Buy a home in Sweden before you sell? Two homes can cost SEK 30,000
Two months at SEK 15,000 per home adds SEK 30,000. SEB almost always advises selling first, and SBAB suggests completion three to six months out.
Buy a new home before your old one is sold and you risk paying for two homes at once. Two months at SEK 15,000 per home is SEK 30,000 extra. Sell first and you avoid that risk, but you may end up with nowhere to live. Both orders come with a price tag.
Buying first: you get the home you want, and the risk
The upside is that you can act when the right home turns up. The downsides are clear:
- You may pay interest, amortization and fees on two homes.
- If prices fall, your old home may fetch less than you planned.
- If you cannot sell, you risk breaching the contract and owing damages, SBAB warns.
The deposit ("handpenning") is often 10% of the price and is due about a week after you sign, according to Konsumenternas, the consumer advice bureau. On a SEK 4,000,000 home that is SEK 400,000. If you do not have the cash, the bank may offer a deposit loan or a bridging loan ("överbryggningslån").
Selling first: safer but more hassle
SEB almost always recommends selling first. Then you know exactly how much you can spend.
Nordea points out that you can give your buyer a late completion date ("tillträde"). That gives you time to find your next home. The risks are different:
- You may need to rent short-term and put furniture in storage.
- You may have to move twice.
- You may miss the home you wanted, or feel pushed to bid higher than planned.
Worked example: double housing costs
Lina buys a flat with completion on 1 October 2026. The buyer of her old flat takes over on 1 December 2026.
| Per month | Two months | |
|---|---|---|
| Old home: interest, amortization, fee | SEK 15,000 | SEK 30,000 |
| New home: interest, amortization, fee | SEK 15,000 | SEK 30,000 |
| Extra cost | SEK 30,000 |
If she also has a bridging loan, its interest comes on top. She should have SEK 30,000 in savings, or room in her budget, before she signs.
Cut the risk either way
Plan the completion date. SBAB recommends a long period before completion, three to six months. That gives you time to sell or buy before you have to move. The date goes into the purchase contract, which the contract chapter of our real estate crash course explains.
Make the purchase conditional. You can ask the agent for a clause that lets you cancel if you cannot sell your current home. The seller may prefer a bid with no conditions. Expect to pay more to get the clause accepted.
Talk to the bank early. The bank checks whether you can carry double costs for a while. SBAB, for example, wants a signed sale contract for your old home 14 days before completion on the new one.
The fee follows the completion date
For a co-op flat ("bostadsrätt"), the seller pays the monthly fee up to completion and the buyer from then on. If completion falls mid-month, the buyer repays half the month's fee to the seller in the completion statement, Nordea explains. If you buy first, you pay two fees from your completion date.
The order does not affect deferral
If you sell at a gain, you can defer the tax on it ("uppskov"). The new home must be bought between 1 January of the year before the sale and 31 December of the year after. That holds whether you buy or sell first.
The deferral is at least SEK 50,000 and at most SEK 3,000,000. Since the 2021 income year there is no yearly charge on it.
Sources
- SBAB: Buy or sell first? (Swedish)
- SEB: Buy or sell your home first? (Swedish)
- Nordea: Selling and buying a home (Swedish)
- Nordea: Completion statement (Swedish)
- Konsumenternas: Types of loan when buying a home (Swedish)
- Skatteverket: Requesting a deferral (Swedish)
- Skatteverket: Amounts and rates 2026 (Swedish)
This content is general information, not financial or legal advice. Bolån Radar collects data from banks and authorities and cannot guarantee that it is complete or free of errors. Talk to your bank or an adviser before you decide.