Our Journey to a Home in Serbia: The Seven Circles of Real Estate Purchase
Seven Attempts to Buy a House in Serbia
The story of buying a house in Serbia turned out to be long and full of surprises. The entire process, from the beginning of the search to the final signing of the documents, was so eventful that it could be described as going through the seven circles of hell. There were several attempts to buy a house, and each one faced various obstacles.
The initial plan was not to choose a house until the apartment in Russia was sold. There were concerns that the dream home might be sold while our own property was in the process of being sold, which would lead to disappointment. Therefore, it was decided to get the money first and then start an active search.
Selling the Apartment and the Peculiarities of the Serbian Market
The apartment was successfully sold, and the contract was signed on December 1. The money was credited to the account in early December, and in the middle of the month, it was sent to Serbia via a SWIFT transfer. This was done quickly to avoid the bank's fee for holding euros in the account for a full calendar month.
Upon arriving in Serbia, the search began. It turned out that the Serbian real estate market has its own specifics. Only about 10% of houses are listed for sale online. Serbs mostly sell their homes through word-of-mouth, simply by telling their neighbors, or by hanging a cardboard sign with the inscription 'Продаје се' (For Sale) in the window. To find such options, you need to physically drive through villages and talk to the locals.
Searching via Avito and the First Two Options
An unexpected solution was to use the Russian website Avito. It turned out that some Russian-speaking intermediaries in Serbia find houses that are sold 'the old-fashioned way,' photograph them, and post listings. They are not full-fledged realtors, but they help organize viewings and the deal itself, including interactions with notaries and translators.
In this way, two interesting houses were found. The first, tentatively named the 'manor,' was very beautiful, resembling an old castle or a cottage with Hungarian window frames and parquet flooring. However, it had been abandoned for five years, and the price of €42,000 was over budget. The second house, the 'granny's house,' cost €32,000 but required major renovations, as it had been heavily smoked in for several generations.
Deals Falling Through and a New Search
Both options eventually fell through. The owners of the 'manor' suddenly backed out of the deal after an agreement had already been reached. It later turned out that the realtor had simply decided to sell the house to other buyers. The owners of the 'granny's house' also changed their minds and raised the price by €4,000, which made the purchase impractical.
After these setbacks, the search continued. One of the key requirements for a house was good transport accessibility to Belgrade or Novi Sad. Different locations were considered, but many were ruled out due to inconvenient location or lack of evening transport. For example, from the city of Valjevo, which was generally liked, the last train to Belgrade departs at eight in the evening.
A House in Vrbas and Document Issues
Eventually, a suitable house was found in the town of Vrbas. Its advantages were a good price, its location in a town rather than a remote village, and its proximity to Novi Sad (30 km). Additionally, a high-speed railway will pass through Vrbas in the future, which will make trips to Belgrade and Budapest very fast.
However, this purchase was not without its complications either. According to the documents, the owner of the house was the son of the mother who had passed away a year and a half ago. Although he had gone through the inheritance process and had the supporting papers, the changes had not been entered into the cadastre. In Serbia, all transactions are conducted strictly based on cadastre data. Due to this bureaucratic delay, we had to wait a month and a half before the documents were put in order and the deal could be finalized.
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