Banned Topic Bought an apartment in "Sunny Beach, Bulgaria" 5 years ago: cut my losses?

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Property prices in Bansko actually increased last year (albeit a marginal increase something like .2%) but the market has changed, property is now being bought by Russians not as before by Western Europeans. Perhaps anyone trying to sell should bear that in mind.
 
Hi,

According to people I know in bulgaria - there are certain areas that are selling and mainly Russians are buying and September and October has seen a very busy selling season - mainly resales but in the good locations mainly frontline. I know for a fact that agents will not take on some of the resales as the original purchasers may well lose money on them. The likes of the frontline properties in the good location will sell and are selling. I don't necessarily agree with what "Daddy" says about buying in Spain in 2006 - it boils down to if it is a lifestyle purchase or investment. Not everyone purchased in spain for investment - the ones that did have got badly burned and it will be a good few years before the market returns in Spain mainly due to the overbuilding.
 
Angela:

My purchase in Bulgaria was purely for investment and my comments about the other countries would have been solely in this light.
 
Hi Daddy,

Like yourself, we purchased in Nessebar in 2004 purely investment also - we were able to rent it out summer and sometimes winter.

Angela59
 
Angela,

What has been the real return on your 'investment', allowing for all costs (purchase price, legals, furniture, service charges, management fees etc. ) ?.
 
Hi BigRog,

The "real" return is that just broke even between everything when you count up interest you are paying on mortgage over the years. If i were to hold off for another 5 years property could have increased more in value as the rate of new builds will slow and the property was frontline and a spacious apartment with sea and pool views but I wanted out now. Things might be a lot different if I were trying to sell an apartment in 4th or 5th line locations from the beach.

angela59
 
angela59 said:
Hi BigRog,

The "real" return is that just broke even between everything when you count up interest you are paying on mortgage over the years. If i were to hold off for another 5 years property could have increased more in value as the rate of new builds will slow and the property was frontline and a spacious apartment with sea and pool views but I wanted out now. Things might be a lot different if I were trying to sell an apartment in 4th or 5th line locations from the beach.

angela59
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Hi A, did you manage to rent on your own or was there a rental agreement when you bought? If possible could you PM me please? Many thanks. PP
 
Hi Petpal,

No there was no rental agreement - rented it out via an agent out there who we found to be very trustworthy and dealt with him over the 4 years.

Angela59
 
Daddy,

You seem confident that sofia prices are holding up (if not increasing) - I am thinking of selling a new one bed apartment there and I was wondering what the source of your optisim is on Sofia.

Also anyone who has bulgarian agents they used to sell could they PM the details.....

Thanks

F
 
Nothing moving in Sofia according to my sources. The only buyers there are foreigners, and they are starting to realise that they bought at too high prices over the last few years so even that source is drying up.
Population still dropping in Bulgaria, and this is set to accelerate in January when they can work legally everywhere in Europe.
 
Hi

I am in the process of buying two apartments in Bulgaria for my sins. One is in Bankso beside the Gondala and the other is in Kavarna Hills on the Black Sea.

The one in Bankso is running approximately 15 months late with no guarantee of completion then. PDI (the selling agent) is telling me the delay is due to issues with the Municipality. See quote:

"We went on an inspection trip last week and found out/ that the Municipality faces difficulties with so many ongoing developments and construction works located in outside town plan zonnes/ "in the field"/ to built the communications/ electricity , water , sewerage/. The municipality charges huge fees to built up the infrastructure and provides those communications but fails to fulfill it as a result. That's why we insisted on Developer's commitment to built it up at his own expenses / in a way being panalised as a compensation that the clients will suffer a few more months delay.

I am sure these delays cause you big concerns but Platinum had the re-assurance that the development will be completed appropriately, and it is better to be finished to a high standard rather than cut some corners to meet deadlines and resulting with poor constructions."

I believe under Bulgarian law that I should be entitled to a refund and can withdraw from the sale.

Does anyone have any information, links or contacts that I can use to resolve this.
 
Hi

I am in the process of buying two apartments in Bulgaria for my sins. One is in Bankso beside the Gondala and the other is in Kavarna Hills on the Black Sea.

The one in Bankso is running approximately 15 months late with no guarantee of completion then. PDI (the selling agent) is telling me the delay is due to issues with the Municipality. See quote:

"We went on an inspection trip last week and found out/ that the Municipality faces difficulties with so many ongoing developments and construction works located in outside town plan zonnes/ "in the field"/ to built the communications/ electricity , water , sewerage/. The municipality charges huge fees to built up the infrastructure and provides those communications but fails to fulfill it as a result. That's why we insisted on Developer's commitment to built it up at his own expenses / in a way being panalised as a compensation that the clients will suffer a few more months delay.

I am sure these delays cause you big concerns but Platinum had the re-assurance that the development will be completed appropriately, and it is better to be finished to a high standard rather than cut some corners to meet deadlines and resulting with poor constructions."

I believe under Bulgarian law that I should be entitled to a refund and can withdraw from the sale.

Does anyone have any information, links or contacts that I can use to resolve this.
 
Without wanting to state the obvious...have you spoken to your solicitor? I think they should be your first port of call.
 
Hi

Hi Amos63,

If you are using an Irish solicitor they would not be familiar with Bulgarian Law. Why go for new developments when there are plenty of resale properties are better prices? Be sure of your location when buying, if you are buying in the black sea coast - make sure it is nothing better than frontline location - otherwise you might never see your money back if you plan to sell. I've just sold an apartment in Nessebar - frontline, secure gated complex with carparking - to be honest we paid over the odds 4 years ago otherwise I'd have made a huge profit with the price I received now - we made a small profit but when everything added up - broke even. With regard to rental - I didn't have a rental agreement but did rent it out but nothing like the story I was fed that I'd get E400 per week and it would be rented from May to end of September - but we did rent it out both summer and winter. We have a good agent and estate agent and were worth their weight in gold - only for them I don't know if we would have got rental or a sale. Research your market totally.

Best of luck,

Angela59
 
Why go for new developments when there are plenty of resale properties are better prices?
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I think its too late to try to talk him into going for a resale! he is looking to exit a contract and get a refund. If you don't currently have a solicitor in BG I really think you should talk to one and get them to examine your contract to see where you stand re delays etc.
 
I was in Sofia last week and market dynamics in the city seem to have changed significantly since my last trip in March.

- alot of development seems to have stopped mid-build
- foreign investors are thin on the ground and they were the backbone of much of the growth
- the so called Russian money is not substantive and certainly won't offset the loss of W European investors
- local agents are talking a 15/20% decrease over 2009 in capital values
- rental market seems ok if location is sound

Does anyone share this view or radically disagree.
 
Hi Humdinger,

Well it makes sense that the Russians are the only ones buying at the moment - they are probably the only ones with money right now - can't see too many Irish and English investors purchasing at the moment with credit crunch here.

Angela59
 
There is some Russian money buying, but not alot and definetly not enough to offset the falloff in investment money from elsewhere.

I had also read recently of interest from Greek/Cypriot and Italian investors ... however this seems to be mostly noise rather than anything that will make a substantive difference.

When I left Sofia last week it felt like Ireland 2 years ago ... the top of the curve, prepare for the slide !!!!
 
hi,

just wondered how you got on with selling apartment? We brought one in sunny beach and one in cyprus but are desperate to sell both due to credit crunch! Any advice??
 
rory22 said:
Hi dewi1000,

I have sent you a pm with agents website address.

best of luck
Click to expand...

Hi Rory, can you pm me the name of the estate agent you used, I'm looking to sell my apartment in St Vlas.
 
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