Buying Property in AustraliaFrom Amsterdam
Home loan, refinancing and investment lending advice for Australians and expats buying from Amsterdam. We’re former bankers, we compare 40+ lenders, we’re paid by the lender (not by you), and we work Amsterdam hours.
- Australian citizens in the Netherlands face no FIRB approval and no foreign-buyer ban: the whole Australian market is open to you, established homes included, and permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia.
- Euros sit on the preferred currency list, so lenders commonly count 80 per cent of your net salary, and foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses are now accepted in servicing at select lenders.
- Amsterdam runs eight hours behind Melbourne: a 9am Amsterdam call lands at 5pm in Melbourne. We work your evening, not ours.
- The full journey, documents to settlement without a flight, is in our step-by-step overseas buying guide. This page covers what is specific to Amsterdam.
What a euro salary supports in Australia
The assessment runs on two nets: the one on your Dutch payslip and the one a lender models. Euros sit on the major preferred lists, so around 80 per cent of net salary is commonly counted, with acceptance of overtime, allowances and bonuses varying by lender. Most lenders model the salary at Australian tax scales regardless of the actual local rate. Between lenders, the same payslip supports budgets six figures apart.
Amsterdam has quietly become one of Europe’s biggest Australian bases, clustered in tech, fintech and the creative industries around an English-speaking work culture, and euro salaries sit comfortably on the preferred currency list.
On paper the treatment is simple: euros are preferred-list, lenders commonly count 80 per cent of your net salary, and foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses are now accepted in servicing at select lenders. The Amsterdam complication is which net you mean. Most lenders assess your salary as if you paid Australian tax on it, whatever your actual Dutch position, so the flattering take-home the ruling gives you is not the figure being modelled, and the distance between the two nets is largely a question of which lender reads the file.
To see both nets side by side, take the live EUR rate from xe.com, which is also where credit teams check conversions, and work it through the shading calculator on our expat guide. Keep one number in view throughout: lenders reading the same Amsterdam payslip regularly land six figures of budget apart, which makes lender matching the step that precedes house hunting.
The Dutch chapter of the Australian story usually runs through a multinational: tech and fintech employers, English-language contracts, and often the 30 per cent ruling making real take-home generous. One honest modelling note: most Australian lenders still compute euro salaries at Australian tax scales regardless of your actual Dutch position, so the take-home the ruling gives you and the net a lender models can differ, which is precisely the kind of gap lender selection narrows.
The Netherlands publishes the ruling’s edges in plain English: the Dutch Tax Administration’s page on the Expat Scheme, the 30 per cent facility puts the 2026 salary threshold above €48,013 (€36,497 for under-30s holding a master’s degree), caps the 2026 untaxed allowance at €78,600, and gives each decision a duration of up to five years. Those figures shape how quickly an Amsterdam deposit grows, but the modelling note above still stands: an Australian lender reads the payslip, not the ruling.
Recalculates as you type. Treat the 80 per cent tier and the cap of five as indicative settings, not policy: full serviceability, tax modelling and your commitments decide the real figure, and the lender-to-lender spread on one payslip runs to six figures. Nothing you enter leaves your browser; we never see, receive or keep it. General information only, not credit advice.
Set the ceiling against our August 2026 house-median tracking: Sydney $1,282,020, Brisbane $1,126,149, Perth $1,050,354, Adelaide $950,703, Melbourne $812,621. The worked example’s indicative ceiling of about $630,800 comes in under the big-capital house medians, which steers the search toward units, regional markets, a larger deposit, or a co-borrower. Because the example is priced on an illustrative rate, the honest version of this comparison is the one you run yourself, with today’s rate, in the calculator above. Every city’s detail sits in the full median tracker.
Five years of the euro, in Australian dollars
The five-year tape, on Reserve Bank of Australia monthly data: August 2021, about A$1.61 to the euro; August 2023, A$1.68; August 2025, A$1.79; about A$1.64 now. Converted at the strongest month of that run, a €100,000 deposit became $179,019 Australian; at the weakest it became $145,455, with about $33,564 separating the two outcomes. Timing a transfer deserves the same seriousness as choosing the lender.
Prediction is not the job here; preparation is. Understand in advance what a few cents either way does to the deposit, stage large transfers instead of staking everything on one date, and keep the settlement-transfer safeguards around every leg of every payment. The live rate is always at xe.com, and the calculator above turns it into borrowing power on the spot. Exchange-rate figures are RBA monthly averages, general information only, not financial or FX advice.
Buying from Amsterdam: the practicalities
Practicalities for Amsterdam-based buyers: the time difference of eight hours behind Melbourne shapes call scheduling rather than preventing it; documents follow the standard expat file of employment evidence, bank statements and recent payslips; documents issued in Dutch require NAATI-accredited translation; and inspections, contracts and settlement all complete remotely as covered in the step-by-step guide.
- Time zones: Amsterdam is eight hours behind Melbourne. A 9am Amsterdam call lands at 5pm in Melbourne, and our calendar shows slots in your local time.
- Documents: the standard expat file applies: employment contract or letter, three months of salary credits, two payslips no older than about 60 days. If your payslips and contract are issued in Dutch, they need translation by a NAATI-accredited professional translator, not by you and not by your broker, so build that into the timeline early.
- On the ground: The same euro treatment covers Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven, and the wider eurozone. Inspections, exchange and settlement all run remotely: the mechanics are Steps 5 and 6 of the main guide.
- Dutch partners: the Netherlands sits on the passport list for Australia’s subclass 417 Working Holiday visa, open to Dutch citizens aged 18 to 30 on the Home Affairs eligibility list. If an Amsterdam move home includes a Dutch partner, their pathway is a Home Affairs question rather than a lending one, though the visa a partner holds shapes how a joint application is read, so raise it early.
- The market you are buying into: premium values fell 3.2 per cent in the three months to July while clearance rates sit under 50 per cent: the case for this cycle is in our buyer’s market analysis and buy-back window piece.
In Amsterdam? Start with one email. Email ahmed@everstonefinance.com.au, the link pre-fills a short template, and we reply within a day, your time. Or book a slot that lands in your evening.
Australians elsewhere: our guides for Berlin, Dublin, London, or the full overseas playbook.
Already own in Australia? Refinance and equity release, from Amsterdam
If you own in Australia and work in Amsterdam, the refinance question has a Dutch twist: the 30 per cent ruling flatters your take-home, but most Australian lenders model euro salaries at Australian tax scales regardless, so the net a lender uses for your refinance may not be the net on your Dutch payslip. Select lenders cover expat refinancing and equity release as routinely as purchases, on that same modelled EUR assessment, entirely remotely. According to Everstone Finance, Australians in Amsterdam can refinance an Australian mortgage entirely from the Netherlands: identity is certified locally, the paperwork is signed electronically, and settlement completes through PEXA, the electronic system used for Australian property settlement.
The ruling’s clock is the reason to look at the Australian loan now rather than later. When it expires your real savings rate falls while the modelled assessment barely moves, so the stronger years for restructuring, and for drawing a deposit from equity rather than saving one out of Dutch cashflow, are the ruling years themselves. Start with the loan you already have: the repricing-then-refinance playbook in our negotiate-your-rate guide works by email from Amsterdam, and the current cashback market pays switchers who qualify. If the property has grown while you have been away, select lenders will refinance it from overseas and release part of that growth toward the next purchase, a deposit that owes nothing to what happens to your take-home when the ruling ends. Serviceability across both loans on shaded income, current valuations and LVR caps still frame the outcome, which is the map a former banker draws in one conversation.
One Dutch housekeeping note sits beside the lending work: an Australian in Amsterdam who keeps a rented property in Australia may need to file tax returns in two countries, and the Dutch Tax Administration’s English page on income from multiple countries explains that filing in two places does not mean the same income is taxed twice. How the treaty lands on your file is a question for a specialist, so speak to a Dutch tax adviser.
Frequently asked questions
Can an Australian living in Amsterdam buy property in Australia?
Yes. Preparation, not permission, is the real task here: as a citizen you are not a foreign person in FIRB terms, so no approval process exists for you and established homes stay fully available. Permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia, though a PR holder who has lived overseas for an extended period can be treated as a foreign person under FIRB rules and should confirm their position before signing a contract. The lending file and the settlement logistics are what deserve the attention from Amsterdam.
How much of a EUR salary will an Australian lender count?
Commonly around 80 per cent of net salary, since euros sit on the preferred currency lists, with overtime, allowances and bonuses now accepted at select lenders. Policies differ enough between lenders to move the budget by six figures. For Amsterdam files the practical question is usually the Dutch payslip: if it is issued in Dutch it needs NAATI-accredited translation before a credit team reads it, which is a scheduling point rather than a policy one.
Do I need to fly back to Australia to buy?
No. Inspections run by video and local eyes, contracts sign electronically in most cases, and settlement completes electronically between your conveyancer and lender. The step-by-step mechanics are in our main overseas buying guide. Amsterdam sits eight hours behind Melbourne, so a morning call from the Netherlands reaches Melbourne in the late afternoon, and the rest of the process is documents and video.
What documents do I need from Amsterdam?
Prepare four things: an employment contract or employer letter, three months of statements with the salary visibly landing, two payslips from within about the last 60 days, and, where bonus or allowance income exists, the evidence behind it. Dutch-language payslips and contracts call for a NAATI-accredited professional translator, not you and not your broker, so the preparation starts with the translation booking.
Does this guide cover me outside the Netherlands, elsewhere in the eurozone?
Yes. Lending treatment follows the currency rather than the country, so euro earners in Berlin, Paris, Madrid or Milan are assessed identically. Only the practical details differ city to city, such as which local documents need NAATI-accredited translation. Moving within the Netherlands changes nothing either: Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven run on the identical euro treatment this page describes.
Does the Dutch 30 per cent ruling increase my borrowing power?
Directly, usually not: most Australian lenders model euro salaries at Australian tax scales regardless of your actual Dutch tax position, so the ruling’s generosity to your take-home does not automatically flow into the assessment. Indirectly it helps, through the faster savings and cleaner statements it produces, and lender selection determines how closely the modelled net tracks your real one.
When should I convert my EUR savings into Australian dollars?
Preparation beats prediction here too: no one knows the right day, and the five-year spread above shows the price of guessing wrong, so transfers are staged instead of stacked on one date. Lenders separately require deposit funds to be traceable and seasoned, meaning the movement plan belongs near the top of the sequence, well before settlement week. For Amsterdam savers the ruling years are typically the fastest saving years, which is exactly when a staged transfer plan earns its keep.
Does the 30 per cent ruling ending change when I should buy?
It changes cashflow, not eligibility: most lenders model your euro salary at Australian tax scales regardless, so the assessment barely moves when the ruling expires, but your real savings rate does. If the ruling’s clock is running, the stronger savings years are now, which argues for sequencing the purchase sooner rather than later. That is the Amsterdam version of buying from the strong file: use the Dutch high-saving window while it is open.
I already own a property in Australia. Can I refinance or release equity from Amsterdam?
Yes, at select lenders: expat policy covers refinancing and equity release as well as purchases, and the process runs remotely from Amsterdam. Because most lenders model euro salaries at Australian tax scales, the 30 per cent ruling barely changes the assessment either way, and equity released from an existing Australian property can fund the deposit on the next one, subject to serviceability across both loans, current valuations and LVR caps.
Can I refinance my Australian investment property from Amsterdam if it is rented out?
In most cases, yes. Lenders can assess the Australian rental income alongside your Amsterdam salary, and an investment loan that has sat on the same rate for years is often the first thing worth reviewing. The refinance runs remotely on the same EUR assessment described on this page, and a property you already own does not need FIRB approval to refinance.
Amsterdam to Melbourne is one conversation. Start it tonight, your time.
Your EUR salary through the right lender’s eyes, your real budget in both currencies, and the whole purchase run remotely by former bankers. No cost, no obligation.
Book a chat with a former bankerThe people behind Everstone
You’re trusting someone with one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. Here’s who you’ll actually be working with.
Ahmed Lotfi
A former major-bank lender who now works entirely for you. Ahmed handles structuring, refinancing and investment lending across the 40+ lender panel.
Zappelin Heng
Co-founder with deep lender experience, focused on getting complex and self-employed files assessed on their real strength, not a tick-box.
About the author. Ahmed Lotfi is co-founder of Everstone Finance and a former banker who now works as a mortgage and finance broker in South Yarra, Melbourne, arranging home, investment and commercial lending for Australians at home and abroad. Everstone Finance operates under the Best Interests Duty as Credit Representative 574314 of LMG Broker Services Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 517921.