Mortgages in Croatia

[Peter Ellis]

Hi

When I said our Croatian bank, I should have been more specific. It is actually one of the Austrian ones, Erste, who have a branch network here in Istra, as well as elsewhere in Croatia.
However, I have heard that the Austrian ones may be offering things from their Austrian offices. Raiffeisen was the one that someone mentioned. Raiffeisen also have a branch network here.
My Raiffeisen contacts aren't as good as last year, when their chief appraisor and deputy chief legal officer were both known to me, but both have moved on now in to private practice, or I could have checked.

[Mo]

Hi there, I have just seen all the messages from last year (a bit late off the block i think!) and was hoping that since then there may have been some progress on the mortgate front - any news? I am also interested in Bulgaria so any comments or suggestions regarding either this or Croatia would be very appreciated, thank you! Mo

[Dario]

I've just come across this offer by Volksbank...It looks promising...I'm sure the others will follow soon.

www.volksbank.hr/main.asp?ID=415

[Dario]

Well, I've just realised that this page is in Croatian. Basically, the deal is

- max borrowing 464.000 EUR
- max term 15 years
- 40% deposit
- foreign citizens without Croatian residence are OK
- rate 4.40% (CHF) - !!! ( excellent rate, I'm still paying 4.90% in the UK)
- admin fee 1.25% - can be added to the loan

Requirements:

- letter of employment from your employer
- 3 payslips ( all translated in Croatian - plenty of 'court appointed' translators throughout Croatia

That's about it. Good luck - finally an excellent mortgage deal by a reputable bank.

[Peter Ellis]

Thanks for that, Dario. It sounds a lot better than the Erste one. We will contact them.

[Brian Lopiccolo]

I have also searched for a mortage in Croatia, The Austrian banks seem reluctant. We choose to get a home equity on our current home in California. I think this is a great option for the rates are very low. If you dont have equity or much their are still loans available that go over the homes value by 10-20% for a higher rate.

[OliBlom]

admin said:

Thanks for that, Dario. It sounds a lot better than the Erste one. We will contact them.

Have you been in touch with Volksbank? What were your thoughts?

[Peter Ellis]

I had a good meeting with Volksbank today. It looks quite promising. BTW, the 464,000 is Swiss Francs or Eur300,000, not Eur 464,000. I will talk to their head office as soon as we can set up a meeting, to explore it further.

We also talked about company loans, which will be assessed on a case by case basis and loans for building, after the applicant has already purchased the land. I'll report back further once we know more.

[OliBlom]

That sounds promising - we look forward to more updates! Thanks.

[balacleigh]

I have been in contact with Raffeisen who offered me a loan of 50% of the purchase price of our house. I think the interest rate is c. 8%. In my situation, we have all the papers so it would have been pretty straightforward and the property is complete. They seemed commercial and efficient.

The 50% level wasn't enought for me but is a move in the right direction.

Good Luck

[Peter Ellis]

The latest seems to be that the Croatian government have put mortgages for British and Irish nationals on hold and that those banks who have been offering mortgages are not currently offering them. There may still be possibilities for German and Austrian nationals however.

[Peter Ellis]

The solution for Croatian mortgages may be leasing, where the bank actually has ownership of the property and at the end of the lease period turns the ownership over to the buyer if all lease payments have been made. We are talking about deposits of from between 25% for 15yr mortgages to 50% for 10yr mortgages. Leases would be in Euros with final adjustment made in Kunas, although clearly, with that term, it is quite likely that Croatia could already be using the Euro anyway by then. The bank we are talking to is talking of fixed monthly payments for the term of the loan with recovery in default if outstanding payments exceed 3 months.

[Peter Ellis]

This just got buried in a lot of Chinese spam!

[Peter Ellis]

Mortgages in Croatia for overseas buyers


Croatia Property Services, the longest established Anglo Croatian real estate agency in Istria, the most popular region of Croatia, is pleased to announce that they can now offer mortgages to foreigners purchasing property in Croatia from them.

The mortgages are offered by a number of major Austrian banks

The terms are as follows:

Amount of loan on a property: LTV 60-70%
Rate: EURIBOR + 2.5%  so currently about 7.5% overall
Currency: Euros
Maximum Term: 15-20yrs
Maximum Age: 55yrs
Arrangement fee: 2.5% *
Minimum Loan: Eur100,000
Insurance: Property to be insured *
Early repayment under full term: No charge

Agency and legal fees can be included in the loan

Documentation needed:
Income verification if applicant is employed, or 3yrs audited accounts if self employed.
If purchaser is a newly registered Croatian company, income verification and passport copy of the shareholder(s) and copy of the company registration document

If the property is to be rented out and an agency rental contract is available, this is also persuasive.

Time for approval after submission of required documentation approximately 2 weeks, with around a further two weeks for implementation.

Information available from [e-mail]

*The arrangement fee to only apply if the application is successful.
*The property can be insured by any major insurer

[Peter Ellis]

Someone asked me whether our Croatian mortgages were with the Austrian banks in Croatia. The answer is that they are with the Austrian banks directly from Austria, hence from banks actually within the EU not from their subsidiaries down here.