The Handover Day Checklist: Every Box to Tick the Day You Get the Keys

The day you take keys to your new home is simultaneously the most emotional and the most consequential moment of the purchase. A tired buyer signs off on problems that become their problems the next morning. A prepared buyer catches them while the seller is still legally on the hook.

Before you even arrive

• Bring the contract, a printed copy of the cadastre record (list nepokretnosti), your ID, and your phone with a flashlight and camera.
• Bring a meter and a plug-in tester (a 30-dinar item at any hardware store). These sound excessive until you save yourself one argument with them.
• Schedule the handover between 9 and 11 in the morning: enough daylight, enough time before you have to be anywhere else.

Structural and visible walk-through

1. Every wall, ceiling corner, and bathroom ceiling. Stains, peeling paint, or fresh patches in the corners are water-damage tells. A freshly painted patch over a day-old repair is not an accident.
2. Windows and balcony doors. Every one, opened and shut, both directions. Frames should close cleanly without sag.
3. Floors. Walk the perimeter of each room. Listen for creaks that weren't mentioned. Press the edges where parquet meets tile.
4. Every electrical outlet. Plug in the tester. Note any that don't light up. Older flats often have one or two dead outlets the seller quietly forgot to mention.

The services you are actually buying

1. Water and heat. Turn on every faucet, hot side first. Wait until you feel real heat, not lukewarm. If the building has district heating, a radiator in the living room should be warm to the touch within five minutes.
2. Drains. Fill a bathroom sink, release, watch it empty. Slow drains are usually not expensive to fix, but they are always cheaper to fix before you own the problem.
3. Toilet. One flush, watch the refill. A hissing tank is six months of higher water bills unless you replace a five-euro part now.
4. Boiler or heat source. The seller should demonstrate the unit powering up. Take a photo of the model and serial number for future service.

Paperwork before keys change hands

• Final utility readings (struja, voda, gas, grejanje). Both parties sign the numbers. This is how you avoid inheriting last month's bill.
• Outstanding building maintenance fees (tekuće and investiciono održavanje). A one-page statement from the building manager (upravnik) confirming zero balance.
• Final sale-purchase contract confirmation with notary stamp and cadastre entry reference if already filed.
• All keys. Ask explicitly: apartment, building entrance, mailbox, garage, storage (ostava), and any secondary entrances. Missing keys become your lock-change bill.

The handover record

Write a two-page zapisnik o primopredaji, sign it, have the seller sign it. State: date and time, all readings, everyone present, keys transferred, and any unresolved items. A phone photo of both signed copies is enough. You will never need this document, until the one time you do.

What to do the next morning

• Register your new address at the local MUP (8 to 15 day window).
• Transfer utilities to your name. Start with electricity; others can wait a week.
• Have the locks replaced. 30 to 50 EUR well spent. You don't know how many copies existed.
• Introduce yourself to the building manager. They'll remember the new owner who did; they'll remember the one who didn't as "that stranger in 4B."

The handover is not a formality. It is the last hour in which the seller has a duty to fix what they broke. Treat it accordingly.