Real estate of Croatia

How To Buy Property in Croatia

Find property - Make offer - Open Croatian bank account - Due Diligence - Pre contract - Pay deposit - Main contract - Pay

Having spent several months exploring and researching real estate and estate agencies and portals in Istria, and Croatia and you are finally ready to come to sunny Istria to have a look at the properties for sale be it 3 bedroom villa with a swimming pool in central Istria, a new apartment with sea views, such as the ones advertised on this web for sale in Peroj, Pula, Premantura, Liznjan and Medulin or the renovation projects for sale in the quiet Istrian villages, there are some very important things you should know about buying real estate property in Istria, Croatia.

There are essential 2 ways of buying property in Croatia, one as a private citizen and the other as a Croatian company. If you are planning to rent the property in Croatia to tourists then under the current Real Estate law you will need to buy the apartment, house, villa via the Croatian company route. If you plan to use your Croatian property for your own use as a 2nd holiday home, or retirement home or long term investment then you can buy the Croatian property as a private citizen.

Bank Account in Croatia

You will require 2 banks accounts. One bank account is for Kuna and the 2nd bank account is for foreign currency. However, all banks are different and some banks now offer an account that covers both foreign currency and Kuna transactions in one account

The Deposit

When you have found your ideal property to buy in Istria and want to put a deposit down then for both a private purchase and a Croatian company purchase of property or land in Croatia the normal deposit to be paid is 10% of the asking price to be paid by the buyer to the vendor.

If you are buying the apartment or villa in Croatia privately then you can expect to pay the balance within 4 - 6 weeks. If you are purchasing the property via a Croatian company then you can expect to pay the balance between 8 - 10 weeks, this is mainly due to the fact that your Croatian company has to be opened and this procedure takes 4 - 6 weeks.

If the buyer does not intend to proceed with the purchase once the deposit has been paid, and drops out of the sale for personnel reasons it is the buyer who forfeits the full deposit. But if the due diligence shows that the property for sale is Croatia is not as advertised and the due diligence shows the property in a negative light then it is the responsibility of the vendor to refund the deposit. However if the Vendor does not intend to proceed with the sale of the Croatian property for personnel reasons then the vendor is obligated to pay to the buyer double the deposit paid.

Contracts

When you are buying property in Croatia it is normal practice to make a pre contract. It is not obligatory and it is possible to only make one final contract. But as a foreign buyer you will no doubt need time to set up and open a Croatian bank account and for this reason and for a full due diligence to be carried out, it is advisable to make a pre contract. You will also need to make sure that the final contract is correct and have it translated , again this takes additional time. There are lots of things for you and your lawyer to check before you finalise the buying contract .Once bank accounts have been opened and banking details exchanged and once the due diligence has been completed and it has been established the property has no burdens, and has clean ownership, then the main buying contract can be written and signed and the property can be purchased. The contracts need to be signed and authenticated at the Public Notary office. Under the 2009 Real estate Law you will need to obtain an O.I.B number to obtain the full ownership papers and be written in the land registry book