By "decent" I mean the following:
1. Knows and will show more listings than his/her own, so we're not limited by and only steered to those.
2. Listens to what you say you want (neighborhoods, size, terrace, light) and doesn't waste your time pushing listings that don't remotely meet your needs.
3. Won't try to cheat an Amerikanka too much. Some is understandable, but within reason!
Some English would also be nice, but I have local friends with me as a translators so we can get along if need be without it.
Every single Serb I've spoken with has told me nothing but realtor horror stories. From what I gather, very little is selling right now and the buyer often pays the realtor commission here... so one would think Serbian real estate agents would try extra hard. But I get the feeling that in Serbia realtors are viewed a bit like Americans think of used car dealers.
If you know a realtor who is trustworthy, intelligent, and experienced in Belgrade's Stari Grad and Central areas, please do post their info here in comments! In the meantime, I'll keep posting updates on the Stan Search. It will certainly help me keep my sense of humor knowing that I can write about it here!
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7 comments:
1. - Slim chances.
2-3. Might find
It's not horror all the time. They can be really helpful and whatnot. They don't need to try hard because (even tho there isn't much going on on the market) there are at least 10000 (some say 100000) flats lacking in Belgrade for it's population. So r.e. agents take it easy :D
From my experience (1 year, +/- a month, of flat search in the "montenegrins flats buying spree" age) best you can do is search flats in weakly r.e. papers. That way, you'll get some picture of who sells what and for how much (you'll get the pattern. some flats reoccuring, etc.). And that way, you can talk to r.e. agents knowing some background of the market and being more prepared.
Imho, both parties pay commission (buyers and sellers)
Good luck! :)
I bought 3 flat in last 5 years, and I did not found
"decent" real state agent :((((
Hi Rosemary,
My husbands parents live over in Novi Beograd (they are American and have lived there for over 25 years and own a cafe!)and they have a very close friend who is a real estate agent. He speaks English very well and is a very honest and trustworthy individual. I would be happy to pass along his contact information to you, he is great!
There's no such thing here, remember you are in S E R B I A !!!
im afraid yer on yer own there champ
From a Canuck to a Yankee, I invest in serbian real estate, I browse the classifieds, go for private sellers, and bring cash. Ie: if they list it for 35,000 euro, i bring 30K euro and I say here's 30k this is what I'll pay right now, and away
it usually works, of course, before jumping head first I do due dilligence, well my Serbian wife does... check land registry, whether there are any liens on the place, if the place is in the sellers name (are there any other owners of the property too), what are the zoning properties, etc.
Once everything is green, then i pay as agreed in full, in cash, of course it has to go through a bank account, and this being serbia they always ask to declare value to be lower than actual value so they don't "get in trouble" later
Cheers and all the best
Allison, please do pass his name along! Thanks.
0637429726 Sinisa Koncul
try somebody positive, and totally honest for a change. I'll do you good.
signed,
another foreigner in Belgrade :)
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