On a clear late summer day, Morten Mosvold Jørgensen made the trip from Kristiansand to Bislett in Oslo. A place in the capital where many dream of owning an apartment. – This is not a place where I would invest in a home. You will find out why a little later, but first we have to tell you a little more about Morten. The southerner is 27 years old and trained as a civil engineer. At the age of 24, he bought his first home to rent out. The price tag for the semi-detached house in Kristiansand was 3.6 million. At the same time, Morten lived in a collective in Trondheim while he completed his studies. When the rental income from the home started rolling into his account, Morten quickly realized that there was not going to be any engineering job in the long term. Morten Mosvold Jørgensen today owns his own company, where he rents out apartments and rooms in collectives. Photo: Johanna Hauge Today he would describe himself as a housing shark. – It’s fun to joke around with it then, and own it. In three years, Morten has gone from 0 to 53 tenants. From these he earns NOK 3.9 million a year. Now the housing shark wants to share his best tips with you. In italics below each tip, you will find housing researcher Are Oust’s opinion on the advice. Where do you start? First you have to ask yourself why you want to enter the market. Morten knew he was going to buy to rent out. His goal was to make money. – If the goal is to become very rich, it is not certain that you should buy a home where you will live yourself, in the middle of Oslo. Then you can rather rent in Oslo and buy three homes outside the city for the same price. Bolighaien believes that you can get good rental income by buying a collective in Oslo, living there yourself, and renting out to some friends. Photo: Johanna Hauge By that the housing shark means you can get a very good rental income. Then they can pay off, even if you have to tax 22 per cent on the secondary home. Are Oust says this is by no means stupid advice. Especially if you are young and may not be living in the same place for a long time. – Then it may actually be that renting out in a different city than where you live may be a solution, he says. But then you must have someone to help you manage the rental. In the event that the washing machine breaks down in the rental property. Maybe a mother or father? Are Oust, associate professor at NTNU School of Economics, believes it pays to live in the home you own. Photo: Privat This is how you get financing – You must have a salary, parents who are guarantors, or enough equity, says housing shark Morten. The most important thing for the bank is not to lose money on you. Then you need to think smart. Because there are things you can do. He himself acquired equity by working offshore. In addition, he and his siblings received money from a cabin sale in the family. – Maybe you can take on two jobs just when you’re about to enter the market? When you get three months’ payslips, the bank can count the salary from these jobs. Maybe you can stay at home for a while? You have to give the bank a reason to see you as a safer customer. The banks are also allowed to break the strict lending rules in some cases, explains Morten. They have a deviation rate of 10 percent. – If you get the bank to give you that deviation quota, you can borrow more than five times as much. They often like young people with a good salary, who get a job. Housing researcher Are Oust does not disagree. – Clean up your finances, make sure you don’t have consumer and credit card loans. Show the bank that you are able to live on your income and save a lot at the same time. How do you make a good purchase? – You have to spend a lot of time on Finn. Then you know what you want and can recognize an underpriced home, says Morten. Then it is important to get the home as cheaply as possible. Here are three scenarios and a few tricks you can do: Buy a property that has been lying around for a long time. Then you can try for an offer well below the asking price. Morten advises people to be a bit of a detective if that is the case. You have to talk to the broker, find out if there have been other offers, and if the sale is urgent. – Then you can enter something called a closed bid, or a secret bid. This means that others who are interested in buying are not notified of the offer. Buy a home that has just come on the market. Here you have to settle on the asking price or slightly above. The seller must feel that they are making a good deal. This offer is also closed, explains Morten. Avoid bidding wars with others in regular bidding rounds. – You have to set long deadlines, and then you have to increase by quite a bit for each bid. Then you end up with the lowest total in the end, he says. It might be a good idea to let the others finish. – Then you place a closed bid where you place perhaps 50 or 100,000 above the other bid. The other bidder is not notified, and then the seller and broker must choose whether to let the bidding round continue, or go for the closed bid that you have submitted. – It doesn’t always work, but quite often. This is a trick that you never hear about because brokers don’t like it, he says. Are Oust does not think this advice pays off. – If you submit secret bids, the sellers are mostly able to handle it. Oust also explains that those who try to buy an apartment end up paying more than they would in a normal bidding round. What Oust cannot answer, however, is whether it pays to place a closed bid at the end of a bidding round. – I wouldn’t do it. There are often good reasons why bidding rounds have fallen asleep, he concludes. Should you buy a renovation object? Morten has refurbished several of the homes he has bought. In all the places he has renovated, the home has increased in value more than the cost of the renovation. And sometimes all that is needed is paint and putty. When you have finished renovating, you can get a new valuation. – Now you may have good equity, and the bank likes that. Maybe you can get a slightly lower interest rate or freedom from installments?, says Morten. If you are wondering how much it costs to refurbish the apartment, you can take a carpenter or plumber along for a viewing, he suggests. The southerner could never imagine buying an apartment if he were to live in Oslo. He wants or owns places where the rental income is better compared to the purchase price. Photo: Johanna Hauge Oust believes that it is not always worthwhile to renovate. – Renovation can be expensive too. If you are unable to raise the value accordingly, it has not paid off, says the housing researcher. Buying an apartment “off-market” Morten himself has bought several apartments “off-market”. But there is more work, he says. – He has a list of properties owned by investors. He has found them through an overview of who owns properties he wants in Google Maps. – And then I hear if they don’t want to sell soon. Here you have to post feelers, both with friends, brokers and other people. – You can put a note in the mailbox. Where you say you want to live in the area and leave your number. Oust agrees with Morten that you can make good home purchases outside the market. Some are also willing to sell at a slight discount to avoid the hassle of selling a home, and some may want a special buyer. – Now I don’t think that a housing shark is the special buyer that people want, laughs Oust. The housing researcher concludes by saying that many real estate investors today have made good money by calling people and asking.
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These are the landlord’s best tips for buying a home – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
