“We have already put in an advertisement here in the local paper in Selfoss and also decided to advertise in the New York Times. There is a slight difference between them” says Olafur Snorrason, owner of a gorgeous, two-storey house at Reynivollur 8 in Selfoss, Iceland.
The house received a lot of good coverage from the real estate section of the New York Times, which is the largest newspaper in the United States. It is very uncommon to find an advertisement for Icelandic real estate in an American newspaper.
Fjola Kristinsdottir, Olafur’s real estate agent, contacted a journalist from the New York Times who wanted to advertise real estate in Denmark. Fjola sent him information about some real estate properties in Denmark as well as Olafur’s house. She also sent in other advertisements for real estate in downtown Reykjavik. The journalist immediately showed interest in Olafur’s house listing.
“I should print this advertisement out and hold on to it. I have advertised my house before at the real estate section on Mogunbladid and in other places. Quite a few people have looked and viewed my ad, but it hasn’t produced much results”, Olafur states. “You never know if there will be a doctor who would get himself a summer house here. It is an ideal place to spend the summer. There is a beautiful garden and it is very close to Selfoss.”
The house was built in 1953 and Olafur has lived in it for about 30 years. The ad at the New York Times can be found here.
(Photo/www.dv.is Frétt)
Well, there will be many jobs paying $150K per year available in London to pay for the mortgage in central London. How many jobs pay that amount with 30minutes commute of this house? Zero.
The value of this property is the cost to build it … assuming anyone wants to live in the middle of nowhere.
Yeah, but it costs about the same as a one bed flat in central London – and they don’t have footbridges over streams in their grounds…
Not surprising there is no interest, it costs 20 times the price of a house in Florida. $30,000 will buy a 3000sq foot house (pool etc).
Hi Alex and all,
This house is far out of my reach but nevertheless I may perhaps be tempted by some nice sommerhus not too costly. So it would be nice if there was English versions for the existing Icelandic real estate websites.
Jean-Pierre