Ramblings from Eden Terrace, in Norway

It’s day 5, and we’re now back home with our baby.

Now, we begin the scientific journey of understanding baby expressions. Here’s what I’ve worked out so far…

Ooof. Life is hard.

The dictator- “Humans, you shall bow before me”

The Kim Jong Un – “Waaaa! I can’t get what I want, if only I knew what that was”

You know you live in an area with rough weather, when the local newspaper headline proclaims:”No-one has as good weather as we do!” followed by screenshots of long term weather forecasts for cities across Europe, and then of Bergen.

Headlines from the BT today – it was all about the weather

Yep, it’s snowing in central Europe, and we’ve been greeted by ongoing freakish sunny blue sky days. Actually we’ve had nothing but blue skies and sunshine for the last several weeks (with the exception of a brief snow flurry earlier this month), marking this the driest March on record.

Weather across Europe.

OMG! Bergen weather forecast. This is not photoshopped. I repeat. Not photoshopped.

We’ve been making the most of it, going out into the mountains, getting our vitamin D, and trying to will out a reluctant baby at the same time.

Some photos from the past few days.

Babies are big business.

In Norway, you could be mistaken for thinking they are the country’s biggest money earner, second only to the oil.

And, as a first time mum, it seems I’m in hot demand. Supermarkets, pharmacies, baby shops, baby goods suppliers, and book shops are all vying for my customer loyalty.

Most shops, or any company selling baby related things, offer free ‘barnapakke’ (baby packs), and I’ve made extensive use of these.

Our nursery is now overflowing with nappies, nappy creams, baby oils, soaps, cleansing items, breast pads, wipes, maternity pads, pacifiers, ointments, clothing, bedding, bottles, books, and toys.

And all provided to us for free.   All they ask is I give them my email address (hm.).

Here is a baby pack, I picked up at a local pharmacy earlier today.

Barnapakke from Vitusapotek pharmacy

Freebies inside.

Contents:

• Digital 10 second baby thermometer 
• Nursing pads
• Maternity pads
• Nappies
• Nappy wipes
• Dry baby wipes
• Hot toddys for colds
• Various creams and ointments for boobies, bottoms, and other areas. 
• Pacifier

The contents for the different packs vary, and some are significantly better than others. Probably the ‘best value’ (if you can call it that), was from a nappy supplier, containing 30 nappies, disposable mattress protectors, nappy changing mats, large (not sample) bottles of nappy rash cream, oils, moisturizers, and baby soap, and a large box of nappy wipes, and maternity and breast pads.

All good stuff, and saves me from choice anxiety, were I to try and buy all these items myself.

Here’s a list of some of the baby packs I’ve found so far. There are probably many more, but as of now, my baby starter box is complete, and then some.

• VitusApotek (Pharmacy)
• Apotek1 (Pharmacy)
• Libero (Nappy supplier)
• Kiwi  (Supermarket)
• Rimi (Supermarket)
• Rema1000 (Supermarket)
• Lindex (Clothing store)
• Barnashus (Baby shop, provides free nappy disposal system)

Since moving into our new house, we have been surprised by the number of door knockers who have come by, both during the day and evening.

This is a problem for a couple of reasons

1. Usually they are wanting some sort of financial transaction to take place. And, as I answer the door and try and decipher their Norwegian pitch  and then come up with an answer, still the best I can muster is ‘nei takk’, and both I and the visitor depart the social interaction feeling a little frustrated by my curtness.
2. Our main living area is upstairs. I have no way of seeing who is at the door without opening it. I am also very, very pregnant, and waddling up and down the stairs leaves me feeling like I’ve just run a marathon. I can only do it so many times a day, which I need to use to coordinate my bathroom-breaks. I don’t have time for door knockers.

So, here is Brian’s latest product idea, a multi-button, multi chime doorbell.

Quick google suggests such a thing does not exist. It could make for an interesting social experiment.

(Yes, probably the easy option would be to just put a sign on our door stating ‘no unsolicited visitors’, but there’s no fun in that, and we might still get the TV inspectors)

Generally anyone can buy property in Norway.  However to be applicable for Norwegian financing, you need to be legally allowed to live and work here either on a Visa or residence permit.

Buying property in Norway is easy, and if you are needing a place to live, generally cheaper than renting.  However, if you don’t know the system, it can lead to some nasty surprises.

Here’s our guide, based on what we’ve learned so far.

Step 1.  Get loan approval

Step 2.  Choose a house

All properties are listed on finn.no.

There are generally two types of properties in Norway:

Selveir (most desirable)
This is where you own the building, and are responsible for its maintenance.  A selveir (translated: Self-owned) can be a freestanding house, or a duplex-type building.

Apartments are typically not selveir.

All selveir properties require you pay 2.5% stamp duty (Omkostninger) of your purchase price on day of takeover  (Banks will  not provide financing for this, so it’s important you have the savings for this, in addition to your deposit.).

Andel/Aksje
This is a share type arrangement, common in large apartment blocks.  There is no stamp duty, but you can pay anywhere from 1000 – 5000+ NOK in monthly ‘property management’ and other fees.   Because of this, Aksje/andels are generally cheaper than selveirs.  But, you can expect to pay upwards of 40,000 NOK a year in  administration costs. It is effectively a cheap rental with a really high bond (your deposit).    This type of property will not gain in value as much, but because they’re cheaper, can be a good first step into the property market.

We decided to go for a Selveir.

Step 3.  Assessing the house
Norway has numerous strict regulations with regards to buying and selling property, some of which New Zealand really could benefit from.  As a seller of a property you are legally obligated to disclose all known defects, or defects you would be expected to know about.  If you do not, the buyer can take you to court for up to 7 years after the sale, and you, the seller, will be held liable and expected to pay for the repairs.  So, if you buy a ‘leaky’ building which was not disclosed to you, you will be entitled to have a previous owner pay for the repairs.  However, this is still a little stressful, so what is common is the buyer and seller take out insurance for this scenario, at 5000 NOK for 7 years (approx 200 NZDs per year).    If there are any serious defects on the property which you were not aware of, your insurance company will go to court, and pay for repairs,  regardless of whether you are the buyer or seller.

This all means that when it comes to selling a property the prospectus is incredibly detailed, listing all work ever done -  every defect, every possible issue imaginable.   It’s like looking at someone’s complete medical records, qualifications and employment history since birth, but for a house.  Unlike in NZ, the real estate agent doesn’t give you a crappily printed, dubious one page flyer, but rather a 30 page book, which is available one week before the viewing/open home.

So, as a buyer you know exactly what you are getting into, and don’t require additional building reports, lim reports, or market valuations.

You read the prospectus and if you like it send a link to your bank to confirm financing, then view the house.  If you still like it, you are now ready to bid.

Step 4.  Buying the house

All houses in Norway are sold by a type of ‘auction’.   The ‘asking’ price for the property is the officially registered market value.  This is not the same as rateable value, CV, or anything else which is vaguely related to market value but completely out of touch with reality.

Theoretically, a property should sell at this valuation, or maybe just a little higher if there are two interested bidders.  Of course occasionally buyers still go nuts, and pay many 100,000 NOK above this.  This is not a smart move.  Banks know this as well. If you bid more than 15% above the valuation, you may not be able to get finance on a small deposit. Check the small print.

If, at the viewing, you decide you like the property, you sign a basic, but binding sales contract provided by the real estate agent, and put in a bid of 1NOK. Bids on the property will start at 12 the following day.  The seller decides which bidder wins, usually this is the highest bidder, but doesn’t need to be.  With each bid, you can specify conditions such as handover date, or what is to be included in the property, for example in our case furniture and white-ware.   So, the seller may chose to go with a lower bidder with no conditions, and an earlier handover date.

Bidding can be done in person, but is usually done by phone, while you’re at work, shopping, or otherwise going about your daily business.   Depending on demand, bidding can take a few days.  Bidding closes  24 hours after the last bid, or when the seller accepts an offer.
Step4. Finalizing the sale

Once you have won the bid, you will sign the official sales contract, insurance, and a few other documents together with the seller.  The real estate agent is required by law to take you through everything (albeit all in Norwegian of course).  This will take at least an hour.    Once you have the signed final sales contract, you take this to your bank, and they take over everything from there (including all property taxes).  You/Bank pay the purchase price on the agreed takeover date.   (Some real estate agents may request you pay a 10% deposit on signing of the final sales contract, this is ok, but is not that common).

Step 5: Overtagelse (Takeover)

The last step of the  sale is the official take-over.   On the agreed takeover date, you will meet with the real estate agent, and previous owner, and go through the property, and also receive the keys.   This will take maybe half an hour, and should be straight forward.

Below is a checklist to go through as provided to me by a Norwegian colleague.

1. If you and the seller don’t agree upon something, that should be  noted in the “overtagelses”-document. Demand a discount/cost of fix. If he/she agrees, the amount must also be specified in the document.
2. You both note down the value on the electricity meter. Just take a quick picture of it as well, so you have proof. In case of disputes later on
3. Make sure you get all the keys
4. Remind the seller to change their address both with the government, and to any private company they are listed at.
5. Make sure you have “innboforsikring” (contents insurance) etc
6. Make sure the seller has paid all the municipality-fees (sewage, water, etc.)
7. Make sure you know where the water intake is, and that you are shown how to turn the water for the entire house OFF in the event that you need to do that.
8. Get information on parking
9. Get information as to what day of the week the trash is collected
10. Check attic / basement for funny smell or signs of water/moist damage.
11. There should be fire extinguishers AND fire alarms throughout the house. If not, ask the seller to supply or get a discount
12. If you are not happy with the cleaning that’s been done, you can demand that they come and re-clean. You can do this as many times as you want, until you are happy. Or you can ask for a discount, so you can have professionals to do it.

That’s it.

You have now bought a house!

One of my requirements for buying a house was no (outside) stairs.    Of course in Bergen, where every dwelling is on the face of a mountain this is a rather difficult requirement to meet indeed.

Access to our new house was via some stairs.  Nothing too serious.  But enough to make getting in and out with a stroller rather difficult without tipping out the baby.

Entrance as is. Difficult access with stroller.

Before…

Before…

The stairs had to go.

And so, we embarked on our first renovation project, acutely aware of the looming deadline.

It wouldn’t be easy.

We didn’t have access to Kumeu hardware supplies and building advice, didn’t own any power tools, and didn’t have a car (our drivers licenses are invalid here – something to do with driving on the wrong side of the road, and NZ not being part of the EU).

The first step was to do a quick sketch of what we wanted.

Stairs replaced with a wooden ramp

So far, so good.

Next came the measurements, and more detailed architectural drawings.  We would need to design everything up front, work out exactly what timber we required, and then find a building supplier to cut it to the necessary lengths.

Brian handed me the shopping list, and after he went to work, I waddled down to the nearest building supply company, to put in the order.

Shopping list and invoice.  Total timber, cut to our specified lengths  cost just under 3000 NOK all up (around $600NZD)

A colleague picked up and delivered the pre-cut timber, and Brian wasted no time getting into action.  Being relegated to no bending or lifting, I took on the role of documenter.

Timber delivered, Brian makes a start in our car-park.

Putting together frame for ramp.

Dragging frame into place. Apparently very pregnant girls aren’t allowed to lift, so Brian was on his own here.

Laying down the deck

Ramp completed, now to just replace the stairs

Stairs are gone. New framework in place

Getting dark. Framework to replace stairs

Putting into place the last decking timber. Note, we were one piece short.

Done!

Over two evenings after work, Brian finished the ramp.  We ended up with only one piece of decking timber short, which I picked up the following day (much to the ongoing bemusement of the timber supply company).

Action shot:

Our next project will now be to utilize the timber we have left over (due to over-engineering), and build some planter boxes for our deck in anticipation of summer.

Nine months pregnant, and waiting…

Cooking crumbed sei fillet with caramlized onion, and carrot and potato in white shallot sauce. Very Norwegian. (Meanwhile Brian is busy constructing IKEA furniture)