A woman who thought she'd never be able to afford her own home found one and paid 90% of the cost in one lump sum - after coming across cheap homes in Sweden. Sophie Falke, 28, has bought a remote house in Sweden for just €28k (£24,000) - after randomly stumbling across cheap homes listed online.
Sophie paid 90 per cent of the cost upfront - after originally believing she'd never be able to buy a house in her lifetime. Having gone on several holidays to Sweden in her childhood, Sophie finally decided to take the plunge in June.
But while browsing some “dream” homes in January this year, Sophie found a small real estate website local to Sollefteå, Sweden, which sells houses for €28k to €40k - roughly £24k to £34k.
Initially planning on investing with a group of friends, Sophie took the project on herself due to waning interest. She registered her interest without thinking it would lead to anything - but she got a call from an estate agent two days later asking whether she’d like to view a property.
At the end of March, Sophie made the six-hour journey to Sollefteå, Sweden, and after touring the home, decided to take it as a holiday home - and will eventually rent it out to holidaymakers on AirBnb once she's finished renovating the guest house.
She put a €2.8k downpayment on it before paying the rest upfront on move-in day. Sophie, a marketer, said: “I never really thought I’d have the money to buy a house, and certainly not on my own.
"But looking at the Swedish houses on the website, I thought it would be so dreamy to have a house I could go to in winter and summer. It all went super, super quickly. I viewed the property - which has a main house and a couple of little buildings on it - and I really liked it.
“I remember the buildings were covered in snow - to be honest, I could barely see them." She added: "After seeing the other houses, I called the agent and told her I’d be happy to take that first one.
“She told me she’d talk with the seller - and they basically agreed immediately. Within two weeks of seeing the house for the first time - I’d signed the contract and put the first 10 per cent of payment down.”
Sophie had fallen in love with Sweden after being taken there on family holidays as a child. She said: “Since my childhood, I loved Sweden, and I knew I wanted to move here.
“I actually did move there years ago. I did a masters in communication at Örebro University and I always knew I wanted to come back one day.”
She moved into the property on June 5, and has slowly started renovating and decorating the house to her liking. So far, Sophie has only spent €500 on renovations - as she's only been able to re-wallpaper one room and buy some extra decor and furniture.
As well as covering the walls in green and beige wallpaper and doing a deep clean, Sophie bought all of her homeware from charity shops - including crockery and cutlery. She said: “I felt like I wanted to do a lot of second-hand shopping when I arrived because there was only basic furnishings like a sofa, white goods like a dishwasher and fridge.
“I just wanted to make the house feel as homely as possible - because when I first moved in, it took a while to settle. The house had been empty for a while prior to me moving in and it was quite dirty - so I had to clean a lot.
"It didn’t really feel like my home because of all the dust and spiderwebs, but now I’m already feeling much better about it. I’ve even got a little routine now. In the mornings, I like to take my coffee into the garden before working remotely.
“Then, when I’ve finished work, I’ll do some renovation work on one of the rooms. The main house is more of a priority at the moment than the smaller buildings. The guest house, I plan to rent out and renovate - and with the garage, I'll use it for storage.
"There's also a little kids' playhouse - I'm not sure what I'll do with that yet, but I'm thinking I could turn it into a sauna or a painting studio."
As well as paying for the house upfront - Sophie does have other costs in mind. Her home insurance costs €700-a-year, her wi-fi costs €15-a-month, she pays €3k-a-year for electricity and water and her furniture set her back another €3k.
Her renovations and home decor cost €500 all together, and she’s spent €1k on firewood to see her through the next two winters.
She managed to afford all of this with her savings alongside a private loan.
