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How to find an apartment or house to rent in Croatia: Guide for 2023

Find apartment in Croatia
Image by Dream Croatia

UPDATED: 22/08/2022

Finding the perfect apartment to rent in Croatia that meets your needs isn’t easy. The prices in popular cities such as Zagreb, Zaprešić, Velika Gorica, Split and other towns along the Adriatic coast are constantly rising and supply is decreasing.

On the other side, rental rates in Gorski kotar, Lika, Banija, Kordun, and eastern Croatia are lower. These regions usually aren’t as popular and people are leaving them for places with better living standards and more available jobs, both inside and outside of Croatia.

However, this trend has started to change. After the earthquakes that occurred in Croatia in 2020 and the earthquakes that continue to occur once in a while, smaller cities and villages are once again becoming popular places to live.

In this post, we cover:

Let’s find a perfect place to live…

How to find an apartment or house to rent in Croatia

Monthly rental prices for apartments in Croatia

The average rental prices have drastically risen during the last few years. The main reason for this increase in prices is vacation rentals. Landlords believe they can earn more money from short-term tourists than from long-term tenants.

Due to the 2020 earthquakes, residents are often looking for apartments outside of the city center and on the outskirts of cities.

Average apartment rental prices for 30 to 45 m2 in Croatia

These are approximate prices for what you SHOULD pay, but ultimately the cost to rent an apartment can vary depending on the exact location, size, and if it was recently renovated.

If you’re coming from abroad, it’s important that you research prices before settling on a place to live. Apartment owners are taking advantage of uninformed foreigners by charging extremely high prices. They may seem affordable in comparison to where you are coming from, but they may not be affordable in Croatia.

[Read: How to apply for residence based on prepayment of rent]

When people agree to pay rents that are far above the average, it ends up raising the average rent for everybody. This is harmful to the community in Croatia since rent is already drastically out of proportion to salaries.

Use the below guide, speak to people in the expat groups, and research Njuškalo to get a good idea of what a reasonable cost should be for your needs.

Dubrovnik

  • City center – 400-500€ monthly
  • Outside the city center – 250-350€ monthly

Koprivnica

  • 270-300€ monthly

Osijek

  • City center – 300-350€ monthly
  • Outside the city center – 200€ monthly

Pula

  • City center: 250 -500€ monthly
  • Outside the city center: 240 -400€ monthly

Rijeka

  • City center – 400-550€ monthly
  • Outside the city center – 250-350€ monthly

Split

  • City center – 400-800€ monthly
  • Outside the city center – 300-600€ monthly

Varaždin

  • City center: 200 – 600€ monthly
  • Outside the city center: 150 – 350€ monthly

Zadar

  • City center: 350 -550€ monthly
  • Outside the city center: 230 – 380€ monthly

Zagreb

  • City center – 400-650€ monthly
  • Outside the city center – 400-600€ monthly

If you are interested in buying a residential property, you can see the latest prices in Croatia’s biggest cities here.

How to find an apartment to rent in Croatia

Now that you know which prices to expect for renting an apartment in Croatia, you can begin your search. There are a variety of ways you can find an apartment in Croatia. Let’s go through each one.

#1 Word of mouth

When looking for an apartment to rent in Croatia, your first step should be to ask friends and family if they have heard of any apartments going up for rent. This is by far the best way to find an apartment because:

  • You can avoid agency fees, which amount to one month’s rent
  • You can get access to an apartment before it is listed, reducing competition
  • You can get the best rate on rent since you are being referred by someone the owner knows

#2 Facebook groups

In addition to asking friends and family, or if you are brand new to Croatia, you can also leverage Expat Facebook Groups for finding an apartment.

These groups are a great English-language place to publish that you are looking for an apartment or to find posts from those who are letting their apartments. A full list of the Expat Facebook Groups in Croatia broken down by city is available here.

There are also Croatian-language Facebook Groups where free apartments are posted including:

However, we strongly advise that you do not go into these groups and post your budget. This tells everyone in the group what you are willing to spend and you may be targeted for that reason – especially if it is well above what a typical rent should be. This could result in you being taken advantage of at a minimum and will contribute to the raising of rents for everyone else at a maximum.

Croatia, especially hubs like Split and Zagreb, have been severely impacted due to foreigners posting super high budgets in these groups. It’s raised the rents for everyone, including Croatians and non-Croatians who live here full time, and usually, all their lives. Average salaries are very low here so please consider the community when searching for your new home.

#3 Njuškalo.hr

If you don’t have family here, haven’t yet made friends, or haven’t had any luck in the Facebook groups, there are many websites that can be very helpful. The biggest and most popular website to find an apartment in Croatia is Njuškalo.hr. It is available here.

Njuškalo.hr is Croatia’s largest online advertisement website. It is a marketplace that connects hundreds of thousands of buyers and sellers on a daily basis. It has more than 1.4 million customers and more than 250.000 new items on sale monthly.

[Read: An English guide to Njuškalo (Croatia’s Craigslist)]

Njuškalo has a section for apartment and home rentals in Croatia. A large number of real estate properties are offered for rent including apartments, single rooms, houses, garages, office space, and land. Each ad will include property photos, descriptions, specs, and prices.

The complete real estate section on Njuškalo called Nekretnine is available here. Given that it is in Croatian and has multiple subsections, we’ve created a cheat sheet for you for all real estate sections on Njuškalo below.

Stanovi (Apartments)

Kuće (Houses)

Zemljišta (Land)

Luksuzne nekretnine (Luxury real estate)

Novogradnja (New build)

Nekretnine za odmor (Vacation properties)

Montažni objekti (Transportable buildings)

Poslovni prostori (Office spaces)

Garaže (Garages)

Sobe (Rooms)

#4 Other sites for finding apartments to rent

There are also other Croatian web sites where you can dig for an apartment in addition to Njuškalo. Some of them are available in English.

Here is the list of the most popular ones:

#5 Go for a walk

This may seem like an old-fashioned way of looking for an apartment, but it can be effective in Croatia. Take a walk around neighborhoods where you want to live. Landlords sometimes put “for rent” signs in front of their houses or in the window of the free apartment.

Look for “IZNAJMLJUJE SE”, which means “for rent”.

During your stroll, you can also check out the notice boards in buildings or find rental signs posted around the neighborhood.

#6 Newspapers

Believe it or not, newspapers can be a good source for finding apartments. Plavi oglasnik is the most popular and it contains only advertisements. Other daily and weekly newspapers such as Večernji list, Jutarnji list, and 24sata usually contain an ad section in their print issues. Take a pauza, grab a paper and sip some kava while you peruse the listings.

[Read: Where to get your Croatian news]

We wish you a successful apartment search! Keep in mind that finding the perfect place to live is always stressful, so take your time, take it easy, and you will succeed.

Get help finding a new home in the Split area

Are you planning a move to the Split area? If so, we can help you find a place to call home.

As we shared in this post, finding a place to live in Croatia can be challenging. It is made a lot easier when you have a local who knows the good spots (and bad), can share the realities of what you can (and cannot) find, and advocate and negotiate on your behalf with the landlord.

We can help by:

  • Combing all listings to find properties that best match your criteria
  • Personally accompanying you to view the properties
  • Pointing out red flags about a property
  • Sharing local knowledge about the neighborhoods and renting in Croatia
  • Negotiating with the landlord to make sure you get the best price
  • Reviewing the contract according to the requirements of the police and making sure it protects your interests by Croatian law
  • Finding a cleaner once you’re all moved in
  • Explaining utility payment and what to expect from your landlord
  • Guiding you on setting up internet
  • Coordinating with the real estate agent, if required for a property
  • Translating at every step

If you’re ready to get started in your property search, please complete the form below. To get started, we will schedule a free 15-minute call so you can meet us and we can get to know what your needs.

At this time, this service is only available in the Split area. We look forward to meeting you!

Check out our other property posts


Source:
njuskalo.hr

Please note: Information provided by Expat in Croatia is only for the purposes of guidance. It does not constitute legal or financial advice in any form. Croatian laws and bureaucratic rules often change, and each personal case is individual, so different rules may apply. For legal advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian lawyer. For financial advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian tax advisor or accountant.

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