desirable homes
3. You might be searching in the most competitive areas or for the most desirable homes
You may love the idea of living in a period flat in central Amsterdam, but of course, you’re not the only one who does.
Or perhaps you don’t have strong feelings about where you live, but you’re wedded to the idea of having a garden or being 5 minutes walk from the station.
If you want the same things that many others want, you will naturally find yourself competing with more people.
If you can, it pays to widen your search criteria. This doesn’t mean you have to compromise on things that are really important to you, but some flexibility can make a huge difference.
For example:
- Could you consider living in the centre of a different city, if you’re struggling to find the kind of place you want in central Amsterdam?
- Failing that, can you compromise on space or go just a little outside the most popular areas?
- If finding a place near a station is difficult, look at what you could get by being a short cycle ride away from one.
- If you really don’t want to compromise on outside space or an extra bedroom, can you consider different, cheaper areas where there won’t be so much competition?
With Rentbird, you could track up to 5 searches at once, which makes it easy to set up, for example:
- One search with your ideal criteria for location and space.
- One with your ideal space requirements, but with a second city or a looser location criterion.
- One with your ideal location criteria, but with more relaxed criteria for size/bedrooms/outside space.
It’s not your fault that landlords ignore you. But you can do something about it.
The rental market in the Netherlands is just too crazy and too fast for anyone to stay on top of it without help.
You may well feel like you’ve been doing everything right, and you probably have.
In another market, or at another time, you wouldn’t need to use a service like Rentbird just to get replies from landlords and find a home.
But in the Netherlands in 2026, the reality is that going it alone is more hope than strategy.
To find out more about how Rentbird could help find your next home in 4-8 weeks, check this out.
Stef van Vliet
CEO
Related tips
17 minutes reading time
Renting in the Netherlands as an Expat: Everything You Need to Know
Finding a Rental Home in the Netherlands as an Expat
Find your new rental property in no-time!
4.6