Guide · 6 minBidding, negotiating and the notary
How an offer works, which conditions are normal and what happens at the notary — for buyer and seller.
The offer: three dials, not one
Price, conditions and completion date — you can turn all three. A seller in a hurry gives a discount for a quick transfer; a buyer without a financing condition can reasonably offer a little less. If you only look at the price, you're negotiating with one hand behind your back.
Conditions that are normal
Financing (four to six weeks) and a structural survey are standard and no sign of weakness. Sellers: don't be alarmed, just factor them in. Buyers: a financing condition belongs in your offer by default, unless you very deliberately choose otherwise.
Negotiating in practice
Respond within a day, even to an offer you find low — silence kills momentum. Make a counter-offer with a reason (the kitchen is from 2016, that's why I'm at this figure), not just a number. Two or three rounds is normal; if it takes more, something other than the price is usually in the way.
On Panvia: direct and seen
Offers run through the platform directly between buyer and owner. Not binding — you settle the purchase at the notary — but visible to the person selling, including your explanation.
At the notary
The civil-law notary draws up the purchase agreement, checks ownership and mortgages, and handles the deed of transfer and the money flows. After signing, the buyer has a statutory three-day cooling-off period. The costs of the deed of transfer are customarily paid by the buyer — that's the buyer's costs (kosten koper). Panvia points both sides towards a notary — and that's deliberately where our role ends.
What Panvia doesn't do: Panvia doesn't join the negotiation and is not a party to the purchase. Whatever you agree, you record together at the notary.