Advice for Buying in Bulgaria

[owen]

Hi all,

I need some help as I have no idea in what I am doing, I am looking at buying an apartment at Pamporovo Orpheus Valley complex in Bulgaria, Its a 1 bed but its 70 sq meters. (I think is a good size) its costing about ?58,000 all in inc all fees. With a rental contract of 4.5% which is ok for the first 2 years. Does all this sound ok or should I put my money else where, please ropy as no one will offend as I just need advise.
Thanks
owen

 

[diego]

Sit down with the agents and thrash out all their charges, more often than not they will give you a rental income for a couple of years, but whether you will make money is debatable. A lot of people who have purchased apartments fall foul because even when apartment is empty the charges still apply.

Pamparovo is a gorgeous place, expensive to stay there and in winter the majority of people on the slopes are not actually staying in Pamparovo.

If it's possible speak to other existing apartment owners to get their views, because believe me there are some real horror stories to be heard.
Thanks
diego

 

[eyeC]

they giving you discount to market the property

they will take your 58k give you from it 2 years rent 4.5% and after that you are on your own no one will rent it from you.
they are selling the property to you almost 53K if it is hard earned cash use it somewhere else

 

[mike123]

LOL, that was funny!

 

[eyeC]

i know

anything possible these days

 

[thetravelbug]

Avoid over hyped ski resorts and places like Sunny Beach Owen, not a good investment at all

Rachel

 

[Michael Stevens]

A good avice about Bulgaria property market you can find at Premier Property Bulgaria

 

[Jain and Chris]

Owen, you will find plenty of agents have already replied to you, each with their own axe to grind or perhaps I should say each with their own properties to sell. You can see it in their posts, one doesn't like the sea or ski because they are selling inland rural properties, the other doesn't like inland because they are selling city, ski or ski...... Yawn!

Take independent advice from people who are not agents, nor linked to developers... that way you'll find what you are looking for.

All the best
JnC

 

[boro]

A lovely home in Bulgaria

Hi all,is somebody interested in buying a lovely new built house in Bulgaria,situated near a large artifishal lake.I am the owner and builder.feel free to contact me. e-mail:[email protected]

 

[Platinum]

Hi Owen
i work for a developer in Bulgaria, if you email what problems you are having i will try and help you

Richard

 

[boro]

HI Platinum,sorry but i dont see with what am i threatning

 

[boro]

Sorry about the stupid replay

 

[lina]

Pamporovo is a beautiful place, and this complex is a pretty one.
Go there and see it, than make Your decision. If it's Your thing You'll feel it.

 

[Platinum]

Hi

I agree it is a nice place, i think that Bansko is going to be better, as it has the old town and has more there. I dont think that you can go wrong in buy in Bulgaria as long as you go with a good company/developer and get the right advice

Cheers

 

[najnaj]

buying property advice

Hi, Owen and all the guys in the forum
yes, Bulgaria is hot real estates market nowadays, but I don't think the biggest resorts are good idea to invest there. They already are overcrowded and there are much more concrete and building sites than nature. It is too noisy as well...you definitely could not relax there
except that it is not recomended to buy something in "Green", i.e. before it is built up and you can really see it, you know what I mean!

 

[mike123]

Hi owen,
Ask what is the actual living space and what are the so called common parts, because 70 sq.m souds big for the bulgarian standards.
I just put a deposit on something that has 5% rental guarantee and it is part of a hotel, so i believe it will be rented all year round. PM me for more info.

 

[Shadow]

I would avoid Bulgaria off-plan properties like the plague.

We bought at prices as they were in early 2005, so hopefully when we come to sell we will make a reasonable profit. I doubt whether there will be many gains over the next 2 to 3 years despite all the hype from the agents. Avoid Sunny Beach, it's hell hole. You will never sell. It depends what you want any property for. If it's for personal use only and you are not worried about making money out of it, then yes, there are some nice off-plan apartments.

The rental market is hard work. It's not too bad in Sofia where corporate lets are possible, but the ski resorts are a dead duck. We were in a developer's rental scheme, when we questioned why were not getting any rentals we were told to take our rentals elsewhere if we didn't like it. When we complained about the attititude of this individual which was tantamount to him insulting us and posted his replies on Mybulgaria he terminated our rental contract and refused to do business with us. Ok maybe our postings were a mistake.

This was not a Bulgarian company but a UK comapny. This is the kind of thing you are up against. You have no comback in the the UK, no rights whatsoever because you have purchased an overseas property.

Once estate have got your money and these are UK agents not necessarilly Bulgarian, they will treat you like dirt and cannot do a thing about it. If you try to arrange rentals yourself it is extremely difficult. The agents have the rentals sewn up with the tour operators who won't deal with individual owners.

The developers/agents will try to extract as much money from you as possible and will dictate terms, despite the fact that without the individual investors they would have no complexes in the first place.

Take your money elsewhere, e.g. France and play safe.

A good website for advice is the Bulgaria Buyer site

 

[Jain and Chris]

I’m not sure it’s fair to say to avoid off-pla in Bulgaria. There are some good off-plan developments at reasonable prices and there will be gains to be made over the next years.

Whilst I too don’t personally like Sunny Beach, there are many who do and it suits them to purchase there.

With off plan, it’s the same as everything in property - location, location, location. Front line properties will always sell.

You’re right though, the rental market is still in its infancy. To date it has been pretty much bookings through the major tour operators but with low cost carriers truly starting to arrive, individuals should start to have more success. The big thing about rentals is that many people seem to think once they’ve bought their apartment, then people will automatically arrive in droves. Without a big marketing effort nobody will even know about your rental. Owners need to investigate rental sites thoroughly to see where to promo their property and have their own web site too. Marketing is the key and should have top priority. When we had our small cottage to rent in France, we started marketing it even before we had renovated it.

Any rental agreement you enter into with the developer should be thoroughly checked by an independent lawyer. I think you’ll find there will be no promises of anything on the developer’s part, which would be the same in any country. As one poster pointed out, guaranteed rental is generally included in the original price you pay.

The posting about sq.m of the apartment is a noteworthy point. It is normal in Bulgaria for the developer to include the “common parts” when citing sq.m., so the apartment is always smaller than you think.

I’m not sure France is any safer... prices have been going down in many parts (for example, 15% in some parts of the Dordogne in the first half of this year!) so there may not be gains to be had at all?

 

[phobia1]

Consider alternatives

Firstly let me apologise for what may be an out of place answer here. I cannot understand why British people seem to be magnetised by the sea. Why is it that we buy tiny apartments when we could have a 200 sqm house and space, rather than being cramped in uncomfortable surroundings. Add a pool to satisfy our craving for water, then relax... if you must sit on a sandy beach then go for daytrips. Ha apologies, just my opinion.
Best to all
FJW
Architect in Bulgaria

 

[countyboy]

Still lots of growth to be seen at Varna

I personally think that Varna has still the highest growth potential for property investments. Its a very desired area and property prices are still relatively cheap compared to other European beach resorts. So for people where price is an issue but not want to miss out on a beach holiday house can consider Bulgaria black Sea as an option, however the market has seen some significant growth already over the last 3 years.
The question is just how long can the market sustain such exponential growth.Personally doe i do prefer the Mediterranean sea to the Black sea
If you looking for a developer to buy from off plan, let me know and i provide you with a list of some established companies that have secured themselves the land and are selling off plan at the moment.