(edit title) The process of purchasing apartment How long does It take to purhcase and move in? Options

[AlexPopov]

Hello,

I am a foreigner. I am not in Sweden yet. I will move to Stockholm on 1st of April. I am married with 2 kids. I need to arrange everything before I take my family to Stockholm. My company will arrange a temporary apartment for a couple of months. I am trying to figure out how long It will take to move in to a permanent accommodation in order to create a time management strategy.

I would appreciate if senior Sweden residents could confirm or correct what I have learned so far:

1) I need personnumber to be able to receive a loan commitment form a bank.
2) Obtaining a personnumber takes 6-8 weeks.
3) Purchasing takes about 1 month. (Sign contract with seller, receive mortgage, receive BRF approval)
4) Most of the apartments are not ready to move. The owner or tenant live in the apartment.
5) The owner or tenant does not usually vacate the apartment immediately after signing the contract. He will need 6-8 weeks.
6) It will take about 1-2 weeks to paint the apartment, to make minor repairs assuming the apartment is in good condition.

To sum up, I need at least 5 months to be able to have a ready-to-move apartment. I have not included the required search duration. It is an indefinite period..

I am open to advises, suggestions.. Many thanks in advance,

Alex.

[gsurya]

Swedish banks will not give you a mortgage loan the moment you arrive into Sweden. They will want to see some credit history before they grant you a loan, I would say not before 6 months.

Your employment contract needs to be of the "permanent" type. Some banks dont even give you a loan unless you have a permanent work permit, which takes 4 years. So you need to find a bank that gives you the loan and the right terms as well.

[Svedallas]

Swedish banks will not give you a mortgage loan the moment you arrive into Sweden. They will want to see some credit history before they grant you a loan, I would say not befo ... (show full quote)

Swedish banks will not give you a mortgage loan the moment you arrive into Sweden. They will want to see some credit history before they grant you a loan, I would say not before 6 months.

Your employment contract needs to be of the "permanent" type. Some banks dont even give you a loan unless you have a permanent work permit, which takes 4 years. So you need to find a bank that gives you the loan and the right terms as well. ... (hide full quote)

I mentioned it at least 3 x OP does not understand he will not be given a loan when he arrives.

Let him believe that he will given a loan with no permit, no proof of finances in Sweden.

[AlexPopov]

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.

I will have legal work permit & residency. I have friends who received loan commitments and purchased their apartments in a couple of months after moving to Sweden. Waiting 4 years - this is not true.

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

Ouch!!!

[Svedallas]

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.I will ha ... (show full quote)

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.

I will have legal work permit & residency. I have friends who received loan commitments and purchased their apartments in a couple of months after moving to Sweden. Waiting 4 years - this is not true. ... (hide full quote)

First of all, you do not dictate who can or cannot write on ANY forum.
This is a place that is free for everyone who wants to voice an opinion, whether you like it or not.

You have been on TL for 2 seconds and want to dictate rules? Get over yourself.

Secondly, you are clearly delusional that you think you can go to any country and just get a loan? Your "friends got a loan" - do enlighten us how they got a loan, as there are 1/2 a million people who are permanent residents working full time, who can't do the same and waiting in the housing queue.

I am sure Pepito can tell you all about the housing crisis.
So let us know your breakthrough discovery.

Lastly, this is a forum where we may not always appreciate everyone's opinion, but all the same we still read and respond and take it with a pinch of salt.
So if you do not want to take our advice (which you came here for) and want to play dictator on the threads, I suggest you find another forum as maybe this forum is not for you.

[TheExpatEagle]

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.I will ha ... (show full quote)

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.

I will have legal work permit & residency. I have friends who received loan commitments and purchased their apartments in a couple of months after moving to Sweden. Waiting 4 years - this is not true. ... (hide full quote)

You are deluded! No bank will give you a loan if you do not have a job and/or have a credit history of at least 1 tax year so you show up in the tax agency.

So, in other words, a January to December period. If you are here less it will seem on the credit check that you are on a low income.

If you don't like the truth don't ask the question. Or just tell me what you want to hear and I'll post it for you.

[gsurya]

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.I will ha ... (show full quote)

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.

I will have legal work permit & residency. I have friends who received loan commitments and purchased their apartments in a couple of months after moving to Sweden. Waiting 4 years - this is not true. ... (hide full quote)

Instead of getting angry at a person trying to advise you, why dont you just apply to the banks online and ask them? They will be only too happy to reject you as it improves their loan processing audit data.

I was in the same boat as you, I had to wait for an year before I could get a housing loan in Sweden, though I had a permanent contract here and NO other loans anywhere in the world and sufficient assets too. And I got rejected by 3 banks before SEB gave me the loan, that too only because our company has salary & pension accounts there & our HR admin gave recommendation.

[AlexPopov]

Let me try to explain why I reacted:

1) I appreciate everyone who is sharing information and experience.
2) I may receive a loan or I may be rejected. This is not the issue.
3) Svedallas has written in other topics I opened as well. He has been making the same comment over and over as If I asked. It does not make any difference for him what my question is.

This is a forum. You share your opinions, information and experience. That's it. You do not write the same thing a thousand times which becomes spam !

I was in the same boat as you, I had to wait for an year before I could get a housing loan in Sweden, though I had a permanent contract here and NO other loans anywhere in the ... (show full quote)

I was in the same boat as you, I had to wait for an year before I could get a housing loan in Sweden, though I had a permanent contract here and NO other loans anywhere in the world and sufficient assets too. And I got rejected by 3 banks before SEB gave me the loan, that too only because our company has salary & pension accounts there & our HR admin gave recommendation. ... (hide full quote)

Thank you for sharing your experience. Very useful for me.

[djmarko]

I opened an account with Nordea in 2008 with a freelance contract, did not have any credit history whatsoever in Sweden except proof of income from my UK bank account and bank statements, the personal banker i spoke to asked me to apply for a personal number which i did but was giving a temporary co-ordination number, eventually i got the real one, i applied for a mortgage within 1 month of opening the account and it got approved( still with a freelance contract) , in those days, you had to put up 10% up to the value of the property and i had that saved up already, I was given a loan for 2.8M SEK but only used 2.5, lets just say i was lucky but at the same time, it depends on the personal banker you meet, The one i met was very friendly and helped me a lot, i even recommended some friends to him and he helped them to get loans as well

So yes, it can work, but then again this was 2008 when things were still ok

[AlexPopov]

Thank you ! Very encouraging.

I opened an account with Nordea in 2008 with a freelance contract, did not have any credit history whatsoever in Sweden except proof of income from my UK bank account and bank ... (show full quote)

I opened an account with Nordea in 2008 with a freelance contract, did not have any credit history whatsoever in Sweden except proof of income from my UK bank account and bank statements, the personal banker i spoke to asked me to apply for a personal number which i did but was giving a temporary co-ordination number, eventually i got the real one, i applied for a mortgage within 1 month of opening the account and it got approved( still with a freelance contract) , in those days, you had to put up 10% up to the value of the property and i had that saved up already, I was given a loan for 2.8M SEK but only used 2.5, lets just say i was lucky but at the same time, it depends on the personal banker you meet, The one i met was very friendly and helped me a lot, i even recommended some friends to him and he helped them to get loans as well

So yes, it can work, but then again this was 2008 when things were still ok ... (hide full quote)

[Rick Methven]

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.I will ha ... (show full quote)

@Svedellas, please do not write in my topics. Do not answer my questions. I do not like your attitude and behavior. Keep your opinions for yourself. They are useless.

I will have legal work permit & residency. I have friends who received loan commitments and purchased their apartments in a couple of months after moving to Sweden. Waiting 4 years - this is not true. ... (hide full quote)

I got a mortgage from my bank in 2008 after being in the country for 5 years and had also had a bank account in Sweden for 18 years every case is different and individual. What you must be aware of is you first need to establish yourself get settled in in the country and find the area where you want to live before asking for a bank loan. A loan is given for a specific property which you want to buy against your estimated credit value, the more history you have the better. You should also understand that property is bought by a bidding system and the price quoted is really the start price, the actual selling price will be at least 25% more and in some highly sought after areas can be double the minimum asking price. Most sensible people rent for a couple of years before buying.

[djmarko]

I got a mortgage from my bank in 2008 after being in the country for 5 years and had also had a bank account in Sweden for 18 years every case is different and individual. Wha ... (show full quote)

I got a mortgage from my bank in 2008 after being in the country for 5 years and had also had a bank account in Sweden for 18 years every case is different and individual. What you must be aware of is you first need to establish yourself get settled in in the country and find the area where you want to live before asking for a bank loan. A loan is given for a specific property which you want to buy against your estimated credit value, the more history you have the better. You should also understand that property is bought by a bidding system and the price quoted is really the start price, the actual selling price will be at least 25% more and in some highly sought after areas can be double the minimum asking price. Most sensible people rent for a couple of years before buying. ... (hide full quote)

Absolutely correct! i had to ask for more money from the bank after been outbid for the first property i liked, different circumstances for different people, there are people with high paying jobs / freelance positions who will stand in a better position for banks to take risks with them! one rule does not fit all, it is always best to book an appointment with a personal banker if your job/ income circumstances are different from the norm, if you apply online like every tom, dick and harry, they are more than likely to be declined

[Rick Methven]

Absolutely correct! i had to ask for more money from the bank after been outbid

The same here. When I told the banker what house I wanted to buy he estimated the selling price and gave me a loan of 90% but I had go higher and went back for a higher loan to secure e house.

[AlexPopov]

Hello. I am writing this post as a reference for newcomers.
I arrived in Stockholm in August. I immediately opened a bank account without personnummer thanks to the agreement between the bank and my company. I waited almost 2 months for personnummer, and then 10 days for ID Kort. I applied for loan promise to 4 banks. All of them granted a loan but of different amounts. The highest amount is 4,15 times my gross salary. I am married with a 4 year-old son. My wife does not have an income.
I hope this post will be useful for the ones who are planning to move to Sweden.