What to do if the bank evaluates the apartment below the agreed price - Your steps from July 1, 2025
You buy an apartment, but like most buyers you do not have enough cash. You have agreed the purchase price, checked the credit conditions, of course you also checked your creditworthiness. You have paid a lump sum, you have signed the Preliminary Agreement for the purchase and sale of the property and you are forced to pay the rest of the purchase price through the realization of a dedicated housing loan.
The next step is to evaluate the property. Once the appraiser has been in the apartment, your estimate is not large enough to cover the rest of the purchase price. Namely, from 01.07.2025, new lending conditions came into force.
In a nutshell Stricter lending conditionsThe rules laid down by the Croatian National Bank (HNB) mean that when the estimate is lower, you have less room for maneuver — but also rights. In the following:
- What exactly are the new lending conditions?
- why do banks give a lower estimate in practice?
- who can demand better conditions?
- how to complain or negotiate to make the assessment more favorable?
- how to avoid complications, complaints and immediately at the start get a sufficiently high assessment?
New lending conditions from 1 July 2025 — what does the CNB prescribe?
Here are the most important conditions that came into force:
1. Total Debt to Income Monthly Repayment Ratio (DSTI) unto 45%for housing loans
2. Maximum loan amount in relation to the value of the property (LTV) unto 90%the value of the property in pledge
3. The term of repayment of housing loans maximum 30 years
Exceptions - unto 20%housing loans may be granted outside these limits; banks may apply exemptions to a greater extent for consumers dealing with housing issues.
The decision made by the CNB is called the “Decision on Consumer Credit Criteria” (NN No. 50/2025). Loans contracted from 1 July 2025 onwards are subject to these new rules. HNB
Why the estimate is often lower than the contracted price
Here are the main reasons why this happens in practice:
- Banks in practice mainly use the services of their appraisal houses
For example, for the needs of Zagrebačka banka, the appraisal is carried out by ZANE Real Estate. The appraiser goes out on the field and examines the property as well as its documentation, compares the prices of the same and similar properties on the market, looks at the condition of the property specifically of the apartment, but also the building itself, infrastructure, storeys, orientation, condition of the facade,... If the agreed purchase price is “too optimistic”, the estimate is lower in practice.
2. LTV and bank security
If the valuation of the property is close to the agreed purchase price, the bank will not pay you the full amount, because according to the new rules the maximum loan amount is 90% of the value of the assessment of the property. This means that if the estimated value of the property = the purchase price of the property, the buyer must have 10% of the purchase price of his own funds. If the valuation of the property is in any case higher than the purchase price of the property then what has a lower price is taken into account.
3. Estimators often use conservative parameters, take care not to overestimate the property, because a lot depends on the valuation of the property (bank risk, market, liquidity).
4. Furniture located in real estate is often part of the purchase price, but unfortunately when evaluating a property it does not affect the amount of the estimate
Who can be entitled to a “better situation” and get a larger loan amount?
Not everyone is in the same position — here's who has more chances:
- Buyers who “solve the housing issue”— this means that they buy an apartment for their own home, perhaps the first apartment or an apartment appropriate to their family circumstances. The CNB states that, to a large extent, the exceptions to the LTV and other restrictions can be applied precisely to them. HNB
- if you want to be an exception you must also request it with your banker
How to negotiate, complain and achieve a better assessment?
To get a better estimate you have to file an official complaint. The objection is given in the bank to its banker. However, in order to know how and what to complain about, it is necessary to first ask for an evaluation. When you look at it, you look for what you can complain about.
You may complain that during the appraisal the appraiser did not take into account the real condition of the apartment, that the apartment was renovated, that it has a favorable location in the building, good layout, that the building was maintained (indicate some adaptations if they were recently made), good energy class if the EC was not attached to the appraiser when evaluating... Research the market and send several of the same and similar properties that are for sale or have been sold at higher prices.
There is also the possibility of hiring your/a new appraiser and trying to agree on an assessment. Of course you have to be very careful and check if it is an official appraiser, as well as if its assessment is recognized by the bank with which you intend to realize the loan. There are a lot of different “appraisers” on the market, but banks do not recognize anyone's estimates. There are even appraisers who make an oral assessment of a property for about 50 euros without even seeing it. Not only are they not authoritative to give estimates, but they cannot be used anywhere, nor are they recognized by banks.
We at the real estate agency Euro-interiors participate in every appraisal of the property we sell. To begin with, we make sure to attach to the appraiser all the documentation of the property (Building permit, Use permit, Decision on the finished condition, Energy certificate,...). We draw the floor plan of the property, and check if the square footage of the property corresponds to that indicated in the extract from the land book. We make sure to highlight to the appraiser all the essential items related to the property to be evaluated, such as layout, adaptations (both of the apartment and the building itself), the position in the building if it is done in an apartment, infrastructure, transport connectivity, distance from essential institutions such as primary school, kindergarten, health center, etc.,... ramp for the disabled or apartment adapted for the disabled in whether the buyer is disabled, proximity to the railway station,... all this and many other parameters affect the height of the estimate.
We also offer our customers to have the property appraisal done by an authorized appraiser, who has a contract with various banks and whose appraisals are accepted by banks. We cooperate with a credit broker and also help in the very process of choosing the best bank for the customer.
Unfortunately, if the estimate is not large enough, and the loan amount is not enough to buy real estate, the only way out is to complain about the amount of the estimate. The problem is that in practice, the appeal takes 7-10 days, and customers who have already paid the down payment have a certain deadline for the realization of the loan and an additional 7-10 days does not suit them at all. When we add stress to this, it is certainly best to try to avoid the complaint and get an appropriate assessment already at the start.
Proper preparation of the property and its documentation for assessment reduces the risk that it will not be sufficient. Almost 30 years of experience in real estate sales really helps us greatly in making the process of buying a property easier for our customers.