It was Phil's wife Sue who had first become aware of Croatia's charms when she visited in the late 80s (when the country was part of the former Yugoslavia). "We both fell in love with the place straight away. Novigrad is perfect for us. It is a residential village, really green and the climate is nice – not too hot. "We had talked for a couple of years about buying a place abroad, and had considered Spain, France and Bulgaria, but then came up with the idea of Croatia. We got in touch with three agents via the internet and arranged to view some of their properties on our first joint trip out to Croatia."

The couple say the buying process was simple. "Everything was done and dusted in a week," Phil tells me. "We had spoken to the builder, contacted a solicitor, put a deposit down for the apartment and set up a bank account in that short time. "We managed to look at various new-build/low maintenance properties, but also older homes that would need renovating. Ultimately, the fact the apartment we bought was in a small build – only five apartments in all – and there was a swimming pool, swung our decision." In fact, the couple say they had no problems whatsover with buying their Croatian holiday home. "It helped that we established a good relationship with the developer," Phil admits. The Bradleys wisely visited Croatia with a budget in mind – up to around £100,000. They had a large UK property which had become too big for their needs as their sons no longer live at home. "We decided to downsize in the UK," Phil tells me, "and buy our Croatia property outright, so that we were not put under any extra financial burden."

Why Novigrad, then?
"We are not beach people, but it's nice that it's only a 15-minute walk to the seafront. "It was the atmostphere that attracted us most. Novigrad is a small fishing town by British standards, but at the same time their is a new marina. It is not spoilt by overdevelopment like parts of Spain. Any future development will be minimised by local building restrictions as well; nothing can be built above three floors in size."

Though being less developed than Spain was clearly an attraction to the Istria area, are there any issues with access?
"Not really," Phil explains. "We fly with Ryanair from Liverpool to Venice Treviso airport, so getting here is cheap and easy." It is a two-hour flight and a three and a half hour drive to Novigrad, but Phil points out spending a bit of time in Venice is a pleasant way to break up any journey. "We used the apartment six times in 2006 and another half dozen times last year," says Phil. "One problem we do face is that my wife is a teacher, so we can only really fly during the school holidays; when flights are
obviously more expensive. "Having said that, I got three return tickets last August for £90 in total (including all the taxes), so it is still affordable to visit regularly. It is still cheaper than getting a train from the north of England down to London. "We plan to keep the place for three to five years. Maybe we'll cash in and get something else – we'll have to see what happens with the market. We're in no hurry to sell, though – it's saving us thousands of pounds on holidays." The building developer did offer the couple a
furnishing package for their apartment, Phil says, but they decided to do it themselves. "We visited three times to get the place as we wanted it. They do have an IKEA equivalent in Zagreb, but we decided to buy from local dealers; which means we have kept to local styles but also chosen according to our own tastes. "It was easy to make ourselves understood and get what we wanted as the majority of people seem to speak English. "We may eventually rent the apartment out through a letting agent when we are not there," Phil says. "But in the meantime we have had plenty of friends and family visit."

Related articles:
The Dalmatian island of Brac
Croatia property market report
Croatia property overview

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Article published 29 April 2008