De Hypotheker: Honest and transparent in the quest for your dream home

From their humble beginnings on Parnassusweg to a full-fledged office on Strawinskylaan – after twenty years De Hypotheker has become an establishment in Zuidas. Mortgage man Thomas van Splunteren knows this special slice of Amsterdam inside out by now – whereas the ever-changing housing market is another story altogether. Van Splunteren: ‘After all these years, it’s still completely unpredictable. We’ve witnessed so much. And that’s precisely why sound mortgage advice is so essential.’ 

GROWING RESIDENTIAL OFFERING

When the whole country went into intelligent lockdown this past March, Van Splunteren saw his work schedule empty overnight. ‘It scared people all right. Uncertainty about contracts and a potential crisis seem to have prompted reticence. Oddly enough, it took only two weeks for business to bounce back again. And, incredibly, it got even busier than before. On top of that the housing stock also grew, which is a good combination.’ Van Splunteren’s job involves giving mortgage advice to people who are shopping for a house. De Hypotheker offers a variety of options, from basic online recommendations to extensive guidance, where customers are supported in their house hunt and completing all the paperwork and arrangements from start to finish. ‘We have two aims: to take the work out of people’s hands while continueing to be honest and transparent. If clients have unrealistic expectations, we tell them so’, Van Splunteren explains.

GET INFORMED BEFOREHAND

A common trap people fall into, according to Van Splunteren, is falling for online mortgage providers and the proliferation of calculation models. ‘You can’t always trust information you find online when it comes to your options. You can easily fill in some figures and the models will do the maths for you. People assume they’ve got more to spend than they actually do and don’t come to us until after they’ve already found a house, which then turns out to be out of reach. That’s a recipe for disappointment.’ And that’s why Van Splunteren recommends, ‘Come to us first. We go that extra step and look not only at your mortgage costs, but also your insurance policies, levies and municipal taxes. After that the fun part begins: finding your dream home.’