Köpeskilling, deposit and settlement

Moving from browsing homes to actually buying one, everyday words turn legal. Suddenly the agent talks about köpeskilling (purchase price), handpenning (deposit) and a likvidavräkning (settlement statement) that must balance on moving day. It sounds trickier than it is. Basically everything covers a single thing: how the price is paid, in which order, and who gets what when keys change hands.

This guide goes through the concepts in the order you meet them: from signing the contract to the day you move in. Understanding how the money moves makes the whole deal less nervous, and you know exactly what every figure on paper means.

What is köpeskilling?

Köpeskilling is simply the agreed price for the home: the total sum you and the seller agreed on. Winning the bidding at 4,250,000 kronor, that is your köpeskilling. That figure goes in the purchase contract and everything else counts from it.

Köpeskilling is not the deal’s whole cost, though. Buying a tenant-owner apartment, a transfer fee often adds. Buying a house or other real property, title registration (lagfart) (1.5 percent stamp duty on the price) and mortgage deed (pantbrev) costs add. Those sit outside köpeskilling itself, but you must count them in your total calculation. Köpeskilling also bases how big a mortgage you get and how big a down payment you need.

The deposit: usually 10 percent at signing

When you and the seller sign the purchase contract, you pay a deposit (handpenning). It is almost always 10 percent of köpeskilling and normally due within a day or days of signing. On a 4,250,000-kronor purchase the deposit is thus 425,000 kronor. The deposit is no extra cost. It is part of the price, a first instalment deducted from the final sum later.

The money usually goes to the agent’s client funds account, a separate account apart from the agent’s own finances. There it rests safely until the deal completes. The agent pays the deposit to the seller no earlier than moving day, or as the contract states. Money held by an independent party protects both you and the seller in the time between contract and moving day.

Note that a signed purchase contract binds. Pulling out after signing, you may owe damages, often matching just the deposit. So never sign until financing is ready and you are sure. A common protection is writing a loan condition into the contract, so the purchase can be cancelled at no cost if the bank finally refuses the loan.

Moving day and final payment

Moving day is the day the home truly becomes yours: you get the keys and move in. It is also when the rest of köpeskilling falls due, the remaining 90 percent. In our example the final payment is 3,825,000 kronor, mostly from your mortgage and the rest from your down payment.

Time between contract and moving day varies. Often anywhere from a week to a few months, depending what the sides agree. That time you use getting the mortgage paid out, insuring, and planning the move. On moving day buyer, seller and agent usually meet, physically or digitally, and go through payment together before keys hand over.

The settlement statement: the agent’s moving-day reckoning

A settlement statement (likvidavräkning) is the agent’s reckoning of exactly what buyer and seller pay and receive on moving day. It makes sure every krona lands right with nothing falling between chairs. Think of it as a receipt of the whole deal’s finances, compiled on one paper.

For you as a buyer the reckoning starts with köpeskilling. From it subtracts the deposit you already paid, leaving only the remaining amount shown. Then the sum adjusts for things to split between you and the seller. If the seller prepaid the monthly fee or running costs for a period where you move in, you reimburse that part. It is called accrued charges. In house purchases it can also mean prepaid property charge or remaining oil or pellets in a tank.

On the seller’s side the payment settles, among other things, any loans remaining on the home. The agent makes sure the seller’s bank gets its share, any charges settle, and the surplus pays out to the seller. Once the settlement is done and every item balances, the deed of purchase is signed and keys change hands. Go through the settlement statement calmly. It is your last chance to check every figure feels right.

Timeline from contract to moving day

The whole course looks like this. First you agree köpeskilling and sign the purchase contract. Within days you pay the deposit, usually 10 percent, held by the agent. Between, you arrange mortgage and insurance. On moving day you pay the rest of köpeskilling, the agent draws the settlement, the deed of purchase is signed, and you get the keys.

That of course assumes you found the right home to bid on at all. And that is often where the biggest time goes. On SökHem we turn searching around. You place a property watch with your criteria and budget, and the matching actively looks for fitting sellers, even ones who have not listed publicly yet. When the right place appears you already control the concepts and can enter contract, deposit and moving day calmly.