Sreality vs Bezrealitky: Which Property Portal Is Better for Expat Buyers?

Most foreigners searching for property in the Czech Republic end up on Sreality first — it's the Google of Czech real estate. But yield-seeking investors and DIY buyers quickly discover Bezrealitky and ask the obvious question: should I be using both?

The short answer is yes, but they serve different purposes. Here's what each portal actually gives you and how to use them effectively without speaking Czech fluently.

Sreality: The Czech MLS

Sreality.cz is operated by Seznam (the Czech equivalent of Google) and functions as the national property portal that aggregates listings from virtually every licensed brokerage in the country. If a property is being sold through an agent, it's almost certainly on Sreality.

What Sreality covers:

• The vast majority of brokered inventory across all Czech regions
• New builds direct from developers
• Rental listings as well as sales
• Basic filtering by location, price, property type, and size

The agent commission reality: In Prague specifically, agent commissions (typically 3–5% of the purchase price) are almost always absorbed by the seller — they're built into the advertised price. So while Sreality looks "free" to buyers, the cost is embedded in what you pay. In regional markets like Brno or Ostrava, the buyer sometimes pays the commission as an additional cost on top.

Searching Sreality in English: The interface is entirely in Czech. Your practical options are:

1. Use the Google Translate page-level translation in Chrome (imperfect but navigable)
2. Learn the core Czech property vocabulary: byt (apartment), dům (house), prodej (sale), pronájem (rental), m² (square meters), Praha (Prague), dispozice (layout — 2+1 means 2 rooms + kitchen, 3+kk means 3 rooms + kitchenette)
3. Use Expats.cz as a curated English-language overlay — it has its own listings section and links to English-speaking agents who mirror Sreality inventory

Sreality also has a useful map view. Prague's micro-markets have significant price variation by district, and the map search helps you orient quickly to where your budget actually lands.

Bezrealitky: The FSBO Platform

Bezrealitky.cz (the name roughly translates to "without agents") is a for-sale-by-owner platform where private sellers list directly, bypassing estate agents and their commissions. It's the platform sophisticated buyers use to find deals that aren't already marked up by 3–5% for agent fees.

What Bezrealitky offers:

• Direct contact with property owners (no intermediary agent)
• Potentially lower prices — sellers who don't pay an agent often pass some of that saving on
• A Bezrealitky premium subscription (~CZK 800–900, roughly $35–40, for three months) is required to message listings directly
• Some listings appear on Bezrealitky and nowhere else, because the seller specifically wants to avoid agents

The catch: Without an agent managing the transaction, you're more exposed. The seller has no professional obligation to disclose defects or manage paperwork correctly. This doesn't mean you skip legal representation — it means you absolutely must retain your own independent lawyer, who will conduct due diligence, draft the purchase contract, and manage the escrow process on your behalf.

Bezrealitky is less useful for new builds (developers almost always use agents or sell direct through their own websites) but is excellent for resale apartments, particularly in the mid-market and affordable tiers.

How They Compare

Other Czech Property Websites Worth Knowing

Reality.cz and RealityMix.cz: Aggregate listings from multiple portals. Less inventory than Sreality but useful for cross-checking prices and spotting duplicate listings at different asking prices (which can reveal negotiation room).

Expats.cz: The English-language portal for Prague's expat community. The property listings section is much smaller than Sreality but curated toward English-speaking agents and international-facing sellers. It's a good entry point and a useful directory of English-speaking real estate professionals.

Developer websites: For new builds, many Prague developers (Skanska, Sekyra Group, Central Group) sell direct from their own platforms. If you're targeting a specific development, go to the developer's site for the full unit mix and pricing — Sreality often shows only a subset of available units.

The Practical Search Workflow

1. Start on Sreality for market overview — understand what your budget buys in each district
2. Set up Sreality saved searches (with Chrome translation active) for your target areas
3. Get a Bezrealitky subscription if you're actively looking — the subscription pays for itself if you find even one unlisted deal
4. Join expat Facebook groups ("Expats in Prague", "Prague Housing") to get peer-filtered recommendations and warning flags about specific agents or neighborhoods
5. Cross-reference anything interesting on nahlizeni.cuzk.cz — the public Cadastral lookup — to check ownership status and any encumbrances before wasting time on a viewing

What Comes After the Portal Search

Finding the property is the easy part. The due diligence, reservation contract, escrow setup, and cadastral registration are where foreign buyers without local knowledge typically run into expensive problems.

The Czech Republic Expat Buying Guide covers the full process from portal search through to key handover, including how to read a Cadastral extract in English and what to check in an SVJ's financial statements before you commit.

See more Czech Republic guides →