How hard is it to buy property in Bulgaria & to gain a visa in order to live there.

S

sarah85

Guest
Hi,

I am new to this site, could anyone tell me how hard it is to buy a property in Bulgaria, and to gain a visa so that you can live in the country legally.

Also I will need a car to drive to different locations, what do you need to do to buy a car and register it legally, I am going to stay in the country for 5 or 6 weeks and I need the car right away. I have been told it will take weeks to buy a car ( because you have to buy it through your company, and this takes 2 or 3 weeks).. is this correct?
Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: buying in bulgaria, need car and info

sarah85 said:
Hi I am new to this site, could anyone tell me how hard it is to buy a property in Bulgaria, and to gain a visa so that you can live in the country legally.
Click to expand...

Bulgaria is a member of the EU, so if you are a citizen of a member country you have an automatic right to live and work there. You don't need a visa.

If you want to buy a property there, you have picked the best possible time. The country is awash with unsold property, both new and old.

Sofia has hundreds of unsold new apartments, but be sure that you are buying in a block that has a reasonable level of occupancy -- many blocks of new apartments are empty.

Likewise the coast, many buyers who bought off plan a few years ago are now realising that the rental guarantee that enticed them to buy was a scam.

Many are trying to offload these properties quietly before the market collapses entirely. This situation will get better as time progresses, so wait a while more if you can and buy cheaper.

If you need rural property, local agents have tons of it; many villages are emptying out as people go abroad to find work. Offer about half the asking price normally or get a local friend to enquire -- prices are much lower for locals.

If you want to live in a ski resort, this is where a lot of really worthless stuff was sold to Irish and UK buyers, and the trickle coming back on the market from disgruntled buyers will become a flood before long, so you can pick up something really cheap in places like Bansko if you bide your time a little.

Whatever you do, don't buy from the few sharks that are still in the game, selling off-plan property in Bulgaria. You will pay at least 100% too much for anything you source through this route.

And finally, remember that buying a home in Bulgaria is a one-way street. You won't have customers for it if you change your mind and need to sell it in a year or two.
 
Re: buying in bulgaria, need car and info

i am here now for work,, and from what i read in the local amgazine its full of people with sob stories of buying houses that have turned into night mares,, be very careful i think before you buy
 
moving to bulgaria

We are wanting to move to Bulgaria for 3 reasons:-

1) We don't feel safe in the U.K. anymore because of the amount of mindless violence there is here, and we don't like going out for walks anymore.

2) The house prices for the type of house and area we want seem to be much less than any other eu country (we are on a very limited budget to buy with).

3) From what we have read, the people there seem to have the opposite culture from the U.K. which is that of a more quite existance.

What we are worried about is the fact that we will be at the mercy of the Brithsh agents that will obviously be helping us (for their fee), to find the right house, but we would have no idea of the actual market value in that area (most likely the outer villages of Stara Zagora).

We want to be in a village that is quiet and from what you wrote, this is exactly what we will get; A house in our price range in a quiet village, with perhaps less amenities than we are used to but that is o.k. with us.

Can anyone give us any more help with how we will know what the house is worth so we don't get ripped off ?

We were also considering buying a car so that we are not tied to being run around by the agent to view the houses as they will just take us where they want to and we won't have a choice.

The cost for renting for 2 months (we already booked an apartment for this period), is expensive but we thought we could buy a car there and sell it when we have finished with it, but many have said it will take about 3 weeks to set up the company in the bank in order to buy a car.

Have you any suggestions that might help us with a way to have transport while we are there that is not too expensive.

Any help with these questions will be of great help to us.
Thanks.
 
Re: How hard is it to buy property in Bulgaria & to gain a visa in order to live ther

Hi Sarah and welcome to askaboutmoney.com.

As you may have noticed askaboutmoney.com is an Irish consumer finance website which primarilly deals with issues of relevance to Irish consumers and investors.

Overseas Property Investment is one of our forums which deals with questions relating to professional (and ameteur) investment in properties outsitde Ireland.

Your question is an interesting lifestyle question which concerns living and working in Bulgaria. However you will find only such issues as "Return on Investment" and "Rental Yeilds" and "broad economic conditions" discussed in Overseas Property Investment.

Bulgaria as a holiday destination is discussed in the Holidays forum.

I will leave your question here as there are some posters who have a knoledge of Bulgaria and might be able to point you in the right direction.

However I suggest there may be other web sites out there which address your questions in a better way.

Have you tried doing a Google Groups Search for "Ex-Pat Bulgaria British"? There are British Ex-Pat forums out there for most countries and Im sure that Bulgaria is no exception.

Out of interest how do you intend to support yourselfs in Bulgaria? Will you work there are do you intend to retire there? Have holidayed there? Do you know any Bulgarians?

aj
(moderator)
 
Re: moving to bulgaria

sarah85 said:
We are wanting to move to Bulgaria for 3 reasons:-

1) We don't feel safe in the U.K. anymore because of the amount of mindless violence there is here, and we don't like going out for walks anymore.

2) The house prices for the type of house and area we want seem to be much less than any other eu country (we are on a very limited budget to buy with).

3) From what we have read, the people there seem to have the opposite culture from the U.K. which is that of a more quite existance.

What we are worried about is the fact that we will be at the mercy of the Brithsh agents that will obviously be helping us (for their fee), to find the right house, but we would have no idea of the actual market value in that area (most likely the outer villages of Stara Zagora).

We want to be in a village that is quiet and from what you wrote, this is exactly what we will get; A house in our price range in a quiet village, with perhaps less amenities than we are used to but that is o.k. with us.

Can anyone give us any more help with how we will know what the house is worth so we don't get ripped off ?

We were also considering buying a car so that we are not tied to being run around by the agent to view the houses as they will just take us where they want to and we won't have a choice.

The cost for renting for 2 months (we already booked an apartment for this period), is expensive but we thought we could buy a car there and sell it when we have finished with it, but many have said it will take about 3 weeks to set up the company in the bank in order to buy a car.

Have you any suggestions that might help us with a way to have transport while we are there that is not too expensive.

Any help with these questions will be of great help to us.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I was in a town called Stara Zagora about 5 years ago and it really was beautiful, nicely maintained, safe, with great restaurants. As i remember it was about 1 hour drive from Sofia.

What you might not want to be doing is using a foreign agent, as you'll primarily get a holiday home....the areas on the coast like varna etc, while nice cities are riddled with mafia....you;ll see on some doors in bars "no guns" etc. What you need to do is 1. make a trip and look at the local real estate company windows and look at the prices there, or the local real estate paper. you wont understand the language but the numbers can be read and then converted from lev to euro.

Alternatively hire a translator for a day or two to bring you to these local realtors or to go through the papers with you.


You wont necessarily pay a higher price with an agent from uk etc because the commission is already factored into the price, but it restricts your bargaining power for discounts. But as I said through foreign agent your looking at a holiday home or sofia investment type unit.
 
Re: How hard is it to buy property in Bulgaria & to gain a visa in order to live ther

you could take a look at [broken link removed]

You should rent for 6 months at least first, as it may be not what you imagine.

When I was there I did not like the sight of guys carrying guns whom I was reliably informed were not cops and was obvious by one scene in particuliar. I know people will say thats not everywhere - but it should not be anywhere in broad daylight on streets.
Its a nightmare doing any business as they know you are not local and try at every juncture to exploit this.
Its also really really cold there in the winter. Services are poor and the people terribly poor in areas outside the tourist areas.

On the upside the people are really clever in Bulgaria
 
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