Mr. Shehzad had previously lived in Bergen and worked as managment counsultant focusing on the oil industry.  Now he is posted in Qatar and he was looking for someone to help him and his family to buy a nice house in the Oslo area.

He contacted Boligkjøpsrådgiver Krogsveen by telephone and mail, and after a short time he engaged us to assist him and his wife and three daughters in the house hunt.

He overlooked the process from abroad while his wife took care of the viewings together with the home buying consultant . It proved to be a successful division of labour.

As usual the woman has the final word when it comes to home buying, and after a while she and the family decided that Nesøya in Asker was a very pleasant place to live.  The wish came true and after a little while they won the bidding round on a very nice and  quite new house in a quiet place in Nesøya.

The family was especially concerned about the condition of the house.    «Therefore it was very useful for us that the home buying consultant examined the sales material and the technical report to avoid any surprises and complications», emphasis Mr Shehzad.  And he continues:  « It was very useful that Morten came along together with my wife on the viewings». The help of the home buying concultant was critical in buying this house specially during my absence from Oslo».
«I think it is remarkable that we achieved this objective without meeting face to face.  Thank you for your cooperation «, he concludes.

Congratulation with your new home

The pleasure in on our side.  We are very happy to help another international family to find a new home in Norway.

This story is about Marine and Kotaro who just bought a home in Norway, less than 3 months after they arrived in Norway to work as researchers.  They are a living proof that it is possible for newcomers to do what almost all Norwegians do – own their own home.  They just needed some help, which home buying consultant Trude Larsen in  were delighted to give them.

The first steps

They came in contact with Boligdama Trude Larsen, while they were still in the states and after searching the internet.   The first step was to correspond by e mail about financing, information about mortgage possibilities in Norway and house prices in the different areas that would suit the family.  They arrived in Oslo at Christmas and rented an apartment on a short time lease.  After meetings with a couple of banks in January they were ready to being the house hunt together with the home buying consultant.

A lot of courage

It takes courage to hunt for a semi detached house in the Oslo area just when the market is on its peak.  But this couple where very courageous and determined to get what they wanted, a nice family house with good communications to Oslo and the Oslo airport at Gardemoen.

After the financing were finalized in mid February we could start our house hunt for real.  Both the home buying consultant and the family found and exchanged suitable objects on finn.no, the site where all properties are advertised in Norway.   The job of the home consultant was to assess and ensure the quality of the houses based on the sales material and their market knowledge.  To give advice about possible selling price and bidding strategy was also a very important part of the process.

 Close communication

Thanks to a tight and straight forward communication from Marine and Kotara and their eagerness to view different properties we were able to find a house after less than a month with active search.  And we succeeded in finding a detached house in the same area which we one week before had lost the bidding round, to a lower price.  Our concern as home buying consultant was to help them to find a suitable house to live in an at the same time try to ensure that they would get their investment back when they hade finished their work in Norway after 3 – 4 years.

The couple describes the buying process and their new home like this:

What did you appreciate the most of the help you got from the home buying consultant?

It was great to get help to understand the system of home buying in Norway and be guided through the whole process from getting a loan, reading through all the documentation, doing the biding, to reading the final sale contract and getting the keys of our new house! The home buying consultant Trude made us more secure in the process so we felt like we were able to make good decisions. The fact that the home buying consultant works only for the buyer and that we paid a flat fee, not pro-rated on the price of the house, made the whole experience very pleasant, because there was no pressure to buy as soon as possible the most expensive house. On the contrary, we could feel that Trude wanted us to get a good deal and find a house that we loved that would fit our needs, wishes and budget!

What are the favorite features in your new house?

We were originally looking at a row house, but were very fortunate to find a detached house in our price range! We love the garden, which will be perfect for our young son and our dog.  The house is very light and well kept so we can move right in.  It was very important for us to be able to have our parents visit us, and the house is perfect fit for that. The location is perfect: quiet, easy commute to Oslo and very child friendly!

Would you recommend other foreigners to buy a house in Norway?

Yes, if you have the money we would recommend it.  The housing market in Norway is based on self owning.  It is quite expensive to rent a house with a good standard.  The housing market has been very good for sellers so far in Norway so we hope to get our investment back after a few years.

Congratulation and thanks

Congratulation to Marine and Kotaro, their little son and dog.  It was a pleasure to cooperate with them.  We are also grateful for the knowledge and experiences they provided us with regarding how foreigners can succeed with buying a home in Norway.  Experience we hope that other new customers will benefit from.

In June 2016, I got an interesting and enthusiastic e-mail from Sven and his wife Martina, Austrian citizens very much in love with Norway.   He wondered if my home consulting firm were able to help him and his wife to purchase a holiday home in the north-west of Norway.

Preparations during summer holiday

Of course, we could help him, especially because I previous had been working in the beautiful area around Kristiansund in Møre and Romsdal county where they mostly wanted to find a house.

During my holiday this summer, I was accidently visiting the area and used the opportunity to look around for possibilities for the family.  Previous we had changed views on different properties announced on the national website for properties for sale – finn.no.

After the trip, I recommended among some others, one property at Averøya, for them. To be sure that they purchased the best house for them, I arranged a trip for Sven where he could look at eight properties in the area.

The famous Atlanterhavsveien – near Averøya 

Successful viewings

In the beginning of September, he travelled around for 3 days, looked at the properties, and talked with the different realtors.  Luckily the market on holiday homes are a bit easy on the west coast at the time being, so he experienced very good service from the loacal realtors and enough time to think before deciding to bid on a property.

When he came home, he discussed with his wife and they decided to give a bid on the property at Trovikneset, Averøya.  During the bidding, we succeeded to buy it for NOK 150.000 below asking price.

On the 19.th of September, they took over the house combined with autumn holiday.

Trovikneset overlooking the Atlantic

Sense and sensibility

It was a pleasure to help this brave and sensible family to fulfil their Norwegian dream.  They had the courage to buy at house in a different country and wise enough to engage a professional person to help them in the process.

They look forward to spend the holidays at their new holiday home together with their little daughter, their three dogs and friends and family.

Sven and Martina says this about the buying process and their little piece of Norway:

“A little piece of Norway that we own. This was the dream we realized now. Last but not least because of the great help from Trude, who was on our side step by step to reach this personal goal. Thanks to her professional help we were safe from the beginning: the search for the perfect property and within the whole buying process. In the critical phase – this typical norwegian bidding process – she gave us clear recommendations. Thank you, Trude.”

and in German – Deutsch:

“Ein kleines Stück Norwegen, das uns gehört. Dies war unser Traum, den wir nun verwirklicht haben. Nicht zuletzt dank der großen Hilfe von Trude, die uns Schritt für Schritt an dieses Ziel begleitet hat. Ihre professionelle Hilfe gab uns von Anfang an die Sicherheit, die wir bei der Suche nach der richtigen Immobilie und in dem gesamten Kaufprozess gebraucht haben. Im entscheidendem Moment – dem für Norwegen typischen Bieterverfahren – kamen von ihr klare Empfehlungen. Danke, Trude.”

Qasim and family is newly established in Oslo.

This is the story of their property search.  

We first started on a rental property, but soon discovered that cost of living and high rent price was out of our monthly budget. So we were keen to look for something to buy.

Being new in Oslo, we didn’t know much from where to start except exploring finn.no.

Fortunately, we came across Boligdama – Trude Larsen and jshe helped us tremendously in viewing the properties matching our requirements.

In a matter of few months, we visited several properties and eventually landed on a 4 room apartment in Høybråten.

We have got both the central location and the layout and size we wanted.

It feels safe to have a local person who is competent to assist you in the whole process, not least in the thrilling bidding round.

I would recommend other buyers to seek assistance from Trude for leasing and buying properties.

If the story inspired you please contact us for an informal meeting to see how we can help you.