Erik from The Netherlands contacted me already in December 2020. He is half Norwegian, and he and his family wanted a connection to Norway by purchasing a holiday home. After mapping their preferences, we found out that Sjusjøen area was the best location for them to enjoy Norwegian nature all year round.
So far, so good, we were ready to cooperate and start the search. But it turned out to be quite difficult for two reasons:
- Corona restrictions, they were not allowed to travel to Norway to look at the properties
- The market for cottages turned crazy. Everyone wanted to buy cottages in the pandemic, and the bidding rounds were extremely “hot”.
Therefore, we decided to take it slowly and wait for better times.
After the summer break, in late august, some cottages were put on the market. Mainly simple
cabins that were accessible by car only in the summer, but also a few solid all year cabins. The Dutch family had been made aware of the website where all Norwegian properties are advertised finn.no (link to finn.no eiendommer til salgs) and send a link to Boligdama.Where a modern cabin of 96 square meters was announced. I had a nice location and plot in the end of a cabin field.
The buying process went fast
Due to our experience from last year, we presumed that the cottage easily could be sold after the first viewing a short week later, so we knew that we had to act quickly.Boligdama checked all the sales material and formalities about the property and if the asking price was realistic. The family got a digital viewing and Erik decided to travel to Norway and look at it the same weekend. Luckily it was OK to travel with the vaccine certificate. At the viewing he got a very good impression of both the cottage and the Sjusjøen.
The bidding strategy
When arriving at home we had a digital meeting and discussed the bidding strategy.It turned out that our family were the only bidders even if some other people had viewed the property. It seems that Norway maybe is back to normal, that means that sale of cottages is a bit slower that ordinary house sales.
The negotiations with the realtor ended below asking price, which by the way was quite in line with current market prices.
Happy ending, happy people:
Congratulation with a successful purchase
What does the family think about the buying process
We are grateful that we found Boligdama to help us with our purchase. She helped us nail down the ideal area that fits our needs, but more importantly she walked us through the entire process and gave us the confidence to act quickly when we finally found our dream cabin.
The process in Norway is quite different from what we are used to, so having local help with tons of experience was a must for us.
We can’t wait to get the keys and enjoy the cabin with our friends and family!
Thank you Boligdama for your help!