Cheap apartments for rent in Amsterdam

This is how you find them!

We all want to live in Amsterdam, and preferably in the center. The beautiful center with its lovely canals where we can look at the boats floating by. But Amsterdam is not a cheap place to live in terms of rental cost. So how does one go about finding cheap apartments for rent in Amsterdam, preferably for less than €1.000 a month?

We have put together a short list of “must follow” advice to be successful and get your little gem. They are ranked from most important to very important!!!

Your location criteria must be flexible

You simply cannot expect to find the cheapest houses in the most expensive areas. There are studio’s and apartments in the center for €1.000 a month or less, however they only come by every now and again. To give you an idea, In the past 3 months RentSlam has found 12.231 apartments for rent in Amsterdam, only 1.341 (11%) of these had a rental fee up to €1.000. Of these cheap apartments 447 were inside the ring and only 122 in the center (so only 9% of the total was in the center).  You can of course get one of these 122, but you need to respond very fast and you need to be patient. You are better off choosing the whole of Amsterdam as your search criteria. Amsterdam Zuidoost is actually much nicer than most people think. Amsterdam Noord, Amsterdam Oost and Amsterdam Nieuw-west are good places to find cheap rentals.

Respond very fast to listings for cheap apartments for rent in Amsterdam

The beauty of the RentSlam service is that you get houses in your email as soon as they come online. This means you really can be one of the first to send in your application. If you set your email settings to Push, you can receive the mails within a minute. You will then only compete with other RentSlam users with the same search criteria and no longer with everyone else in Amsterdam. If you check your email hours after we sent it, you will be too late.

Your other criteria must be flexible as well

When looking for cheap apartments for rent in Amsterdam you must forget your demands for 75m2+ and trust me, if you are looking for more than a studio or a 1 bedroom, you are best off raising your budget. So if you are not looking to share a bed, then do not look under €1,000 if you are 2 or more people sharing.

Furnished vs unfurnished

If you are looking for a furnished place and an unfurnished place comes by within your budget, take it. You can easily furnish an apartment for a very low budget. People give away furniture for free online and if you want new stuff, Ikea and other shops can get you a long way for a low budget. Even if you have to start with a bed only and add other furniture later.

Immediately say yes at the viewing

So you were lucky enough to get invited to this cool apartment that is going for less than €1000 a month? Then you should know that if you do not say yes immediately, it will not be yours. There is no “I will let you know later today if I take it or not” because someone else will say yes before you do. Remember this, say yes immediately, and even try to get their approval in writing the same moment if at all possible.

Bonus – Are you sure about your budget?

Finding cheap apartments for rent in Amsterdam, within the center or the ring, becomes much easier if your budget is a bit higher. So take into account that living in the outskirts of Amsterdam might be cheaper, but you might end up spending the difference in transport to your place of work if you work in the city and need to commute every day.

We hope you follow this advice and that you find a great place to live soon.

Stop searching and start applying.

Sign up now

Find your perfect rental home today!

Where do you want to live?