Where can I find cheap appartments in Split, Croatia?

Question

We plan on staying in Split, Croatia from Aug - Oct or Sep - Nov. My budget is around $600 (around 500 euros) for a 2-bedroom appartment. Is that realistic and are the prices on nomadlist accurate?
I started my search on njuskalo.hr and broker.hr. Got one response so far and the guy told me appartment rates start at 1000eur. In August he said it would ‘not be possible’ to find appartments in my price range because of the tourism.
I also looked at Airbnb. Some nice single room appartments there at 500euros but no 2 bedroom appartments.
Anyone who can point me in the right direction or can refer me to someone? Would be much appreciated!
I’m waiting for 4 more replies, so will update the thread when I get more info.

10kjuan · Accepted Answer

I’m in Split right now with my girlfriend and we’re paying 30euro/night, but it’s high season. I’m sure once it gets closer to your dates you’ll be able to bargain down a bit more, esp for a 3-month stay.
Highly recommend our current place (11Mbps internet speed), but strongly considered this one as well.
I was able to negotiate down 30% on both apartments asking price, so definitely start there if not 40%.
If there’s any other way I can help, let me know

tomislavmamic · Answer

Hello,
I am managing Amosfera Coworking (www.facebook.com/coworkingamosfera?fref=ts) space in Split, Croatia. Few years back, I have worked for a local real estate agency for a month so I got to see how it works from the inside.
Price:
Outside the tourist season (July - August), you can get a two room apartment of 50sqm next to the city center for anything between 300 and 500 euro, depending on the location and the quality. This is average. Split has lot of apartments of rent which are usually used by students throughout the year. This means apartment owners try to rent for the whole year, and since it’s students, it’s cheaper. Much cheaper than Airbnb or during the tourist season. 1000 euro per month should buy you a 70 sqm apartment in Peristyle (www.visitsplit.com/en/528/peristyle-peristil).
Timing:
Also, the best time to look for an apartment in Split is September. It’s before university year starts and 10 000 students come rushing into the city. If you can choose, and you are going to stay here for few months, my suggestion would be for you to come to Split anytime between 1st and 15th of September, book an apartment via booking.com or any other service provider, go to local real estate agency and get them to help you find an apartment.
Agency services:
Usually they charge one monthly payment (the agency), and the apartment owner asks for you to pay on month rent upfront as well as the damage insurance which is usually the same amount (you get this back if you don’t damage the apartment). So if you are taking an 400 euro apartment, it will cost you immediately 1200 euros.
DIY:
You can as well try finding an apartment by yourself and saving yourself the agency provision. What you can do is find postings of available apartment in local facebook groups of classifieds (better option). Most often local people who need to rent an apartment in Split use local newspaper classifieds Mali oglasnik (online version is available for purchase here: trafika.slobodnadalmacija.hr) where virtually all the rentiers advertise their apartments.
Just be aware it might take longer time for you to find an appropriate apartment, and this gets stressful and tiring. Most probably you will have to check more than 5-6 apartments to find the right one and this takes couple of days.
Last couple of months I have had few DMs asking for help finding an apartment (sorry for not seeing this thread before! ) so I was considering getting this as an additional service by our coworking space. If you are interested in using a coworking space and need help finding an apartment in Split, please don’t hesitate to direct message me. I will be more than glad to help.
Hope this helped.

footprintsimprints · Answer

Hello Joost,
I’m from Split. As other have told you, June-Sep is high summer season and even people that have apartments or rooms to rent to students or locals will rent them out via Airbnb (poor students, have to go home from June to Sep). However, you can always try via Njuskalo.hr, a national classifieds website. To find Split rentals, click on ‘Nekretnine’ > ‘Stanovi’/‘Iznajmljivanje’ and then in the sidebar on the left under ‘Županija’ choose ‘Splitsko-dalmatinska’, under ‘Grad’ choose ‘Split’.
If you don’t have to be in Split, I’d suggest looking into nearby towns of Trogir, Kastela, Omis or Solin, all within 30 min bus ride.

reen · Answer

Beware that prices around Ultra are going through the roof (100€ per day for small apartment is absolute minimum, usually rather 150-200€)

reen · Answer

Season ends August 31, so from Sept 1 prices usually go down
http://airbnb.com/sublets is a good start.
You can negotiate with hosts lower prices than display ed (up to 50%, usually rather 30%) additionally because they all know that after season bookings will go down massively.

joost · Answer

Hi Hannah, thanks for your reply! That’s what I was thinking too. We probably have to reschedule to Sep - Nov, but on the other hand I don’t want to miss the good weather and nightlife.
I find it hard to contact people on sites other than Airbnb . The last email response I got from a real estate company was: ‘Hello, now is to early to look for the apartments.’  
More tips are welcome!

littleshiva · Answer

I have a friend who used to live in Split: she’s an American woman who now lives up the coast in a town called Drage, but she has connections all over the place and could help you find a place to stay in Split if airbnb isn’t working for you. Her name is Anastasia and her website (the part about apartments in Split) is www.kingsleysuccess.com/apartments/split/ She’s friendly, honest and very helpful. Tell her Little Shiva sent you.

mirko · Answer

Im considering to do it for few cities on the coast. Not just apartments but bikes, scooters, lunch/dinner packages etc. I’m even considering to give free apartment for a month to one or two nomads who could set a website up by our guidelines. It all comes down if there’s enough volume and your requirements (mostly price) meet what owners have to offer.

joost · Answer

Thanks for the help everyone. I booked a 2 bedroom appartment through Airbnb for the first 6 days in the city centre. I asked 3 owners for 50% off and one of them agreed. If we like the place, we can stay 3 more months at a very reasonable rate. Leaving in 8 days!
@tomislavmamic I’m sending you a PM now. Very interested in checking out your coworking space when we get there!

joost · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion mrgreen!
I’m going to contact some hosts to see how willing they are to lower their prices in September. I’m also thinking about going there for a week during Ultra Europe in July. Search might be easier when I meet hosts in person and can already look at some appartments. We’ll see how it goes.

joost · Answer

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Your place looks good Juan!
We’ll be arriving at the end of August, so I’m going to try to negotiate down the appartments on Airbnb.
@FootprintsImprints Thanks! I’ll look for more options on Njuskalo.hr but the companies that list the appartments are not very responsive so far. I’ll keep trying and might have to increase my budget.

levelsio · Answer

Haha yes! I’m in Amosfera now

footprintsimprints · Answer

You should start taking photos of gatherings at Amosfera!

tomislavmamic · Answer

That is great! See you in Split!
We just got 4 nomads joining us in Amosfera Coworking for next month, it seems that Split is going to be crowded with nomads this fall.

hannahvictorius · Answer

Hi Joost,
I’m currently keeping an eye out for a month in Sept-Oct. I’ve found people pretty approachable on airbnb, but two bed in the centre of Split for that price might be tough. I’m certainly staying well away until after Aug.

wanderingdev · Answer

I’m telling you, you locals could set up a service finding local-price apartments and charge a fee.

mirko · Answer

My 2c about Split (living here all my life)… keep an eye on it and if you don’t find anything this year, try next year. Split is growing very fast in tourism (over 20% increae just this year) so private accommodation and flats for rent almost double every year last few years . That means you can expect lower off season prices every year.
I’m here to help if you need anything. Thumbs up for Amosfera Coworking. Nice place, not in the town center but only 10 minutes by bus (20 min walk) and also very close to student campus.

allbombs · Answer

How did your search go? i’m currently looking for a place too.
did you find a place off airbnb?

tomislavmamic · Answer

Hey @wanderingdev we have that already in Amosfera, who ever asks for it we search for an apartment for them. It will always be bit more expensive because nomads rent only for a month or so, when locals usually rent for a year. But it’s manageable!

tomislavmamic · Answer

Hey @FootprintsImprints, thanks for your interest! We have lot events in our coworking space. We’ll organize a learning course for web developers in Split, later this month. Thanks to one of our digital nomad coworkers! Check it out!
But we don’t organize events in our coworking space only, this weekend DNs went together to Plitvice lakes, last week we had a picnic in local park and before that a farewell party for our @emondpph!
Here is a photo of one event we had earlier this year: 
10426147_564074450402106_3880669438921503115_n kopija.jpg900×506 64 KB

PS. If anyone would like to organize a get-together or any other event, let me know, I’d love to help!

hannahvictorius · Answer

Especially if you got back to back monthly bookings!

emondpph · Answer

I am also looking for an apartment in August in Split. There is not a lot of nice appartements left on AirBnb for under $1000, even for a lone traveler. If you are thinking of renting something bigger, maybe we could share.

ani_goes_tweet · Answer

And especially over spring and summer…

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Where can I find cheap appartments in Split, Croatia?

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