We want to move to Amsterdam from the states

[nurturinglovely]

So, I have relatives in Eindhoven, my dh and I stayed there during our honeymoon (7 years ago)... and we fell in love. I would love to get my 3 boys out of the US and to the country of their roots.

As a family we are artists - My husband is a skilled musician and i do artistic modeling. We are car-free out here and would continue to be out there.

Where would i start?

Where is a good place to look for housing? What are the different neighborhoods?

Is it common to homeschool? are there any alternative/natural schools?

What about the cost of living? What is normal rent? Out here we have a 2 bed. house for $950/month - which is REALLY low. Most houses are about $1200 for that. How does housing compare? Also - i see that rentals are listed as 700 euros but is that er month or week?

You can see how confused i am.

Anyway, we are looking to move next fall if possible - but i wan tto be ready... and i don't want to be friendless!

any suggestions?

Danke!

[simonee]

That price would likely be per month. What you should do is look for real estate agents (makelaars) in Eindhoven who offer huurwoningen (rentals) or anything else with 'huur' in it. You can expect to get a small row house (3 or 4 beds, 1.5 bath) from the 70s or 80s for about 700 or 800 euros per month. Public transportation is no problem and you can of course all get around on bikes!

[nurturinglovely]

Originally Posted by simonee

That price would likely be per month. What you should do is look for real estate agents (makelaars) in Eindhoven who offer huurwoningen (rentals) or anything else with 'huur' in it. You can expect to get a small row house (3 or 4 beds, 1.5 bath) from the 70s or 80s for about 700 or 800 euros per month. Public transportation is no problem and you can of course all get around on bikes!

Thanks for responding! You said "That price would likely be per month.." ...which price? What we are paying or the more average for our area?

Also - i would rather be in amsterdam i think..... Like i said,i know we can gt around on bikes - its what we do here - but i tend to get really restless. i like to be where the kids activities, shops, parks etc... tend to be. (especially during long gray winters). Seems like that would be better in amsterdam right? At least from what i remember from eindhoven is that is was more suburban and less "city" you know?

btw - what is "huur"? rent?

Again - thanks for your help!

[simonee]

Yeah, I meant the prices you saw. Amsterdam is very nice of course, but other cities also have their charms. It's all pretty child oriented and you can ride bikes everywhere. Any town larger than 15K people will have shopping streets and stuff, and Eindhoven is actually quite large. You might also like Den Bosch, an older city not far from Eindhoven. But I agree, Amsterdam is the best :

Huur = rent

[nurturinglovely]

what area are you in?

I know there are probably *plenty* of other wonderful cities...
i just like when the one i am in has all that i need and i don't need to bike more than 3 miles (how many kilos is that??) to get there, you know?

[sarahmck]

I just saw this thread because MDC has stopped e-mailing me for my thread and forum subscriptions.

I suspect rents here will generally be more (and will be quoted by the month), especially when you take into account the exchange rate. It all really depends on your requirements and where you're willing to live. If you live out a bit or in a less desirable (but safe) neighborhood, then you will pay less than if you live closer to the center. Funda.nl is one site that lists houses both for rent and for sale.

Home schooling is very unusual here and quite challenging, legally speaking. Children are required by law to be enrolled in school from their 5th birthday. People do homeschool, but to do so they have to illustrate that there's no school within 20km (I think) of them that meets their needs, and it's not just a matter of saying that you don't agree with the idea of schooling or whatever. In many situations it requires court cases and such. There are several homeschooling families in this NL forum, so if you read a bit you can PM them for more info.

There are alternative choices, most of which are public and almost free. For example, Montessori (although different than US Montessori and quite a bit less alternative), Waldorf, etc. There's a thread called "schooling options in the NL" if I recall correctly, with lots of info.