Terms and conditions of business for estate agents in Croatia

All estate agents should offer buyers and sellers terms and conditions to sign prior to engaging in any business. Estate Agents in Croatia act as brokers, i.e. mediators between two parties, and therefore, both parties they mediate for are charged a fee. Our agency commission is split 50:50; for property purchases, it is 3% plus VAT (currently 25%). More detailed Terms and Conditions are available on request.

The agency commission if you are selling a property or land is also 3% of the purchase price, plus VAT. This includes marketing on the Internet and in paper editions of various publications, creating property sheet details for each property on request, and all other services as required by the regulator. Detailed Terms and Conditions are available on request.

Balustrade Estates was the first estate agency on the Island of Hvar to become regulated under the terms set by the Croatian Ministry of Small Businesses. We are accredited to deal with all the legal requirements for property transactions. We are licensed by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, licence number number 23/09. This licence ensures that our business is conducted legally and your interests are fully protected. We are committed to maintaining the highest professional standards at all times, providing you with a service you can trust.

 

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

These General Terms and Conditions regulate the business relationship between Balustrade Estates (Balustrade d.o.o), the real estate agency, and the principal (an individual or a legal entity).

By entering into the Brokerage Agreement the principal confirms it has been informed of, and is compliant with the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

2. REAL ESTATE OFFER

– The real estate offer is based on data the agency has received in written or oral form and is subject to confirmation. The agency reserves the possibility of the occurrence of mistakes in the real estate description and price, the possibility that the advertised real estate has already been sold (or rented) or that the owner has given up selling (or renting) it.

– The customer must keep confidential all information that is given to him by the agent unless he has written consent from the agent.

– If the customer has already been offered a property that the agent is offering, the customer is obliged to inform the agent immediately.

 

3. LIABILITIES OF THE AGENCY IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING, SELLING, LEASING OR RENTING REAL ESTATE

1. To conclude a Brokerage Agreement with the principal in writing.

2. To attempt to find and connect the principal with a person with which it is to conclude the legal transaction.

3. To inform the principal of the average market prices of similar real estate.

4. To warn the principal about the faults of a particular instance of real estate.

5. To carry out an inspection of documents proving the ownership or other property rights on the underlying real estate and warn the principal about obvious faults and potential risks in relation to an unresolved land register status of the real estate; inscribed property rights or other third parties rights on the real estate; legal consequences of failure to meet the liabilities towards a third party; a lack of the building permit or the certificate of occupancy pursuant to special regulations; the circumstance in which there is a liability of application of pre-emptive rights and limitations in legal transactions pursuant to special regulations. 

6. To perform activities necessary for the purpose of presenting the real estate on the market and to advertise the real estate in the way determined by the agency.

7. To enable visits to real estate.

8. To keep the personal data of the principal confidential, as well as all details regarding any transaction that the agent may be involved with.

9. To inform the principal of all known circumstances relevant to the intended transaction.

10. To assist in negotiations and facilitate the conclusion of a legal transaction.

11. To witness the conclusion of a legal transaction (the Preliminary Agreement and the Agreement).

12. To witness the handover of real estate.

13. If the subject of the agreement is land, check the allocation of the underlying land pursuant to the regulations on physical planning relevant to the underlying land;

– It is considered that the agent enabled the principal to contact with another person (an individual or a legal entity) for the purpose of negotiating a conclusion of a legal transaction if it enabled the principal to contact the other person with whom it negotiated the conclusion of a legal transaction, and especially if:  

– it directly took or directed the principal or a third party to see the underlying real estate, 

– it organised the meeting of the principal and the other contracting party for the purpose of negotiating the conclusion of a legal transaction; 

– it informed the principal of the name, the telephone and the telefax number and the e-mail address of another person authorised for concluding a legal transaction, or it told it the exact location of the required real estate. 

4. Principal’s liabilities

 
1. To conclude a Brokerage Agreement with the agency in writing.

2. To inform the agent of all circumstances important for the sale, and to present accurate data on the real estate and submit to the agent for inspection the location and the building permit, i.e. the certificate of occupancy for the real estate which is the subject of the agreement and submit for inspection to the agent a proof on meeting liabilities towards a third party.

3. To submit to the agent, documents proving its ownership of the real estate, i.e. other property rights on the real estate which is the subject of the agreement for inspection and to warn the agent of the inscribed and non-inscribed encumbrance of the real estate.

4. To enable the agent and a third party interested in concluding the mediated legal transaction to visit the real estate.

5. To inform the agent of all relevant data about the required real estate, especially the description of the real estate and the price.

6. After concluding the legal transaction, i.e. the Preliminary Agreement obliging it to conclude the legal transaction, if the agent and the principal have contracted that the right to a commission is acquired at concluding a Preliminary Agreement, to pay out the agent the commission, except if contracted otherwise.

7. If explicitly contracted, to compensate the agent for costs incurred during the assistance exceeding the common commission.

8. To inform the agent in writing of all changes related to the business it authorised the agent for, and especially on changes related to the ownership of the real estate.

9. The principal will be liable for damage, if not acting in good faith, if acting fraudulently, if concealing or providing incorrect data important for the assistance aimed at concluding the legal transaction, and will be liable to compensate for all costs incurred during the assistance, which cannot exceed the commission for the legal transaction.

 

5. REALISING RIGHT TO A REMUNERATION

– The agency realises the right to remuneration in total at the moment of concluding the legal transaction, i.e. of singing a Preliminary Agreement or an Agreement obliging the principal to conclude the legal transaction. 

• The remuneration is paid to the agency upon receipt of the signed pre-contract or the main contract, or down payment or purchase price for the property/land. 
• The amount of commission for the performed assistance at real estate purchase, sale, exchange or rent is charged in accordance with the Price list which is an integral part of these General Terms and Conditions.

– The agency can contract a right to compensation for costs necessary for task completion and require an advance payment of certain costs.

– The principal is liable to pay the commission even when concluding a legal transaction different from the one which was negotiated, which is of the same value as the legal transaction, i.e. the legal transaction accomplishing the same purpose as the legal transaction with the person the agency connected it with.
– The agency has the right to remuneration if a principal’s spouse, i.e. common-law spouse, descendant or parent, concludes the legal transaction with the person the agency connected the principal with.

6. TERMINATION OF THE AGREEMENT

– The Brokerage Agreement is concluded for a period of 18 months and expires at the end of the named period if, within that period, a negotiated agreement has not been concluded or by termination of a contracting party. 
– The contracting parties can withdraw from the Brokerage Agreement before the contracted period only for a particularly justifiable reason. In that case, the principal is liable to compensate the agency for incurred costs.
– If after the termination of the Brokerage Agreement within the period no longer than the term of the Agreement, the principal concludes a legal transaction which is primarily a result of the agent’s activity before the termination of the Brokerage Agreement, it is liable to pay to the agent the commission in total, unless agreed otherwise.

– When the Agreement expires, the principal is liable to compensate the agent for incurred costs which were explicitly contracted as to be separately paid by the principal.

7. COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES

– The agency is open to cooperation with other real estate agencies respecting basic ethical principles (excluding disclosing untrue data on business operations for the purpose of securing transactions and customers, belittling of other agencies in any way for the purpose of securing transactions and customers, unrealistic real estate assessment for the purpose of securing intermediary jobs and exclusion of other agencies from the market, appearances in public information services with the purpose of self-marketing and harming other agencies).

– Mutual cooperation of agencies is based on the Code of Ethics of Agents of the members of the Croatian Real Estate Exchange.

   8. MISCELLANEOUS AND RESOLVING DISPUTES

– Pursuant to the Article 8 of the Consumer Protection Act, a service user not satisfied with the agency’s service can submit a complaint to the agency in writing at the following address: Kroz Burak 25, Hvar, or to the e-mail address: contact@balustrade-estates.net.

– The relations between the principal and the agency arising from the Brokerage Agreement which are not regulated by these General Terms and Conditions or the Brokerage Agreement, are subject to the provisions of the Real Estate Brokerage Act and the Civil Obligations Act. 

– Potential disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the court in Stari Grad.