Buying
Buying a home in Finland without a välittäjä
Etuovi and Oikotie both take listings from private sellers and label them, and then give buyers no way to search for them.
English
Where private sellers actually list in Finland
Each of these is a separate pool. A saved search on one tells you nothing about the others, so set up alerts on every one you intend to use.
- Anyone.com Listed by the owner
Homes listed by the owners themselves, gathered in one place instead of scattered through results you cannot filter. You contact the owner directly and agree the price with them, and the sale is then witnessed or signed the way Finnish law requires.
More than 31 million active listings across 31 markets, agent-represented and owner-listed together. Etuovi carries agent and private listings, with no filter to separate them.
Search owner-listed homes ↗ - Etuovi Owners can list, for a fee
Buyer filter None found, though each listing carries a Yksityinen myyjä badge
Finland's largest property site sells private sellers a listing outright, for €159 on publication or €249 payable only after the sale, with no time limit either way. So owner listings are here in numbers. The badge on each one tells you what you are looking at, but the search filters cover location, type, size, rooms and price rather than who is selling, so finding them means opening listings.
- Oikotie Asunnot Owners can list, for a fee
Buyer filter None found in the search filters
The other major portal, at €172 for a private sale listing. It also runs a free Tulossa myyntiin teaser that only private advertisers may use, not businesses. That is worth watching: it is where an owner signals a sale weeks before it formally lists.
- Tori.fi Owners can list
Buyer filter Owner listings by default in the property category
The general classifieds site, free and private by nature. Thinner and less complete than the two portals, and worth a weekly look rather than a main search.
- Facebook groups Owners can list
Buyer filter Search the kunta or kaupunginosa name with myydään
Useful outside the largest cities, and for the sales that happen between neighbours before anything is advertised. Nothing here is checked, and no isännöitsijäntodistus comes attached.
How many homes this really covers
Private listings are about 12 percent of what is advertised on the two big portals, by the account of Oikotie's own director, rising to around a fifth of one-room flats. That is a real share rather than a curiosity, and it has roughly doubled in recent years. The same source makes the honest counterpoint: selling without an agent does not automatically save money, because a home priced wrong and left unsold costs more than the commission would have.
The 2024 transfer tax change, laki 1126/2023
Two things happened at once on 1 January 2024, and the second one catches people out. Transfer tax came down, to 1.5 percent on housing-company shares and 3 percent on real property. And the first-home exemption was abolished outright. A first-time buyer in Finland now pays the same transfer tax as everyone else, where before they paid none. On a €250,000 flat that is €3,750 you have to find, and it is the single change most likely to be missing from advice written before 2024.
In force since 1 January 2024. Read the legislation
Buying one, step by step
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Search Etuovi and Oikotie normally, then read the badges
There is no seller filter, so you set your ordinary criteria and check each listing for the Yksityinen myyjä marking. Tedious, and that tedium is why most buyers never see these listings at all.
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Watch Oikotie's Tulossa myyntiin listings
Only private advertisers can use it, so it is a clean signal of an owner preparing to sell. Getting there before the formal listing is the closest thing to an off-market advantage available in Finland.
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Budget the transfer tax you now owe
1.5 percent on a flat, 3 percent on a house with its land, and no first-home relief since the start of 2024. It is charged on the debt-free price, so check what share of the housing company's loan comes with the flat.
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Get the isännöitsijäntodistus and read the company's accounts
For a flat this is the document that matters most: the company's debt, the monthly charge, and any renovation already decided or looming. A pipe renovation voted through next year is your cost, not the seller's.
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Have a condition survey done on anything older
With no agent and often no witness, the inspection is the only independent view of the property you will get. Commission it yourself rather than relying on one the seller ordered.
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Sign the right way for what you are buying
A house on its own land needs a witnessed deed or the electronic service. A flat is a share transfer and needs neither, so the written agreement between you carries all the weight.
Check before any money moves
- Whether it is an asunto-osake or a kiinteistö, since that decides both your transfer tax rate and whether a witness is required
- The isännöitsijäntodistus, the housing company's debt per square metre and the monthly maintenance charge
- Any renovation decided or under discussion, particularly plumbing and facade work in buildings from the 1960s and 1970s
- The debt-free price against the sale price, because transfer tax is charged on the debt-free figure
- For a house, the condition of the roof, drainage and any crawl space, and whether the plot is owned or leased
- That you no longer qualify for first-home transfer tax relief, whatever older guidance says
Selling one instead? See where to list a home yourself in Finland , or the full guide to selling without an agent in Finland .
Common questions
Can private sellers list on Etuovi and Oikotie?
Yes, and cheaply. Etuovi charges €159 up front or €249 only after the sale, Oikotie €172. Finland is the opposite of Sweden here: the portals are open to owners, they just do not help buyers find them.
How do I find listings from private sellers?
By reading rather than filtering. Neither portal appears to offer a seller-type filter, so you run a normal search and look for the Yksityinen myyjä badge on each listing. Add Tori and the local Facebook groups for what never reaches a portal.
Do first-time buyers still avoid transfer tax?
No. The exemption was abolished on 1 January 2024, at the same time the rates were cut to 1.5 and 3 percent. Any guide telling you a first home is tax-free is out of date, and on a €250,000 flat the difference is €3,750.
Do I need a kaupanvahvistaja?
Only for a house on its own land, where a public purchase witness or the Land Survey's electronic service is required. Buying a flat means buying shares in a housing company, which needs no witness at all.
Is buying without an agent actually cheaper for me?
Not directly, because the seller pays the commission. What it gives you is a seller who has saved something close to €10,000 on a €250,000 flat and has room to reflect that in the price, plus a conversation with the person who actually lives there.
Sources
Every legal, tax, and process claim on this page traces to one of these. We re-check them on a schedule and date the page when anything changes.
- Myy asunto itse: pricing for private sellersEtuovi · etuovi.com
- Asunnon itsemyynti and Tulossa myyntiinOikotie Asunnot · asunnot.oikotie.fi
- Varainsiirtovero: rates and the end of first-home reliefVerohallinto · vero.fi
- Private listings have doubled to about 12 percentYle · yle.fi
- Julkinen kaupanvahvistaja: when a witness is requiredSuomen Kiinteistönvälittäjät · skvl.fi