Buying a boat in Croatia

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I'm looking at a boat currently listed with a broker in Croatia, and would really appreciate some of the groups collective wisdom in regard to the following.

Is there such a thing as a reliable surveyor in Croatia?

Is it normal to offer less than the asking price? Here I'd offer a max of 90% of the asking price and expect to settle somewhere between that and 95%.

Is insurance going to be difficult to obtain?

Any other advice would be most welcolme

cheers

John
 
Is there such a thing as a reliable surveyor.................???????

Why stop @ 90% - offer what you think its worth - even if its only 75% of asking price - they can only say no..

Insurance may be difficult - it's outside "Brest to Elbe" normal UK based insurance range.

Proof of VAT-paid status

Cost of bringing it home to UK presuming you are doing so..

Security of money transfer & title to boat..

Certificate of EC conformity/ EC residence etc. etc.

Good luck!!
 
if buying in croatia, even if the boat has vat status, if the transaction takes place in croatia you will still be liable for vat.

move boat to at and then purchase and you are ok.

if it doesnt have vat status, then make you first eu port Cyprus as their vat is only 15%
 
Cost of Insurance and ease of getting it will depend on the type, age, size, condition of the vessel and the report of a qualified surveyor. It will also depend on your boating experience and/or qualifications and insurance history if you are to be the person in command of the vessel. It could be anywhere in the range of easy to impossible.

VAT. It is best if the vessel has not had VAT or TVA paid, and you allow for this in the price. Customs don't argue with importers of vessels who can prove what they have just paid for the vessel and are prepared to pay the VAT. If the current owners are claiming VAT has been paid then you have a real problem. The only safe way around that one is for the current owners to import it, which creates its own problems.

I believe boats being imported into UK do not have to pay VAT if built before 1985 (not sure about the year) but you have to be sure that you have adequate proof of date of construction, that is acceptable to Customs and Excise. Check this with Customs & Excise first.

If the current owner is a UK resident who claims the vessel is VAT paid you could arrange for a solicitor or other reliable third party (yacht broker or other) to hold the value of VAT out of the purchase price pending importation, I have arranged this in the past but it is full of potential problems.

Is the vessel British Registered? That would help, but there are many pitfalls, it could be British Registered with no lien against it but still owing monies in Croatia, which could mean that you would not be allowed to remove it until all was paid, speak to the marina about this, if it is in a marina. There will no doubt be other responses as well as the previous one which may help you.

Good luck, but take care. George
 
In Croatia does not exist surveyors, so to find proper person who will check everything on boat is matter of luck.
Better is buy a boat with CRO flag (CRO VAT paid ) and leave she in our waters for 2 years and wait for joining Croatia to EU. Than CRO VAT will be EU VAT.
Even boat have not VAT paid, better is leave boat here as we expect that CRO Gov will do something like Malta do when entering in EU (5% VAT for all who have not pay)
Prices here are lower for boats from Charter. Take care that motors after 5 years have more than 5000 working hours!
 
Thanks for the replies.

I'm not worried about Vat. I'm more concerned about knowing who to trust, and what the rules of the game are.

John
 
“I'm not worried about Vat. I'm more concerned about knowing who to trust, and what the rules of the game are.”

Use a UK Yacht Broker experienced in overseas sales to act as your agent to purchase. Only use a broker who is a full member of the Association of Brokers and Yacht Agents (ABYA) their organisation requires that they have third party indemnity insurance, you should be able to find a full list at www.ybdsa.co.uk. Check for yourself that the broker’s insurance is valid. You should be able to find a broker who does not charge the full fee, after all you have already found the boat which is half the broker’s job.

If the broker gets it wrong you can sue him, if he has no money you should be able to claim on his insurance. But the chances are if you use one of these brokers then he will not get it wrong.

It will be safer if the vessel is registered under Part I British Registry.

George
 
CRO is safe country and there is very small % of cheating (specially in this kind of business), but always look with 4 eyes open.
Trick can be if you buy boat from charter company and owner of the boat is in charter management ownership - that means that some foreign Bank have mortgage on that boat. Ask documents to see boat history from beginning. Important rule is to check first owner!
 
brought my boat in croatia 3 years ago from a small croatian charter company no brokers involved didnt have a survey as i felt i could manage my self no real problems still keep my boat at the same marina and they are always helpful if i require any help or assistance
there was no negotation with price the boat was previously under a croatian flag if the boat is under croatian flag you are guided by croatian law which is most stringent. if the boat is under another flag you have to work with the croatian law and the countrysflag.
i had no problems gaining insurance. from one of the big uk companys please pm if can be of any assistance
you will have to buy the boat in euros i had no problems transrerring monies through my bank had arranged
for transfer prior to taking final look and just made a phone call and they transferred mony and immediately faxed confirmation to the seller.
 
Branko,
Thought Croatia was due to join E.U. in 2007, Chartered out of Split this year and had a great time, but told I could not buy a Bav 50 @ 140k Euros 'cos allocation for Croatia had all been sold thru till the end of 07, cos the English, Germans & Dutch had bought them all... waiting for the Joining!.... makes our prices of £173k plus VAT look a bit sick!
 
You are in right. CRO is now the best place for spending money. Now foreigners buys everything ...... houses, apartments ,boats ........
We are afraid that we Croatians will finish like Canarian people. Sell everything and what then?
At the moment on our coast is situated more than 7000 boats for charter only. The owners are mostly foreigners but lot of those boats are for selling after 4 to 5 years of exploitation, so it is not a problem to buy a boat here ( if you have money! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif)
P.S. Croatia will enter in EU not before end 2009. as your bureaucracy is acme of perfection.
 
Wayne14 said:
Do anyone know where i can "charter management" in Croatia? Any suggestions? I know this page only for (charter management Croatia). Help me out, I need more information. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Hi Wayne14

You seem to have revived several old threads about Bavarias but I don't understand the purpose of these threads unless you are some kind of spam-bot.

Assuming you are not, we have a boat in Croatia but as you are apparently based there already I'm not clear what I can tell you or even what you are looking for.

What is "charter management"?

Richard
 
Hi Richard,
heh, sorry, I'm not a spam-bot, but i need a fast answers, so sorry for those posts.
I need a manager for a charter.
 
Wayne14 said:
Hi Richard,
heh, sorry, I'm not a spam-bot, but i need a fast answers, so sorry for those posts.
I need a manager for a charter.
Click to expand...

If you are looking for somebody to manage your boat, think you will find that the boat will need to be Croatian owned to get a charter licence. Plus lots of paperwork and having to deal with people who have their own interests first.
 
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