The amount of available houses in Sweden is large and diverse. From an apartment or a modern terraced house in the city to traditional wooden cottages, off-grid summer houses in the middle of nature and large farms. But where do you look for your dream house? In this blog I share a number of online platforms and other tips that will help you with a successful search for your dream house in Sweden.
Hemnet.se
Hemnet is the largest and most popular online platform for real estate in Sweden and is comparable to the Dutch Funda. Here you will find an extensive range of houses, holiday homes and forest plots. The platform also has a search function that allows you to filter by location, price range and type of property. Smaller Swedish websites where you can find houses include Bovision.se and Booli.se.
Blocket.se
Blocket is similar to marketplace and is an online platform where second-hand items are offered including houses. There are not nearly as many as on Hemnet but it certainly can’t hurt to keep an eye on this website as well.
Marktplaats.nl
There are many Dutch people living in Sweden and there are also many Dutch people who have a holiday home there. It is therefore also very possible to buy a house from a fellow countryman and they regularly use Dutch platforms to offer their house such as on Marktplaats. Do not expect much from it, but by setting up a search, you will receive a notification as soon as something comes up for sale. This way you do not have to actively monitor Marktplaats, but you will stay informed if something does come along.
Facebook Groups
There are several Facebook groups focused on selling (holiday) homes in Sweden. These are in Swedish, but often also in English or even Dutch. Think of groups such as ‘Real Estate in Sweden’, ‘Sweden Forum Houses and Cottages’ and ‘Property in Sweden’. You will also find various groups if you search for Sverige, hus, fritidshus and till salu (or an English translation thereof), possibly in combination with the region, municipality or place where you want to buy something.
Local broker / real estate agent
Swedish real estate agents are generally very helpful and will gladly forward new houses, even those not yet posted online, to you if they meet your requirements. It can therefore certainly pay off to contact the local real estate agents in the area where you are looking.
Local networking
Do you have a specific location where you are looking for a house? Then it can certainly be worthwhile to enlist more local help in your search. For example, many houses are also for sale silently or are not online on the well-known platforms. So also drive around to see if you see an empty house somewhere or a house with a for sale sign that you have not come across online. If necessary, also ask around among local residents or place an advertisement in the local newspaper. I have sometimes seen messages on social media that people have ultimately found their dream house in this way.
Additional tip
During the winter the housing market in Sweden is a bit quiet and there is much less supply. This is due to the weather (cold and snow) and short days. These are not ideal conditions for viewing houses, especially not when it comes to holiday homes or houses that are empty for another reason. It is possible that these houses are not even accessible, for example because the road is not cleared from snow. Depending on the location (spring starts earlier in the south than in the north), the housing market gets going again in spring or summer. For more offers and choice, it is therefore advisable to start your house search in Sweden in these two seasons.
How did we find our dream cabin?
We eventually found our house via Hemnet, but we also looked at many of the other options mentioned. A real contender also came along via Facebook, although we ultimately decided against it because it was slightly above our budget. So keep an eye on all the options, because who knows, your Swedish dream house might suddenly appear somewhere.
