What are the most important questions about selling a home?

Start with the asking price. It is a starting point, not necessarily the final sale price, as it can be adjusted in line with the market’s response and negotiations.

As a rule, the seller pays for the reports, but the parties can agree on a different split. The energy label (energimærke) is valid for 10 years, provided no significant energy-related changes have been made, such as a new heat pump, extra insulation or new windows. When you want an overview before selling your home, the key is to have a firm grasp of the legal requirements, reports, costs and the process itself. This is because a large share of the seller’s total costs lies outside the estate agent’s fee, such as reports, the energy label, charges and moving costs.

Requirements when selling a home: what is required by law, and what is optional?

As a rule, the energy label is the only document required by law when you sell most year-round homes. This applies whether you sell through an estate agent or handle the sale yourself. The energy label must be ready before the home is advertised for sale, and it must appear in the advert itself. The requirement applies to homes over 60 m².

The other documents in a typical sale are optional, but they have a major bearing on how liability is divided between you and the buyer.

Some homes are exempt from the energy label requirement:

• Holiday homes are not covered by the scheme.

• The same applies to allotment garden houses.

• Listed buildings do not need an energy label.

• Buildings advertised for demolition by agreement between you and the buyer are also exempt.

Once you know the difference between the mandatory and the optional documents, it becomes easier to see what the reports actually do for you as a seller. This is closely linked to change-of-ownership insurance (ejerskifteforsikring), which most buyers take out.

Condition report, electrical report and change-of-ownership insurance when selling

The condition report (tilstandsrapport) and the electrical report (elrapport) each have their own purpose, and they tell you different things about the home. They make most sense together with change-of-ownership insurance, because the interplay between them shifts the liability for hidden faults and defects.

A building surveyor goes through the home and describes any visible damage they find. The report is objective in the sense that it does not judge what is attractive or practical, only what can physically be seen. Both the condition report and the electrical report must have been handed over and be valid before the purchase agreement (købsaftale) is signed. At signing, the condition report may be no more than 6 months old, while the electrical report may be no more than 12 months old.

The home inspection scheme (huseftersynsordningen) is what ties the two reports together. The scheme reduces your liability for hidden faults and defects from 10 years to 0 years in the areas covered by the change-of-ownership insurance. This is because the buyer can take out the insurance on the basis of the reports you have had prepared.

As a seller, you can in many cases free yourself from the 10-year liability for defects if the buyer takes out change-of-ownership insurance on the basis of the reports and you offer to pay at least half of the premium. Change-of-ownership insurance is taken out in around 95% of all home sales. As a rule, you must pay half of the premium, and you must give a written undertaking to do so with the offer of change-of-ownership insurance that is handed over.

The reports are documentation, but they are also a precondition for the limitation of liability you want to achieve. Half of a 5-year change-of-ownership insurance policy typically comes to around 10.000 kr., and that is the cost you share with the buyer. Remember that the report describes the visible damage but rarely the whole story. Buyers typically ask about damage that is not mentioned, so be prepared for questions beyond what is in the paperwork.

The costs of selling a home: what does it cost in practice?

A typical sale of a house for 2,5 million kr. through an estate agent normally comes to around 100.000 kr. once the agent’s fee, reports, energy label, charges and other expenses are included. At the same time, a combined package with a condition report, electrical report and energy label often costs approximately 11.000–17.000 kr. for standard homes.

Some costs of selling a home are easy to overlook because they sit elsewhere in the calculation. The next two items do not appear in an estate agent’s quote, but they come straight out of the proceeds you are left with:

• The bond price adjustment (kursregulering) when you pay off your mortgage loan, calculated at the price on the day it is redeemed.

• The deferral loan for land tax (indefrysningslån), which falls due and must be paid off in connection with the sale.

Your mortgage lender must state the outstanding debt and redemption costs, and an up-to-date statement is free and typically takes a couple of days. Order it before the sale gets under way, so you know your real proceeds and do not discover these two items only after the sale has gone through.

Selling your home step by step: from preparation to handover

1. Start with the preparation. Get an overview of what the home can realistically sell for and what information needs to be ready before it goes on the market. At the same time, take a close look at anything that could create uncertainty for a buyer, such as old oil tanks, soil contamination, boundary issues or building cases that have not been closed.

2. Make a timetable. Allow 3–4 weeks before the sale starts to decide on repairs and documents. Spend the last 1–2 weeks before the launch getting the home ready for photos and marketing. In the run-up to the viewings, it is all about cleaning, fresh air and tidiness, so the home comes across the way you want it to.

3. Think about pricing and negotiation. An asking price that is too high can cost you buyer interest early on, when the home gets the most attention. Strengthen your negotiating position by finding out what comparable homes in the local area have sold for, and set your financial limit in advance, so you know when to say yes and when to move on.

4. The sale is not over once the purchase agreement is signed. Conditions have to be met, and the final practical matters must be in place before the buyer can take over. The last step is the handover itself, when the keys change hands.

Gather the key questions about selling your home – and get a valuation of your property

• The settlement statement (refusionsopgørelse) is a final adjustment of property taxes and utilities between buyer and seller, and it can go either way. It is not an extra cost.

• Registration of the deed (tinglysning) and the conveyancing (berigtigelse) are normally paid for by the buyer.

• The seller’s estate agent is not obliged to point out every issue of their own accord. It is up to the buyer to ask about things such as the age of the roof, damp or mould, the heating source and energy consumption.

If you want a concrete basis for assessing the price, documents and the next steps in your sale, you can contact Brikk for a valuation of your home.