Frequently Asked Questions

General information

Yes, foreign investors in Montenegro are treated equally to local investors.

If you are the owner a residential property in Montenegro, you can apply for residency in Montenegro based on the property ownership. The residency permit is valid for 1 year and is renewable if you own the property.

The other common way of obtaining residency permit is based on the work permit. Either by being employed by a local company, or by setting up your own company and hiring yourself. There is a one-off cost for setting up the company of c. 500€ and the monthly cost of running the company is c. 200€/month.

If you need assistance with your Residency Permit application while buying a property with us, we can put you in touch with our partner who can handle the entire process for you. They will be providing you with the list of all required documents, arranging certified translations, arranging visits to all administration, medical, immigration and ministry offices, banks, etc. The partner will quote their services directly to you.

The most straight forward way to transfer the money is by International Bank Transfer. Once you are ready to send your payment, we will provide you with the bank instructions of our company’s account based in Montenegro, which include our IBAN and SWIFT numbers. All international transfer charges should be borne by the buyer, so we receive the full amount (Option “OUR”).

Please note that we will always send you an invoice with our company logo and legal information, from one of our emails ending with @catareos.com or @rentalsmontenegro.com and we will be informing you of this email via another mean, usually a call or message on skype, viber, or whatsapp, from one of our corporate phone numbers. In case of any doubts, please call +382.69.215.887 or +382.69.179.887.

The legal aspects of the transaction are now handled by Notaries in Montenegro, so there is no obligation to hire a lawyer, unless you wish to do so.

Note that lawyers’ fees are quite high (usually a minimum of 1.000€) and the due diligence provided is the same as what the Notary can provide to you. Therefore, you may appoint the Notary in charge of the notarization of the sale to proceed to the usual checks, such as the sighting of the land registry records on the day of signing the final contract, to ensure there are no liens on or issues with the property subject to the sale.

Notaries’ fees are regulated by law and can be found online on the website of the Chamber of Notaries. http://notarskakomora.me/notarska-sluzba/notarska-tarife. Notary fees are paid by the buyer of the property.

Above 120.000€ the Notary Fees are raised by 10€ for each 15.000€ of transaction value, with a maximum Notary fee of 5.000€.

The buyer needs to pay for the oral translation of the contract by a court-certified interpreter into his/her native language, or into English. The cost is usually under 200€.

Please note that although the Notarisation of the contract is meant to protect you as a buyer, and us as seller, you will notice that half of the paperwork that you will be signing in front of the Notary is written to remove any responsibility from the Notary in case of any future dispute, so we will always send you the draft of the contract prior to signing, and make sure all the terms are agreed and understood before the actual signing at the Notary.

The average price of a house in Montenegro depends on the location, size and condition of the property. In general, prices are higher in coastal towns such as Budva, Kotor and Tivat but it is possible to find cheaper properties in rural areas. There is also the possibility to built off-plan. For example at Mini Condos, our prices start at 89.100€ for a studio apartment in the bay of Kotor with a possible return on investment in less than 10 years. 

Montenegro is a country located in Southeastern Europe, known for its natural beauty, picturesque coastline, and historic landmarks. In recent years, Montenegro has seen an increase in tourism, which has positively impacted the real estate market. Property prices in Montenegro are still generally more affordable compared to other popular Mediterranean destinations like Spain, Italy or Croatia. Price for studio apartments with Mini Condos starting from 89.100€ 

The property you are buying

Please check our brochure about specifications of the apartments.

Once the transfer of ownership is done, you become the owner of the apartment, and a % of the land (“undivided share”), based on the % of sqm that you own in the building.

Regarding ground floor “patios,” in Montenegro, it is not possible for the owners of ground-floor apartments to own the land adjacent to their apartment, but it is possible to have an exclusive and unlimited right on that specific piece of land, which will be specified in the condominium rules. The same principle applies to outdoor parking spaces.

Rules on construction are different depending on the area. In coastal areas, it is required to use of reinforced concrete structures. This makes the buildings earthquake resistant and very long-lasting (which is not the case for many tiny house concepts that use a pre-fab type of construction). 

We build on a very low density. We are choosing on purpose to build at a very low density ( For example in this project – less than 15% of the gross building area over the entire land will be used for construction (when the urban regulations authorize 80% !!) because we want to make sure we preserve a lot of nature around the projects.
We make very high-quality thermal insulation
We put energy-efficient double-glazed windows on our projects, with a stop-sol system.
HVAC technology – Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning is managed with high-energy efficient pumps, etc.

 

It will be installed a multi-split system (air-air) where one unit from outside will provide for all the units inside. This is the most affordable system for the climate that we have in Tivat.

After the transfer of ownership

Upon the transfer of the ownership, you will become part of the Homeowner’s Association and will be requested to sign the Condominium Rules. These rules regulate the rights and obligations of the owners and residents of the property. The condominium charges which include maintenance charges of the residence, represent:

  • In Residences without swimming pool: 1,5€/sqm/month
  • In Residences with swimming pool: 2€/sqm/month

Although the charges can be transferred to the tenants of the units, it is the sole responsibility of the owners to pay these charges. The condominium charges are billed 2 times per year, upfront.

We offer a Property Management Service if you do not wish to handle this aspect yourself. We can source long term tenants via our in-house agency “Rentals Montenegro” specialised in long term lets (www.rentalsmontenegro.com).

Based on our extensive knowledge of the market, via our in-house leasing agency for long-term lets “Rentals Montenegro” we can predict the yield these apartments would provide. Based on this, these apartments, fully furnished should provide a yield between 5% and 12%.

For all our properties, we offer 4% guaranteed income with our lease-back program.

Our lease-back program offers a guaranteed revenue for 3 years minimum (up to 10 years), between at an annual rate of 4% of the purchase price paid. FYI, you are free from paying taxes on this income, as it is our responsibility to do it for you, so this revenue is net from rental income taxes. However, you are responsible for the payment of the condominium charges, the insurance of your unit, and the annual property ownership tax.

For Best Price and Cash Price buyers, we start paying you the leaseback rent from the moment we have received 70% of the purchase price, on a pro-rata basis.

Example: when buying a studio of 50.000€, we pay the following leaseback rent to you:

  • When 70% of the amount is paid (35.000€) you start receiving (35.000€ x 4%) / 12 = 117€/month.
  • Once 100% is paid, you receive 50.000 x 4% / 12 = 167€/month.

Leaseback-Cashback: if you would like to receive the rents of the entire leaseback period upfront, we calculate the leaseback rents at a 3% annual rate.

Therefore, on the example above, for a 10-year leaseback contract, you will pay 50.000€ for the studio, we pay you 10 years X 1.500€ leaseback as a 15.000€ cashback payment, meaning you only need to pay 35.000€ for the property. You will gain the right to fully use the property at the end of the leaseback period.

If you rent the property, you would usually have the tenant pay the rent into a local account in Montenegro. Procedures to open a bank account in Montenegro for a property owner are simple. You need to provide the proof of Property Ownership, present your passport, fill in a form to answer some security questions, and the account will be opened on the spot. You can obtain a debit card (it takes about 3 weeks) and there is online banking available in most banks.

About taxes

When buying a newly built property, on the first transfer of ownership, you are paying VAT as part of the price, which means that the price you are paying already includes VAT; you do not need to do anything, as we are collecting it on your behalf. Ex. Price paid: 50.000€: 42.017€ + 7.983€ VAT – This is the case if you buy the property directly to our Development Company (“Rentals Montenegro” d.o.o.) which is building the property.

In case you buy the property from our Selling Company (“Mini Condos” d.o.o.), which is usually the case, then this will be the 2nd transfer of ownership, and you will pay a 3% Property Transfer Tax and there will not be any VAT.

If the property has already been the subject of a first transfer of ownership, then there is no VAT, but there is a 3% tax on the transfer of ownership. When you resell the property, the next buyer will also be liable for this tax. This tax is always paid by the new owner. 

This tax is set by the Municipality and it depends on several factors. It varies from 0.25% to 1% of the value of the property. For the Mini Condos built in Tivat, we expect a tax of 0.5% of the property value. Ex. If the property is worth 50.000€ the yearly property tax would be 250€.

The rental revenue is taxed as part of the personal income, at a rate of 9% if the revenue is less than 720€/month, and 15% for the amounts exceeding 720€/month. It applies when you receive the rent directly from a private person. When it is paid by a Company (like in the case of our leaseback) then you are not liable to pay the tax, the company who is your tenant pays it on your behalf.

Useful documentation

Taxes

Other useful resources

DISCLAIMER:

The information provided in this document is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of its date of publication in March 2021. This document is for informational purposes only and is not intended to stipulate binding commitments of Rentals Montenegro d.o.o., Mini Condos d.o.o. or any other Party

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