Complete beginner......Q's?

[mark22]

Hi all,

I am spending 2 weeks in southern Croatia in september and am thinking about property / work there in a year or so.

How easy is it to own a property in Croatia?

In 5 basic summarised steps, how would i go about this?

thanks for anyone who replies.

Mark.

[Peter Ellis]

Hi Mark

Welcome.

First, I wouldn't leave it too late if you want to buy something. Prices are increasing a lot and many people are going to find that whilst they can get something now for what they can afford, this won't be the case later in the year. At best, they may have to settle for something a little smaller. At worst, particularly for the cheaper properties, they may find nothing available. The supply of old stone houses is not inexhaustable!
Down South is already very expensive.

Working there may not be so easy as work permits, unless you have some unusual skill or Croatian family, are difficult to obtain.

Owning a property is not difficult although the final registration of the title takes a few months, but you can use it while that is going through. Generally speaking, take the same precautions as you would when buying in the UK or Ireland, be prepared for a higher number of properties to fail a search and you shouldn't go far wrong.

If you are serious about buying somewhere,

1. Do some research on the area. Get an idea of the range of prices that you could expect to pay for different properties, standards of finish, locations, proximity to various attractions,etc. Prices can vary a lot for similar property, depending, for instance, on how close to the sea it is. If being on the front is not really a priority, just reasonable proximity to the sea, prices can drop considerably. Inland property, still only 20 minutes from the sea, can be a lot cheaper, and often has its own particular advantages when in pleasant rural surroundings.
We normally spend about 3 hours with clients, showing them a variety of property, also including a few things they hadn't asked about, too, just to give them an idea. It frequently happens that people have preconceived ideas about, for example, apartments, perhaps ruling them out because they had imagined monolithic blocks, whereas when shown a small development converted from an old house in a village, they like them.

2. Open a bank account down here one day when you are near a bank. You can open a foreigner's foreign currency account with a fiver. You are going to need one once you find somewhere and there is nothing more frustrating than finding a place you like on the last day of your trip, then realising that you cannot open an account to transfer money down because it is a Sunday and you are off early the following morning. You only need your passport to do it. Some of the bigger banks like Raiffeisen and Zagrebacka do online banking which can be handy.
Get the photo page of your passport photocopied in three copies and take them in to any of the numerous public notaries (ask a waiter where the nearest is) to get them notarised. This will speed up things once you find a place you like. Both can be easily fitted in to the earlier part of a trip whereas trying to do them at the last minute may be difficult.

3. Check what is available. There is a lot now on the internet, so that you can get an idea beforehand. Bear in mind that since some sites are not updated very often, your dream place may have already gone. Our own site is about 2 weeks behind at the moment and many things are selling before we have time to get them onto the site.

4.Make an appointment with an agent and allow a couple of weeks. Their diaries get full quite quickly. Try and avoid taking children. The demands of small children and business do not mix. We have heard of some agents charging for viewings but we would regard this as bad practice. In fairness, I suspect some do it to burn off timewasters who had nothing better to do on one day of their holiday, but we take the view that if someone is paying us to sell their property, anything that impedes that is not on.

5. Note that most agents offer a lawyer to do the contract. We do ourselves. Bear in mind that unless the lawyer is willing to do all the application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for you afterwards, you may have a problems unless you recruit an independant lawyer at an early stage.
The reason is this. A lot of property would not pass a legal 'search' as it has paperwork problems. However a vendors' lawyer can do a perfectly legal contract, conveying the property, complete with all its problems, to you.
The first sign of a problem will be when you make the application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their confirmation of reciprocity. They will ask to see things like the Certificate of Title, Planning Consent, the Useage Certificate, etc., and if these are missing or not available or defective, you are never going to get your name in the Land Registry as the owner. An agent's lawyer who is happy to make the application for you is unlikely to do so without first checking to ensure that he is not making a rod for his own back. Otherwise, do exactly as you would in the UK and Ireland and get your own lawyer. Our English speaking legal department often acts for people buying from other agents. We also offer to do searches for Eur250, which can save tears later.

6. Once you've bought your property, there will be various utilities and communal charges to pay for each month. Banks will generally organise direct debits for these, although some banks seem more willing than others. If you are not going to be here for weeks on end, it will be important to set something up, as you don't want to arrive to find the electricity has been disconnected because you hadn't paid some tiny standing charge. Things like community charges are very small compared to the UK, but they still need paying and local practice is to do it monthly. We generally wheel clients around the various utilities once the contract signing is completed, which can be useful as it avoids any language difficulties or finding the places.

If you have any other questions, answers to many will be available elsewhere here, but do come back to us.

Kind regards