We recently gave some information about how foreigners can buy property in Croatia and we stated how one way was to start a company. Now we are going to give you more detail on this subject.

It is best that you get a Croatian lawyer to do the registration of your company with the Commercial Court, Central Bureau of Statistics, Tax Administration, Croatian Pension Insurance Institute and Croatian Institute for Health Insurance.

Every company in Croatia must of course have an address in the country to be registered, so you should probably take care of this first. Then you should get to work on certifying all the documents to make them legally authentic. You do this in the office of a public notary, which will be explained to you by your lawyer. You also have to translate any document written in some other language.

Now we get to the part of opening a bank account for the company. First of all, it should be noted that opening a private limited company is the cheapest way of getting a company in Croatia as it requires only 20,000 Kunas, while anything else would be much more expensive. You can have more accounts in more banks if you believe you could need them, but you must specify which account will be used for which specific purpose.

After this you must register with the court that resides over the area your company is located. First you submit the notarized application which must contain company name, office, business, account, capital, statement by board members, names and identification data of all owners, document of establishment, list of managers and statements that prove how the company or it’s owner have no debts towards the Croatian institutions or any other liability.

When you take care of all the legal details you should make a stamp which has the name of the company and the court registration number, after which you also must get the company number given by the Central Bureau of Statistics and a tax number issued by the Tax Administration.

If you plan to have some employees in your company you must take care of their pension and health insurance.

As you see, starting a company in Croatia is not easy at all, but if you have a good lawyer who can get it done as fast as possible, than you should be able to move into your Croatian real estate without any unnecessary problems!

What is the price of the property, what is the value? Everyone can determine the price how they wish. But value, it is something that can not be expressed in numbers. It is up to the buyer to know how to estimate the value according to his criteria and thus decide whether to pay the price that you specify. It is up to you to try to make that impression more better!

1. Increase space in the apartment! I do not think about the physical space that is determined by square footage, but that spacious feeling, which can be achieved by proper setting. It is important to know that empty space increases the value, so get rid of everything you think could be in the way during the demonstration of the flat.

2. It is also important to decorate the property. Fresh paint, new carpets, decoration, and maybe even small and fresh flowers.

3. Make all necessary repairs at key places in the apartment. There is not much need to explain why it is important to repair the pipes or cracks in the ceilings, but it’s also a good idea to renovate the kitchen and bathroom. Of course, when renovating, do not spend too much money, because you are selling a flat to another, you are not renovating it for yourself.

On the assigned day of completion, the buyer and seller will be presented at the office of the Notary to sign the title deed.
The Croatian Notary does not check any terms when buying property in Croatia, but certifies that both parties have agreed to the terms stated. At that stage your agent will prepare a copy of your contract and all other necessary documents to be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia.
When acquiring a property in Croatia, foreign citizens need to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia. This is a formality that requires 12 to 18 months to complete. Applications are not refused unless the individual has an adverse history with relation to Croatia.
In Croatia the ultimate proof of ownership is entry of the owners name in the local Land Registry. The local courts will not allow a foreign citizen to be entered in the Land Registry without the approval stated above. Here is a list of the documents which have to be supplied to the Ministry when requesting an approval to purchase property in Croatia:

The sales contract;

An excerpt from the land registry for the particular property. This document is usually obtained in each municipality at the local municipal court; it’s land registry division;

A document from the local municipality, from the following department: “Ured za prostorno planiranje”. The document is called “Uvjerenje o namjeni”, for the particular property;

Proof of citizenship for both buyer and seller; any photocopies have to be reviewed by a Croatian Notary Public

When buying property in Croatia, a clause in the contract safeguards your finances, protects your rights and allows you to take advantage of your property with immediate effect while you wait for the paperwork. Once the approval arrives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia your agent will fax it to the local Land Registry and confirm you as a new owner. The final step of the process is to pay the tax for your new Croatian property.

Despite the crisis that hit the eastern Europe, exclusive real estate at attractive locations can still attract investors.
We are entering a year in which commercial real estate and luxury villas will probably be the best investment opportunities in Croatia. Bank transactions of large amounts of money are now a thing of the history. Cradit politics are strict, so the success in 2009 will be all about cash. Banks will still have to give out loans to trusted clients with an outstanding record, so use that to your advantage, but this does not mean that banks will finance risky and speculative projects.
There is also talk that soon many new properties will be available for sale, so this is a great moment to spend your cash in Croatia and buy exclusive commercial real estate or luxury villas on the Adriatic coast.

It seems that the financial crisis has struck the Croatian real estate market. Apartment prices will drop, new projects will be delayed and the apartment renting market will blossom. The question is: “Is it time to be patient or invest?” Well, the answer is not that simple!
There is an obvious stagnation of selling in Croatia now. People are more careful when investing their money, but the banks are those who rule the market because their credit policy is now more strict than ever. All of this has led to an increase in the renting market.
Potential buyers still expect that the prices will drop even more and this stagnation may be just what influences the prices enough for them, despite the recent announcements that prices may even rise during the coming crisis. Although, if the prices really fall, the y will not fall so much that you will get an apartment “for free”, it will be a moderate fall. It is imperative to think clearly and look at the realistic value of the real estate you intend to buy. If you ask yourself the right questions, you will find the right answers! Is the real estate you intend to buy undervalued? Does it ensure a profit in the long run? The people who said prices will rise in the future were not stupid, they had their sources and good information too! The market may be polarized by all different prognosis now, as families do not have enough income to sustain an investment, while the people with enough money and financial power see good long term investment opportunities.
Investors are also affected by the crisis. Strict bank policies have influenced activities related to real estate investments in Croatia, which has had a huge influence on the so-called “small” investors, while the “big players” are still able to acquire enough resources due to their financial strength.
All we can advise you at this time is to be patient and wait before buying an apartment if you are “running” on a low income cause all analysts say that the prices will drop in the near future. On the other hand, if your “tank is full” and you are searching for an investment opportunity, then you should definitely consider buying, especially if you take in account the new real estate law in Croatia, but we will tell you more about that in our next article!

If you are in a possession of a house with multiple owners and want to sell it, there might be some problems if one of the owners shows some kind of reluctance. Looking from the legal point of view, there is nothing stopping you from selling your part without other owners consenting. All you need to do is prove the size and ownership over a part of the real estate. And that is when the co-owners can start their obstruction! If you can’t finish the process, the best thing to do is to break the co-ownership contract. There is still a chance that your partners will not agree to this, so you may have to hire a lawyer and start a legal process to break the contract. The court than may sell the real estate at a public auction and divide the money between the owners, thus solving all your problems. However, this is not something we should recommend you do cause it is always better to come to an agreement without bringing third parties to the whole situation. Besides that, Croatian courts are not known for their efficiency at the moment.

The global financial crisis is knocking on all doors in Croatia! The situation is still not as dramatic as it is in the United States or in Great Britain, but its effects are starting to show in Croatia too. The real estate market is not hit hard like other markets, but all consultants tell us that there will soon be some turmoil. Although it is not risk free, it is still a good investment to buy a property, especially if it is a luxury villa, or some other exclusive real estate. There are some people who need money right away and they will sell their house now because they are aware of the fact that their real estate can only lose value in the coming months. This also goes very much for sellers who offer apartments suited for families in the biggest cities like Rijeka, Zagreb, Split, but also in attractive tourist destinations. The bad thing with the current situation is that the year 2009 will bring a somewhat absurd situation in which prices will hit their low, but the banks will also limit their offer of loans. This means that any investor with a big stash of money standing by can’t do anything better than buy some property for future sale. The crisis may be coming and it may hit hard, but never forget that real estate does not lose value in the long run, it can only bring you profit if you are patient enough to wait, especially if we are talking about an attractive market like the Croatian one certainly is.