Croatian population is still skeptical about hiring real estate agencies to help with buying or selling, but the advantages of agencies are many compared to independent engagement. Agencies are not only useful for finding a buyer or an ideal property, but they also solve all legal transactions, and the purchase through them are on “turnkey” basis.
Most good real estate in Croatia is still not sold through agencies, but orally and independently. People refuse to pay the commission that agencies charge for their services no matter how much they make their sales easier and faster.
Unrealistic real estate prices in the Republic of Croatia
The problem arises with unrealistic real estate prices, where their value is determined solely by location. Therefore, an apartment that requires renovation and a luxuriously furnished apartment in the same location have almost the same price per square meter on the advertisement, although the actual situation is completely different.
Thus, most of the real estate that are being sold achieves a lower price than required, because in addition to the rule that when buying real estate prices are reduced, many are forced to lower the price when advertising if they fail to sell on time. Today, the price of real estate is slowly returning to normal, but on advertisers you can still find real estate whose condition do not justify the price per square meter based solely on location.
Agents estimate at a higher cost to get the job
The answer to the problem from the title of the text comes from real estate agents who often consciously estimate the property at a higher price than the real one, in order for their agency to get the opportunity to sell the property. This ultimately results in a slow finding of a buyer and lowering the price of the property in order to sell it.
As a solution to this problem, when evaluating a property and finding a job, agents should realistically evaluate the property and advise the owners on things they can use to raise its value or speed up the sale process. Renovating a property, repairing damage or buying modern furniture are just some of the things that will increase the value of a property and justify its price.
COVID19 brings stabilization
This year, the virus crisis has affected many businesses and led to significant financial problems. Many real estate agencies have managed to move their business to the Internet and thus at least to some extent enable people to buy or sell real estate. However, at one point the real estate market came to a complete halt and there was no opportunity to view the property.
We are currently witnessing a slight market stagnation, which continues to lead to lower prices. Although real estate prices are falling, we can say that they are actually only now achieving real value. The crisis has only accelerated the process of getting real estate prices back to normal.
Real estate is still the best asset
Throughout the past, we have witnessed that the real estate market has often proven to be the best investment. It is unrealistic to expect real estate prices to rise steadily. History has shown us that after the fall in prices, the real estate market returns to a period of stable and continuous growth, which we have no doubt will happen this time as well.
