Why Serious Agencies Ask for “Too Much” Documentation
We have encountered the same situation many times: a seller complains that we are asking for too much paperwork. Use permit, condominium plan, access road, plot width, cadastral status. “Other agencies didn’t ask for this,” we often hear.
And that is true. Some agencies really don’t ask. But that doesn’t mean the documents aren’t necessary. It simply means the problem is postponed – usually until a serious buyer appears.
Two Types of Agencies on Today’s Market
Over time, two completely different approaches to the business have emerged.
The first approach is fast and superficial: take the property, publish the listing, take good photos, and “deal with problems when they arise.”
The second approach is slower, but responsible: verify documentation, legal status and real possibilities before the property ever appears on the market.
The difference between these two approaches is not immediately visible. It becomes clear only when a buyer appears who knows what questions to ask.
What a Serious Agency Must Check – Without Exception
1) Ownership and Encumbrances
Who is registered as the owner? Are there mortgages, annotations, encumbrances or easements? Skipping this protects no one – neither the seller nor the buyer.
2) Use Permit and Legal Status
The sentence “the house is old, it doesn’t matter” no longer holds. Without a use permit or a clear legalization decision, the buyer doesn’t know what they are buying, and banks often don’t know what they are financing.
If a property is legalized, it must be clear what exactly is legalized. If it isn’t – that must be stated clearly before the first viewing.
3) Condominium Plan for Apartments
It is astonishing how many apartments are advertised without a clear answer to the basic question: is the buyer purchasing an apartment or just a co-ownership share?
A condominium plan is not bureaucratic fiction. It defines ownership and prevents problems that otherwise arise later with loans, resale or inheritance.
4) Building Land: Problems Not Visible in Listings
With land, mistakes become the most expensive. Unregistered access roads, insufficient plot width, lack of utility connections, zoning restrictions – all of this must be clear before setting a price.
If these issues are concealed, the buyer leaves after the first technical question, while the seller remains convinced that “there is no interest.”
More Agencies, Less Work – and Pressure on Standards
In recent years, the number of real estate agencies has grown significantly, while the number of actual transactions has not followed the same trend. In some segments, it has even declined.
When there are more agents than deals, pressure increases. One part of the market responds with quality and expertise. Another part responds by lowering standards.
In practice, this often means:
- taking properties without a signed contract
- advertising based on unverified information
- knowingly ignoring problems that could “kill the deal”
- postponing documentation with phrases like “we’ll sort it out later”
This doesn’t happen because documentation isn’t important. It happens because for some, having a listing matters more than having a solvable transaction.
Document Checks Save Time – for Everyone
An agency that checks documentation doesn’t protect only the buyer. Very often, it also protects the seller – from loose ends, wasted time, and situations where a deal collapses after months of discussions.
When documents are checked at the beginning, problems are resolved before pressure, emotions and deadlines arise. When they are skipped, the same problems surface later – but at a higher cost: lost time, missed buyers and reduced prices.
Documentation doesn’t slow the process. It filters out problems that would later stop the sale entirely.
The Problem Isn’t Documents. The Problem Is Standards.
If one agency requires a use permit and another says “it’s not important”, the problem isn’t the confused seller. The problem is the lack of clearly defined minimum standards.
Buyers today are not naive. They ask, verify and compare. An agency that skips checks harms not only itself in the long run, but the entire profession.
Conclusion
Documentation is not an obstacle to selling. It is the difference between an advertisement and a real transaction.
An agency that checks may be slower at the start, but it is the only one that can bring a deal to signing – without surprises.
Tags: real estate agency, property documentation, buying property Croatia, real estate standards, verified listings, property due diligence, real estate market Croatia
