buying real estate in Montenegro

Before buying a house

First of all, we must say that the value of the house does not matter if you are planning to get a residence permit. Whether the value of the house is 30,000 euros or 3 million euros, it gives you the opportunity to apply for a residence permit in the same way.

The residence permit you obtain by purchasing a house does not give you the right to benefit from a work permit or permanent residence, and this permit must be renewed every year, but the renewal process is very easy.

One of the things you need to know is that if you are not buying the house directly from the construction company, that is, if you are buying the house from someone else, you need to pay a transfer tax of 3% of the value of the house. This is a factor that makes buying houses from construction companies attractive.

The houses you buy from construction companies are mostly unfurnished. Only the bathroom, toilet, sink and combi boiler are installed. Sometimes it can happen in the air conditioner. Other than that, you need to purchase and install everything else, such as the kitchen.

Required Permissions

The first thing you should pay attention to when buying a house is to check whether the house has the necessary permits. Although when you go to the notary, it is the duty of the notary to do this research and inform you if there are any problems with the house. However, when you buy the house, ask the house owner or the real estate agent for the title deed document obtained from the cadastre. This document shows whether the house has zoning and settlement permits and whether there are any problems with the house. You can see whether you have any tax debts. Especially in coastal cities such as Budva, most houses do not have zoning or occupancy permits due to irregular construction. Although these types of houses are more affordable in price, we, as Go Karadağ, recommend that you stay away from these types of houses due to the problems they may cause you. Since the house is unauthorized, you may have to pay water and electricity bills at illegal rates. Additionally, you may experience problems when selling the house because they do not have permission. The second important factor is that the house has only one owner, that is, it appears as 1/1 in the title deed. This is written in the document received from the cadastre.

Notary Procedures

When you go to the notary as a foreigner, there is a requirement to have a sworn translator who speaks Turkish. Translators generally charge around 35€ for this process.

Make sure that the translator reads the entire notary contract to you and explains any clause you do not understand

Notary fees vary depending on the size of the house. In general, we can say that prices start from 300 €.

When you buy a furnished house, have a list of all the items in the house recorded in the notary contract along with their pictures. Otherwise, you may face the danger of missing all or some of the items after you purchase them.

Also have it written in the contract that the bills for the house, such as electricity and water, must be paid on the date you buy the house.

Additionally, if you are married, it will be added to the notary contract that your spouse will have 50% rights over the house, according to Montenegrin law.

Money transfer:
You need to transfer the money required to buy the house from Turkey through a bank. For this transfer you make via Swift, the bank requests a commission starting from € 150.

You can open an account at Ziraat Bank, which has branches in most cities of Montenegro, and have the money transferred to your account.

If you do not have a residence permit, the bank may not open an account for you. In such a case, you need to transfer the money through a notary to the account of the person or institution from which you will buy the house. Since this type of transfers are guaranteed by the notary, the bank accepts the money coming from abroad without any problems.

However, since the daily money transfer limit from Turkey is $20,000, you may need to make the transfer in several different parts.

If you are going to make the payment in cash, you must notify the bank of the amount you will withdraw at least one day in advance. Because the daily withdrawal limit from most banks is 5000€.

What to do after the sale

You can normally carry out the transactions with the help of the person you bought it from or the real estate agent, but it is still useful to know what needs to be done.

If you are not the first owner of the house, you must go to the tax office within 15 days and pay the transfer tax, which is 3% of the price stated in the notary contract. You will be notified of the result one or two months after you make the payment to the bank account you were given. If the experts decide that the value of the house is lower than what you paid, you will be refunded the excess tax you paid.

After you get the result, you can go to the cadastral office and have the electricity and water collected in the electricity and water administration buildings with a document showing that the house is in your name. Annual house taxes vary depending on the size and location of the house you buy. For example, if the house you buy is smaller than 20m2, you do not have to pay annual tax. This tax generally starts from around 300€ and you can pay it in installments.