How Walking Away From a California Home Loan Led Us to a Life in Croatia

How Walking Away From a California Jumbo Loan Led Us to a Life in Croatia

Six years ago, my life looked exactly like it was supposed to on paper.

I was living in California, pregnant, and doing the “responsible” thing: we’d been approved for a jumbo loan and were actively house‑hunting in Santa Barbara. It was the dream people back home understood. It was also the dream that started to feel heavier every time I imagined the next 30 years.

When the “right” plan doesn’t feel right

On the surface, everything added up—good area, strong market, the kind of move you’re supposed to feel grateful for.

Under the surface, my brain was doing math in a different currency: time, stress, and how much of my kids’ childhoods would be spent in traffic, commuting, and trying to keep up. The numbers on the mortgage papers started to feel less like stability and more like a 30‑year contract with a life I wasn’t sure I wanted.

Around the same time, the world was just beginning to open back up after travel restrictions. Croatia was one of the few places Americans could go. We booked a trip—not to buy anything, not to move, just to breathe somewhere else for a bit.

Croatia wasn’t on my original vision board

Like a lot of people, when I daydreamed about Europe, I pictured places like Spain, Italy, or Portugal. Croatia wasn’t even on my radar.

But as soon as we arrived, something shifted. The coastline was beautiful, yes, but it was the pace of life that got under my skin. Mornings felt calmer. People walked more, rushed less. Families actually seemed to be outside together, not just passing each other on the way to the next thing.

Out of curiosity, I started looking at property listings. I expected them to be laugh‑out‑loud expensive. Instead, I was shocked. For less than what we’d set aside as a down payment in California, we were seeing apartments we could realistically own outright in Croatia.

The numbers suddenly told a very different story than the one we’d been sold.

The decision we didn’t tell anyone about

We booked a few viewings “just to see.” I told myself it was harmless. But by the time we walked into the apartment that would become ours, I knew something was happening.

It wasn’t a perfect dream home. It didn’t look like a Pinterest board. But it felt like an opportunity, one that came with a completely different set of trade‑offs than the jumbo loan back home.

We even knew the seller was asking a bit too much. And still… we didn’t care. The bigger question wasn’t “Is this the perfect deal?” It was “What kind of life are we choosing for our family?”

Within eight days of arriving, we made an offer. Within three weeks, we owned a property in Croatia. And we didn’t tell a single person back home.

Not our friends. Not our families. No one.

For almost a year, it was just ours. Partly because it felt unreal. Partly because we didn’t want other people’s fear and opinions speaking louder than our own instincts.

Figuring it out without a roadmap

There was just one small problem: I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

New country. New laws. New language. New process.

There was no simple “how to buy in Croatia as an American” guide in plain English. No step‑by‑step checklist. No one to walk me through what to expect. Instead, there were endless tabs, conflicting advice, and a lot of “I hope this is right.”

So I did what most of us do when something matters and the information isn’t clear: I figured it out, one messy step at a time. I asked questions. I made mistakes. I learned which agents to trust and which to avoid. I navigated legal approvals, contracts, translations, timelines, and everything in between.

It wasn’t smooth. But it was possible. And once I understood how the system worked, it stopped being this big, intimidating mystery.

That realization changed everything.

The second property (without even seeing it)

Fast‑forward a bit to 2022, when the dollar was strong against the kuna. I saw another opportunity.

This time, buying didn’t feel wild. It felt intentional. We bought our second property remotely, without seeing it in person first. That’s how much confidence I’d built in understanding the process, the market, and the right people to have on our side.

What once felt like “are we actually allowed to do this?” had become “I know exactly what to check, who to call, and what to ask for.”

More than an investment

What started as “maybe this could be a nice little investment” turned into something much bigger.

It became:

• Stability that didn’t depend on a single employer.

• Income potential through rentals when we weren’t there.

• A launching pad for a completely different lifestyle.

Today, we live in Croatia full‑time. My daughters are growing up in a place that feels safe and grounded in a way I never quite felt before. As a single mom, that safety and sense of community is everything.

The apartment we thought would be a side investment ended up opening the door to an entirely new chapter of our lives.

Why I started helping other families

After going through all of this without a real roadmap, I kept coming back to the same thought: It should not be this hard to find clear, honest information.

Not because the system is impossible, but because most of what you need to know is scattered across different websites, offices, and conversations, and rarely explained in a way that makes sense if you’re not local.

People don’t need pressure. They need clarity.

They need someone who has actually bought here as a foreigner, made the mistakes, learned the process, and can walk them through it step by step, especially if they’re doing it with kids, jobs, and a whole life in another country.

That’s why I started Breeza.

Not as a traditional real estate agency. Not to push people into buying something before they’re ready.

Breeza exists to be the bridge between “I wish we could do this” and “We actually did it”—with guidance, support, and a clear path through a foreign system.

If you’re where I was…

If you’re in the phase where you’re:

• saving Croatia reels,

• stalking property listings “just for fun,”

• and telling yourself you’re “just curious” about moving or buying abroad…

you’re not alone, and you’re not silly.

Sometimes the biggest shifts in your life start with letting yourself imagine something that doesn’t fit the script you were given and then getting the right support to explore it for real.

If you’re wondering whether a home or life in Croatia could be realistic for your family, that’s exactly the question I built Breeza to help you answer.