Maia Kenney with Pepper in Amsterdam. Desiré van den Berg for The New York Times

Maia Kenney was living in Utrecht, the centrally located city in the Netherlands, while she built a career in the art world. At first, she was sharing an apartment with her partner. But last spring they broke up, and Ms. Kenney needed to move — fast.

An American and Polish citizen, Ms. Kenney, 34, grew up in Boulder, Colo., but also lived on and off in Poland, where her mother is from. She wound up in the Netherlands after her father suggested a program at University College Utrecht, and returned to Utrecht a few years after graduation to get her master’s degree in art history.

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Putting her Polish passport to use, she was able to stay in Europe and spent the next six years developing a career as a curator, while also teaching at a design school.

After the breakup, Ms. Kenney weighed her options. She didn’t want to move back to the States, and Utrecht was expensive. Amsterdam, about 30 miles north, was also expensive, but she had a lot of friends in the Dutch capital. “I’d always actually wanted to live here,” she said. “It’s just a very energetic city.”

Many people her age, especially in the cultural sector, had roommates. That wasn’t going to work with her dog, Pepper, so she decided to try to buy something small on her own. “This is my chance,” she thought.

She had about 300,000 euros ($350,000) to spend, cobbled together from her savings and some help from family — “an act of love, because I was not in a good situation before,” she said. She was able to secure a small mortgage after paying off student loans. To save on costs, she decided to forgo a broker and trawl listings online.

The market was tight and appealing options were limited. Maurits van Leeuwen, a broker in Amsterdam, said most listings in Amsterdam sell for 10 percent over the asking price, and quickly. This was especially true at Ms. Kenney’s price range, in a city without many studio apartments.

“A lot of people can pay it, so the sellers have a lot of choice in who is buying,” Mr. Van Leeuwen said.

Ms. Kenney looked for a studio with a balcony so Pepper could have outdoor space. Good connections to Amsterdam’s main train station were important, since she often commutes to other parts of the country. But she was primarily focused on neighborhoods, because she knew that with her budget she wouldn’t be getting a ton of space.

“The city has to be my living room,” Ms. Kenney said.

Among her options:

No. 1

A Bright Studio in De Pijp

Desiré van den Berg for The New York Times

This updated studio with about 300 square feet was on the second floor of a building on a car-free street in De Pijp, a buzzing neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants. The renovated galley kitchen separated the living room from the sleeping area in the back, which stepped out to a small balcony overlooking the tree-lined street. Windows on both sides of the apartment were big and sunny. The location was very central, close to parks and cultural institutions like the Rijksmuseum. Ms. Kenney said it was “beautifully renovated” and had “a pied-à-terre kind of vibe.” The asking price was 280,000 euros ($325,000), plus a 100 euro ($115) monthly HOA fee.

WWR Makelaars

No. 2

Fixer-Upper in Amsterdam-Noord

Desiré van den Berg for The New York Times

This boxy ground-floor studio in a small apartment complex had about 387 square feet, and was in shabby condition — “ugly,” Ms. Kenney said — with water damage and other serious cosmetic flaws. But it came with a north-facing garden of about 480 square feet, more than doubling the overall size. And the building had a common roof terrace. It was in Amsterdam Noord, a hip but more affordable part of the city, and a short walk from a free ferry service to the city center. Ms. Kenney appreciated the quiet and the light, but thought the kitchen was a little “bare bones” for someone who loves to cook. The asking price was 285,000 euros ($330,000), plus a 64 euro ($75) monthly HOA fee.

TWM Real Estate Amsterdam

No. 3

Parkside Studio in Amsterdam-West

Desiré van den Berg for The New York Times

This renovated studio was smaller, with about 260 square feet, and came with a private 215-square-foot roof terrace that wrapped around the building. The open kitchen had an Italian marble worktop, the oak parquet floors were heated from beneath, and there was a separate storage room. The living space wrapped around the bathroom, so Ms. Kenney thought she’d have to put the bed next to the kitchen area. The building, in the western part of the city, was on the edge of Westerpark, a large green space with cafes and cultural events — a “really, really, beautiful part of Amsterdam,” she said. The asking price was 275,000 euros ($320,000), plus a 55 euro ($64) monthly HOA fee.

Eefje Voogd Real Estate

Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:

Which Would You Choose?

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A Bright Studio in De Pijp

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Fixer-Upper in Amsterdam-Noord

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Parkside Studio in Amsterdam-West

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A Bright Studio in De Pijp

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Fixer-Upper in Amsterdam-Noord

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Parkside Studio in Amsterdam-West