Meet Pip. Your rental search has company.

A search that thinks things through with you

You can tell Pip what you need the way you would tell a friend: 'I'm starting university in Rotterdam and looking for a studio. I can spend up to €1,200 a month, including regular housing costs.' You don't have to know every filter first. Pip helps turn your wishes into a clear search, then looks through the listings Homebound can show.

That conversation stays connected to your search. If furnished would be nice but isn't essential, it stays a preference. If you need permission to register at the address, Pip treats that as a requirement. And when an important detail can't be checked from listings, Pip keeps it as something to follow up. You can see what you need, what you'd like, and what still needs an answer.

The questions you hadn't put on your list yet

With your first room or studio, knowing what to ask can be half the challenge. Pip brings up useful details gradually, through short cards with choices and fields. You can see homes without completing a long intake questionnaire. Optional questions can wait: skip them for now and pick them up when you're ready.

These are details that become very real once you live somewhere. How long do you want to stay? Do you need quiet to study at home? Is a private bathroom essential, or are you happy to share? Could you cycle to campus after a late class? Pip helps you put those needs into words.

• Your monthly budget: base rent, or energy, water and other recurring housing costs too?
• Your moving budget: what can you pay upfront for a deposit, first rent and setting up your room?
• Your address: do you need to register, and can everyone moving in live there?
• Your timeline: when do you need to move in, leave, or stay beyond graduation?
• Your everyday life: travel, privacy, noise, accessibility and the things you need at home.

Affordable on paper. Affordable to live in.

An appealing base rent doesn't tell you your full monthly housing bill. Service charges and utilities can come on top. An advance payment also deserves a closer look: the Huurcommissie explains that the annual statement compares the amount paid in advance with the actual costs. You could owe more or receive money back.

Pip therefore asks what your budget should cover. With a firm total monthly limit, an unknown total isn't treated as a confirmed budget match. Pip won't fill in missing amounts for you. A deposit limit can be a separate search filter; furniture costs or the precise contents of a utilities advance can stay on your checklist for the provider.

An address that works for your plans

Registration, house sharing and contract length belong alongside rent and floor space. Dutch government guidance says you must register as a resident in the BRP when you come to live in the Netherlands for more than four months. Check the municipality's process for your address and circumstances. Pip helps distinguish your need to register from what a listing actually says about it.

A semester abroad can also call for different arrangements from a home you'd like to keep after graduating. Government guidance distinguishes permanent, temporary and target-group contracts, among others. Pip can help you ask about the contract type, end date and notice terms. You'll still want the exact agreement confirmed in writing before signing.

If a provider asks for a guarantor or proof of enrolment, Pip can help you understand the requirement and think through your next step. You don't need to share a passport, BSN, bank statement or password in the chat to do that.

From your story to a useful shortlist

Take the Rotterdam student in our example. The €1,200 limit including regular monthly housing costs becomes a budget condition. A studio and permission to register can become firm requirements. A quiet room and a manageable cycle route stay visible separately. A listing can match the conditions Homebound can check while noise or travel time still needs investigation.

With the results, Pip helps explain what makes a home worth considering and which trade-off remains. Missing information about costs, availability or registration stays unknown. Pip can't calculate a route time or establish a property's condition from a photo. It can help you decide what to check during a viewing or ask the provider in a message.

The homes come from the available listings in Homebound. Coverage doesn't include the whole rental market, and advertisements can change. Open the original listing and confirm current availability and conditions before taking the next step.

Save the search you've built, details included

Once you have a useful picture of what you want, ask Pip to save the search. You'll first see a review card with the filters, requirements, preferences and follow-up checks you've discussed. Give it a name and choose whether you'd like alerts. The search is created after you confirm it.

You can turn alerts off or choose instant, daily or weekly. The card shows the delivery channels available to your account. Alerts appear in Homebound; email depends on your plan, a verified address and available email delivery. Open Door lets you keep three saved searches. Home Stretch and Home Stretch Plus include unlimited saved searches. Open Door includes 20 Pip messages per calendar month, Home Stretch 200, and Home Stretch Plus unlimited Pip with no monthly quota. Every plan allows up to 30 messages per minute, 300 per hour and two being processed at once.

Details that can't be checked automatically stay attached. If you need a quiet bedroom, that requirement remains with the search. To receive alerts with those requirements, you acknowledge that they're possible candidates: the supported filters match, but the listed follow-up checks still need attention. You can manage your search and alerts in Saved.

A companion that leaves the decisions with you

You don't have to start your story from scratch each time. Pip can use relevant ordinary details from your saved profile, such as your studies, move-in window and housing preferences, and refer to saved searches when you ask to use them. You can correct those starting points. Different saved searches remain separate plans.

Pip helps you search, compare, prepare questions and set up alerts. You decide which home to view and when to apply. Pip doesn't send rental applications for you or access your accounts on rental platforms. Start with what you know today. You can work through the rest together.