Bulgaria enjoyed a huge success in the past few years by transforming itself from destination that was once ignored by tourists, into a resort where many British people would like to buy a holiday home from. The country’s 354 km stretch of Black Sea coastline helped Bulgaria achieve this success. According to the Bulgarian Government Registry Agency, 103,665 of the 311,000 properties sold during 2006 were purchased by non-resident buyers. Two thirds of these properties are bought by British residents.
The most famous section of Bulgaria to buy a property is its coastline without any doubt. Resorts such as Golden Sands and Sunny Beach became extremely popular with buyers in the past few years. As well as its sandy beaches, skiing opportunities also attract many buyers to the west of the country. Some of the most popular resorts are Bansko, Pamporovo and Borovets. While these destinations are skiing resorts in the winter, they turn into golf courses, hiking paths and spas in the summer. Another resort where Brits are buying is Sofia, which is the capital city of Bulgaria as well as rural towns such as Veliko Turnovo.
Bulgaria is very cheap when compared to other destinations and majority of the investors would like to take advantage of these low prices before they increase. After Bulgaria joined EU at the beginning of 2007, it gave the country a good reputation among overseas buyers, making the numbers to boost. Although Bulgaria has been popular, it still has a very long way to go until the market is fully emerged.
To purchase the property that you decided on, the solicitor will draw up a preliminary contract of sale and ask the buyer to put down a deposit of around 10%. The lawyer will ensure that there is no problem with the property’s title deed and arrange the land tax and notary fees (appx. 5% of the purchase price).
While foreigners have no problem buying a property, they are not allowed to own land. In order to purchase a land, foreigners should form a limited company that will own the land and register themselves as the company director. The process takes around four weeks and costs up to £1000.
