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Sourced, up-to-date guides to property, vehicles, shopping, tax, work and everyday life in Montenegro.
A flat with a mortgage can be sold, but the mortgage follows the flat, not the owner. How the loan is closed out of the sale price, how long the bank has to confirm the debt is paid, why housing loans can be repaid early without a fee since late 2025, and what the buyer must check.
September 24, 2026
In Montenegro a flat is not bought with certified signatures but with a notarial deed. What the notary does, what it costs under the April 2026 tariff, which taxes follow the signing, and from which moment you actually own the flat.
September 24, 2026
A kapara is not the same as an advance payment, and a double refund is not automatic. What Montenegro's Law on Obligations says about deposits and withdrawal fees, what the preliminary contract for a flat must contain, and what a notary charges for it under the April 2026 tariff.
September 24, 2026
A flat bought off plan is cheaper, but you are paying for something that does not exist yet. Which permits you must see before the first payment, why even the preliminary contract belongs at a notary, what happens if the developer runs late, and when the flat actually becomes yours.
September 24, 2026
Who pays the annual tax on a flat or house, how the municipality arrives at the market value, why a second home carries a higher rate, which reliefs exist and when the two instalments fall due. With a worked example.
September 24, 2026
Long-term or by the night: two entirely different sets of obligations. How rental income is taxed, how much in costs is recognised, what letting to tourists involves, and what the new VAT law changes for platforms.
September 23, 2026
Montenegro's price level is 66 percent of the EU average, yet communication sits at 106 and electronics at 105. In Budva, summer and winter are two separate budgets: which items change with the season, and what cannot be measured officially.
September 23, 2026
Daily, monthly and annual letting are three separate markets; the same flat has three different prices in them. How to gain the upper hand on the coast in winter, which clause to look for in the lease and how to protect the deposit.
September 23, 2026
The answer most often given, three percent, is not set by any law. What the 2025 law actually regulates, what must be in the listing and the contract, and when the broker earns the fee.
September 23, 2026
The same apartment, two listings: one sits for months, the other rings the same week. The difference is in the first line, the filled-in fields and what you say openly. With before-and-after examples for an apartment, a house and a car.
September 23, 2026
What free really means for a listing, which fields decide whether anyone calls, and what posting looks like step by step: seven to ten steps depending on the category, checked on the live site, with the fields buyers actually filter on.
September 23, 2026
Before the price and the listing comes the legal status: title registration, legalisation and the 14 August 2027 deadline, mortgages and co-owners. Who pays which tax, which documents you need and how to post the listing yourself, step by step.
September 23, 2026
The 3, 5 and 6 percent rates with examples, the 15-day deadline, why the tax is paid to the municipality where the property is, who is exempt and what changed in 2026. All from the text of the law.
September 23, 2026
Eurostat price levels category by category: restaurants, energy and services cost a fraction of German prices in Montenegro, clothing and phone bills almost the same, and alcohol even more. For anyone moving from Germany.
September 23, 2026
How to work out a listing's price per square metre, compare it fairly with official data, and what to look at on the title extract. We also measured which details are most often missing from our own listings.
September 23, 2026
With a house, the sale is usually slowed not by the price but by the paperwork: cadastre registration, legalisation and the plot. What the 2025 law changes for sellers, who pays which tax, and how to prepare a house listing.
September 23, 2026
How far mortgage rates have fallen since 2024 on central bank data, what a 100,000 euro loan costs per month, and why a buyer who lives and earns abroad usually falls outside these loans.
September 23, 2026
Buyers search by neighbourhood, compare the price per square metre and check the papers. We reviewed our own listings: half lack the floor area, and they carry a third of the photos allowed.
September 23, 2026
The water bill, a bus ticket, the base of the property tax and price levels against the EU: what things cost in Podgorica according to official tariffs. We also explain plainly why we give no rent figure.
September 23, 2026
Four different values for the same flat, why MONSTAT's price per square metre in Podgorica feeds straight into your tax bill, and a five-step way to check your price before you list.
September 23, 2026
Podgorica, Budva, Bar, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Tivat and Ulcinj compared by who lives there in winter, who arrives in summer and where British visitors actually stay. The best city depends on what the home is for.
September 23, 2026
Eurostat price levels category by category: where Montenegro is genuinely cheap, where it costs as much as the EU, and how it compares with Croatia, Albania and Serbia. Services are cheap; goods are not.
September 23, 2026
Bečići, the centre, Podkošljun and Pržno compared from live listings, who actually visits Budva, why there is no official price per square metre for the town, and the coastal-zone check that matters most.
September 23, 2026
The risk in Montenegro is rarely the country and almost always the building. What the 2025 legalisation law changed for buyers, which lines of the title extract to read, and seven checks to make before any money moves.
September 23, 2026