A parcelhus (detached house) is most often defined as a free-standing, single-story house that forms the setting for a family on its own plot of land. Most detached houses therefore also have a garden all the way around the house, which is what makes them attractive to so many families.
About to start the home-buying process? Bomae is with you all the way.
What is a parcelhus? The term parcelhus comes from 'parceller', or plots, that were subdivided from larger properties – typically farms, industrial sites, or large gravel pits – and were first legally subdivided in Denmark following the passage of the Plot Sales Act (parcelsalgsloven) of 30 June 1922.
It wasn't until the 1960s, however, that detached houses really became popular, when large tracts of land were subdivided into plots, creating more room to build anew. Detached houses became especially popular at this point, as there was a growing need for families to move out of cramped apartments and into detached houses, where there was much more space and peace to live.
Today, the term parcelhus isn't really used, so you won't come across the word when browsing sites like boliga or boligsiden. Instead, the term 'villa' is used to describe free-standing properties. Read everything you should know about villas here.
Should I invest in a new or an old detached house?
You can choose between buying a plot and building your new house on it, which gives you the advantage of being able to design your future dream home entirely to your own wishes and needs. Or you can buy an already-built house. Whichever you choose, there are pros and cons that we at Bomae can help you navigate.
Today, most detached-house builders offer such good solutions that you'll get an energy-efficient house with far lower day-to-day running costs than an older house.
That's one of the main advantages of building a new detached house versus buying an old one.
The challenge with buying a plot and building yourself, however, can lie in finding an area that suits your everyday life and wishes. And that's far from easy to get right. That's why it can be worth considering finding an older house and putting your own stamp on it instead.
In that case, though, it's important to remember to factor the renovation into your purchase budget before you bid on the house. If you already know in advance that you want to optimize for energy efficiency, you should have an energy consultant inspect the house. There's a big difference between houses and which improvements pay off best.
Considering buying a detached house? If you're weighing up buying a detached house, you should seek the right advice to help secure the right terms and conditions for you. Here, we're the only company in Denmark that can help you through the entire home purchase from A to Z.
At Bomae, we always start by establishing how much you can borrow and by getting quotes from several banks. That way, we've set the framework for the dream, and you have a starting point for which price range to look in.
After that, your buyer's agent will take over and go through price, areas, terms, and conditions together with you until you find exactly the right house. We'll then make sure to negotiate your dream home home at the right price and on the right terms.
Finally, we of course also review all the legal documents to make sure there's nothing hidden that puts you at a disadvantage as a buyer.
How much do you need to earn to buy a home? Unsurprisingly, the location of your future purchase has a major impact on what it costs to buy the home. A more expensive home naturally also sets a higher bar for how much you and your household need to earn to be allowed to buy it.
Realkredit Danmark has produced a survey of what a family with two children and a car needs to earn to be able to buy an average 140-square-meter detached house across Denmark's 98 municipalities – and the calculations underline just how much location affects the price.
To buy something located in, for example, Frederiksberg, Gentofte, or Copenhagen, your household needs an income well above one million kroner to be able to finance the home of your dreams and still have breathing room in the day-to-day budget.
By comparison, you only need to travel about an hour from the capital to find largely comparable houses at a lower price. There, a household would only need to earn around DKK 680,000 a year to afford the dream home.
Calculate what you can afford to buy here >>
I'd like to be called about buying a detached house Weighing up whether to buy a detached house? And want to be sure it's a good buy? Then let's have a no-obligation chat about how we can help you.
