– Read the Prospect, and especially the takst report thoroughly – this is your survey.
– Check out the costs. If you’re buying an apartment there’ll be the felleskost, for a house there may be costs for a festtomt, or for the road if it’s private (brøiting, etc)
– Speak to the seller at the viewing, ask about the neighbourhood, work done on the house and so on. Here it helps to have gone through the Egenerklæring in detail and see if there’s any work been done, any leaks, settling issues and so on,
– Before the bid round starts set yourself a top end and stick with it. As it’s an auction it’s OK to start lower as there will be rounds of bids until it closes. The megler wants to push the price up, so it’s OK to take a pause and call back if you need time to think/discuss.
– If you’ve had a hint from the seller that they have other considerations such as wanting to move quickly then they may accept a lower bid from someone that can take over faster. There’s no obligation to take the highest bid.
– Some properties have a forkjøpsrett, that is someone has the right to buy the property if they can match the bid. This is especially true of borettslag where people may have a low membership number and can step round the queue.

Good luck with it

Hi Kathleen, you can check the “Eiendom” marketplace on Finn.no for the vast majority of all listings. They’re all in Norwegian, of course.

Can you share where the listings are? I’ve tried online to find a realty that is selling but everything is in Norwegian. Or, will that be the issue?

Hi, thanks for reading, I’m pleased to hear you find the newsletter useful. Please click on “Expat Essentials” at the top of the page for a guide to immigration.