Comments on: Buying a House: The Viewing Process

By: Jenny Murphy

Jenny Murphy — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:03:30 +0000

Question for you,
Is it imperative that one, a US citizen in this case, holds a residence permit before buying a home in Norway. Or can one buy a home and then apply for the permit?

By: Santa

Santa — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 12:47:52 +0000

In reply to Ish. Hi Ish, Norwegian banks can offers upto 5x of your annual salary. The loan percentage covers 85% bank loan and 15% of your savings in bank account.

By: Ish

Ish — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 13:16:08 +0000

We are planning to move our family to Norway from the UK and I find your website very useful, thank you.
I wondered if you could answer a question about mortgages which is difficult to find out about online. It is how much the bank is prepared to offer in most cases – for example in the UK we were offered approx 4 – 4.5 x our combined salary, based on a 20% deposit. Is it similar in Norway, or stricter, or more generous? And will being a newcomer / foreigner in the country make any difference?
Any insights on your experience of this most appreciated, thank you.

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 20:03:10 +0000

Hi,
Is there any stamp duty (dokumentsavgift) of 2.5% for shared ownership (andel)?

By: Karl

Karl — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:32:30 +0000

In reply to Thomas.

Hoping this blog is still active with the author/some of the commenters.

Thanks for all of this information.

Can I ask:

Is the verditakst mandatory….I am interested in a property, but the agent is saying there is only a technical report.

If it is not mandatory – is it possible for me to pay a surveyor to value the property?

Regards,

Karl

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 11:57:35 +0000

In reply to Thomas. Great to know the info about the price breakdown on finn.no, this always confuses me!

By: Magdalena

Magdalena — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 14:36:50 +0000

In reply to David Nikel. Thanks for very useful posts. Looking forward to next update :)

By: David Nikel

David Nikel — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 10:58:05 +0000

In reply to Thomas. Thanks for the great info Thomas! I'm actually a bit behind with these blog posts as we had a bid accepted this week. More to follow :-)

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 10:34:56 +0000

Do you mean “a good look around the neighbourhood” instead of “a good luck around the neighbourhood”?

We recently bought a flat. Do you know about the “forkjøpsrett”? We have been bitten by that unfortunately, and it concerns foreigners more then Norwegians. I could write a full article just on this subject (which wyoul be a good idea *wink* *wink*)…

Also, I think it’s worth explaining what all the numbers on the FINN ad and how they work together. Something like: the prisantydning is what the owners “ask for” and the verditakst is how much the flat has been evaluated. The bidding round is all based on the prisantydning (even if the bids usually start lower than this price and exceptionally end also at a lower price). The owner can decide to reject the winning bid even if it went over the asking price. The final price will be winning bid + fellesgjeld + 2.5% of the winning bid if selveier + omkostninger. While I was visiting, even selveier flats has a fellesgjeld btw. Most banks will require you be able to get a loan for the total of all costs while what you will really borrow to the bank is (your winning bid + omkostninger) – your ~25% (security deposit).

Also, for those under 34 years old, it’s recommended to open a BSU account and keep it as much as they can. And being a member of some associations helps for interest rates (namely members of Tekna can have a great deal at Gensidige Bank).

By: David Nikel

David Nikel — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 14:40:21 +0000

In reply to samira. Thanks! We visited one place there but chose not to bid.