We are expats living in Norway (non-EU) and looking to buy a house. We would like to keep our budget very low (if possible and the reason for this post) at below NOK 2 million. We can go higher than this, but as we are getting older we have other financial responsibilities too.

Anyway, we have been looking at property across Norway and there is a market at this budget, but we have no idea which towns are “viable”. For us, a family with 3 young kids, this would mean:
1. Walking distance from schools/shops or well connected with public transport. Being non-EU means redoing driver’s licenses and only one of us had to stomach to redo it.
2. A house (not apartment)
3. A town that is not desolate. We are not highly social, but our kids are. Being expats we don’t have any family close by.

I know, I know. Champagne taste with Coca Cola budget. We should just pay up more or lower our expectations.

The thing is, there are some really cool houses available and I know it is just a matter of understanding the geography a bit better. Both my spouse and I are skilled professionals that works from home, so we can live anywhere in Norway. And we are not that full of nonsense (other than possible stingy and being super afraid of suburbia!), I have seen some cool properties which were old shops or hotels too.

Anyway, my question is not a list of properties, rather a list of nice towns and villages that are considered a viable place to raise kids. When they grow up and move away then it will just be the two of us and some friends and community would be nice.

Thanks!

Edit: I realize this looks like someone looking for a bargain. We want to explore this market area as we hope to find something interesting. An apartment in a big apartment building is not what we want, but to/tremansbolig might work! It depends on the situation. More important, which towns would be great that is not Oslo/Bergen/etc

Edit: some broad ideas what we like (in support of finding an interesting town). Just trying to show it does not have to be the ordinary.

[one](https://www.finn.no/241576471), [two](https://www.finn.no/239151330) and [three](https://www.finn.no/239537084)

14 comments

  1. Just doing a basic search on Finn.no with your price criteria and “house”, not apartment yielded 635 results for all of Norway. Most of these looked like fixer-uppers. Maybe you’ll get some better tips from others, but I feel you’re going to have to adjust your expectations.

  3. I want to preface this by saying this is just my experience and what I’ve noticed since I was in the market for a home last year. Your mileage may vary and there are always exceptions.

    That said, I live in a small town, and even here, I wouldn’t buy a house for 2 million. You get what you pay for , and in most cases, a house in that price range is going to need at least 500’000 to 1 million in renovations anyway. Take a look at the salgsdokument of a given house on finn, and check the tilstandsrapport. In many cases, cheap houses need substantial renovations notably in the bathrooms, insulation, roof, and foundations. You don’t want to cheap out on a house only to realize the foundations need to be entirely fixed, that aint a cheap project. As a homeowner, don’t fuck with anything water related. It will bite you in the ass the longer you wait.

    At 2 million you’ll find a decent tomannsbolig or tremannsbolig, which is way more reasonable and that was the compromise I ended up going with.

    But yeah. A HOUSE for 2M is… on the very low side of things and you’re likely going to spend considerably more than that fixing it. And you have no guarantee there won’t be problems showing up after you move in. An inspector can only do so much.

    You could be lucky though! Just thought I’d share my experience.

    As for for where you want to live…. You can’t really ask the internet what works for you. You’re going to have to dig around, find a house you like, and see what’s nearby and if it’s ok with you. In all likelihood, if you buy a place that is remote enough to have good houses for 2M, you’re going to need a car and public transport isnt going to be awesome.

  4. You’ll get 100s of different opinions based on people’s opinions of where they’ve lived and where they’ve been. I could recommend places around Trøndelag, but then you’ll have people who swear it’s better to live in Vestland or Agder etc…

    So honestly, just pick a city/region you’d like to live near and start looking at areas a little outside the city. Starting about 20km away from the city limits and the prices get more affordable. Further away you go, generally, the prices get better and the property sizes get bigger. Then, cross reference any places you’ve found with schools, transit, amenities, etc…

  5. Try Skien.

    Among the lowest housing prices in the country and not too far from Oslo and Kristiansand, two of the largest cities. Climate is nice. Near the ocean. Quiet. From Sandefjord you can take the ferry to Sweden.

    Råde and Fredrikstad are also good options on the other side of the Oslo fjord.

    See which cities are connected to Oslo by 1-2 hours by train and you will get a lot of good options.

    Every city with at least a few thousand citizens is a viable place to raise kids. Avoid the north and small villages in the mountains and valleys and you should be fine.

  6. Its kinda hard finding places that are cheap.

    I mean my hometown of Kautokeino has houses at that pricerange, it’s all in walking distance from the school. Depends on ur definition of walking distance, since most houses aren’t further than 7km, but not really closer than 1,2km.

    The culture is different from what is found along the coast (We are mostly Sámi). And this place is colder than most of Norway, with short decently warm summers and long and cold winters.

  7. Dont know how old your kids are, but could be smart to choose a town that has a videregående skole. In town or close to. Many small towns in Norway do not have a vgs close by, and kids have to move away to a hybel at 16.

  8. I would go for somewhere in upper Telemark like Kviteseid or Dalen. Housing is really cheap since they have issues with depopulation, but you’ll still find most services you’ll need. Dalen, Kviteseid and Seljord is village-like with a lot of shops and services within walking distanse. The nature there is beautiful, and the culture is rich and very traditional. https://www.finn.no/243537080. https://www.finn.no/231801765

  9. Young kids?

    Make life simple and find something in walking distance of day cares and schools— and easy bus distance to high school.

    Avoid a fixer-upper, as you can easily drop a million into fixing something up.

    And jobs?!? You have jobs?

  10. Agder has low prices, and is fairly dense. Most areas areas have fiberoptic cables. Assume that is important.

    Evje is cheap, and there are a fair amounts of expats working there in tourism.

  11. You’re not expats, you’re immigrants. 🙂

    Welcome to Norway and good luck settling in! The drivers license will set you back around 25k NOK / 45k ZAR and will take a few weeks of mandatory lessons but you can use your SA licenses for 2 months which helps. Unfortunately all too many “saffas” try and crook the system, not realizing they’re part of the problem they supposedly ran away from…as if beating the system and taking shortcuts is some accomplishment.

    Most South Africans stick to the bigger places like Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand and Stavanger, but you’ll find them all over the country if you look carefully.

    2 bar won’t get you much but it is a starting point for sure. I’d advise you to check annual weather patterns as well….some places get a LOT of wind and/or rain…like in a LOT. That will affect your mood and ability to travel due to ferry and bus cancellations. If I had to live anywhere other than in the Arctic circle I’d choose Sogndal area.

    Smaller towns don’t really have rich and poor neighbourhoods like in SA, it’s very much house dependent…there’s also not as big a gap between the manager and the blue collar workers’ houses and living conditions.

    One important thing to remember in order to thrive is that Norway and Norwegians don’t owe you anything, but if you integrate and contribute they’ll be very welcoming and accepting.

    All the best and keep us updated!

  12. I live in Eidsvol Verk (30 min by train from Oslo S, 5 mins from Oslo airport). It is really well connected and it’s a small town with everything you need.

  13. There are areas pretty close to Oslo with really low prices like the area around Solør, and Odalen

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