In my work as a home buying consultant I have experienced that people with foreign background often are unaware of the fact that the bid is binding when buying a property in Norway. They ask me to check the purchase contract after already giving a bid on the property.
That is actually too late in relation to the system for buying and selling homes in Norway:
Your bid is binding once the seller has accepted it. That means that you have to check both the sales material and the property before you give a bid. You have no regrets unless the seller have given you very wrong and defective information about the property. This is seldom the case because the real estate agent are helping the seller to give the correct information in the sales material. The purchase contract is merely an affirmation of what has been agreed through the bidding process.
Read about the penalties and risk for a walk-away buyer here.
I am not very surprised that people from other countries misunderstand this, because most other countries have some sort of right of withdrawal or system for checking the property after the bid has been accepted.
The Norwegian system gives the buyer a big responsibility, and you have to work very hard in advance of the bidding round to check the sales material and the property.
If you need help in connection with buying av property in Norway please contact me on e.mail:
trude.larsen@boligkjopsradgiver.no
Read: To buy a house in Norway from abroad.
