August the 22nd, 2026 – An American citizen who purchased a Zagorje house for 5,000 euros is currently facing demolition as a result of national regulations.
Justus Reid, the popular American musician and influencer who won over the public with his story of renovating a house in Hrvatsko Zagorje bought for only €5,000, is now facing an unexpected problem. As he revealed, because of the unresolved legal status of the property, his house could be removed, and he is currently trying to find a way to legalise it and save it from demolition.
Reid explained to his followers that this is why he hadn’t been posting progress videos for some time: “The reason I haven’t shown you the house for a while is that I’m currently trying to save it from demolition.” According to him, the house, built more than 40 years ago, was never properly registered as a legal building. Poslovni reports that a few months ago, he received an official notice from the competent authorities demanding the removal of the house and the structures around it.
“According to state regulations, it shouldn’t exist at all and needs to be removed. Honestly, I didn’t even know this could be a problem when I bought the house or when I started the works,” Reid said. He notes that other houses in his village also have legalisation problems, but claims he is the only one who has received an official notice so far. Reid hopes a new legal option can help resolve the situation. He says buildings constructed before 2011 can now be registered and legalised under the new rules, and he has already submitted all the required documentation.
“I don’t know how they will react or how long it will take them to reply. It could take six months, a year, or longer. And no, I will not bribe anyone to speed up the process or get special treatment. I don’t believe in that and I consider it wrong,” he stated. Until the procedure is resolved, the house cannot get an address, which makes it difficult for him to register his residence and regulate his stay in Croatia. For this reason he has started calling the property a holiday home.
In the meantime, he has bought several other structures in the same village, including a bunker, a cabin, a tower and a shack. He has announced that he will finish renovating the bunker and temporarily move into it because he needs a building with an address.
“While I’m trying to solve the situation with the €5,000 house behind the scenes, I’ll finish this bunker and move into it. I have to, I literally need to live in a building with an address,” he said in a video. He also plans to continue posting about work on the other properties, and one of his ideas is a slide that would go down from the top of the tower. Although he admits the situation worries him, he says he is “cautiously optimistic” and does not plan to give up on his project in Croatia.
“I’ll keep doing everything I can to fix this and try to resolve everything, God willing. I won’t give up that easily,” he concluded.
