Skjøte (title deed)

The skjøte is the document that moves legal title (hjemmel, the official registered ownership) of a selveier home from the seller to you. Once the skjøte is registered in the grunnbok at Kartverket, you are recorded as the new owner.

Registration costs a tinglysingsgebyr of 545 kr, and for a selveier it also triggers dokumentavgift of 2.5 percent of the purchase price. A borettslag uses no skjøte, because you buy a share (andel), not real property. In practice the estate agent handles the registration as part of the oppgjør, and the purchase price is released to the seller only once the skjøte is registered and the property is clear of encumbrances you are not taking over. You do not arrange the skjøte yourself, but check that the grunnbok is clean before the money is paid.