What does buying off-plan in Montenegro mean?

Buying off-plan means reserving a property in a development that is not finished yet, based on plans and a written specification. You normally pay in stages as construction progresses and take possession when the building is completed and handed over.

What should I check before buying off-plan in Montenegro?

Check the building permit for the project, the developer's completed and delivered projects, the payment schedule and what each instalment is linked to, the written specification of the finish, the handover date and what happens if it slips, and who will manage the building afterwards.

Is buying off-plan riskier than buying a finished property?

It carries different considerations. With a finished property you see exactly what you get. With off-plan you get more choice of unit and finish and a staged payment schedule, but you are relying on the developer to deliver, which is why the developer's completed track record is the most important thing to verify.

Buying Off-Plan in Montenegro: What to Ask the Developer

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Buying Off-Plan Property in Montenegro: What to Ask the Developer

Last reviewed: 10 September 2026 · By the Globsey team

Buying off-plan in Montenegro means buying from a plan and a specification, so the developer matters more than the brochure. Ask to see the building permit, ask which projects the developer has already completed and delivered, ask what the payment schedule is tied to, and ask exactly what the finish includes.

Why we can write this one properly

We build. Our group has been developing and selling property in Montenegro since 2007. Our own projects on this coast include a resort-style apartment development in Bečići, two developments in Budva, and a gated scheme of 16 villas above Tivat.

So this is not a list of warnings about developers written by an agency. It is the list of questions we would want a buyer to ask us — and the answers a serious builder should be able to give without hesitating.

If a sales office cannot answer these clearly, that in itself is the answer.

What are you actually buying?

With a finished apartment you buy a thing. With an off-plan apartment you buy a promise, described in a document.

That is not a bad deal — it is often a very good one. You get first choice of floor, orientation and layout, you can sometimes influence the finish, and you pay in stages rather than all at once, which is easier on cash flow.

But it does mean that the quality of the written documentation is the quality of your purchase. The render is marketing. The specification and the contract are the product.

Question 1: Can I see the building permit?

This is the first question, and the answer should take about thirty seconds.

A legitimate project has a building permit (građevinska dozvola). Ask to see it, and then have your lawyer check three things: that it matches the plot the building is going up on, that it matches the project being sold to you, and that it is current.

A good developer hands this over without being asked twice. If seeing the permit is difficult, treat that as decisive and stop there.

Your lawyer will do this as part of the stage where your lawyer checks the property — but ask in the sales office first, because the reaction tells you a lot.

Question 2: What have you already finished and handed over?

Renders are cheap. Delivered buildings are not.

Ask for a list of the developer's completed projects, then do something almost nobody does: go and look at one. Walk into the lobby of a building the same company finished three years ago. Is it clean? Do the lifts work? Is the pool operating? Talk to somebody in the lobby if you can.

A three-year-old building tells you more about a developer than any brochure. It shows you what the finish looks like once real people have lived in it, and whether the company that promised a spa actually built one and kept it running.

Ask specifically:

Which projects have been completed and handed over to owners?
Were they delivered on the original timeline? If not, why not?
Who has been building on this coast the longest, and how long has this company been doing it?

Question 3: What exactly is the payment schedule tied to?

Off-plan purchases are paid in instalments. The important detail is not the size of the instalments — it is what triggers them.

A well-structured schedule ties payments to verifiable construction milestones: foundations complete, structure complete, roof on, handover. You can look at the site and see whether the milestone has been reached.

A schedule tied only to calendar dates gives you nothing to verify. If construction stalls, the payments keep coming anyway.

Ask, plainly:

Is each instalment linked to a construction stage or to a date?
How is the completion of each stage confirmed?
What happens to my payments if the project is delayed?
Is any form of guarantee or security offered on the staged payments?

Get the answers in the contract, not in conversation.

Question 4: What is in the specification, in writing?

"Fully finished" means different things to different builders. In Montenegro, as everywhere, the gap between "turnkey" and "ready for furniture" can be a lot of money.

Ask for a written specification listing:

Floors, doors, internal joinery
Bathrooms: fittings, tiling, screens
Kitchen: is it included, and to what level?
Windows and glazing, and whether they are rated for a coastal environment
Heating and cooling: what system, and is it installed or just prepared for?
Terrace and balcony finishes
Whether furniture is included, optional, or not offered at all

Ask too whether the price you have been quoted includes VAT. Buying a new property directly from the developer, it normally does — and the separate transfer tax that applies to a resale does not apply on top. It is worth having that in writing, because it changes how the price compares with a resale. [VERIFY: VAT-inclusive pricing and transfer-tax exemption on first sale from a developer — confirm exact wording with a Montenegrin lawyer]

Then ask what happens if a listed item is unavailable at build time. What you want to hear is that it will be replaced with something of equal or higher quality, and that you will be told before it happens rather than after. Get that in writing too.

Question 5: What happens on the day of handover, and after?

Three things to settle before you sign:

Snagging. How are defects found at handover recorded and fixed, and within what period? Every new building has a list. A serious developer expects it and has a process.

Building management. Who runs the building once it is finished? In a complex with a reception, pools and a spa, this is the difference between an asset and a headache five years later. Ask who the management company is and what the service covers.

Rental, if that is your plan. Will the developer or an associated company manage rentals? Is it optional or bundled? Understand the terms before you buy, not after.

Question 6: Why is this project here?

This is the question buyers almost never ask, and it is one of the most revealing.

Location decisions in development are not sentimental. When we look at land on this coast, the criteria are practical: is there enough buildable plot for the amenities this product needs; is there a flat walk to a real beach or a real town; is there road access without being on the main road; does the area have enough year-round life to keep a serviced building working in winter?

That is why our own resort-style apartment projects sit in Bečići, where the long sandy beach and the buildable land are, and why our villa project sits on the Kavač hillside above Tivat, where there is the plot size and privacy that villas need and the airport is minutes away. We wrote more about where new construction is concentrated and why.

Ask a developer why they chose their site. A good one will give you reasons like these. A weak one will show you a sunset render.

A short checklist to take with you

Print this and take it to the sales office.

For the wider context, including resale as the alternative, see how buying property in Montenegro works.

Frequently asked questions

What does buying off-plan mean? Reserving a property in a development that is not finished yet, based on plans and a written specification, paying in stages as construction progresses, and taking possession at handover.

Is off-plan riskier than buying a finished property? It carries different considerations rather than simply more of them. You trade certainty about the finished product for choice, staged payments and a new building. The developer's completed track record is what makes that trade a good one.

Can I sell an off-plan property before it is completed? Sometimes, and it depends entirely on what your contract says about assignment. Ask before you sign if this is part of your plan, because it is much harder to negotiate afterwards.

Should the contract be reviewed by a lawyer, even when buying directly from a developer? Yes, always. Buying direct from a builder is a normal and often excellent way to buy, and it still involves a contract written by the seller's side. Somebody with legal training needs to read it on your behalf before you sign.

You have two ways to do that. Our group has its own in-house legal department, so if you buy through us that review is part of the process rather than something you arrange yourself. And if you would rather appoint your own independent lawyer to go through it as well, that is completely normal — we work with buyers' lawyers regularly and give them whatever they ask for. Plenty of buyers do both. What matters is that nobody signs an off-plan contract that no lawyer has read.

Talk to us

If you are looking at an off-plan project in Montenegro — ours or anyone else's — send us the brochure and the contract. We will tell you what questions we would be asking.

Write to info@globsey.com.

About Globsey

Globsey is part of a group that has worked in Montenegro since 2007 as both a developer and an agency, based on the Montenegrin coast. Our own developments on this coast include resort apartments in Bečići, two schemes in Budva, and a gated villa development above Tivat.

This guide is general information and is not legal advice. Please have a qualified Montenegrin lawyer review any purchase contract before you sign it.