I would like to share a very positive story on following your dream. Summer 2020, a Belgian man contacted me about assistance with the purchase of real estate in Sweden. My first reaction would normally be that I don’t advise on Swedish law and certainly not on real estate issues in Sweden. But I took the call in order to maybe be able to refer him to somebody in Sweden who could help; I like to share my network if I can.
This man had, through his Belgian company, put in a bid on a camping site with a lake and forest in Sweden. They came to an understanding about the price and conditions and the seller had the real estate agent draft the agreements. Now, the camping is located in a very beautiful but not the most internationally developed part of Sweden; the seller did not speak very good English and all documents were drafted in Swedish. The buyer requested my help with understanding the documents and translating between himself and the seller. I warned him that I am not qualified to advise on Swedish real estate law, but he chose to go forward with my help based on my language skills.
The purchase agreement was signed by the parties in August 2020 and the purchaser was ecstatic. He was about to follow his dream together with his wife and two children: they were emigrating to Sweden, the country they fell in love with during many vacations, to run a camping! I was so happy for him and wished him all the best in the very part of Sweden where I grew up. Actually, the other side of the lake at the campsite is located in the municipality that I grew up in. It’s beautiful there and I promised to come visit some day.
Almost two months later, the parties got the upsetting news that the permit for purchase was rejected due to the fact that the Swedish government does not allow too many foreign companies to purchase Swedish forest. My devastated client was literally looking at his empty house in Belgium and his two full moving trucks when he got this news….they were about to emigrate in only a few hours. Now what?
They decided to push through with the move anyway and if no solution could be found, look for another campsite for sale in Sweden. Not ideal, but they had a dream and they decided to follow it no matter what. What a brave decision!
Long story short: after a LOT of phone calls and e-mails and research, the land was officially spit in two parts in January 2021 and divided between the campsite with the lake and islands on the one hand, and the forest on the other hand. My client got to purchase the camping after all and entered into a lease agreement for the forest. Now, a very happy Belgian family is preparing for their first camping season and have set up a beautiful website: www.campgrinsby.eu. The whole endeavor is also filmed by a Belgian film crew and will for sure be broadcasted in Belgium – hopefully also in the Netherlands so that I can follow their journey that I up till now only saw on paper. Good luck, family Coppens! I applaud you for your brave decision and perseverance. See you in Grinsby!