Can you trust the bidding and the home sale system in Norway?

Av: Dato: English

When I am working with my home buyer costumers from different countries, they are often wondering if we can trust the various actors and the transparency of the process.

The question is wise, and I totally understand it.  The process is quite complicated with a lot of different people and systems involved.  And maybe you have bad experiences from your own home market.

I like to put some remarks on this issue.

All in all, the home buying sale process in Norway is safe and transparent.  Of course, the realtor is trying to get you to pay as high price as possible.  The seller is his client, and he is paying his fee.

But according to the law the realtor is also obliged to take care of the buyer’s interest.  And make sure that the adds, sales material and oral information are correct.  The realtor is together with the seller, responsible to give all known information about the property, before the bidding round.

Read:  Be aware of new regulations for home buying in Norway

The last twenty years the home buying market and the real estate business has become more and more regulated.  This is based on a wish from the authorities to create a safe home buying process.  But it has also been necessary because of some professional short cuts the realtors have taken to promote their own interests. You know, when profit is in the picture, people always want to take advantage of it.  Within in the law or on the edge of the low.

The Norwegian “Finanstilsynet” is responsible for the supervision and control of the real estate agents

We also have the consumer authority and other  complaint bodies where consumers, seller and buyers can complain if they experience bad practice. And of course, we have the the court system.

So, on the formal side everything is in order.

But when it comes to whom to trust in the home buying process, many buyers tend to not put totally trust in the realtor.  Because he is the seller’s representative, and his priority is to get the highest price The realtors in Norway have to fulfil the Bachelor grade in Real Estate and have work practice before they can take independent sales assignment.  So, they know what to do, and what laws to follow.  But because of the competition among the realtors and the hunt for the highest price, some buyers experience bad customer care on their behalf.

This unbalance between seller and buyers need in the home buying process, is the reason why I started as a home buying consultant.

One important thing in the end:

Fake bids

Many of you are anxios about this. Understandable, especially when we practise the principle of auction and  bidding rounds administrated by the realtor.

Fake bids are luckily no longer an issue in Norway.  All the bids must be registered in a journal by the realtor. If you buy the property, you will receive the bidding journal with all the bidders name, time of the different bidders and amounts.  If you are only participant, but not a buyer you can ask for the same journal but without names.

Also, the realtor is obliged to check the bidders financing in their bank.  In that way he will know that the bidder is a serious one that are able to pay for the property.

 

 

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Successful purchase after corona break

Av: Dato: English

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!

 

 

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How to bid on real estate in Norway?

Av: Dato: English

The bidding process in Norway is quite different from a lot of other countries.

First – bid is binding – there are no regrets.  As soon as the seller has received the bid it is binding for you.

Read:   Remember that the bid is binding when you buy a home in Norway

The next thing to remember is that we are using the auction principle.

The highest bid gets the property, and the bidding rounds goes amazingly fast.

The asking price is just something that the seller hopes to get for the property.

Unfortunately, many realtors put a very low asking price in the market, so the bidding rounds have a tendency to be very busy.

In the bidding round, it is a risk that you will follow another bidder far over the market level.  This is not good because you are risking losing money later.  Therefore, you should have a good knowledge about the local housing prices before you give a bid.  The realtor is working mainly for the seller to get as high price as possible and will certainly not warn you if you are rising your bids to much!

Get help to find the correct purchase price.

I can help you to indicate the correct buying price.  I have the same databases as the realtors and will analyse the house or apartment you want to buy and compare them with other similar houses sold in the area.

A couple of hours consultation at the cost of NOK 2.200 is much cheaper than paying for example NOK 400.000 over the market price.  Don’t you think?

If you buy my consulting package all the price estimates for the properties, we are looking at will be included.  Sorry for all the commercial inside an informative blog.  My point is that you should not give a bid on your own if you do not know the Norwegian market and system.

Unfortunately, I have been contacted by a lot of people who want me to help them to clear up problems after the bidding round.  Problems like not putting reservations in the bid, they have paid high over the market level or misunderstood the whole process.

This happens with some Norwegians also.  But if you don’t know the language, it is much easier to overlook important elements.

OK, here you have some words in the bidding form you must be aware of.  

Whether you use paper form or electronic.

Kjøpesum:
Purchase amount –

Do you have you enough knowledge to tell what the property is worth?

Dette budet er bindende for undertegnede frem til og med:
This bid is binding for undersigned until  – date – and time.

Seller are allowed to accept bid earliest at 12.00 noon the day after the last viewing (open house)
There are some exceptions with bids directly to seller, but the main rule is as described over.

After the first-time limit, 12.00 noon the time limit is usually 30 min.

Eventuelle forbehold
Possible reservations

This is very important to write down if you have any.

It could for example be:

We want the washing machine included.

We will have a confirmation that the leakage in the roof will be fixed by the insurance company.

The parking space is included.

If you forget to put reservations in writing it will be difficult to prove later that you made them.

Reservations about financing

If you put a reservation about financing the purchase your bid will probably not be accepted.  So this is rarely used.

Ønsket overtakelse:
Take over date – (your wish)

This is a part of the bidding negotiations.  You should ask the realtor what the seller prefer.  If you can put the same date as seller’s preference it would be an advantage for you.

But if you are stretching the price upwards you should demand a take over date that suits you best.

Financing

You must fix the financing in advance and your bank contact or other official person  must confirm that you are able to pay the bidding amount.

You put this in the bidding form:

Kjøpet vil bli finansiert slik:
The purchase will be financed this way:

Fill in contact information to the bank contact.

You must fill out your personal information and sign the bidding form (or electronic with bank id)

If you use the paper form, you also must send picture of your passport to the realtor.

The realtor will help you with filling out details.

But please do not tell him about your credit limit or budget. Or send any document about this.

He/she will use it to get a higher bid.  The only thing the realtor should know is confirmation that you can finance your bid!

This was a brief overvview of how to give a bid on property in Norway.

It is so many details that can emerge in the process, so it it not possible to tell you everything.

Please contact me if you have any doubts before giving a bid.

To be honest, I prefer that you contact me before the bidding round.  Probably it will be to late you if you already have given the bid.😊

Read: Househunting in a new country is quite challenging

 

 

 

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Househunting in a new country is challenging

Av: Dato: English

One of my customers, relocated from New Zealand, send me some words about her experience using my services. I will like to share them with you.  It is a good recommandation of course:) But her story will also help you to understand the dynamics of the  housing market in Norway.

I would like to recommend  the services of Trude Larsen – Boligdama. She is a specialist broker/agent for real estate in Oslo. She is extremely knowledgeable, professional, knowledgeable and was very helpful when we were looking for a house to buy i Norge.

Filling the gap

Trude is a unicorn here. Norwegian real estate is dominated by the selling and NOT the buying of houses.She has worked the selling side of Norsk real estate for many years,knows how the system works, the local regions, and can help match you to a property and location.

Trude started her business, Boligdama 5 years back, because she saw the gap that exists with the buying of property here.  The regular real estate agent work mainly in favor of the seller.

Househunting in a new country is interesting and a little challenging (and can be daunting before you dive in). Therefore, it is wise to seek help in the process.

I was impressed by Trude’s work for us and will strongly recommend her if you are planning to buy a home in Norway.

 Also useful to read: Remember that the bid is binding when buying av home in Norway

 

 

 

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