Are you planning to sell your house? Maybe to move to a bigger house or to move back to your home country? We have spoken with a local Realtor to show you what the typical process is for you when selling a property in Stavanger.
First you will need to chose an Realtor, may we suggest Verdi – they have been so kind in supporting us at Stavanger Expats and have taken time out of their day to answer all our real estate questions for this article. They are also comfortable speaking English with you. : ) For a full list of Realtors, click here.
This is the general way the process will pan out: 
You contact a Realtor to receive an agent, then you will arrange for them to come look at your place. They will give you an offer of what they think you should ask for the house. The agent will then put together a Sales Prospectus about your house. They will take photos, work with banks, deeds, draw up contracts,
and do the marketing. The valuator (takst mann) will come to do a valuation report on the house, they will be looking at the quality and to see if there is damage or things need to be replaced. This report will be available in full to the buyers. They do all this, it is included in their fee. There are many different marketing options that you can pick, these will differ from Realtor to Realtor and in price. Some options include being listed in the newspaper, 
on finn.no, in window ads, or having additional Sales prospectus printed.
Once the house is listed online, a public viewing (felles visning) will be scheduled. Public viewings are generally in the evening or on the weekend, where interested buyers can come to look at the house and pick up information. Private viewings (privat visning) are scheduled with you through the Realtor, where a single or just a few
interested buyers will come to look at the house. Some viewings you will host on your own without the agent, they will discuss this with you.
Once a public viewing is announced, you will not be able to accept a bid/offer until 24 hours after the viewing to allow everyone a fair chance to think over if they want to buy and get in their offer. Your agent will take names and contact information of those interested at the viewing
and contact them the next day to see if they are interested in making an offer. The bidding process is very transparent – all the bidders will be notified of current bids and the subsequent out-bids. This is good for you as the seller, as it normally starts a bidding war – thus raising the price of your house. You as the seller, have the choice of who to sell to – you do not have to sell to the highest bidder. For example, maybe someone bids a bit less, but will let you stay there for 2 months while you finish moving.
Before a buyer can bid, they have to prove to the Realtor that they have the money to do so, as all bids are binding. The potential buyer will have to show proof from the bank that they either have the money or are approved for a loan. Once you accept the bid it is legally binding. There are stiff consequences if either party backs out of this agreement.
Once you have accepted the offer, your agent will contact the buyer to inform them, give them the next steps and plan a first meeting. At the first meeting, the buyer and seller will receive identical folders which will contain all information about the property. You will then check that all information is correct and all contracts will be signed. You can also start to discuss details for moving (ie: If the buyer wants to buy some of your furniture or if they want to move in next week).
So now you have done it.. sold a house in Norway!
While talking with Verdi, we took the opportunity to ask a few other questions. If someone is interested in becoming a Realtor in Norway, a degree is required, starting from 2011 . Anyone can go to University to study Real Estate as long as you have good grades. Additionally, in Norway, as a Realtor you are required to take a yearly refresher course to make sure you are up to date with any new rules or regulations. Many Realtors work long hours, with many nights and weekend viewings.
***All the photos in this article are from vg.no***
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About Fonda LaShay
Fonda is an American who has been living in Stavanger since July of 2008 with her Norwegian samboer. She enjoys tea, visiting with friends, music, taking photos and traveling. She loves the rain, but really dislikes when her feet get wet - this is always challenging since it rains so often in Stavanger. Follow Fonda LaShay on Google+ Fonda is a design blogger - blogging about design, architecture, photography, and music. Check out her blog!
