Hi Everyone!
My wife and I are from the New Orleans area. I recently took an early retirement.
Our plan is take advantage of a window of time where our children are all out of the nest, and no grandchildren on the foreseeable horizon. We intend on moving to Croatia for a year, maybe more, to establish a base for travel adventures which we plan for approximately one week out of every month. After brainstorming all of the places we want to visit it seems likely we'll stay longer. We have another couple we are friends with who are planning the same thing.
Croatia seemed like an ideal spot for many reasons, including the cost of living, healthcare, ease of travel, proximity to nearby destinations, natural beauty, and for me, importantly on the sea with outstanding sailing possibilities.
We are headed over in October 2017 to look for an apartment on the Istrian peninsula, ideally in Rovinj if we can find something in our budget.
So far, we've had a difficult time trying to find an apartment in Rovinj for rental on a long term basis that is near our budget. It seems everything we can find on the Internet is for short term rentals focused on seasonal tourists. We are starting to expand to places beyond Rovinj, for example Pula, but would love to find something in Rovinj.
Any ideas?
Mike
Introduction - Moving from U.S. to Istrian Pennsylvania
Hi Mike,
We are retired from California and have a very similar plan in the same region. We are going to AirBB it until we find something permanent. Good luck, maybe we could all meet for a cocktail in beautiful Croatia. I have a feeling we are going to need all the help and sharing of information we can get (even if its from another American stumbling through resettlement like ourselves.
We will be watching the responses to your question; SAFE TRAVELS
Howie and Wendy
Yes on internet mainly find vacation rentals, and unless you read Croatian very hard to find longer term rentals via the internet. Basically I think two choices- either be in Croatia and ask a Croatian to help- people in Istria usually will always " know someone who knows someone". Or if you wished to send me a message I know a Croatian who maybe for a small fee handle it for yo- he has helped on various matters , and speaks perfect English.
I am also looking at Istria, and rental rates are great if one can rent as a Croatian would but keep in mind Croatian property owners can get high rates during tourist season- so often one has to get away from tourist areas a bit to get best rates. For example the difference between a long term apartment rental in Pula, vs say 30 miles outside of the city can be up to 40%.
We used an agency to find our place in Split--a referral from our lovely realtor. The catch is that both the agency and the realtor speak Croatian only (which is fine since my husband is Bosnian and can communicate on behalf of both of us). It helps to make acquaintance with a local and in our experience people have been good about sharing leads.
As a follow up...
We went over in October 2017 with primary purpose of finding an apartment. We visited Rovinj and Pula and met with a couple of people who owned apartments who we had been in contact with over the internet, along with others we met while there.
We ended up putting a deposit on an apartment in a small “suburb” of Pula and are returning for our “permanent” stay on March 1st 2018 and will sign a one year lease. The area is a very quaint, ritzy and beautiful village called Pjescana Uvala. The Adriatic and beach is a two minute wal kfrom our back door and next to a beautiful marina. While the property is 5km outside of the main part of Pula, it is on a bus route.
The apartment is one of six apartments in a like new building. The owner typically rents to tourists during the season but he wanted to rent out a couple of the places to have a more steady year round income stream.
I believe the owner is willing to lease one more two bedroom . If anyone is interested I will verify with him and post his contact information if he affirms.
Nice find! thanks for sharing....
Do you mind me asking what was the cost per month ? Sounds like a great location ! Was it furnished ?
Did it have wifi in the building ?
I don't know why but I liked the atmosphere in Pula a lot, maybe not as much to offer as some other places in Croatia and Italy, but it felt so relaxed.
did you check the Rovinj news paper ads? or put one in! people over there still read paper news...lol
also, connect with one of relators and tell them you want to rent first year...
Congrats on finding a place in Pjescana Uvala. We stayed there for one week last year around the end of February and found it to be a sweet little neighborhood. We loved going to E&D Cafe by Verudela/Ambrella Beach, btw.
Ho far is it from Pula ?
Thank you for sharing your experience. How's it going after a few months? Is it what you were hoping to be?
We're sort of considering doing the same thing and right now in the research stage. What's the car situation there?
I was thinking for a long stay in Croatia and travelling around, we'd need a car for sure. Would it be easy to lease a car for the duration of our stay or would we have to rent a car every time we'd want to travel?
Much appreciated.
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