|
Property Faq
General information
|  | |
The categories used on this site:Apartments
The coastal regions of Croatia have been a popular destination for holiday makers since the mid 19th century and so are well geared up for tourism. Although apartments are by far the most popular and the most common form of accommodation on the coast of Croatia, not many are sold separately. Most apartments are in houses and are usually sold together. There is a new trend, however, to build new apartment blocks of individual apartments, so hopefully in the next year or so more individual apartments will come onto the market. As things stand, most of the apartments for sale will be in the houses and villas section. Tourist facilities are strictly regulated by the Tourist Board so you’ll find that holiday apartments are invariably of very high quality, clean, and spacious. Apartments for holiday letting are often sold with the furniture included. You will need to check this with your agent.
Houses & Villas
This category includes anything from a small cottage, a house with several holiday apartments, to a sumptuous villa with all the extras like a swimming pool. Incidentally, swimming pools are not that common in Croatia because the large majority of holiday properties are on the coast, usually no more than a 1000 metres from the sea - the Adriatic along the Croatian coast is crystal clear and is warm enough for swimming most of the year. A lot of houses will have apartments or rooms equipped for letting to holiday makers.
Commercial Property
This category includes any real estate of a commercial nature, such as discotheques, hotels, cafes, restaurants, diving centres, tourist boats, marinas, etc. We have also included houses which we consider could have considerable commercial potential, either let out as they are or which could possibly be converted into hotels (subject to obtaining planning approval). Croatia’s tourist industry is well on the road to recovery but has not reached anything like its full potential. Currently, hotels and apartments are fully booked up in the months of July and August but before the war Croatia could count on a six month period of full booking. Now that there is stability in the region the forecasts are that this level of booking will return, so this could be a very good time to make investment in commercial property.
LAND FOR SALE & PROPERTY TO RENOVATE
Land for sale
In Croatia’s estate agents and particularly in small advert magazines, such as Mali Oglasnik, you’ll find a lot of land for sale. Unless explicitly stated, most of this land will not have a building permit. Croatia is very determined today to protect its natural and architectural heritage and consequently has very strict regulations concerning building on new land. The further the land is from an urban zone the harder it will be to get a building permit, and for some land it may never be possible. So, unless you are very big risk taker, your best choice is to buy land which already has a building permit. If the land has planning permission for a building which pleases you then all well and good, if not you will have to reapply for planning permission for the building you’d like to propose. Getting planning permission is a long process, as it is in any country, and on average takes from between one and two years, perhaps longer if it is a big project of 20 or more apartments. If the land already has planning permission and you only want to make small changes you might only need to apply for an amendment, in which case it won’t take so long. In all cases when applying for planning permission you are advised to keep in regular contact with the planning authorities to check up on the progress of your project, otherwise it may remain in the waiting tray indefinitely!
Costs of planning permission
The cost of making an application for planning permission is very expensive. Typically, depending on the local authority, you have to pay 50 € per cubic metre of living space envisaged in your plans. You also have to pay up front the costs of getting services like electricity, water and telephone to the property. Some land sold with full planning permission may seem expensive but when you take these costs into consideration it is not really. Before purchasing land with planning permission you must establish with your agent that the costs of the planning are fully paid up.
Old Properties to renovate
Everyone’s dream, it seems, is to buy an old property to renovate on the Mediterranean coast, perhaps with a vineyard or a bit of land. This is perfectly possible in Croatia but you need first to know where to look. Croatia was for most of its mediaeval history under the threat of invasion, particularly from the Ottomans, and part of the psychology of the town planners of this time was to protect its population in fortified towns. This is still where you’ll where you’ll find the bulk of Croatia’s architectural heritage and also old properties to renovate, but, of course, you won’t find any vineyards there! In the countryside of the mainland away from the coast old villages are surprisingly sparse and consequently so are old properties. They are there but you have to look very hard for them. The islands offered their own natural protection against invaders so more properties were built outside of towns here and this will be where you’ll have the best chance of finding your dream cottage, possibly with your own little vineyard too!
Old properties to renovate can often be very cheap but will often be without any electricity or mains water, so one has to look carefully into the costs of getting these services to your house. With most of Croatia being mountainous and quite rugged it can be very expensive, but it might well be a price worth paying for the peace and quiet of the countryside.
This category also includes more recent properties which are in need of finishing or are in need of a bit of touching up.
Properties featured for each region on this site appear
in ascending order of price.
Return to previous page
|
