Buying Real Estate in Albania
Discover Albania. Owning residential or commercial real estate in Albania is easier
than ever, thanks to latest property ownership provisions and our in house legal
services.
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT ALBANIA REAL ESTATE
Is their restriction to foreign ownership?
Foreigner can own residential and commercial properties as well as land. The
restriction is on agricultural lands only.
Do I need to create a company to buy property in Albania?
Foreigners can buy under their own name any property in Albania except agricultural
land. There is no need of creating a local company like in Montenegro except in
specific case.
Does Co-Ownership is allowed in Albania?
Yes. A co-ownership is an arrangement whereby two or more people buy a property
together and wish to provide for leaving their share (when they die) to someone
other than the other co-owners. In legal terms this is called a ‘Tenancy in Common’.
If you are buying with a member of your family or a friend, you may wish to put in
place a co-ownership agreement which reflects what you want to happen with your
share in the event of your death, but also important issues such as; what each party
is contributing to the purchase and how expenses, income and capital gains are to be
shared. You can also include agreement as to a minimum period that you will hold the
property for, and what the will happen if one of the co -owners want to sell his
share.
Do local bank offer mortgage loan?
Local banks are all controlled by large European banks; Credit Agricole, Société
générale, Banca San Paolo IMI, Raiffeisen bank, …these banks already have approved
our real estate development and are interested to offer competitive mortgage loans
with terms from 1 to 15 years.
Do I need an attorney to buy a property in Albania?
Attorneys can provide valuable services to purchasers of Albania real estate,
Services as document review, translation, drafting of contracts, tax tips, etc.
However, Balkimo is controlling the cases before presenting to the clients and is
fully informed for all the steps that the client must follow.
Does the Public Notary verifying the clear title of the property?
The notary is responsible for the verification of the original title of the property
which is a document issued by ZRPP (office of registration of immobile property)
called differently Hypothec Office. As well the public notary before preparing the
sales contract which is the final act between the seller and the buyer is checking
the full story of the property.
What is the cost of the Public notary?
Normally the fees depend on the service, size of the property and total price. For a
transaction of €100’000 is approximately €180-200.
What are the other costs to purchase?
There is no Transfer Tax to be paid by the buyer (in Croatia it is 5% and 2% in
Bulgaria on the buyer side!).There is some expenses do be paid at ZRPP, but in all
the cases not more then 600 Euro. If you created a company, Registration Fee depends
on the type of the company, normally around 600-700 Euro (including contract of the
foundation, decision of court issued by court district of the city you wish to
register the company). After the creation of the company there are local taxes &
licensee taxes to be paid if you intent to have commercial activities. In case you
ask for attorney assistance the fees are based in type of the service you are asking
for.
Do I have to pay local or state taxes?
Not as an individual. As a company annual tax will be paid if your company has a
commercial activity, if the company only owned real estate properties there is no
tax to be paid. The 20 % VAT applied in Albania is paid only when the company is
register as a big business.
Do I have to pay a capital gain tax when I resale?
There is no capital gain tax for individual (instead of 17.8% in Bulgaria and 20% in
Turkey or Poland)! For company, a capital gains tax of 10% is due on the gain
realised on the sale of the property. For individual and company there is a 3% stamp
duty to be paid by the seller.
What are the Guarantees I have?
With all the developments Balkimo sources, the developers we work with usually raise
finance from a banking institution which makes investment in their projects very
secure for the prospective buyer and the quality and financial standing of the
developers is always thoroughly checked. All companies that we work with are members
of, and regulated by, the Albanian Chamber of Construction. These companies are
medium to large in size with a good track record of providing quality products that
are delivered in realistic timescales.
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