How I’m planning another renovation of my small property in Montenegro

As I have already started preparation work here in the UK, I thought I would kick off by sharing how I have started preparing for this second renovation project and passing on what information I have picked up so far.

I’ll follow up in my next post with my plan for managing the rest of the renovation process during my planned visits to Montenegro this year.

So here goes.

I went through the apartment room by room and listed exactly what jobs needed to be done – big and small.

My property renovation project brief

Project brief sounds impressive, I know. But it is really just about putting down the different items I want done. I went through the apartment room by room and listed exactly what jobs needed to be done – big and small. The apartment is a small space but nonetheless the list is long! It does really help to get it all down though so you can see what you are tackling.

​I haven’t included specific materials yet, for example, kitchen cabinets or specific showers, as I need to look at what is available in Montenegro first. But the brief does show what work is required in an itemised list and I have an idea in my head of the sort of thing I want.

Montenegro Man (who is a bit of an expert on PowerPoint) added some photos and diagrams to make things really clear.

Find potential property project managers in Montenegro

I plan to appoint a project manager to arrange the work and oversee proceedings, as I did the first time around. Although I do have some knowledge of Montenegrin, I am still very rusty and need someone with good English. Thankfully they are out there!

I have had work done on the apartment by individual local tradespeople over the years, so it was an option to renovate by going direct to the different trades. Montenegrin wages are much lower than in the UK, so this route could cost less. But given that I live 1600 miles away I decided that it was worth appointing a project manager to coordinate it all.

Finding project managers to manage this small property renovation in Montenegro has been a task in itself. Even when I find suitable people not everyone seems very interested in the possibility of taking my money and I have failed to get replies to some of my emails. For my research I looked online, searched on Facebook, LinkedIn and followed up on a suggestion from a friend in Montenegro. And eventually I came up with a list of contacts. Hurrah! Progress. 

Project Managers in Montenegro

After making initial contact with them online, I emailed them the renovation brief. If they seemed interested in the work I arranged for my property agent to let them in the apartment so that they could assess the work before we met.

Please note that I have not personally met any of the project managers below or used them, so they are not recommendations as such. (The only exception to this is Robin Gellately-Smith, who I met years ago through my Kotor estate agent).

My list of property project managers in Montenegro

Montenegro Prospects is an estate agent with offices in Kotor, Budva and Bar, that can recommend some project managers

Montenegro Coast is another estate agent based in Bar that does project management (they will also handle projects outside the Bar area, such as Kotor)

Robin Gellately-Smith has experience as a surveyor and architect and carries out project management. He is an Englishman, who has been based in Kotor for over 18 years.

Adriatic Point is a large Budva-based company, who deal with larger scale projects or more complex renovations.

Salon Maro has a furniture showroom near Budva and will manage renovations as part of an interior design and furniture package.

The next step on my renovation journey is to travel to Montenegro and meet potential project managers and get some quotes. I approach this not without some trepidation. I really want a good standard of work done and am aiming for a nice finish, so I am after a project manager that has high standards too. (And I am a bit of a worrier anyway!)

But it is also very exciting given I have been itching to refurb the place for some years now. The time has come at last!

So I am going to stop worrying and keep my eye fixed on the goal. And remind myself that things unfold as you move along a process. This means that I will do as much as I can to be thorough and prepared at each stage but also reassure myself that I will find out more with each step. (And it’s not like I haven’t done it all before, I tell myself!)

I’ll let you know how it goes! Check out my next post when I share my plan for managing the rest of the process.

* Doviđenja = goodbye and zdravo = hello