Croatia is fast becoming a popular tourist getaway, a summer home getaway as well as a retirement paradise, thanks to its low cost of living, beautiful climate and scenery. So, if you’re keen on owning a piece of Europe, don’t get left out and purchase some Croatian real estate. Croatia makes it easy to purchase property for European Union citizens. But if you’re from outside the EU, it’s not as easy but also not so difficult as we will briefly discuss here.
The first step in purchasing real estate Croatia (https://www.bluehomes.com/Immobilien-Kroatien/HR/de/debut.html) is to seek out a trustworthy real estate agency as they will be your main intermediary to the seller and the Croatian government. Agencies of course know the local language and many Croatian professionals have a good command of English. Research the agency first of course for their reach, their performance as well as reviews from their clients.
Foreigners are allowed to purchase land except for agricultural but there are two important conditions. One is if the buyer is a citizen of the EU. For non-EU citizens, their country must have a reciprocity agreement with Croatia. You will also need to get a lawyer if you don’t have any. They will work closely with the Croatian agency and will handle other administrative dealings.
After choosing an agency and getting a lawyer, there are four main steps in purchasing Croatian real estate. Croatia has what is known as a pre-contract agreement with the seller. This is basically the seller’s assurance from the buyer and is usually 10% of the selling price. Then, there’s the consent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Croatia which applies to non-EU citizens. Without this, your pre-contract agreement becomes void so you must ensure you secure all their requirements when asking for consent.
After getting permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you’re free to finalize the purchase with the buyer. Secure and notarize the contract and submit to the Land Registry. Then lastly, after registering into the Land Books of the Municipal Cadastral Department, purchase tax and/or property transfer tax must be made.
This is just a brief discussion on what’s needed to purchase Croatian real estate. Croatia makes the detailed steps and requirements straightforward, so if you are keen to live in Croatia and have enough funds, it shouldn’t be a problem.
