The residence permit may be obtained if you own any real estate (ownership or under leasing agreement) and have a legally registered work in Montenegro (employment or own business).

You have found a very strange real estate broker. In general, he was to doubt the power attorney, but not you.

You have not concluded any sales contract, but signed only a preliminary agreement according to which you paid the deposit. According to the law you have the right to execute the agreement or not to do it (at that you will lose the deposit).

In your situation, both the parties (the real estate broker and the buyer) decided to part with you on the quiet. Unfortunately, the attempts to deceive the buyer are frequent on the part of the local population and the Russian emigrants.

The preliminary agreement you concluded shall lose validity upon expiry of the terms of performance specified in it. Moreover, it is not the document confirming the deal, it is just a document of intent to make a deal (which could be made or not). As you have not signed the sales contract, there are no grounds to request from you the 3-percent tax for property transfer.

Currently, the work experience shall be equal to 30 years (the retirement age is 65 years old). The amount of the pension coverage is determined individually, in terms of the history of payments to the Social Insurance Fund.

To establish a company you shall prepare a package of all constituent documents and register them in the court. For this purpose you shall make use of lawyer’s services. It will cost about 500 Euro.

The tax on minimal payroll established for the company director will amount to 95 Euro per month. The cost of the accounting company’s services will be about 150 Euro per month.

In case of zero balance sheets, it is not necessary to declare the profits, but to contribute it in cash as a founder’s contribution all the insufficient funds for payment of salary, taxes and other amounts.

Any foreigner who owns a real estate may stay on the territory of the country not more than 90 calendar days within a calendar half year. At that, the law prohibits to sum the days as 180 days within a year.

Actually, the residence permit is a “work permit” which is issued by the local police for 1 year with the opportunity of its further prolongation. Having obtained it, you may work officially in Montenegro and pay payroll taxes whether you are employed or run your own business.

Having lived in the country under the working visa for more than 5 years you may obtain the permanent residence permit.

For legal residence with a child in your own apartment as well as for social security access you shall obtain a working visa. In order to obtain a working visa you shall get employed in Montenegro. You may get a fictitious job, but with payment of payroll taxes. As an alternative, you may start your own business, to appoint yourself to the post of director, to set up the minimal salary for yourself and pay the respective taxes, which will go on account of the social insurance.

The working visa id issued for one year with the opportunity of its further prolongation. Upon expiry of five years you may obtain a permanent visa. The law provides the right for family reunification, i.e. having obtained a working visa in Montenegro you may legalize staying of your relatives (children, husband) in the country.

There are schools with Russian classes in many large cities, but, mainly, the classes are conducted in Serbian.

You shall pay a fixed amount which is about 200 Euro to the budget and police for visa opening and prolongation.

If you get an official job, you will receive an official salary and will be able to open the working visa (or ask your employer to do it). Nothing is issued tacitly, only after you file an application.

Property renting is sure to be a business. You may declare about it and pay taxes from the renting.

Yes, of course. The child lives in Montenegro, like you, and has the same rights to obtain the permanent residence permit.

Yes, you can. You shall apply to a company engaged in real estate transactions. (It is not a problem to purchase, but what and how to purchase is another question).

It is quite difficult to calculate the amount of expenses in terms of the cost of the purchased real estate. Much depends on who will deal with this matter. I would not advise you to apply to different authorities yourself. Subsequently, many problems, especially with the local authorities, may arise.

In general, registration of the sales agreement in the court amounts to 0.1 – 0.2 %. The tax for property transfer is 3% of the transaction amount. The lawyer’s services will be about 800 Euro, witnessing of the document copies – 12 Euro, receipt of the registration documents – about 10 Euro per document, property appraisal – 20-50 Euro.

Real estate in ownership is the main, but not the only criterion for obtaining of the residence permit. A job or own business are also required.

The main real estate tax is a 3 per cent tax of the property cost paid in case of owner change. The utility payments are rated according to the meters: you will pay in accordance with the consumed volumes. The rates are different, for example, in a tourist district you will have to pay 5 Euro for garbage removal, and in a neighboring housing settlement only 2.5 Euro. The same situation is with water: in a city it costs 0.8 Euro for cubic meter, in a settlement – 0.4.

The property tax is from 0.2% up to 0.4% of the real estate balance cost including its tear and wear.

The cost of a landline is 5 Euro per month, unlimited Internet – from 20 Euro per month, if you do not pay for more than 2 months it will be disconnected.

In average, the prices for apartments on the seashore amount to 1 – 1.3 thousand Euro per square meter (in tourist areas they are more expensive, 1.3 – 1.6 thousand Euro per square meter). In “branded” settlements, near popular beaches, the price may exceed 2.5 thousand Euro.

The cheapest prices are in the continental part of the country. It is possible find there liveable apartments less than for 1,000 Euro per square meter.

There no fixed prices. They are agreed individually, depending on your requirements – with or without meals, in a hotel, in a private sector, an apartment or room… It is cheaper and more simple to rent a housing prior to beginning of the summer season. The long-term rent is, surely, cheaper, than the daily one is. In average, without meals it will cost from 10 up to 50 Euro per day.

In Budva, the infrastructure is better developed in the coastal and central areas.

You know, there is no law on notariat in Montenegro, and therefore, there are no notaries. The documents are witnessed by the Supreme Courts, which are not located in every city. Some documents may be witnessed in the Communities (a kind of metropolitan government).

The law providing the witnessing procedure, as far as I know, has not been translated into Russian, however, one of the local lawyers can do it, if necessary, and of course, not for free.

If everything is properly executed, the witnessing procedure takes just five minutes. The documents shall be prepared in Serbian. No translations are accepted. The duties are paid on the spot.

Relatively speaking, this issue is beyond the scope of real estate purchase.

Yes, in Montenegro, like in any coastal country, there is high air humidity and condensate is accumulated in the evening. Accordingly, it is necessary to air the premises during the day and to dry it, if possible, otherwise all the walls may be covered with blue stain fungus. In winter, it is necessary to leave the heating switched on or to ask somebody to look after your property.

You have to undergo the entire procedure of owner change. It may be a sales agreement or gist agreement. I would recommend you to use the first variant. You shall be present personally only at the transaction registration in the court, the other actions may performed by an attorney.

The minimal expenses will amount to 3.5% of the transaction cost.

You can buy an apartment without any problems. Decide on your budget and location preferences.

There are other problems: recently a large quantity of problem housing (built in violation of the law, without payment of the local taxes) has been offered for sale at the market at low prices, and unfortunately, many our nationals rise to that bait.

However, choose a reliable agency and you will not face such a problem.

First of all, do not buy a real estate in Montenegro without professional advice. There are too many underlying potential problems and “local peculiarities”.

I advise you to visit the apartment personally. In general, all roofed areas are added to the apartment floor area with ratio 1.0. Unroofed areas are added to the apartment floor area with ratio 0.5 – 0.3. You’d better apply to a professional adviser.

Prior to the crisis, the banks did not credit foreign citizens. After the crisis, even local mortgage programs were closed.

In principle, there is such practice as an installment purchase in Montenegro, subject to conclusion of a respective agreement with the investor. Actually, it’s a common agreement with a payment schedule, no interest rates are paid and the purchase amount is fixed. But as a rule, the ownership right to the real estate is transferred to the buyer after the last payment. The buyer can use the apartment immediately after payment of the first installment. It is recommended to make such transactions only with participation of any third (independent) party.

It is possible to take part in participatory construction directly through Montenegro agency or through a local agency representing the partner in Montenegro. For this purpose, a power of attorney with certified translation into Serbian is required, as well as an agency agreement for the required acts, and that is it. Personal presence is not necessary.

Yes, both the sellers shall be specified in the sales agreement.

You have no obligations to the authorities as a building owner. It rests with you decide whether it shall be repaired or ready to collapse. However, you will have to pay all taxes in full.

Currently, no law determining the size of a land lot, which can be purchased by a physical body, is adopted. However, its adoption is expected in the end of December of this year.