LUXURY APARTMENT TOUR IN ROTTERDAM (€2,500 per month?! 🫢)

In this episode, Michelle and Alex FINALLY take y'all on a tour through their luxury apartment in Rotterdam, to show you what exactly €2,500 per month gets you here in 2023.
A few additional bits we forgot to mention in the video:
* In the Netherlands, some apartments are rented without flooring or without a kitchen. Our apartment came with everything included (except a washer and dryer).
* The rent is exclusive of everything except for parking. We pay additional fees for electricity, district heating, water, sewer, etc. As we mentioned, there is no gas.
* The apartment has an energy label of A, meaning it's extremely well insulated, which really helped us with district heating costs in the winter time.
Episode 66 · Filmed on May 27, 2023 · Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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🎶 Our music is from Epidemic Sound: share.epidemicsound.com/9ult2k
0:00 Introduction
0:45 How did we end up here?
1:37 Welcome to our apartment!
1:47 The bathroom
2:19 Extra bedrooms
3:37 Our bedroom
4:41 How much are we paying?
5:26 Half bathroom and laundry room
6:13 Do we like living here?
6:32 Alex's work space
7:35 The kitchen
8:54 Michelle's work space
9:02 Living room
11:01 The balcony
11:15 Why are we moving?
12:13 Wrap up
#expatlife #netherlands #apartmenttour #housetour #dutchhouse #hometour #hometours
---
WHO IS BUNCHARTED?
We're Michelle and Alex, a travel-obsessed American couple living abroad in the Netherlands.
In 2020, we quit our jobs to travel the world, and... yeah, that didn't happen. So in 2022, we decided to make an even BIGGER change, packing up our lives (and our cats 🐈), moving from Austin, Texas, to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Subscribe for new videos like this every week!

[@jackvandersluis1723]

Thanks for the tour, but realy €2500 a month! Wow! Love your cats! 🐱🐱👍👍

[@Linda-hs1lk]

2500 euro is insane. I have a similar apartment and pay 700 euros per month. Not in Rotterdam though, but I'm extremely happy about that.

[@gertstolk]

Love your Herman Miller Eames chair, you have good taste. I bought mine last december. A shitload of money but I enjoy it every day 😊

[@buncharted]

ours is fake but we still love it anyway 😅

[@tracybloem3369]

Hi guys! I'm also an American living here in the Netherlands. I live in the province of Flevoland. I've been here about 40 years so I know alot about living here. Feel free to reach out to chat and ask questions. Love your videos! Tot ziens!

[@SuperEdwin61]

Nice place, close to The Hef but very expensive. Love Rotterdam and your cats 😊

[@Persei1]

Your cats are really adorable.

[@peterf1]

You guys make every video with a great sense of humor. Backwards timeline aside 😀it's good to see your 'old' place. Relatively speaking you would have to spend another $1000 / mo. around where I live (an hour outside NYC) to get a place that large. So, even expensive NL doesn't really shock me. (OK, yes Amsterdam is a whole other story). In our recent visit to NL there was constant evidence of a new wave of building. One of my relations is in construction and there's apparently an unholy combination of soaring construction material price increases and higher mortgage interest rate hikes that risks stalling the whole boom. Nobody knows the future, but I hope NL figures it out and provides younger buyers with nice and affordable options. From the look at the plans I see on Dutch real estate listings, there's a great trend of open, light filled, back gardened, modern kitchened housing. Your timing might actually be good for one of these. Best of luck. Can't wait for the bike era to begin.

[@rafigladboy]

Love this episode from Bangladesh.💛

[@rowenacandyengracial4526]

I really love all your contents or videos...very informative...keep it up guys...

[@chubbymoth5810]

Dordrecht is a nice alternative to Rotterdam. Not as exiting for sure, but close enough to go to Rotterdam for some action.Buying a house was relatively cheap compared to renting a house while the mortgage ratings were low. When buying a house with a mortgage, I would advise a fixed rent on that. Over a longer period that will be a lot cheaper most of the time and for sure will make things easier to manage.

[@jacques7799]

Seeing your videos I thought you probably lived at "De kop van Zuid". That would justify a EUR 2500 rent, but this seems to be a bit on the high side for your (really nice!) apartment . But anyway, you were able to live there in the first place and able to look for the next stage, Dordt, love it congrats! A 'cat-tax' is absolutely ridiculous. If the cats messes things up, of course you have to pay for the damage being done, not for their presence (which I think would be justified for dogs). I think cat owners should get a discount on the rent. Cat lovers are more prudent, responsible, socially engaged ,....etc..... Well, you know best...... All the best, thanks for your video, Jacques

[@IesKorpershoek]

2500 is OK . We rented a 1Bd condo in Ft. Lauderdale on the Intercoastal for several months for $4500 / month

[@hummel3479]

2500 a month. Ridiculous. You can rent 3 appartements for this money if you just move out of the big city. I wish you all the luck and happiness in your new home. Greetings from Roermond in the south of the Netherlands

[@miatx6818]

This is at the river in Rotterdam near center and yeah its newly build luxury appartmentnso yeah your gonna be paying the highest price for it

[@Dennisboetes]

I live in a small village next to a bigger town. Everything I need max 15 min bikeride. Great nature around the corner, Big house, 4 bedrooms and an attic. Big yard, great neighbours. And my cat can roam arround freely. She comes and goes as she pleases. And all that for just 730 euro's. I realize I'm lucky, but there are great benefits living up north. But Dordt looks great also. SImilar to my hometown.

[@masongroendal3411]

What city

[@jasmingovers4403]

You guys could've easily gotten fietsswap, I had that when I was in a dorm room in 's Hertogenbosch. It was really handy!

[@buncharted]

ahh this would have been so useful to know about 😭

[@TheBircat]

6:43 KLM business class liquors!

[@playy1797]

I made the same mistake, and got the hard Emma mattress because the website advised me to. Then I didn't send it back in the 100 day grace period when I should have. Got myself the topper for it now, and that seems to be improving my sleep a lot. Less aches too. Anyway, thanks for the tour!

[@buncharted]

that’s funny. we got the topper as well which helped a lot but yeah, still some regrets 😅

[@davevanbeers6944]

It’s an nice apartment but the rent wow. I could buy a house and pay less rent. Understanding you guys wanting to move. 😊 looking forward to your biking video. And your Dordrecht housewarming video! 😂

[@mariamazko]

Show us all of your cats and tell everything about them please!

[@hanhenderikse]

Nearly called names, man that was a lot you had to pay, ok the appartment was nice. I live in Barendrecht and I bought my house 20yrs ago and I pay about 385 mortgage before tax deduction. A 2 store house with 3 bedrooms. I hope you have a better and cheaper life in Dordrecht. And btw only 5min walk to the tram witch takes me to central station.

[@SuperEdwin61]

First, like your cats. They are wonderful and the best there is. You are als super Michelle. I remember my American friends telling me, you are oke but your girlfriend we love.

[@stepig84]

Construction is a big issue in dutch cities indeed! Good luck with the next place

[@remharri85]

Can you explain about shipping your goods and cost? I was looking at that today and couldn’t really figure out a cost.

[@buncharted]

can you message us on instagram about it? it’s kind of a long, complex answer…

[@ExitiumNL]

Are you guys gonna do a home tour of the new place as well? (without the outside views, to keep us stalkers away 😜)

[@buncharted]

eventually - once we actually decorate it and such :)

[@Paul_C]

Ah, view of the Hembridge, it kinda old world design, steel and little else. That said, it still functions as it supposed to do.

[@DimVDKleijn]

except the train function that is, but then again she lost that so long ago by now.... ps. the Hembrug is in Zaandam, this is the Hef (Koningshavenbrug ) ofcourse .

[@Thebassjunk]

Man, that's a lot of money even though the place looks great (aside from the construction site next door). I feel like rent has gotten so out of control in this country. I bought my house in a small town just 10 minutes away (by car, 30-40 minutes by bike) from Nijmegen in 2016, and we pay just 850 euro's a month of mortgage. It's a 140 square meter house with three floors, four bedrooms and a sizable front and backyard. Of course it's kind of on an outskirt and Nijmegen isn't exactly a huge city but we still have everything we need quite close by.

[@jacken459]

Renting in the Netherlands indeed is expensive, especially when you cannot rent in teh so-called social sector, which is now under about €800,- a month. But what you have in a modern rather expensive appartment is that practically everything is included: kitchen apparatus, parking space (expensive in any city in the Netherlands), maintenance of the building (also in the future), cleaning of al spaces outside of your appartment, OZB (housing tax), opstal verzekering (building insurance). When you buy an appartment all that you have to pay for in addition to the mortgage payments. Many people forget to mention that when they compare buying or renting a house.

[@bertoverweel6588]

Hallo lovely people, you have the same DE Coffee maker as I have, great one. Groetjes

[@buncharted]

love that coffee maker :)

[@GoliathAngelus]

I see the best coffemaker

[@MxSheep]

The reason it's so expensive is the location.. a view on the nieuwe maas, next to 2 icons of Rotterdam Unilver building and De Hef bridge. It's also the first time I hear people have to pay extra for having cats.

[@MxSheep]

Contracts for renting an appartment containing clauses about pets are common, but enforcing them is a whole other thing. I feel that charging extra for the cats might could have been avoided. This is just a tip if your new house is also a rental.

[@buncharted]

i feel like we paid for the view but didn’t get any sort of discount for the construction. but it’s no matter - we like our new place in dordrecht :)

[@MxSheep]

@@buncharted hope the cats love the new place as well! Really enjoy the vibe of your videos

[@ItsSKYYo]

Look.. imma just say… y’all need to just move to Haarlem already! Can you smell that… I can smell a collab!

[@ikke5212]

😉😊

[@Relaxbadkneeadventures]

😉👍

[@Parratich]

We just bought one in the Hague for 365k, paying 2k per month as I chose annuity. Linear would've been around 1600. Even with todays "high" interest rates it's worth to buy, and you can always refinance at the end of the fix term for a better deal. Good luck to you guys in Dordrecht!

[@franshinlopen2166]

Your record player looks like my old Thorens.

[@StevenQ74]

That rent is expensive even for Rotterdam, but of course you pay for the location on the Noordereiland

[@gmshowtruck]

Dont think Michelle and Alex lived on the Noordereiland... the apartment they lived in was at the Nassaukade.

[@jordyvanstuivenberg855]

I'm still waiting on the weed video haha ! . maybe its an idea to start a gaming channel to ? , but great video thanks for explaining this to us Hope it all works out my favourite americans ! :D

[@macbosch64]

It’s a very lovely appartement and the view is great, but € 2500 is a lot of money…you should be able to buy a house for much less. Love the kitties, so sweet. From the view I can see where you live lol….hope you will have a great time in Dordrecht. And you definitely need bikes…couldnt do without (looking forward to that video).

[@QuartzNL]

Of course, the "gewetensvraag' ('question of conscience' - the inescapable question): given the opportunity (more affordable rent, quieter surroundings, closer to transport links) ... would you have preferred to stay in Rotterdam? Or are you well and truly done there? I can sympathize: born and bred in Rotterdam, moved back there from Leiden after studies, moved from Rotterdam-Kralingen (became way too busy and student-ridden) to first Bleiswijk (grunt) and later Schiedam (yuck) due to insane house prices, and am now living (with my American wife) in the east of the country because I can work from home 100% of the time, so "why not"? Still, far into the future ... maybe ... some day ...

[@buncharted]

i feel like dordrecht gives us the best of both worlds - it’s a small town with a lot of easy train connections and is less than 20 min on the trai. to rotterdam. so it feels a bit like we didn’t leave!

[@QuartzNL]

@@buncharted Enjoy your new surroundings! Are you in the old town or a more modern complex?

[@Linnml67]

Mooi appartement maar behoorlijk aan de prijs. Heel veel plezier en geluk in Dordrecht!! En misschien ooit wel eens verteld, maar wat doen jullie voor werk? Bedankt in ieder geval voor alle video’s!

[@wimschiphorst8541]

2,500. That is why the municipality of Amsterdam introduced a local law. And followed in several cities. This one reads. If you buy a house (apartment) you have to live in it yourself for the first 5 years. Exception for your children and parents. This is to prevent housing speculation, absurd rental or AirBnB. An amendment to the law is currently being discussed in parliament to ban short-term rental contracts, year 2 years. Homeowners are against this and come up with arguments, including Exparts and temporary tenants between a move can no longer rent. Something is done about this by specifically stating this in the contract. And after that, no more grants can be made. All this to give (temporary) tenants more legal protection as ordinary tenants already have. And to prevent the exorbitant rents and rent increases. Unsurprisingly, the party these landlords vote for, The Liberal Conservative Party, opposes this proposal.

[@liefde1911]

Come east………🎉🎉🎉

[@JC.Holland]

Insane I pay 600 euro mortgage per month 😎

[@vanderquast]

You can buy an Appartement for 500.000 euro with 2500 euro rent per month

[@gertstolk]

Can't blame you for getting a fake Eames chair 😅

[@aeiouaeiou100]

Damn you could buy a massive house if you pay 2500 in mortgage every month

[@RealConstructor]

But an apartment in the centre of Rotterdam (location, location, location!) would be difficult. €2,500 a month is included the parking place. They pay €30,000 a year on rent. With nowadays interest of about 4.5% you can buy an apartment of €650,000. But to be quite honest, you will have to pay the monthly service costs of the homeowners association also, which will be around €250 to €350 a month. And the homeowners taxes, municipal, state and waterboard, which will be around €2,000 to €3,000 a year. So it will probably be more in the neighborhood of €600,000. And they live in a big and luxury (well above average) apartment for Dutch standards. €2,500 for rent is, although a lot of money for us Dutchies, not that much and you get a lot in return.

[@Wielie0305]

@@RealConstructorheb je een containertje uitgehaald 😉? Kom lekker naar het noorden of oosten. Voor 2500 huur per maand heb je een mooi boerderijtje met (als je beetje mazzel hebt) leuk zwembadje erachter. Dicht bij de stad, waar je ook nog een keer snel bent (zelfs met de auto). Het probleem van de Randstad… Veel te druk en veel te duur…

[@RealConstructor]

@@Wielie0305 Ik woon gelukkig in het groene hart en niet in de stad, maar druk is het in westen inderdaad. Maar ik ben t gewoon. Je merkt als je op vakantie ben, dat t ook stil kan zijn. Hier hoor je altijd wel wat, auto’s, treinen, vliegtuigen, linkse zeikers.

[@leonardoluc6362]

People live in Rotterdam because work! People live in Amsterdam because they are creative.

[@jaydenhughes]

Onzin

[@douglaswilkinson5700]

Luxury? €2.500 is normal rent for a 2 bedroom in Redondo Beach (SoCal).

[@buncharted]

pay tends to be quite a bit higher in the US, especially california, compared to here 😄

[@robwilliams2410]

You’ve been flying KLM business class

[@ElMariachi1337]

Did I just spot a Famicom with Super Mario 👀

[@buncharted]

with super mario USA! the japanese version of super mario 2 :)

[@moneymakermike6189]

2500 euro a month is not luxury rent. Judging from this video you got a pretty good deal.

[@eddys.3524]

Yeah, living in the Netherlands has become very expensive..

[@Wielie0305]

2500? 😱😱😱

[@buncharted]

😭

[@ageoflove1980]

I dont know what job you guys do other than influencer stuff. But if you guys work from home... well... You picked the most expensive place to live in the entire country. And I dont specifically mean Rotterdam, but rather a downtown area of a main Randstad area city. So: Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague, Deft, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Dordrecht basically. Not equally, Dordrecht is certainly cheaper than Amsterdam, but still relatively expensive. The city centres of these cities are on average the most expensive places to live in the entire country. Why? Because this is the economic heart of the country, most of the jobs are here, so people are really prepared to pay a lot more to have a short commute. But if thats not an issue for you... I would really look at other places. If you really want that city lifestyle and are not interested in suburbia, consider places like Groningen, Zwolle, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Breda or Den Boschor (or 's-Hertogenbosch) among others. These are all amazing cities, just as pretty, just as many canals or old style architecture. The downside is that its generally too far of a commute if you work in the Randstad area. But... if you dont need to do that... You are basically paying for something you are not using. If you live in a city outside the Randstad 1200-1500/mo will go a very long way. Ive lived in Amsterdam city centre for 30 years, basically since highschool. And I never really thought about it, it was just my home. But since the pandemic ive been working from home and I almost never have to come in to the Amsterdam office any more. So it really started to dawn on me... That I could basically live anywhere. So now im really looking at these places ive mentioned. And they are not far, i can easily visit friends and family. The Netherlands is not a big country and 1-2 hours is not something you want to do daily as your commute, but once a week during the weekends, not a problem at all. So yeah, considering my options here, just wanted to share.

[@buncharted]

that makes sense, but because we work from home, we felt like we _did_ use it - by taking advantage of the restaurants and cafes in rotterdam and the ease of travel with rotterdam centraal being our main hub. but your point is definitely valid - when looking for a new place to live, we cast a very wide net. and now we're in dordrecht!

[@ageoflove1980]

@@buncharted Makes sense. Just dont be afraid to look a bit outside of the box. Many of the places Ive mentioned really have a regional charm to them and very classy neighborhoods with amazing bars and restaurants for a better price. Its an amazing asset to not be tied to a specific place. And all the cities ive mentioned have frequent direct trains to pretty much anywhere.

[@ruudbremer]

i never heard of an exrta fee for a bed you placed in a bedroom. What do you think it is for. I think you got ripped off. You should never had to pay that fee. And how would they check that? they have no permisison to enter the home without consent.

[@buncharted]

the extra fee was for the cats!

[@renedevrind1733]

@@buncharted That's rediculous, a security deposit for having cats would had been more appropriate.

[@user-xi6nk4xs4s]

Rip off price. Thank you for showing us around.

[@frankgeurts3912]

Pffff my home costs €500 month

[@frankgeurts3912]

Two under one hood house

[@20kilovolt]

You play minecraft?

[@buncharted]

off and on :)

[@20kilovolt]

@@buncharted Same :)

[@Maurice...]

2500 is ridiculous. Good thing you're moving somewhere else.

[@Paul_C]

Maybe one question: Did it become, for the lack of a better word, Home? Moving to a 'fresh' old world country can be depressing. History is a two edged sword when you think about it. Bye Zelda

[@buncharted]

zelda came with us :) it became home in the sense that it became familiar, but it never really felt like home for us. and maybe we have rose-colored glasses or something but we already feel way more at home in our apartment here in dordrecht - and in the city itself. so we're excited to finally truly feel settled here soon :)

[@Paul_C]

@@buncharted Maybe, just maybe, you got rid of the glasses, or at least the slightly red ones. NL isn't the best in the world, not by any metric, just, it is home for me. If you can forgive the faults and work around the nightmare that is bureaucracy, it can be a base for any business.

[@darklady6987]

you are already becoming really Dutch, saving money is so Dutch. enjoy living in Dordrecht.