Buying Property in Croatia

[Peter Ellis]

A new year dawns and we wish all our members a very happy and prosperous one.

More and more foreigners are coming here to buy and provided that they take the same precautions that they would at home they should not have any problems.

Croatia represents an excellent place to invest in property, whether it is as part of an investment portfolio or just a holiday home. Much has been written about places like Bulgaria, where property is undoubtedly very cheap but, given it's general situation, is likely to remain, overall, cheap. For anyone wanting the quality of life of Italy or France at more reasonable prices, Croatia still wins hands down. It is also closer and cheaper to reach, which can be important for anyone in need of a long weekend to unwind.

Our prediction for 2005 is that prices will continue to rise steadily in Croatia and that they are unlikely to slow down before 2008 at the earliest.

Some of our current property stock can be found on our other website www.croatiapropertyservices.com

Sretan Novi Godina!

[Koos]

Thank you Peter

I just came back from a week visit to Istria, Croatia. I spend some time looking at properties close to Motovun, Prorec and Pula. I am very much interested in buying in Premantura, just south of Pula. What is your thoughts on this area? If any one else know about this area and its investment potential please let me know?

[Peter Ellis]

Hi Koos

You would normally have found me over there in Istria but I've been in Zagreb over Christmas and New Year.

We have one very nice apartment for sale in Lisnjan but although we have no apartments at the moment in Premantura we do have some building land there.

It is a very nice area and convenient for the airport at Pula.
One thing you do need to watch out for currently down there in the area around Medulin,Premantura and Lisnjan is a difficulty getting Usage Certificates. Despite the authorities not yet being able to provide mains sewerage facilities in several areas, necessitating the use of septic tanks, the urbanistic planning department at the commune seems unwilling to issue Usage Certificates on the grounds that the properties do not have mains drainage. Given that elsewhere, particularly in rural areas, septic tanks are widely used and are never normally a bar to a Usage Certificate, this seems perverse. Mains drainage is supposed to be going in in about 18 months, which will resolve the problem in the longer term.
However, in the short term, it will be difficult to get Ministry of Foreign Affairs approval without the Useage Certificate. The solution at the moment is to set up a Croatian company and buy through that, as no ministry permission is involved, so the lack of permit won't hold up your getting registered in the Land Registry. Whilst this is likely to increase your costs overall by about Eur5k and involve you in admin, this may not be too significant.

Please contact us directly if we can be of any further help on [e-mail]. Our legal department can set up a company if you want one.

[Harry]

Great site,
Myself and my partner love the idea of investing in Croatia. We think we could pay outright for a property, and we are interested in setting up a hostel for travellers as a small business to pass the time as the price of the property hopefully rises. You have caught us at the start of our investigation, and I wonder if you could supply any basic info. upon which we could build. Where do the travellers tend to roam? What kind of restrictions/licences are in place for these ventures? What is the range of prices we should expect to pay for such a property? As a starter for ten, an answer to any of these questions woud help get us started. Thank you kindly

[cathrine]

Finding a real estate agent working in Marina,Trogir

We are going to Croatia en March searching for a property to buy. We have already falling in love with Marina, a small village 12 km from Trogir, but we cant nearly find any property there.
Isnt there any property for sale in this area or hasnt I found the right real estate agent ??

I hope somebody could help me in this matter.

Cathrine from Norway

[misty]

Hi Cathrine, we stayed in our agents house in Marina
last year and ended up buying a place near by.It may be a bit late in the day for you but try www.presstia.co.uk

[Charles]

Even later in the day I know but if I can help please contact me via www.aplaceindalmatia.com.

Regards

Charles Southgate

[Peter Ellis]

After a lack lustre 2009, there seems to be a lot more interest in buying property again this year.

We are often asked about risks in buying property here. Prospective buyers worry about things like defective title. Actually, here in Istria it is rarely a problem, as it is easy to check title and whether buying through us or any other agent, if you ask to see a current Vlasnicki List, which because it can be obtained online, should always be up to date, you should be OK.

A bigger worry at the moment is buyers needing to rent out and being mislead as to the rentability of properties. We have had instances of clients asking us to resell property after being sold it by others, having made it clear that they needed to rent out in order to pay their mortgage, only to discover afterwards that the property had no rental licence and, under current interpretation of the relevant law, unlikely to get one easily. When they have just bought and furnished a new property this can be devastating, particularly when they will be having to service a loan for some time to come, while we find a buyer not needing to rent out in the current thin market.
Just because properties nearby have rental plaques on them there is no automatic guarantee that the subject one will. If in doubt, ask for written confirmation from the selling agent of the basis on which they believe you can rent the property. Vague assurances and subsequent denials of conversations are not good enough if you are paying hard earned cash or guaranteeing a loan for a property that you will depend on the rental income from.

Regards