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I just moved to Amsterdam and it took me four months and thousands of US dollars to find an apartment. The competition for housing is so insane here that when a property becomes available it is normal to have 50-200 applicants apply for a viewing.
I have been to open houses where there was a 100 person line around the block to view a 50m one bedroom flat on the top floor of an old Dutch building. Asking rent: $2000 euros not including utilities. It actually rented for $2700 which means there was a bidding war.
In Holland they are housing students (the ones least likely to have the resources to rent a normal flat) in these giant plastic boxes near the Schipol airport, like fucking hamsters. Many places for rent will specify "no students" or "not for sharing" (no roommates). Completely crazy! Then you have to worry about the expat services who will charge you one month's rent on top of the landlord's security and sometimes large fees, too. Many are dishonest and the ones who are legit make you (the expat) jump through fifty hoops in terms of documentation before they will even represent you. Fun times!!
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