The Beginning
We holidayed in Budva last August, staying at the Tre Canne. In the space to the left of where we were staying, the shell of the Swissotel was being constructed. This led me into thinking, 'I wonder...' about what it would be like to have a place to live there.
Swissotel, I did check, proved vastly too expensive in all scenarios for our budget. Undaunted, we returned to the UK and did our research online. We quickly learnt that there were two main estate agencies for property purchase in Montenegro from overseas, and Montenegro Prospects was one of them.
Together we researched online, delving into online viewings. We became heavily engaged in looking at Kotor and the surrounding area, engaging with a Montenegro Prospects agent from there, who was incredibly helpful and flexible with us. We did identify a suitable place on the coast near Kotor too. Ultimately, we decided against Kotor Bay, as although the water would be clear, the bay would have cruise ships within it, and the water would not be as fresh as the open ocean on the Adriatic coast.
This took us back to Budva, and our search there. We were implored by one agency to consider areas other than Budva, including Becici and Rafailovici nearby. When looking at a map from the UK, Rafailovici does in fact look reasonably close, although more of that later.
As we were looking individually, we created shared WhatsApp groups, exclusively for our use, with potential shortlisted properties. We made very clear to one agency that these were the places we were interested in, and what our budget was. In doing so, we made it clear that there was no bluffing occurring - we did not have a secret fund to raid if the price was slightly higher than the very top end of the budget. There was no more money than what we stated.
Visiting Budva
Several conversations with our UK bank later, we had available funds. In a time management piece, I arranged to travel to Montenegro myself in January this year. Because of the timing, the only available option from the UK to Montenegro in January was a return Ryanair flight to Podgorica (Podgorica itself being about one hour or so away from Budva).
I arranged through Booking.com to stay at a place in Budva, in the town centre - handily close to the Old Town, where the Budva Montenegro Prospects office is located. After landing at lunchtime, I commenced viewings with one agency straight away. I viewed in person, and my wife viewed through the phone (on which I had arranged a compatible eSIM).
My wife and I decided that evening that, to get an even more comprehensive view of the local property market, I needed to speak with both of the agencies we had identified from the UK. To that end, the next morning I wandered into the Old Town and found, after searching, the Montenegro Prospects office. I went in, without appointment, at 9am. I first spoke with one very welcoming member of staff and explained what I was doing in Budva and what our aim was. Sofija then returned from what appeared to be the morning coffee run, and I explained everything in more detail to her, together with the fact that I was returning to the UK the evening of the next day. Sofija was able to find my details from previous enquiries I had made from the UK with Montenegro Prospects and recognised what we were asking for.
We agreed that I would view the available properties the next morning. At the appointed time, Sofija collected me from the place where I was staying in Budva and we drove around to view four properties, all within budget, and all appropriate to our brief.
The choices presented were such that they made decision-making difficult, as the viewed properties did present solutions and included those which we had selected from the UK.
Ultimately though, we decided to go with a new build, under-construction project.
Negotiation
Then came the negotiation. We agreed a price with the developer, having been taken to the developer's office to complete the negotiation. I did try to transfer money through my UK banking app at the time, although I was unable to - it simply would not work in the moment (and my phone was on about 10% battery). The developer then gave us three days to make the deposit, which I would do once I returned to the UK.
The agency we had purchased through did say that I did not need to be in Montenegro to complete the purchase, so long as I had a Power of Attorney in place. This they could arrange in the remaining time I was in Montenegro, which by this point was a few hours, although I explained that I would do so from the UK.
There is an important factor here. It is very easy to be swept away in the moment of buying a new property overseas. The agency in Montenegro created a Power of Attorney document for my wife and me, which we could get certified in the UK and returned to Montenegro to complete the property purchase. Returning to the UK allowed us to pause and draw breath after three intensive days of property searching.
Notarising & the Apostille
Back in the UK, my task was to find a solicitor, arrange the Power of Attorney and have it apostilled and returned to the agency in Budva. What was repeatedly referred to while I was in Montenegro was the need for a notary, or documents certified by a notary. I had to explain that I did not know what a notary was, although it became clear that this was actually a solicitor of an appropriate nature. 'Apostilling', I discovered, was a term used by the notary.
I found my local solicitor and explained what was needed. Helpfully, there was an additional level of assurance here, in that the solicitor would be able to confirm that what we had on the Power of Attorney document from Montenegro stood up and continued to be valid. We advised that we needed a notary, and this was a term the solicitor understood, although it did mean we had to make an appointment at their head office in the city centre, where there was a solicitor appropriately qualified to act as a notary. We were asked if the document would be used abroad and if it would need an apostille. We replied that yes, it would, on both counts. For us, there was a small additional charge for this, although it is absolutely necessary, as it maintains the validity of the Power of Attorney overseas. Without the apostille, the Power of Attorney would be invalid outside the UK.
The apostille is actually a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office appendage to the reverse of the document, which certifies it for overseas use. This process took one week.
On receipt of the appropriately apostilled document, we arranged for it to be couriered by DHL Express to the agency offices in Montenegro. Other couriers could potentially be used, although the tracking ability through the DHL Express app is really good. We were able to track the document from the UK to Budva. It did take slightly longer to cross the Serbia-Montenegro border than we anticipated (5 days), although it did make it through.
Money Transfer
Upon receipt of the Power of Attorney in Budva, the agent was able to complete the purchase of our property. We then needed to transfer the money. This is when it becomes really real - when talking about moving pounds and pence overseas.
After research, we used the TorFX currency transfer service. Our bank needed to transfer the money to TorFX and, one phone call with the bank's fraud department to check that this was a legitimate transaction later, they did. We chose TorFX because there is the ability to talk with someone. Over time, I developed a very positive relationship with our broker there as we sought out the best rates. When moving large amounts of money, even the smallest change in rate can make a big difference.
We considered other money transfer agencies, although discounted them because, if anything went wrong, there was no ability to talk to a person, with communications being online only. TorFX additionally charged zero commission, which, in the end, provided the overriding selection factor.
Conclusion
We are now 18 months away from our completed new build and are really looking forward to our property in Montenegro and to spending many happy times in Becici, Budva and around.
