You pass the small markets, each with their freshly baked bread, butchered meat, and diary.  The old men on the bench by the harbor have been there forever. While in your neighbor’s house you saw them in a photograph from 50 years before. They watch you impassively until you approach and try out your traveler’s phrase book Croatian. Then they become animated and you hear seaman’s tales in broken dockside English of visiting America, France, Sweden, Thailand, Hong Kong. 

Goats with long curling horns plod down the cobbled street.  Children ride by on old bicycles.  You see agave and prickly pear cactus.  As you hike the karst above town, you meet donkeys, and even a horse in the pine forests. 

Olive trees are ubiquitous and picturesque as you drive along the coastline roads, winding through pine and olive overlooking the sea, feeling quintessentially Mediterranean.  Stonewalls and early Christian churches abound on Brac.  You find crude carvings of Hercules left by quarry workers from 200 B.C.  Cypress trees brood above cemeteries full of elaborate stone markers and photos of the dead. 

The local Dalmatian wines are astonishing in their quality and are inexpensively priced.  They go well with the seafood-in-the-shell pasta you have ordered.  In season, the cafes by the water are crowded and thick with talk and smoke and music.  Off-season, they are more quiet and contemplative, still serving their espresso and schnapps.  Near midnight, feeling very lucky indeed, you climb the steps, which make up the street leading to your home and pass in the darkness, Ivo, your neighbor and Ljiljana’s fisherman husband, heading out to work. 

The next day you are invited over for fish soup, fava beans, bread and wine.  After the meal, your host brings out a battered guitar and sings Croatian songs of days past.

Like it?  I love it.  My wife loves it. 

Have we made mistakes?  Yep.  Were we foolish and naive?  Yep.  Would we do it all again? You bet.

I believe this is a very rare time in Dalmatia in general, and in Milna, in particular.  The outside world is just beginning to re-discover the beauty and pleasures of the region.  Today, it’s true, you don’t dare mention “Croatia” to your friends (they stare at you long and hard as if you’ve finally lost your mind) and they’ve never heard of Dalmatia.  I’m sure this will change tomorrow and the place will be as fabulous and out-of-reach as the French Riviera is for most of the world.

In the villages like Milna, with a little luck, you may still buy lovely old stone houses for renovation, or stone apartments on the harbor, for under $50,000 USD. Also at the low end of the market price-wise are timeshares in houses fronting the sea.  Shares for 4 months a year, for example, may be purchased for under $20,000. USD.  Services to rent the unit out when you are not able to be there are also available.  Newer properties built with local materials offer the swimming pools and amenities others want, for somewhat more money.  Comfortable, picturesque houses stand by themselves in the pines, or in small communities on isolated, delightful coves, and are available at very reasonable prices.  Raw land on the water is there for future dreams.  The villages have all the expected utilities: city water, electricity, sewer, telephone . . . even high-speed Internet access.  All that is missing is traffic, mass consumerism, and long lines.

Buying here at this time is not for the faint-of-heart, however.  Here are a few facts:

• Americans can purchase land here.  (As can citizens of any country with a reciprocity agreement with Croatia.) However, foreign ownership requires Croatian Foreign Ministry approval.  This is standard practice, but it can take up to two years to obtain.  (There is no such requirement if you have formed a company in Croatia and then purchase property, but this entails additional expense.)  During this time, you cannot build or rebuild your property, except perhaps for some interior renovations. In fact, if you haven’t been lucky or clever beforehand or have a very alert agent you may find yourself having to wait the full approval period before you are able to connect to utilities!
• Financing is generally unavailable in Croatia.  You are on your own to come up with the cash.
• Prices are seeking the right level after the recent war.  Everyone who is selling is dreaming of pre-war prices or greater.  There are some real bargains and lots of good buys.  Still, prices have doubled or in some cases tripled since their low point after the recent war.  The prices can be startling for those who are thinking perhaps of snapping up property dirt-cheap in a war-ravaged nation.  Generally, that is not going to happen.  (Thank goodness.)  But the value is here and the prices are good.  Think of the French Riviera twenty or thirty or more years ago.
• Don’t take anything for granted or assume that things are done just the way they are done in your country.  Be sure your agent has a local lawyer working with him or her and who is knowledgeable in real estate practices.

I have had very good luck working with two very different agents who I mentioned earlier, Djani Lidjan of Adriatic Real Estate, http://telsat.org, and with Ljiljana Poklepovic of Milenka Real Estate, www.milenkarealestate.com .  Go to their websites, check out their listings and advice.  If you find something you like, ask them to check on its current availability and price.  Tell them I sent you. 

This is the time to buy in Dalmatia.  Whether you wish to buy for yourself, or buy for investment, this is one of those rare opportunities in a fabled land. I worked with determination to realize my dream.  I’m glad I did.

I will be happy to answer anyone’s questions about the region, the market, or specific properties. You can visit my Dalmatia Direct website, or I can be reached at the email address.  My website and my email contact address can be found in the Additional Resources Section at the top of this article.