20.01.2024

Guide to teminology and documentation- Real estate sale and purchase

Buying a property through an agency provides a number of advantages, including professional support and expert guidance throughout the entire buying and selling process. Agency Premium Malinska will help you find a property that suits your needs and budget, organize tours and negotiations, and provide legal and administrative support.

When you find a property that suits you, the agency will help you negotiate the price and conditions of the sale, and ensure that all the necessary documents are in order.

Our experience and expertise are key to ensuring a successful and legally conducted purchase and sale.

Guide to the terminology and docummentation for selling and buying real estate

Real Estate Ownership - Excerpt from Land-Registry Books

This document is often referred to in layman's terms as a "title deed", although this is a misnomer since the Excerpt from the Land Registry consists of a Possession Title (sheet A), a Title Deed (sheet B) and an Encumbrances Sheet (sheet C ).

Each of the mentioned parts of the Excerpt from the Land Registry is important to us, considering that you can find out different information from each of them.

All the constituent parts of the land registry body are entered in the Possession Title (description of the real estate, e.g. house of 100 m2, yard of 350 m2...), as well as proprietary rights that exist in favor of the real estate (e.g. easement right), all cadastral changes related to land registry body (changes in cadastral plot number, area, address, manner of use, lot development, etc.), all public law restrictions in the legal transactions of the land registry body that are not of a general nature, the right to build, buildings of special interest to the Republic of Croatia and under a special ownership regime.

Ownership right and the restrictions to which the owner is personally subjected in terms of free management or disposal of the real estate, prohibition of encumbrance or alienation, restrictions on disposal, quality of the general good of the real estate, who takes care of, manages and is responsible for that good are entered in the Title Deed.

The proprietary rights encumbering the real estate (e.g. lien, easement right registered against the real estate) are entered in the Encumbrances Sheet, as well as the rights acquired on these rights, the right of buy back, the preemption right, the right of private lease and business lease, and those restrictions on the disposal of real estate, to which the ordinary owner of the encumbered property is subjected, prohibitions of encumbrance or alienation.

Before making a decision on the purchase of a property, it is definitely important to examine the Land-Registry Books, that are publicly available, and examination can also be done electronically at the following link.

If you have information of the name of the cadastral municipality of the real estate, the number of the cadastral plot and/or the number of the land registry insert.

Documentation - The Complete List of Documents

Our agency, Premium Nekretnine Malinska, will make sure that all the necessary documents are complete and due, which is often called "Complete documents". In addition to the excerpt from the land register, Premium Nekretnine Malinska will ensure the presence of a building permit, an operating permit, or a decision on as-built status (legalization), a copy of the cadastral plan, an energy performance certificate, and in the case of an apartment, a Building Subdivision Plan.

Building Permit

Construction of a building, reconstruction or extension of a building can be started on the basis of a valid building permit, and must be built in accordance with that permit. The investor is obliged to submit an application for the issuance of a building permit to the authorized office for construction and spatial planning at the location where the construction or reconstruction of the building is planned. Before starting construction, it is necessary to report the start of construction to the authorized office. It is important to report the start of construction on time, because the building permit ceases to be valid if the investor does not begin construction within three years from the date of validity of the permit. Also, from the beginning of the construction application, one has to keep in mind that the building is completed within the deadlines prescribed in the Construction Act (buildings of group 1 within ten years, buildings of groups 2a and 2b within seven years, buildings 3a and 3.b groups within five years).

Operating Permit

The operating permit is an official document, which confirms that the building was built in accordance with the approved project, construction standards and regulations, and is ready for its intended use.

A constructed building, or a reconstructed building, can be used, or put into operation, and a decision can be made to carry out activities in that building according to a special law, after an operating permit has been issued for that building.

The Decision on As-built Status (Act of Legality)

The Decision on As-Built Status (act of legality) - is issued for an illegally constructed building which, according to the Act on Procedures for Illegally Constructed Buildings, can be legalized, if:

1. The documents stipulated by the law are attached to the request for a decision
2. Architectural survey, i.e. a recording of the as-built status is in accordance with the developed state of the building (if the former is submitted with the request)
3. The fee for keeping an illegally constructed building in the area is paid, i.e. the first installment of the fee, in case of deferred payment thereof

The decision on as-built status is issued by the authorized office that performs the tasks of issuing documents for the implementation of spatial planning documents and construction on the territory of which the illegally constructed building is located. In the "legalization" process, i.e. by obtaining the Decision on the as-built status, the illegally constructed building is legalized, and therefore it replaces the Operating Permit.

A Copy of the Cadastral Plan

A Copy of the Cadastral Plan is a public document that proves how the cadastral plot is shown on the cadastral plan.
The cadastral plan of the real estate cadastre is a collective graphic representation of cadastral data, and is kept in electronic form. The cadastral plan can be viewed at the following link.

The cadastral plan of the real estate cadastre must contain data on: numbers of cadastral plots, abuttals and other borders of cadastral plots, borders of types of use of cadastral plot parts, addresses of cadastral plots and buildings (position, shape, type of use, and house number).

Energy Peformance Certificate

An energy performance certificate is an official document that provides information about the energy efficiency of a property. It is issued after an energy inspection and analysis of the property, and contains data on energy consumption or energy efficiency of the building. This certificate provides information on how energy efficient or inefficient a property is and recommendations for improving energy efficiency.

The energy performance certificate is mandatory when selling or renting real estate, and is an important document that helps potential buyers make informed decisions about real estate, with regard to energy costs, and environmental impact.

Building Subdivision Plan

Building Subdivision Plan- the plan of special parts of real estate is an official document that is produced for the purposes of establishing the ownership of a special part of real estate: that is, of all parts of real estate that can function and be an independent unit of use, and can be the subject of independent purchase and sale.

Building Subdivision Plan defines graphically and textually the special co-ownership parts in the building, the associated secondary parts, and the shares of individual co-owners in the ownership of the common parts of the building, and the land on which the building is built.
The exact area of ​​each separate part of the property, as well as the owner of that particular part, is entered into it, and the location (e.g. ground floor) and designation (e.g. apartment No. 1, to the left of the entrance to the ground floor) of that particular part is clearly defined: apartment, office space, garage, parking space, etc.


From the authorized office for construction and spatial planning, it is necessary to obtain confirmation of independent user units based on Building Subdivision Plan. Furthermore, based on the confirmation of independent user units and the consent of the co-owners of the building, ownership per floor is entered in the land register.

What is the Purchase and Sale Process for Buying or Selling Real Estate in Croatia?

1. The Agreement on Terms and Conditions following the negotiations

The agency, as a broker, the buyer and the seller, reach an agreement on the terms of sale, including the purchase price, the terms of payment and signature of the Preliminary Agreement/Agreement, terms of payment, and other key elements.

2. The signing of the preliminary agreement

In some cases (especially if the real estate is still under construction, or the buyer needs a longer period for payment of the purchase price), a Preliminary Agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate can be concluded. A Preliminary Agreement is a contract that assumes the obligation to conclude a second, main contract later, under certain conditions, and within certain deadlines.

A pre-contract is usually concluded with the "down payment", usually in the amount of 10% of the agreed purchase price.

3. Signing the Agreement

The buyer and the seller sign the main agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate, in which the conditions and obligations of both parties are defined in detail. With the Agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate, the seller undertakes to hand over the property to the buyer in ownership and possession, and the buyer undertakes to pay him the agreed purchase price.

4. Registraiton of Ownership 

After signing the Agreement on the purchase and sale of real estate, and paying the purchase price, the buyer submits a request for the registration of the ownership right of the real estate in the land registry. Most often, a request for pre-registration of ownership rights is submitted on the day of signing the Agreement, and on the day of payment of the entire amount of the purchase price, a request for justification of pre-registration of ownership rights is submitted.

5. Payment of Estate Tax

The buyer is obliged to pay real estate sales tax in the amount of 3% of the agreed purchase price.

6. Handover

When all obligations on the part of the buyer and the seller have been fulfilled, the handover of the real estate is carried out, and a record of the handover of the real estate is signed, in which the state of the real estate and any defects that the seller needs to remedy, are determined.

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