Rental yield on the Montenegrin coast: the numbers without the gloss
The season is shorter than people think. Here is what an honest annual yield looks like once costs, voids and maintenance come out.
The question we hear most often from investor-buyers is what the yield is. The answer depends on whether we are counting gross or net, and on whether we are honest about the length of the season.
The season is shorter than it sounds
On the Montenegrin coast the full season runs roughly from mid-June to early September. That is eleven to twelve weeks of high occupancy.
May, early June and September give moderate occupancy at a lower rate. From November to March occupancy is low except in Tivat and Podgorica, where there is long-term demand.
Add it all up and a realistic figure for a well-run apartment in Budva or Bečići is between one hundred and one hundred and thirty let nights a year.
What comes out of the gross
Out of the gross income come: the platform commission, cleaning and laundry, maintenance and small repairs, utilities across the whole year, tax, and the periods when the apartment is empty while costs continue.
If you are not managing the letting yourself, add a management fee, which usually runs between fifteen and twenty-five percent of income.
The realistic range
For an apartment bought at market price, the net yield from seasonal letting most often lands between three and five percent a year.
Long-term letting gives a lower gross but a steadier net — fewer voids, less wear, less of your time. In Tivat and Podgorica long-term letting often produces a better net result than seasonal.
The figures of eight and ten percent that get quoted refer to gross income in a good year, before costs. That is not a yield.
Where the money is actually made
In the Montenegrin market, most of the total return has historically come from the growth in the value of the property rather than from letting it.
That changes how you should choose. A location that will be more sought-after in ten years matters more than one that earns ten euros more per night today.
So when we assess a property we look at planned infrastructure, planning documents, access, and whether the view can be built out. Those are the factors that decide value — not the number of beds.
