No, I didn't mean it takes months to get your loan approved for most people. It did for us though, since we moved from abroad, having no work history in Sweden and no jobs at that point. That means you have to get two job offers first (for a couple) and that takes time. During this time you are looking at apartments but can't bid since you haven't secured a loan. Then comes the looking part, which for us took maybe 2 months. There was a lull in availability (and extreme competition between bidders), and we were outbid for everything. When we finally found one, and outbid another couple (price rose 700SEK btw), we had to wait another 3 months to move in.

Everybody's experience is different, but I think we can agree this is madness and not good for our economy. I rarely have much positive to say about the US, but one thing is that you can literally go to almost any city (except maybe SF and NYC), live in a hotel, and within a week you have found some place to live. Might not be the highest standard of living, but you can always trade up.

I had the same experience as you in terms of previous work history. I just moved back to Sweden and had approx 1 month job history (and not even full-time but a trial). Got my loan approved in a single day. Called back a week later to expand the amount I wanted to loan.

I got the "lånelöfte" (guarantee to loan) from the bank in a single phone call which allowed me to bid.

May I ask what bank you went to? I can add that I had the necessary 15% but outside the country.

They never asked about it, nor previous work history.

Also, I don't have a Swedish name if you were wondering :-)