Wow, what a big, empty forum! I just found my way here from an email I received from EasyExpat. I used the France forum for a while when I was looking at buying a house there.
I have been living in Hungary since November 2011. I really like it here but I'm finding it very difficult to learn Hungarian and hardly anyone speaks English. I'm now considering moving the short distance to Croatia because of this language barrier problem. It's not that Croatian is easier to learn (although I hope it might be) but that it will be easier to get by with just English. I've found lots of young people and a few middle aged people can at least speak basic English in Croatia.
I did not consider Croatia before the country joined the EU and even now it is not as easy to relocate there than other EU countries, because they still make you apply for a visa and you have to be there for 5 years before you can be granted permanent resident status.
In terms of the physical move, in my case I will be initially sharing my time between the 2 countries. If I sell my house in Hungary before 2015 I will suffer a tax penalty similar to capital gains tax. I therefore plan to buy a cheap house to renovate in Croatia and will not stay there full time until the most urgent jobs are completed. Some of the houses I've viewed do not have internal water supplies, flush toilets, bathrooms etc. I had always thought of Croatia as being more modern and affluent than Hungary but I'm finding the reverse to be the case. For example, one village I went to is only reached along gravel roads.
There are a lot of illegally built buildings in Croatia but a lot of these have recently been "legalised". It is therefore essential if buying a property to get the paperwork checked by an expert.

 

Well it is about a year since my last post so I will give an update. I did buy a house in Croatia, quite near the border with Hungary, so I can drive between the 2 houses in about an 1 hr 20 mins. I got the place last April and since then I have been splitting my time between the 2 countries. The house is in a nice peaceful rural setting and has a lot of potential but needs a fair amount of work. So far I have put in a septic tank sewage system and am half way through installing solid fuel central heating. There is no kitchen at the moment so I have to wash dishes in the bathroom. I plan to move in full time in April or May, as I have someone wanting to rent my house in Hungary for 6 months.
The house is in a tiny village near the small town of Durdevac. It cost 14,000 Euros, slightly less than I paid for a similar size property in Hungary. So far I have found most people to be friendly and helpful and I am convinced that life will be better for me in Croatia than Hungary. The son of the woman who sold me the house speaks English and we have exchanged many emails although we have never met, as he lives in Zagreb. He told me about a local wifi internet scheme and organised it for me. He has also advised me on numerous other queries. The family in Hungary who sold me the house there have been equally helpful but none of them speak English, which is the big difference.