Who represents whom, and what does the law say?
The Danish Act on the sale of real property is quite clear on this point. The estate agent (ejendomsmægler, or "mægler" for short) must look after the seller's needs and interests. And nobody can act as intermediary for both seller and buyer in the same transaction. That isn't an accusation against any particular agent, it's simply how the law is built.
The agent still has a duty to tell you, as the buyer, about material facts concerning the property. But he isn't obliged to advise you, and he isn't your adviser.
There's even a detail in the law that most buyers never notice: if you don't have an adviser of your own, the agent must tell you that you're entitled to seek assistance. The law assumes, in other words, that someone is on your side, and it requires the seller's own agent to remind you of that.
What does the agent earn, and on what?
The agent's commission is calculated as a percentage of the sale price. The rate typically runs from 1 to 4 percent, most often around 1.5 to 3 percent.
In kroner, that works out to roughly:
- A home priced at 1.5m kr, typically 35,000 to 55,000 kr in commission
- A home priced at 4m kr, typically 90,000 to 130,000 kr in commission
- The average sits around 85,000 kr, though the spread is wide
Two things are worth noting. The commission is negotiable. And none of the big agency chains publish fixed prices, you only get a figure once you ask.
Calculate your estimated agent commission
See it on a real property
A BoligCheck report calculates exactly this — line by line, for one specific address.
Why the agent's arithmetic isn't yours
The commission is a percentage of the price you end up paying. That creates a built-in skew worth understanding, not because anyone is acting in bad faith, but because the numbers pull in different directions.
The ratio is roughly 50 to 1. That doesn't mean the agent is working against you. It means he has very little financial reason to fight for a lower price, and you shouldn't expect it.
What do the others cost, and when do they get involved?
Most buyers meet three or four different professionals along the way. What matters isn't only the price, it's when each of them becomes relevant.
| Who | What it costs | Gets involved | Whose interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estate agent (mægler) | 1 to 4 % of the sale price (typically 1.5 to 3 %) | From day one | The seller's, by law |
| Property lawyer (boligadvokat) | 4,950 to 15,000 kr | Around the purchase agreement | Yours, legally |
| Building surveyor | 2,000 to 7,000 kr | Once you're focused on one home | Neutral, the building only |
| Buyer's adviser (køberrådgiver) | 1,795 to 8,495 kr per home | Once you've chosen the home | Yours, but per home |
| BoligCheck | 299 kr for one 599 kr for three | Before you've chosen | Yours |
Notice the pattern in the third column. Everyone else only becomes relevant after you've found the one home you've fallen for. That isn't laziness, it's economics. When advice costs from 1,795 kr per home, having three homes reviewed makes no sense. So nobody does it.
The result is that most buyers never get a professional to look at a home before they've already decided. The review arrives after the decision is emotionally made, so it ends up checking that decision rather than helping to make it.
Do I pay even if I don't buy the home?
Here's a detail that's rarely said out loud, and it explains the whole pattern above. The lawyer and the buyer's adviser charge for the work carried out, not for the purchase itself. They check the home, show you the result, you say no, and you still pay.
Here's what that looks like if you try to do it for several homes in a row:
| Homes checked | Buyer's adviser (~6,000 kr each) | BoligCheck |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6,000 kr | 299 kr |
| 3 | 18,000 kr | 599 kr* |
| 5 | 30,000 kr | 1,197 kr* |
* For three homes, this uses the Compare 3 package (599 kr total). For five homes: the package plus two extra single reports (2 × 299 kr).
How many homes does a typical buyer view before choosing? Rarely just one. That's where the gap opens up: a full review of every single home isn't financially realistic, so most people end up checking none of them before making the decision. The choice between the homes then gets made on whatever the agent wrote in the listing.
Why your own experience is rarely enough
I'll say this about myself, because it's the clearest illustration I have.
I have a background in construction and I'm used to analysing things. It seemed reasonable that I could handle a house on my own: walk through it, look around, form a judgement. It didn't hold up, and that had nothing to do with a lack of expertise. It was about coverage.
One concrete example: an extension that turned out to have been built without a permit. In summer, when the sun sits high and hits it directly, it turns into something like a sauna, close to 50 degrees. I viewed the property in early March, when the sun barely warms anything.
There's no way to feel that at a viewing. It can only be inferred: from the building's orientation, from the amount of glass, and from the fact that the extension doesn't appear in the paperwork at all, which means nobody has ever calculated its insulation or ventilation.
That kind of thing shows up by the dozen in any house. One person can't physically cover it all in a single visit: documents, registers, photos, renovation history, orientation, the neighbourhood. Not because that person doesn't know their field, but because it means working through several different sources in parallel.
Another example, this time from a rental rather than a purchase, but the mechanics are identical. I moved in during the middle of summer: dry, warm, nothing suspicious. Late in autumn it started turning damp, worst in the entryway, where ventilation amounted to a hole in the wall. There was a wood-burning stove in the basement that I was told to use, it didn't help. The damp stayed, the mould grew, and the cause wasn't poor airing but a lack of foundation insulation, which by then couldn't be fixed anyway.
Had I viewed that same house as a buyer in July, I'd have seen exactly what I saw as a tenant: a dry house, nothing to raise an eyebrow at. The signs would have been sitting in the documents and the construction, not in the room, the year built, the foundation type, what the condition report does or doesn't say about damp in the basement, and whether the ventilation is genuinely mechanical or just a hole in the wall.
The conclusion: a viewing shows you the house as it is on the day you turn up. It tells you almost nothing about that same house in November. Seasonal defects are the most common type to surface later, and they're the hardest to catch with the naked eye. So the question at a viewing shouldn't be "is there damp here", it should be "what in this house behaves differently in summer and winter, and what do the documents say about it?"
If you want to know exactly what to look for in the report on that point: How to read the condition report. The same story from the electrical side, also from personal experience: The electrical installation report, translated.
What we do, and what we don't
We work at the point where you're choosing, not after you've already decided. We have no stake in any particular home, and none in your decision. We take no commission on the sale and don't win or lose based on whether you buy. The job is to gather the pros and cons from the sources that already exist, so you understand what you're saying yes to.
In practice, that gets you:
- You walk into the buyer's adviser's or lawyer's office with a head start, instead of starting from zero
- You don't pay full price for a review of every home on your shortlist
- You see which questions are worth asking before you commit large sums
It doesn't replace:
- The legal handling of the transaction
- A technical, on-site inspection by a professional
- Legal advice on your specific situation
We go through what's already written down in the documents and registers, and show what it means in practice. From there, professionals can go further with their own methods and find more, or fail to find everything we've flagged. Either way, you already know what you're paying for.
What does it cost to change your mind?
You have a right of withdrawal for six working days after the purchase agreement is accepted. Using it costs 1 percent of the purchase price.
On a 3m kr home, that's 30,000 kr to change your mind. By comparison, having the documents read through before you bid costs 299 kr. That isn't an argument that we're cheap, it's an argument about when you spend the money.
The point
Everyone in a property transaction has an interest. The question isn't whether they're honest, it's what they earn money on, and when they get involved.
What to ask before you bid
- Have I been told that I'm entitled to my own adviser? The law assumes it, ask if it hasn't come up.
- How is the agent's commission calculated? The seller pays it, but it's calculated on the price you pay.
- Which documents are still missing? The condition report and electrical installation report must exist before the purchase agreement, not necessarily before the listing goes up.
- When does the withdrawal period start running? Six working days, and 1 % of the purchase price if you use it.
- Have I compared anything beyond the price per square metre? Two homes at the same price can carry very different risk.
In short
Never just ask "what does the agent think?" Ask "who earns money if I say yes, and who doesn't?" The answer changes how much weight you give each piece of advice you get along the way.
Frequently asked questions
Does the estate agent work for the buyer or the seller?
For the seller. That follows from the Danish Act on the sale of real property, which also states that nobody may represent both parties in the same transaction. The agent must tell the buyer about material facts concerning the property, but is not the buyer's adviser.
Am I entitled to my own adviser as a buyer?
Yes. The law assumes a buyer will seek independent help, and if the buyer has no adviser of their own, the agent must tell them that option exists.
Why doesn't the agent push harder for a lower price?
Because the commission is a percentage of the price. At a 2 % rate, a 100,000 kr price cut costs the agent only 2,000 kr. The ratio is roughly 50 to 1. It isn't a lack of professionalism, it's the payment structure.
When do the different advisers get involved in a Danish home purchase?
The agent from day one, but on the seller's side. The property lawyer typically around the purchase agreement. The building surveyor and buyer's adviser once you've chosen a specific home. None of them has a financial reason to help you compare several homes before you choose.
Do I pay the buyer's adviser even if I don't buy the home?
Yes. You pay for the work carried out, not for the purchase itself. If the home is checked and you say no, you still pay.
What does it cost to have several homes checked?
Each review is billed separately. Three homes through a buyer's adviser already runs to about 18,000 kr, five to about 30,000 kr.
Can I just check the one home I end up choosing?
You can. But then the choice between the homes gets made on the listing's own description, in other words on what the seller wrote.
Why can't I simply judge the home myself?
Experience helps, but one person can't cover documents, registers, renovation history and the building's orientation all at once during a single visit. Some things are physically invisible at a viewing, for example how an extension behaves in summer if you see it in March.
Can you spot damp problems at a summer viewing?
Often not. A house with no foundation insulation can be completely dry in summer and only start turning damp late in autumn. Look for signs in the documents and construction instead: year built, foundation type, what the condition report does or doesn't say about damp in the basement, and whether there's mechanical ventilation at all.
What should I ask if I'm viewing outside the heating season?
Don't ask "is there damp here", ask what in the house behaves differently in summer versus winter. Seasonal defects are the most common type to surface later, and the hardest to spot with the naked eye.