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Property: Croatia
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Sailing into a dream Croatian home
TOM DUFFY
Keen sailor Tom Duffy was thinking on explorer
Jacques Cousteau’s wavelength when he decided
that Croatia would be where he’d hoist his sail. For it
was the clear waters of the Adriatic that persuaded
him to buy a holiday home there.
“I initially thought of three countries – Spain, Portugal and Croatia,” says the Irishman. “A friend of mine had been to Croatia the previous year, and said the sailing was spectacular.”
In June 2005, Tom took two weeks off work and flew to Dubrovnik, to
begin looking at properties. “I then drove throughout Croatia and found
two or three places I was interested in,” he says. “The difference between
Istria – where I eventually bought – and the southern area where the
cost base is much more advantageous, was that in the north people are
friendlier, and have more of an Italian-type attitude. I found them very
easy to get on with.”
Tom bought in
Novigrad, a small fishing
village surrounded on
three sides by the clear
blue sea of the Adriatic.
The area enjoys about
280 days of sunshine a year. Costing approximately €85,000, his 70m2
apartment included two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. It was on
the ground floor, so he had use of a garden, and he was about 700m from
a 350-berth marina. Tom recently sold the property for €140,000, and
moved to a slightly bigger place in the same area. He visits Croatia about
four times a year, but is considering moving there permanently.
Luxury living
NINA BURNS & ROBERT SRZENTIC
F our years ago, American Nina Burns traded in the fastpaced life of California’s Silicon Valley for the Island of Brac, off the coast of Croatia. Nina’s kids had already flown the nest, and her partner Robert Srzentic, a native of Rijeka in Croatia, hadn’t been back to his homeland in 40 years. Nina first visited Croatia for a short break in 1980, and fell in love with the place. She returned in 2000, and says she “felt a great affinity with the beauty and nature of the people”.
When the couple decided they would take the leap and start a new life
on the other side of the globe, they had three aims: living an improved
lifestyle, long-term investment and rental income. They bought land near
the coast and built a villa that they could then rent out.
There are presently very few family sized villas in Dalmatia, and although their property wasn’t finished until July last year, they were able to rent it out easily over the summer period. Nina acknowledges that while many holiday homes in Dalmatia are apartments, there is a demand for larger properties – as well as higher-end properties and the growth of higher-end tourism in Croatia.
For Nina, the cultural jump of moving from California to Dalmatia, was
literally “shocking”. She
says that for the first
year in the village, there
was a definite sense of
both sides getting to
know and accept the
other. Nina says that
she has learnt to appreciate things and people better, and realises the
importance of having a sense of humour.
But she explains that life in Croatia is less pressured, their quality of
life has improved, and the pace is slower. On the less positive side of
things, she misses her children – who are still based in the US – and has
had to adapt her love of cookery to incorporate local ingredients and
regional styles. Nina now helps manage and market property for other
villa owners, in an effort to support higher-end tourism in the area. The
couple also hope to develop three large luxury apartments.
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