buying in bulgaria

[focus]

hi all am new to this site. am english but live in ireland i have read some of the post on bulgaria am thinking of buying there.AS anyone bought an in apartment in sunnyday 6 sunny beach am thinking of buying one there. the developer as built 12345 and now is biulding number 6 i have been in touch with an agent but do not know much about them. (don't know if i can say the company) any advice welcome

 

[runchev]

hi all am new to this site. am english but live in ireland i have read some of the post on bulgaria am thinking of buying there.AS anyone bought an in apartment in sunnyday 6 sunny beach am thinking of buying one there. the developer as built 12345 and now is biulding number 6 i have been in touch with an agent but do not know much about them. (don't know if i can say the company) any advice welcome

Hello Focus,

Yes, the development SD6 has just started.
We have sold a few apartments from this developer, it is well known and sells cheap apartments. the quality is not the best, but comparing to other prices it is reasonable to buy there.
The developer has also started building near Sofia, so he is expanding his developments.

If I can be of use, please contact me and I can help you as well with this service of buying an apartment there. And can answer you questions as well.
Regards.

 

[Lysos]

focus, why do you want to buy in Bulgaria ?. Elsewhere on this & other forums 'investors' are bleating that they cannot give away their purchases. As you are Irish I recommend you read the postings on "Askaboutmoney". If you still want to buy there are thousands of people around to bite your hand off; it's a buyer's market. Actually, outside the main cities it would seem there is no market. Hands up, does anyone know anyone who is planning a self catering holiday in Bulgaria ?.

 

[focus]

bulgaria

well lysos am english and liveing in ireland i would like to buy in bulgaria cos its a very nice place hot sunny things are cheap and to rent it out so it will pay for its self

 

[Lysos]

focus, it may well be a very nice place. but the summer season is very short and a bit of research will prove to you that you will find it very difficult to rent out because of gross over supply; it most certainly will NOT pay for itself !.

 

[Jain and Chris]

I think one would need to look at the situation in more detail to determine whether it would pay for itself and also whether you would be able to rent it out to do this.

There are plenty of people who are renting their property well, there are plenty who are not. It all depends upon your own strategy for this. Some are happy just renting to family and friends, others want more rental business than this. Some won't pay for marketing the property, others market it effectively themselves, others pay for this to be done.

There are many factors which will determine whether a property is a "success" for the owner.

We hear from thousands of readers, the one's who have high rental occupancy are the ones who put in the most effort to marketing their property. The properties which stand empty or are only full for a couple of weeks are generally those where the owner thought that by merely buying the property that was sufficient in itself for visitors to come flocking !

I sometimes wonder when I hear the bleeting and moaning from some property owners about rentals whether they realise that by putting this kind of stuff up on the internet, they are making a rod for their own backs. Whining owners and others have caused some of the problem themselves by putting off would-be renters. It reminds me of the "Costa del Crime" moment in time.... but the rental market in Spain did extraordinarily well, despite the best endeavours of pretty much everyone at the time seeming to want to do the place down.

Focus, take a good look at it all and see if the figures stack up for your own situation. If you're happy with it, go ahead. All the best

 

[mickthepropertyguru]

I think one would need to look at the situation in more detail to determine whether it would pay for itself and also whether you would be able to rent it out to do this.

There are plenty of people who are renting their property well, there are plenty who are not. It all depends upon your own strategy for this. Some are happy just renting to family and friends, others want more rental business than this. Some won't pay for marketing the property, others market it effectively themselves, others pay for this to be done.

There are many factors which will determine whether a property is a "success" for the owner.

We hear from thousands of readers, the one's who have high rental occupancy are the ones who put in the most effort to marketing their property. The properties which stand empty or are only full for a couple of weeks are generally those where the owner thought that by merely buying the property that was sufficient in itself for visitors to come flocking !

I sometimes wonder when I hear the bleeting and moaning from some property owners about rentals whether they realise that by putting this kind of stuff up on the internet, they are making a rod for their own backs. Whining owners and others have caused some of the problem themselves by putting off would-be renters. It reminds me of the "Costa del Crime" moment in time.... but the rental market in Spain did extraordinarily well, despite the best endeavours of pretty much everyone at the time seeming to want to do the place down.

Focus, take a good look at it all and see if the figures stack up for your own situation. If you're happy with it, go ahead. All the best

Jain in your experience how many weeks do the guys that put a lot of effort into getting rentals get ?
Second of all, maybe people are bleating because they were made to believe otherwise (rental occupancy ) by greedy companies ?

 

[Jain and Chris]

Hi Mick

Well, I do know of someone who has rented 25 weeks but I'm sure this is rare.

Otherwise our readers are reporting mixed results (see as to why from my previous comments). Met one of our readers only last week and it's his first year. He's got his own internet site which was up and running a couple of months ago (maybe three months?) and he's got 15 weeks booked from it already. He's a smashing chap and puts in effort, not only to get the business but also exceeding expectations for visitors when they arrive in Bulgaria.

I think that's the way to go; these places won't fill themselves.

Yes, some of the developers have been claiming all sorts of things but in some instances I can't believe people fell for some of the more outrageous claims. I mean, when a developer tells you you're going to get 20% return, what would you think? I can remember when we lived in France and had a self catering unit which we rented out, even there with higher rental prices, higher occupancy and longer season, we generally only brought in 8,000 pounds a year off it and we worked damned hard at it too.

If people are really looking to make money out of rentals then apart from location, location, location; they then have to be realistic about returns and put in the work. It's perfectly possible to achieve but don't underestimate the effort.

Cheers,

 

[mickthepropertyguru]

Ya i totally agree with location, location. If the people are living close to their apartment (they live in the Black Sea coast) they have a huge advantage, they have control over every aspect.
For most renting an apartment is a daunting prospect, in my experience most people buy a property through property companies because they believed that the company will have no issues renting it out. Yes this is very naive but I'm sure most people who have bough one or multiple properties on the Black Coast are the average Joe and most pretty young who have been hit by the credit crunch, negative equity and even oil.

Id like to take a look at the costs of owning a property in Bulgaria (Black sea coast) for an educational purpose and would like opinions on the ongoing costs as i don't own a property there .

By the way this is a rough guide and should be used as that. Any investor should consult professional legal and tax advise before investing in any country.

Buying costs (Legal, Stamp Duty, Land reg, Notary etc) = 5% - 6% of purchase price
Selling fees = 5%- 10% (Agent , legal)
Capital gain Tax 0% in Bulgaria as long as:
you only sell one property in the tax year
you sell 2 properties that you have owned for more than 5 years

BUT 18% -20% to your government depending on the country you reside in

1) Community fees = €6 - €8 /m2 (including rubbish collection/seuage ?)
2) Insurance and Tax = €250 - €350 per annum ?
3) Management fees = 1 month + 10% - 15% of total rental achieved
4) Property tax = 0.15% per annum
5) Maintenance = €80 month (variable) ?
6) Water and Electricity = €70 month (variable) ?
7) Rental Tax = 15% on rental achieved
8) Average Rental expectancy 8 - 10 weeks (hugely variable)?

Has anybody anything to add or correct on the above ?
Again this is just an exercise for educational purposes.

 

[flatron]

I am agree about location...Varna region is very suitable for property investment.

 

[Jain and Chris]

Just ought to clarify something about what the Brits call Capital Gains Tax.

1. If you own property as an individual and sell one property in a tax year (or two properties in a year if you have owned them for five years),then there is no capital gains tax in Bulgaria

2. If you own property through the vehicle of a Bulgarian company and the company sells a property, then there is 10% Corporation Tax to pay in Bulgaria. Corporation tax is always payable on all a company's profits after allowable deductions.

Mick, some of those figures are a bit out.
Community charge - what the Brits would call poll tax or rates - these depend upon the municipality of each area. We pay 40 euros a year for a three bed detached of about 140 sq.m in a town which includes sewage, rubbish collection, street lights, etc
The maintenance costs seem high to me too
Water and electric - again that's high
Rental expectations - yes, very variable

Cheers

 

[overseas wills]

re

I think it really is up to the individual where they want to buy and the reasons for buying. Bulgaria is still in its infancy with regards buying and has only just become a memebr of the EU hence the interest.

Bulgaria offers many things and very importantly the friendliness of the people. I have property in Bulgaria and last year (beiginning of October) visited Spain after many years. I could not believe the cost of holidaying compared to Bulgaria. In addition the town we stayed in (near Salou) was closing for the winter so it wasnt really offering me anything better than what I had been used to.

Good luck.

 

[mickthepropertyguru]

Just ought to clarify something about what the Brits call Capital Gains Tax.

1. If you own property as an individual and sell one property in a tax year (or two properties in a year if you have owned them for five years),then there is no capital gains tax in Bulgaria

2. If you own property through the vehicle of a Bulgarian company and the company sells a property, then there is 10% Corporation Tax to pay in Bulgaria. Corporation tax is always payable on all a company's profits after allowable deductions.

Mick, some of those figures are a bit out.
Community charge - what the Brits would call poll tax or rates - these depend upon the municipality of each area. We pay 40 euros a year for a three bed detached of about 140 sq.m in a town which includes sewage, rubbish collection, street lights, etc
The maintenance costs seem high to me too
Water and electric - again that's high
Rental expectations - yes, very variable

Cheers

Ya i have put question marks on some of the figures as i don't exactly know what they are but I'm looking for ye guys who own a property and reside there to give an insight into average costs so i can update the list and give a fair reflection.
What average figures would you put the outgoing expenses at for a one bed apartment in Sunny Beach ? Are there any other costs/Tax related to Bulgarian property ? Thanks

 

[rabarbaro]

Yes, I add that , if you rent by week, you have to consider also the cleaning costs and the laundry washing, as well as the risk of having something ruined, or things deterioreted...
In the end, if you live nearby it has a meaning, otherwise not....
better buy in a city and rent the apartment all the year round.....

 

[Sooky]

focus, why do you want to buy in Bulgaria ?. Elsewhere on this & other forums 'investors' are bleating that they cannot give away their purchases. As you are Irish I recommend you read the postings on "Askaboutmoney". If you still want to buy there are thousands of people around to bite your hand off; it's a buyer's market. Actually, outside the main cities it would seem there is no market. Hands up, does anyone know anyone who is planning a self catering holiday in Bulgaria ?.

I agree with this - my sister has two properties for sale in Bulgaria. One a new build pool house and the other a large plot she was going to develop into an activity vcentre, so both ends of the price scale - no interest what so ever. She is also having difficulty getting estate agents to take them on their books.

 

[Ray Sammut]

New Developments in Bulgaria

I am new to this and to all blogs but I am finding it quite usefull.

I have two pieces of land - one near Bourgas and the other one near Veliko Tarnovo (on the Stamboliiski Lake) each having an area of 13600sq.mts.

I have planned to build twelve detached villas on each of the land. And I need to sell the properties off-plan before I can start building them.

I would appreciate to have some good guidance how I can market and sell these properties.

Hello Focus,

Yes, the development SD6 has just started.
We have sold a few apartments from this developer, it is well known and sells cheap apartments. the quality is not the best, but comparing to other prices it is reasonable to buy there.
The developer has also started building near Sofia, so he is expanding his developments.

If I can be of use, please contact me and I can help you as well with this service of buying an apartment there. And can answer you questions as well.
Regards.

 

[Fletch]

Hi Ray, I think at the moment is not best time to try to sell in Bulgaria we have lived here now for over 12 years, we live 7kms inland from Sunny Beach and the market at the moment as it is world wide is almost at a stop. We have just managed to get our plans passed to build an off plan villa in our village it has taken us over 12 months to get the project togther we have not started to market the villa yet as I dont think it is the right time if I can be of any help please let me know

 

[survivalbulgaria]

I think that the moment with easy off-plan sales is gone now. Even with secured mortgages (for 50% - 60% of the price) the sales are struggling now so if you do not have the money to complete them then it is better to wait.

 

[Jain and Chris]

Hi Ray

I think the comments on the board so far are probably quite correct, in terms of don't sell anywhere in the world now if you can avoid it.

However, what you are selling does not necessarily fall within the bounds of everyday property, such as a house for holidays or investment. It is different, with nearly 14000 sq. m. on each plot, so you could sell the land as is, so to speak.

I think if you price sensibly you will certainly attract a potential investor who is looking to buy and hold, or is looking to develop in the medium term.

If you prefer to develop yourself, then you really need some damn good marketing for putting out off-plan projects at the moment (and I'm not just talking about Bulgaria at all but any country). I'd be happy help if I can.

All the best, JnC