Rental Apartment in Cervar near Porec

[rijekafan]

1 45 m2 apartment in Cervar about 5kms from Porec needs a rental agent for holiday booking or long term rental. The owner would prefer a long term tenant.
If anyone here does long term and or holiday rentals around Porec I would love to hear from you. Also if anyone wants to rent a good apartment near Porec let me know.

[mambo]

What price is the owner thinking of ?

Cervar is not exactly a place anyone would like to live, it is a ghostcity, not really number one on the list of places that jump to mind when you think of Istria. However, if the price is right it might be something for a friend of mine.
Cervar, 45 m2, long term I expect we are looking at 100 to 150 euro per month max. (excl. amenities), correct ?

[3lions]

....wait a minute you don't like anything in Istria, what you going on about?

[rijekafan]

The owner will rent at the market rate, whatever that is to a good tenant. 150 Euros sounds a little low but if that is the market rate, so be it. BTW The flat is fully furnished. She would prefer a non Croatian tenant. She is an old Slovene lady and claims to have had nothing but negative experience with Croatians. She is sure a Croatian will cheat her as she claims they invariably do. She has some saying that says that Croatians call you brother while they stab you in the back.
I have told her I have had good Croatian tenants but she is an old lady. I will say this, she is a totally honest woman who comes from one of Slovenias most illustrious families.
The price will exclude all services etc and the idea is to minimise any hassles for both parties.
BTW Can you suggest how I would get a honest market appraisal of the property in case he wants to sell down the line.

[mambo]

Rijekafan,

I have been away for a little bit, had no time to reply, but to answer your question: Cervar is a bit of a problem and to be honest I have no idea what value to put on a house in that 'place' if you want to sell it. I even think that she should be glad if she can find anybody who wants to buy the place.

What is the problem with Cervar ?

Cervar was constructed during the times of Tito and is therefore just a collection of apts and houses, it never was a village or city to begin with.
During the war Cervar was used to house refugees and it needs no explanation what happens when you put refugees in tourist housing. Maintenance was never done during that period and therefore after the war the whole village was sold off to the private market. A lot of people from Zagreb and other inland areas bought the apts and houses, but rebuilding the village after the refugees left never took place.
In absence of any investment in rebuilding the place it is logic that tourists don't like to stay in this village so what you see in the summer are the owners and some of their friends or a few not so wealthy tourists from other countries, but that is basically it.
Nobody takes care of the place, most of the paint is old or gone, the grass is never cut, no cleaning of the streets etc. In other words, you must be a really desperate tourist if you like to stay in Cervar.
For long term renting it may be different, because working in Porec and living in Cervar is not so bad. It is a 10 min drive and Cervar does not have the madness of Porec during the summer.

As for the pricing. I used to live in the center of Porec, right behind the police station. We had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, separate toilet, large L-shaped living room and a study, plus two balconies. This was completely furnished and we paid 220 euro per month.
Since it was a bit too far from work and no place to park during the summer I now moved to a village between Pazin and Porec, have a complete house, with garden, two floors, fully furnished and pay 200 euro.
Other houses near Porec, also near the coast, brand new, fully furnished, with gardens, are available for 200 to 250 euro/month, but then you are living in a very modern, well maintained living area, which you cannot compare to Cervar.

One interesting thing to do with this apt would be to offer it to Germans or Austrians who normally stay all summer on the campgrounds. The prices of the campgrounds have gone completely mad and many tourists figure out that they can rent an apt for the whole year for the same price. With all the rain of the last couple of years it is not bad to have an apt where you can shelter for the rain and flooding.

How do you find a person who wants to rent long term like this ?
There are German forums about Croatia as well, you may want to advertise the apt over there and chances are very good that you will be able to rent the place. Germans normally take well care of apts and pay on time.

[mambo]

@3lions,

Nothing is going on with me, just telling the truth about Cervar. Istria has a nice coast line, but for the rest it basically does not have a lot to offer.

I just come back from a week in Spain (Madrid and Toledo) and I can only conclude that we are talking a world of difference here.
The last time I was in Toledo was about 11 years ago and at that time Toledo was perhaps where Porec, Rovinj etc were also. I remember walking through the city, being one of the few tourists, no places to go out to, not a lot to do etc.
Now, Toledo is a beautiful city, lots of buildings are restored, many new places to go out, the place is thriving. There are musea, cinemas, sports facilities etc. In other words, Toledo took action and went to work.

If I compare this to what Istria has to offer I can only say that Istria is asleep and has no clue where to go to in the near future.
This mentality of not wanting to go anywhere, not willing to work, not willing to get ahead, just looking for more reasons to block any progress (rules, regulations, corruption etc) really makes me sick.
This country received a gift (beautiful coastline) when the world was constructed, a gift that not many countries in the Mediterranean have, but they were truly able to screw it up, where as other countries are able to make a very good living basically starting with nothing, Croatia is still where it started, just a few people were able to profit massively from it, the rest has nothing to scratch their behinds with.

That is what bothers me.

[rijekafan]

Thanks so much for your trouble Mambo. Are you in the biz or do you just help poor sods like me:) Ok We are going to get between 100 and 150 Euros. Is your friend a foreigner? I am sort of responsible for the cro side so I prefer to deal with English speakers. The owners grandaughter who has the power of attorney speaks reasonable German ans excellent English.

[3lions]

May 7, 2008 15:11:24 GMT 1 mambo said:

@3lions,

Nothing is going on with me, just telling the truth about Cervar. Istria has a nice coast line, but for the rest it basically does not have a lot to offer.

I just come back from a week in Spain (Madrid and Toledo) and I can only conclude that we are talking a world of difference here.
The last time I was in Toledo was about 11 years ago and at that time Toledo was perhaps where Porec, Rovinj etc were also. I remember walking through the city, being one of the few tourists, no places to go out to, not a lot to do etc.
Now, Toledo is a beautiful city, lots of buildings are restored, many new places to go out, the place is thriving. There are musea, cinemas, sports facilities etc. In other words, Toledo took action and went to work.

If I compare this to what Istria has to offer I can only say that Istria is asleep and has no clue where to go to in the near future.
This mentality of not wanting to go anywhere, not willing to work, not willing to get ahead, just looking for more reasons to block any progress (rules, regulations, corruption etc) really makes me sick.
This country received a gift (beautiful coastline) when the world was constructed, a gift that not many countries in the Mediterranean have, but they were truly able to screw it up, where as other countries are able to make a very good living basically starting with nothing, Croatia is still where it started, just a few people were able to profit massively from it, the rest has nothing to scratch their behinds with.

That is what bothers me.

...and what will change, nista, not one thing.

[polako]

Remember everyone that Croatia has been playing economy catch up for the last 11 years because for most of the 90s it was engaged in a bloody and awful war with Serbia. Even though Istria was not directly hit in the war, it housed refugees etc and the whole of Croatian resources would have been strained.
I love Istria, whatever you may say Mambo and it can only get better- if they do not screw it up any more.

[mambo]

rijekafan,

You may want to advertise on the following sites:

www.istrien.info/forum/

or

www.forum-kroatien.de/

Perhaps you can find a German or Austrian who is willing to pay, let's say, 2500 euro or 3000 euro for the whole year. If so, I think you have a great deal for this lady, because it will be much more than the price you will ever get on the local market.

you may want to write it like:

Angebot: zu vermieten

45 m2 apt, Cervar (in die nahe von Porec), nur fur dauer mieter. Komplet ausgestattet. Preise pro Jahr xxxx euro, excl wasser und elektricitat.

[rijekafan]

Thanks heaps, I may also try my Losinj apartment on thi site