Property in Bulgaria (or that region) again!

Things to be aware of are:
1. Rental income stated as guaranteed may not be realised. The property is increased by the guarantee so in effect they are giving you back your money.
2. You will be liable to tax on the profit on foreign rental income in Ireland and you may also be liable to tax on foreign property.
3. When you sell the property you will be liable to CGT in Ireland and may be liable to similar tax in foreign country.
4. There may be problems with currency fluctuations
5. You may have to do two computations in relation to your tax affairs. One for the Irish Authorities the other for foreign authorities. Remember it is up to you to make the necessary returns.
6. Any advise you get, get in writing. Ask them what qualification they have to give this advise. Are they tax expert in this area etc.
7. Ask about Inheritance rights. Can you leave the property to whoever you like. What taxes are payable?
8. Contracts are in a foreign language for us and need to be translated. If there is any ambiguity between the translation and the original contract, then the original contract in the foreign language will win.
​
Other useful links are:
For details of the Double Taxation agreement with Bulgaria [broken link removed]

For Details on how foreign rents are taxed see [broken link removed]

and what you can claim against rental income in ireland see [broken link removed]

See for previous discussions on AAM about Bulgaria

 
KScal said:
Hello,

My partner went along to a foreign property show in city west last week and came home extremely excited about buying a foreign property in Bulgaria or Turkey. I'm sceptical at the best of times but when she went through the brochures alarm bells began to ring. Needless to say my partner is now hell-bent on acquiring a property in Bulgaria. We have no experience with foreign investment or investment in general other than we have a house.
I asked a few people about buying property abroad and no one seems to know, good bad or in-different. I went to my old man (first point of contact for all things concerning money) who had looked into foreign investment but had decided against.
So here I am! Can you tell me if I'm getting a good deal and how can they guarantee three years rental??????? that will more that cover your repayments?
The property is two bed rooms and two bathrooms furnished to highest standards (apparntly), kitchen box with dining area and living room air condition unit as well at a price of €123388, 109.83 sq.m, the resort is in a place called Varvara, south coast bourgas, Bulgaria. Reckons there is three golf courses going up in that area.
Can anyone advise????????

:confused:
Click to expand...

Are you sure this place isn't called Kavarna? The detail you describe sounds very like a development called "Kavarna Gardens" in Kavarna which I'm looking very closely at myself at the mo. €114000 for a 2 bed apt fully furnised. a couple of mins from the beach with a sea view and within 10 of 3 new golf course being built. considering the land aspect of the purchase (setting up a company) as well as the 6% 2 year rental offer thats there before i commit. Any comments?
 
Beware !!!!!!!
This advice may be a bit late to you but I was speaking to an English girl who works for a property company based in Spain about the Kavarna Gardens development. She says that her company has removed it from their book as it has not got permits to build.
I was interested myself as it is a beautiful location.

Just wanted to infrom the AAM members.
 
When you hear golf courses are going in, raise an eyebrow, contact the local authority and visit the area yourself, otherwise you're falling victim to the usual blather.
 
Varvara is a small village some 80 km south of Burgas. It is just next to the coastal line, located on the road that starts from Burgas and goes along the shore. The village is midway between the towns of Micurin (Carevo) and Ahtopol. You can see a small map of the region on our web site, www.dukaty.com, under "Brokering" and Real Estate.

I can not comment on the price or ROI: it would be speculative, and I am a competitor of your seller. However, I can assure you the nature and the microclimate around your new place will be a nice surprise to any sea-sport slash vacation lover. Also, the village is at the footsteps of the Stranja montain range, itself a nature reserve.

Good luck !
 
I'm not a property investor, but the last comment by Ivan D. (a knowledgable bulgarian estate agent) must be interpreted as being to encourage someone to buy a property that is of shocking poor value. The issue at stake here is an apartment selling in Bulgaria for 123,000 euro.
As an honest Bulgarian how can you post on here, and not mention that that price is 100% poor value. Are you on here purely to fan the flames of Irish interest in Bulgarian property.
It is going to be a long time before the average Bulgarian earns 12,300 euro. 123,000 is 10 times a wage that Bulgarians may not reach for another five years. But the investor here is going to need their property to reach a value of 150,000+ to make this worthwhile. Plainly not going to happen. Comparisons with Spain are unfair, Spanish population has a far larger average wage, the key factor in the price of housing. You can have all the over/under supply issues you want, if people earn low wages then houses are valued accordingly. You previously did not respond to the poster that pointed out that it was shockingly cold/raining in a region where you claimed 300+ days of sunshine were possible.
 
Dear PJBrady1,

Before you start questioning my honesty please take into consideration the following:

1. I was merely trying to help clarify the confusion the original poster's author had (Kavarna vs Varvara);

2. The issue here is not buying an apartment in BG for 123 000 Euro, the issue is buying an apartment for that little in a hot tourist destination, a prime vacation spot (whether you like it or not, the double-digit year on year growth of tourists is a fact);

3. People have different reasons for buying, and different considerations vis-a-vis their investment strategy as well. If the market per your definition is the locals, the average Bulgarians, then indeed reselling next year makes no sense. (However, does reselling a year after buying make sense at all ?) Nonetheless, there are many other components that comprise the market. For one thing, you among all the others should have understood that given you seem to have read my other post, since you quote my not having answered a challenge (it's coming, just stay tuned). Scores of Scandinavians, Russians, Ukrainians, Polish etc. are shopping right now. And we have not counted yet the typically conservative Dutch and Belgians, nor the Germans... Please picture this: the country has a limited spots to build. My calculation puts it roughly that some half a million apartments are built and just as much are going to be done before the land allocated is finished (the rest is gren area). I believe this means some time end of 2008 the last first-time buyers will be done. Hence any next Russian or Dane or Finn will be your market. The locals who can afford it have already purchased, at the bargain prices (in our opinion - and with our considerations, too, which would be different from yours). The only BG component in your market will be those among the current 1.5 million immigrants who will be coming back and looking for value for their money. And if to you the Black Sea coast is only an investment opportunity, for them it is much, much more, believe me. You are listening to one of them, an early bird, that is.

4. On the answer to the ridiculous rebuttal: do you really claim that because in a country it is raining and it could be freezing, 300+ days of sunshine is not possible ? Are you serious, and are you reading your own writing ? Here in Bulgaria, my friend, it is sunny in the winter, too, and especially after it has been snowing it is a splendid, marvelous scenery. Just because this fellow happened to have a day or two of rain during his stay, does it negate what people having lived here for years claim ? If you so much distrust everybody, just take the metereological bulletins and count. To that man I will just remind that there are 365 days in a typical year, and if he had two or five or seven days of rain while here, there are still at least fifty left reserved for further rain, before the countdown to 300. I'm sorry to have to teach you math, and still remain on good terms, I hope.
 
You see the problem here Mr Ivan is that to sell a property on the basis of the number of days of sunshine is at the very least disingenious!

To the poor, miserable, pale blue masses in Ireland sun equates to warmth. What you neglect to mention is that its perfectly possible to be -22 degrees outside and brilliantly sunny. I remember a day like that in Romania 2 years ago. Was I at the pool? No! I was cursing and swearing because, wearing 4 layers of clothes, snorkel jacket and gloves, the only 'door' I could get open on my car was the boot lid and I had to do a very undignified shuffle through the rear seats to get to the wheel and the reverse when I arrived at the factory!

Seen it many times here myself in Romania (where I live by the way, so would consider myself to be at least as well qualified as other commentators in the region). Indeed, last year the sea in Constanta FROZE for crying out loud!

I would contend that those selling over-priced waterfront apartments in Bulgaria or Romania (as I believe McA) are about to do are preying on their fellow human beings greed.

You can argue about taking your daughter for a swim in October but, if you did, then it was unseasonably warm and even then the poor mite probably got frost bite.

At the end of the day the 'locals' will always laugh at the claim of 300 days of sunshine being a selling point in Bulgaria or, for that matter, Romania.

It all comes down to how much the place costs as an investment property and how much you can sell it on for to the locals. If it DOESN'T come down to that then some foreign/Irish real estate agent is screwing you.

Have some sense Ireland!
 
"What I neglect to mention" is in fact mentioned under point 4. in my previous post.

What you neglect to comprehend is that there is a strong temperature gradient, especially in the sea water but also in the air, between the northern (Roumanian) and southern (Bulgarian) coast.

What you should accept is that there are realities which are frequently perceived in a totally different manner by different individuals. That constitutes the variety we all witness and hardly can influence. Hence whether you like it or not, all kind of considerations, greed included, will drive the investment process, inside and outside of the country of origin of the initial wealth. Now, therefore, the only thing I am doing here is help clarify details of reality about which I am knowledgeable, for the sake of helping those who want to be informed correctly (because clearly there are posts around here which pour down lots of disinformation, whether deliberately or not).
 
almo said:
When you hear golf courses are going in, raise an eyebrow, contact the local authority and visit the area yourself, otherwise you're falling victim to the usual blather.
Click to expand...

Remember a scheme that caught a lot of Irish buyers a couple of years ago, later taken over by the agents on the back of a further cash injection by the buyers? Didn´t that have a golf course promised, on land that the original developer didn´t even own? "The usual blather" describes this kind of sales talk perfectly!

Bulgaria isn´t the world´s best golf location, the winters are too cold and there is too much snow. Try Spain for year-round golf!
 
When I looked at Bulgaria, I found Tom, the guy at www.buyinbulgaria.com to be the only person throughout my enquires that had some real knowledge of the place and was totally on the level with me. I didn't buy there as I dont think it's a good country to invest but he did impress me with actually giving honest answers that would have discouraged me buying.
 
More on the track of the original post, I agree with what doberden says. How can this apartment be a short distance from Nessebar, yet 2km from the coast when Nessebar is on the coast. Old Nessebar is lovely but it is basically a small island, all developments are in new Nessebar and this is just an extension of Sunny Beach.
 
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