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Post by django10000 on Dec 16, 2014 16:48:35 GMT 1
Hi,
I saw a post earlier in the year regarding agg land and purchases from non-citizens. I am still very confused on this. I am looking to purchase a home in Istria that has a house (Kuca) and a small garden/arable land (Oranica/Pasnjak) - total square meters of everything (including the home) is about 1,100 sq mtrs. Does anyone know if the law on non-citizens looking to buy property (without setting up a company) restricts ownership because there is a small garden listed in the land registry? It seems that such a small parcel of land would not be an issue - would anyone know this?
Thanks so much, I love this forum.
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Post by Ribaric on Dec 16, 2014 18:07:04 GMT 1
Hi, I saw a post earlier in the year regarding agg land and purchases from non-citizens. I am still very confused on this. I am looking to purchase a home in Istria that has a house (Kuca) and a small garden/arable land (Oranica/Pasnjak) - total square meters of everything (including the home) is about 1,100 sq mtrs. Does anyone know if the law on non-citizens looking to buy property (without setting up a company) restricts ownership because there is a small garden listed in the land registry? It seems that such a small parcel of land would not be an issue - would anyone know this? Thanks so much, I love this forum. Each regional office has it's own views on how they will apply the "protection of agricultural land" regulations but, mostly, they will not sell any land except "kuca" or "dvoriste" to non Croatians. It doesn't matter about size in our experience. Your only real hope is to change the land categorisation to "dvoriste" and then apply to buy it. Even then, there's no guarantee they will agree to make the change or even grant you ownership if they do. Having a d.o.o. or organising a leasing deal with a Croatian company is the only real option at the moment. |
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Post by django10000 on Dec 16, 2014 18:19:12 GMT 1
Thank you for the replies. That is what I feared - pretty crazy that a small garden that would normally be part of a home is considered agriculture land. I was hoping to avoid the company route due to the extra costs and tax filings in the US.
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Post by fidobsa on Dec 16, 2014 18:50:20 GMT 1
I had the same confusion when I bought mine but as stated by january, it is all down to zoning. In my case the seller supplied evidence that the plot was in a construction zone but if you have a good English speaking lawyer, he or she can check that out for you.
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Post by Ribaric on Dec 16, 2014 23:03:49 GMT 1
It is quite straightforward. Without setting up a company you can buy whatever you wish provided that the whole is located within the building zone. Anything that lies outside of the building zone (which may include what you consider garden) is for the purpose of the law deemed agricultural land and can only be bought through a company. Sadly, not so simple. The officials in Krapina, Vrbovecs, Ivanec, Novi Marof, Ludbreg, Samobor, Krizevci and Cakovec will not allow you to own land in the building zone if it is designated as any one of the agricultural designations. Vinograd, Oranica, Pasnjak, Vocnjak.... anything. Only Varazdin and Koprivnica allow it in my region. For other regions, I have no idea but it is clear that consistency is not high on the agenda. Caveat emptor! |
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Post by django10000 on Dec 17, 2014 13:41:07 GMT 1
Agreed, the consistency is about as clear as mud! It seems that a small flower garden could fall into this category – who really knows. I guess you really do need a decent lawyer to sort this out before major mistakes are made. I may have to go the company route or just wait until my wife’s citizenship is approved. I am really not sure how long that will take though. Thanks again
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Post by Carol on Dec 18, 2014 7:04:17 GMT 1
I agree that buying the property through a company is a good solution for very few people these days. )Actually it was never a good solution for most people, but it took time for that to become clear!).
If you do end up taking that route, however, why don't you consider buying the house privately and the garden via a company? At least that way, you'll get the tax free profits on the major investment after 3 years.
When I say profits, I do of course, mean notional profits of the type that only the tax office think that people have been making!
Obviously, with the fixed taxes and the accounting costs, it will be an expensive garden...!
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Post by Ribaric on Dec 18, 2014 16:13:22 GMT 1
I agree that buying the property through a company is a good solution for very few people these days. )Actually it was never a good solution for most people, but it took time for that to become clear!). If you do end up taking that route, however, why don't you consider buying the house privately and the garden via a company? At least that way, you'll get the tax free profits on the major investment after 3 years. When I say profits, I do of course, mean notional profits of the type that only the tax office think that people have been making! Obviously, with the fixed taxes and the accounting costs, it will be an expensive garden...! That could be done, but it would be necessary to have a geotek company to mark out the new boundaries and it would end up having 2 separate plot numbers and have to be re-entered as such into the registers. Plus of course that would have to be done by the seller to enable purchase in that manner. I think Carol is alluding to the point that any house cannot be built on land categorised as one of the agricultural options. That piece must be shown as either "kuca" or possibly "dvoriste" (there are one or two exceptions on vinograd plots). If any existing house is shown on land designated as agricultural then that's a sure fire reason to stay well away from it. Unless somebody here knows better? |
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Post by Carol on Dec 19, 2014 16:03:28 GMT 1
A bit of both...
1. If its not listed as a kuca or stan then don't buy it (at least until it does say that).
2. Gardens, tiny 2m2 back yards, pigsties etc all have their own katastar numbers. So you might agree a price for them all and they all usually go on the same contract, but they all get listed separately in the contract.
I can't imagine why a seller would object to selling them separately, as long as both contracts were signed at the same notary session and the buyer paid the cost of drawing up the 2nd contract (which should be fairly cheap as it would be identical to the first, except for the name of the buyer and the identification of the subject of the sale.)
But before you charge in and buy this... think if you are having problems, won't the people who consider buying it from you when you eventually sell have exactly the same problems, and will that put them off / make them try to force a knock down price??
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Post by django10000 on Dec 19, 2014 16:42:06 GMT 1
It is true Carol, there are three separate Katastar plot numbers on this particular property. I wish it was as simple as just buying the kuca part, but unfortunately the driveway and separate garage area are on the non-kuca plots. I'm sure one day this process will be a lot cleaner and straightforward. It seems to be getting better each day, but there's still a long way to go!
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Post by Ribaric on Dec 19, 2014 17:21:06 GMT 1
I'm sure one day this process will be a lot cleaner and straightforward. It seems to be getting better each day, but there's still a long way to go! Don't hold your breath Django.  |
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