Random Stuff

Postcard from Bergen

"I wanna know, have you EVER seen the rain?...." Really?  They are actually playing that on the radio?  And Norwegians are singing along?  And no, it isn't because they don't know English, because they do.  Other popular songs I have heard are The Eurythmics' "Here Comes The Rain Again" and Phil Collins' "How I Wish It Would Rain.."...whatever.  Norwegians have a great sense of humor.  Who else would don their dogs with rain jackets?  I saw three of them yesterday while riding the bus to the other side of town.  One thing is for sure:  when the current weather displayed on my cell phone says "dreary", I know I am in store for more laughs!  We in the Mojave desert have no such sense of humor.  Otherwise, I know I would hear more of John Denver's "Sunshine on my Shoulders", or America's "Horse With No Name", or even Katrina and the Waves' "I'm Walkin' on Sunshine".  They never play those songs here in Bergen, though.  I suppose it's better to find the humor in the present reality than to create angst for what never will be. 


Next random thing:  Bergensers have this very strange and at first, unnerving, habit of gasping.  A lot.  It is not a big gasp, but just enough to make you think that what you are saying or showing them is interesting, fascinating, frightening, or even really worth listening to.  The first time I heard it, I was filling out the application for my on-line Norwegian class, and for each line, the clerk would gasp so that by the end, I was wondering, "What?!  What?!  Did I spell my own name wrong?!"...Why does she keep gasping?  It's not a gasp with intonation.  Just a short, sharp inhale.  Just enough to make me a nervous wreck by the time I was finished.  About a week later, after hearing so many more people doing it, I realized  what it was...practice for when the sun comes out!  Gasp!  Look at that golden orb!

Spring is here!

With all this rain, it must be that Spring has arrived!  Temps are nicely in the 9c-10c range for highs now (yeah, but it's a humid cold!), and I find the climate to be very comfortable.  Crocuses are coming up, ducks can swim again in the previously frozen lakes, birds are back en masse, winter clothing sales are over, and I was able to get out on the bike to go to Asane Senter the other day!  

First blomsters

Here come the Tulips!

Flowers will be growing as if on steroids soon, with the daylight increasing each day by up to 5 minutes.  So very much like Anchorage, but with the warmth of the Gulf Stream.  

With the onset of Spring comes the real estate season, and the house here in Tertnes is going up for sale!  Ok, so I'm not even going to discuss home prices here because like discussing the cost of everything else,  I would run the risk of sounding like a broken record...like talking about how much the sun shines in Las Vegas....ok, and about how much it rains here.  Point well taken.  

What I have noticed, though, is how different the process is.  I am in the real estate industry as an appraiser, so of course, I notice these things.  First, a call is made to the Realtor of choice and a CMA is created/presented, and suggestions for staging and repairs to be made is discussed, much like in the U.S.  That's pretty much where the similarity ends.  

After 2 weeks worth of fussing around with refinished flooring, repaired roofing, gardening, cleaning, painting, replacing sliding glass doors, etc...you know the drill:  finally making the house the one you always dreamed of living in but only doing it for someone else's benefit, the taksmann (who works for the Realtor's company) is scheduled to arrive.  This is what I do for a living.  The taksmann is the appraiser.  So.  The appraiser is called before the house even hits the market.  Before the photographer (who is here today) even works his magic for the internet.  Additionally, the taksmann is required to be almost a home inspector, and he thoroughly combs through the house, even analyzing the blueprints right there at the table, making sure that everything is in working order, etc.  He will then write up a report of his opinion of value and the process will proceed from there.  

What a concept!  The buyer can know what the house is worth and what is or is not wrong with it BEFORE they buy it!!!!  Standard M.O. in the U.S.A is to make the process as stressful as possible by requiring NONE of the work to be done or any valuation to be made until a contract has been signed and then, the buyer has a whopping 10 days to get their due diligence, buyer beware, completed or they lose their earnest money deposit.  Obviously, an intelligent seller in the U.S. will attempt to make the home as appealing as possible in order to get it sold, but they are not required to reveal any defects.  Well, at least without having ones' feet held to the fire.  Here in Norway, the buyer has 5 years after the sale to come back to the seller for repairs if necessary.  That's a pretty nice motivator to make sure you are being as transparent as possible while selling your house.     

Transparency is a key word for all things "business" here.  I'm sure there are exceptions, but with transparency, so much cheating and stress is eliminated.  If you want to engage in business with a particular company, you can go on line and look at their books.  Literally.  Every business is required to have a government authorized accountant who maintains and audits their bookkeeping and then publishes it on an official website which is accessible by all.  Imagine, being able to do business with people you know will pay their bills because you know they actually have liquidity.  And another thing:  you don't "do" your taxes.  You don't "prepare" your taxes and then file them.  The government does because they know how much you earn.  And you simply get a bill in the mail: "Hi.  Here is what you owe.  Thank you!"  Americans would shudder at such a concept, but at its core it is quite simple:  Most Norwegians perhaps trust their government to be less crooked and more reasonable than most businesspeople.  Americans feel the exact opposite.  I'm not sure what I believe, but I know that transparency is usually better and eliminates at least half of the problems and stress created by trying to cheat.  Americans, for the most part, are very interested in cheating, raising it to the status of a virtue.  But I digress....

After the taksmann verifies and/or changes the asking price suggested by the original CMA (comparative market analysis), the house goes on the market and appointments for a visning (showing) can be made.  There are no listing vs. buyer's agents battling it out.  Just one Realtor.  People can put in bids with this Realtor, and the seller can choose the highest bid.  The buyer knows what they can afford according the very, very, very, very sound lending practices here in Norway (housing crisis?  credit crisis?  I don't think these words even exist in their dictionary), and boom.  Finit.  Apparently, it is always a seller's market here.....and has more to do with inventory than anything else.

I was explaining our process in the U.S. to Bjørn's son, who is a Realtor here, and he just gave me a blank stare and then  asked, "How does the buyer have any idea what is wrong with the house or how much it is really worth before he buys it?"  To which I replied, "Oh, they find out, but usually not until they enter into a contract.  And they find out how much it is worth usually just before they close the deal."    Another blank stare (but no gasp!  Here, a gasp would be perfect).  Then,  just some comment akin to what someone might ask the zookeeper about why exactly those baboons do that to each other?

Anyway, being a taksmann here would be a welcome relief.  So much of my job entails educating lenders about what fraud is and asking them why they continue to ask me to commit it on a daily basis.  If only we in America could understand that some transparency and government regulations in these areas can result in such a nicer game of life, where people just know that it's ok to be fair to one another in most things.  

Big government is by no means a perfect solution to finding a way for many people to live together in relative harmony.  But, it is a better way than no government at all, where people are left to run rough-shod over their countrymen, all in the name of "success" or "survival of the fittest", only to then alleviate their guilt though conspicuous charity and philanthropy by putting their names on hospitals, sports fields, and foundations.  

Hey!  It has stopped raining!  I think it's time for a bike ride to the store...on the huge bike path which runs EVERYWHERE, even to the center of town....paid for by the money everyone sends in after being notified that "Hi.  Here's what you owe so that we can make your life pretty darned okay.  Thank you."