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Post by wrighster on Sept 13, 2007 14:01:13 GMT 1
Hi folks 1st of all apologies i have done a lot of searching and have found a lot of answers allready but a few more we are a UK based couple one british citizen, 1 hungarian (with rights to live in UK) we are looking at buying a 2 bedroomed apt in Vrsar Istria in joint names for a holiday home, financing is somethig we have finally got our head round as we wouold rather not have the complications of setting up a company we will finance through UK remortgaging etc will there be likely to be any problems with one of us being Hungarian? Do the MOJ/MOF ever refuse that you can buy a property (neither of us are criminals or have CCJ's etc ) How do you find a solicitor in croatia (englsh speaking) as reluctant to use the one reccomended by the estate agent and finally for now, once you have found the property have a solicitor etc can the purchase be mainly conducted from the UK? oh sorry 1 more how do you pay all the bills do you set up a croatian bank account or pay the croatian authorities via DD from a uk account? Thanks a lot in advance
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Post by Ribaric on Sept 13, 2007 21:08:43 GMT 1
Hi folks 1st of all apologies i have done a lot of searching and have found a lot of answers allready but a few more
we are a UK based couple one british citizen, 1 hungarian (with rights to live in UK) we are looking at buying a 2 bedroomed apt in Vrsar Istria in joint names for a holiday home, financing is somethig we have finally got our head round as we wouold rather not have the complications of setting up a company (probably a mistake, this is what I did and it was much harder than for others on here who set up a company) we will finance through UK remortgaging etc
will there be likely to be any problems with one of us being Hungarian? Can't see why.
Do the MOJ/MOF ever refuse that you can buy a property (neither of us are criminals or have CCJ's etc ) I've not heard of this happening.
How do you find a solicitor in croatia (englsh speaking) as reluctant to use the one reccomended by the estate agent. Best done through recommendations from someone you trust... really trust.
and finally for now, once you have found the property have a solicitor etc can the purchase be mainly conducted from the UK? If you have a good lawyer, probably.
oh sorry 1 more how do you pay all the bills do you set up a croatian bank account or pay the croatian authorities via DD from a uk account? You can't have a Croatian kuna bank account, or so Zagrebacka and Raifeissen banks told me. You can have a euro account (which seems rediculous), I have no idea why.
It is very difficult to get hard answers because we have all had such variations in the way we've been advised when buying places here. Sorry I can't be more specific but I hope this little helps.
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Post by mirabelle on Sept 13, 2007 22:05:19 GMT 1
Bank accounts here - would have to be opened here, not from any other country, but I do not see why you would not have kuna acct - certainly euro acct. We have both with RBA and opening was one of the easier things of admin life here. As for DDs - I believe can be done with some suppliers but don't expect too much modernity. Many overseas non dwellers seem to find it best to have local accountants manage that for you (certainly where comapnies involved).
On the legal side you may find it practical for spet uk lawyer to manage purchase. wise to look independently. We found many buyers in our development ended up using same local lawyer as Developer! Good luck
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Post by wrighster on Sept 14, 2007 8:43:09 GMT 1
Thank you for your replys Ribaric may i ask why you say it is easier to buy via forming a company? thanks
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Post by Ribaric on Sept 14, 2007 10:18:56 GMT 1
I believe (aka - I'm not sure) that, as a foreign buyer, I had to go through the whole process of gaining MOJ permission and, only afgterwards, getting registered as the owner on the kataster. Getting other services whilst you wait can be difficult (phone, cable TV) because of not being the registered owner. I'm told this can take three years to achieve although, luckily, I'm in a more developed region and it took only 4 months. As I understand it, your Croatian company would not need to get such permission because the company is Croatian - not foreign.. if you get my drift.
You can tell I'm writing this in a hurry.
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Post by wrighster on Sept 14, 2007 13:04:34 GMT 1
thanks again any more opinions of the private or company decision? also any reccomendations of solicitors?
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Post by Carol on Sept 16, 2007 8:50:04 GMT 1
Lawyer - ask the british embassy or look on their website if you can't get a recommendation from a friend. Court translators often give recommendations too, so if you have one of those, they will be able to tell you who the good lawyers are. (Don't say "solicitors", it just confuses people and requires an extra translation i.e. solicitors = lawyers)
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Post by Carol on Sept 16, 2007 8:52:39 GMT 1
pros and cons for forming a company... depends on how long you want to own the property, what you want to do with it (anything commercial like letting should be via a company) and who your seller is (sometimes its better not to have to rely on the seller for the next few years). Also depends on whether you want to obtain a visa within the next couple of years or not?
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Post by Carol on Sept 16, 2007 8:55:26 GMT 1
by the way, you can sell the company and property as one and thereby obviate 5% RETT for your buyer IF they want to buy the company. There is no capital gains tax in Croatia on your profit from such a sale.
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Post by wrighster on Sept 16, 2007 10:14:43 GMT 1
Thanks Carol we would be looking at it purely as a holiday home initially possibly let close friends and family stay although we would not charge them - i understand that they would need to pay tourist tax is that correct? Probably look at keeping the property for at least 5 years if not longer, as you say i guess it depends on the seller if they are prepared to keep utilities in their name and if they are happy to have that on a contract.... How is the visa situation affected is it a case that you cannot apply for a visa untill the property is in your name? if we were looking at visas to satay there for longer then it would certainly be a few years of yet (got to work to pay for the place 1st) what are the advantages and disadvantages if the property needs to be sold if its privately owned or company owned? thanks
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Post by Sasha on Sept 16, 2007 11:13:03 GMT 1
Re: the Q. your wife being a Hungarian citizen - Hungarian Prime Minister was in Croatia about 6 months ago and complained to our PM that it takes to long for HUN citizens to register their properties. Our PM Sanader promised that HUN citizens will have a preference (whatever it means!) with this problem.
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Post by Carol on Sept 17, 2007 12:11:00 GMT 1
the visitor would need to pay tourist tax. It exists but its not huge (about 1.5 euros per day) Reasons why not being able to register your ownership immediately can be a pain:- 1. visitcroatia.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=property&action=display&thread=11899736982. You would probably need the seller's signature on the contract if you were to sell 3. you would need their help to apply for planning permission 4. You wouldn't be abel to get a rental licence 5. utilities Also ask yourself what would happen to any nice agreement you make with your seller if he dies and you are left to deal with his inheritors? What's best from a tax perspecive depends on whether you intend to sell within 3 years of getting permission to buy. If you do, then you would be better off with a company. If you don't then your tax position would be better if you buy privately. You can't get a visa without a reason. Owning a property is one and owning a company is another. Forget trying to get a visa so you can work in croatia.
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Post by wrighster on Sept 17, 2007 13:00:09 GMT 1
Thanks Carol, pros and cons to both then, i suppose it all comes down to whether you are prepared to take a chance or not (on the seller of the property) there isnt really a definative answer on private or company route its just upto the individual to make an informed decision it appears.... oh well at least i understand the implications a bit more The ongoing costs of the company ownership route could add up after a few years though i guess.....
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Post by Carol on Sept 17, 2007 14:19:02 GMT 1
a dormant company will have fixed taxes of about 100 euors per year. the only other cost is the accountant. Our first accountant charged us £70 per month when we had a dormant company and were living in the UK just like most our clients now. That is the most i have ever heard of anyone being charged. Now we send our clients to soemone just as competent who charges €200 per year.
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Post by capio on Sept 17, 2007 15:26:18 GMT 1
Carlo I noticed on your rather nice website that you're selling property in Albania, how is that going? I was amazed at how beautiful the beaches are there, also at the same time people there migrate to kosovo so things are obviously not going so well.
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