Renting without an agency: how and where to look

When you pay an agency fee, and when you don't

An agency advertises a flat under its contract with the owner. As a tenant you're a "third party" until you sign a brokerage contract yourself, and without one the agency may not charge you a fee (Art. 29(7)). According to the Ministry of Economy, a viewing, an enquiry or information about the flat creates no obligation to pay.

An agency may not make a viewing conditional on you first signing a brokerage contract (Art. 23). At the viewing you usually sign a viewing confirmation, which isn't a contract and doesn't commit you to a fee. If you won't sign it, the Ministry says the agency may refuse the viewing.

What the listings on NajamStanova.com say about the agency feeAgency fee (agencijska provizija)simplifiedThe fee for an agency's brokerage. Only someone who has signed a written brokerage contract with the agency pays it, as a rule once the lease is signed.Source: Zakon o posredovanju u prometu nekretnina (NN 69/2026), čl. 23., 28. i 29., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary:

The "No agency fee" row includes owners' listings. A listing shows what the agency asks; only a contract you sign binds you.

More in the guide Agency fees when renting.

What an agency may charge since 7 July 2026

If you sign a written brokerage contract with an agency, you pay its fee under that contract: the Real Estate Brokerage Act, which has applied since 7 July 2026, sets no maximum, and the contract sets the amount (Art. 28). Without such a contract the agency may not charge you a fee (Art. 29(7)).

• The right to the fee arises only once the lease is signed (or a pre-contract, if that was agreed), so the agency may not ask for any of it in advance (Art. 29(1)–(2)).
• If the agency has contracts with both the owner and you, the two sides together may not pay more than the top fee in its price list, and the agency must set out each fee and the total in writing before the brokerage contracts are signed (Art. 30(5)).
• If it has contracts with both sides but only one side pays, that side pays at most half of that amount (Art. 30(4)).

For example: if the top fee in the price list is one month's rent and the agency has contracts with both sides, the one side that pays owes at most half a month's rent. The Ministry of Economy explains the same rule with a 3 % price list: the one side that pays owes at most 1.5 %.

Where to find a flat from an owner

• Owners' listings on NajamStanova.com: owners post them for free, and the default "Recommended" order gives them a head start over agency listings. With the "From owners" filter you see just them.
• Notices on buildings and around the neighbourhood: some owners still put one up in a window or at the entrance.
• Word of mouth from friends and colleagues and, if you're a student, your faculty's notice boards.

An owner's listing isn't safer in itself than an agency's: in the scams police have published, the fraudster posed as the owner, so the steps below still apply.

Reading an owner's ad safely

Our guides cover the checks in detail; these are the main points:

• Pay nothing, neither a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary nor earnest money (kapara)Earnest money (kapara)simplifiedMoney paid when a contract is made, as a sign that it has been concluded. It isn't a deposit, which secures rent and damage during the lease.Source: Zakon o obveznim odnosima, čl. 303. i 304., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, before you've seen the flat and signed the lease, and never give anyone your card details, PIN or a one-time password. A kapara binds you: once it's paid, the contract as a rule counts as concluded. The guide Rental scams has the warning signs and the cases police have published.
• A viewing, or even a signed lease, doesn't prove the advertiser owns the flat, so check the owner in the land register (below, and step by step in the guide Checking a flat's owner).
• A rent well below similar flats is a warning sign: compare it with the rents on Neighbourhoods.

Practise spotting a fake listing on eight examples in Spot the scam.

Check who owns the flat

An unofficial land-register extract is free on the Uređena zemlja (OSS) portal, without signing in. You search by cadastral municipality and parcel or folio number, not by name, so ask the advertiser for the numbers or a copy of the ownership sheet. Compare the owner's name in the extract with the ID of whoever signs the lease; if someone else signs, ask for the owner's power of attorney.

The guide Checking a flat's owner covers how to read the extract and what to do if the details don't match.

No agency, but a written lease

A flat lease must be in writing (Housing Lease Act, Art. 4(2)). Without an agency you prepare it with the owner yourselves: the lease checklist says what to check, and the guide Certifying a lease covers the notary.

Take the viewing checklist to the viewing, and fill in the handover record with the owner on moving day.

Deposit and rent: by transfer, or cash with a receipt

Pay the depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and rent into the owner's account named in the lease: a transfer leaves a record. For cash, ask for a receipt; you can fill one in and print it on the receipt page. More in the guide Paying rent and a deposit.

For owners: let without an agency

On NajamStanova.com you post a listing for free, in about a minute if you already have an ad elsewhere, and the default "Recommended" order gives owners' listings a head start over agency ones. Set the price with the rent estimate, and follow the steps and deadlines in the letting plan.

Frequently asked questions