Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years ago.

Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years


I would hazard a guess that an irish firm was used for the legals who outsourced to a bulgarian firm, and thus double cost for the buyer...
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

We have a mobile home in Wexford which paid €55,000 and site fees have
now gone up to €3,500 pa and the site owner insists that all mobiles be replaced
after ten years so u could have got a bargain
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

I know Wexford would have seen many cash deals but I dont think they have the mafia problems of Bulgaria.. maybe it's you that got the bargain tomkat
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Just bear in mind there's corruption in Ireland as well as Bulgaria.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

I know Wexford would have seen many cash deals but I dont think they have the mafia problems of Bulgaria.. maybe it's you that got the bargain tomkat
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Whats your basis for this statement, have you lived or worked in Bulgaria to be able to make such statements of your experience? or are you just repeating what you have heard.

<off topic remarks and potential defamation removed>
 
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Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

rory22 said:
Whats your basis for this statement, have you lived or worked in Bulgaria to be able to make such statements of your experience? or are you just repeating what you have heard.
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Did you bother following the link provided by the poster?

Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)[1] ordering the countries of the world according to "the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians".
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Ireland No 17
Bulgaria No 64
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years


Just as well the Index didn't go back any further then, I think those figures would change a bit then.
Ireland is by world standards a developed country, Bulgaria is not. They are striving to follow the course we have and that will mean rooting out corruption like we had to- or should that be get cuter like we had to.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

rory22 said:
Just as well the Index didn't go back any further then, I think those figures would change a bit then.
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So? How are historic corruption rates, say in the 1980s?, in any way relevant to the OP's query?
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

It's probably not, but it gives a more balanced overview, I mean it could be argued that Bulgaria is now where Ireland was in the 1980's. The OP asked whether he should take the money and run- I think that he/she has received some good advise. Maybe current corruption levels are relevant, I was simply trying to put it into prospective.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

The huge difference between 1980s Ireland and current-day Bulgaria is the mafia issue; something, which is very difficult to eradicate. Since 2002, Bulgaria has hardly moved in the corruption rankings.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Please keep the discussion on topic and discuss Irish Political Affairs in LOS (or on P.ie or Boards.ie). This thread deals with the property market in Bulgaria and whether or not the OP should cut his losses and run.

aj

Moderator
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Hi angela 59.
we have an apartment in Tzarevo. Would appreciate the contact details of your agent.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

get the money and run.
Sinemorets is not Nessebar, nor Sunny Beach, nor Golden Sands - it is a village on the southern coast of the Black sea. You cannot rent it to foreigners as it is just too hard to get there. You cannot rent it to Bulgarians at the rent levels you would like to achieve.
Tell the developer that you want your money, but also a compensation of 4000 - 5000 EUR for the delay as well as for your legal taxes. It must be stipulated somewhere in your contract that you are owed such kinds of compensation. Get the money and do no trust again real estate agents at exhibitions who are presenting everything in too-good- to-be-true manner.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

I think that in the long run you probably should stick with it. 3 years is not a long time if you are investing in any country. Perhaps you paid over the odds but, even if you can cover the administrative costs of the property from rental and you're not over-stretched at home then, it's more than likely going to come good in the end.

I'd caution against paying any heed to the so-called 'mafia' issue. The presence of corruption in any CEE country does NOT indicate the involvement of organised crime. Very often it's a case of underpaid individuals seeking to 'plump-up' their meagre salaries through 'expediting' various processes through what can be a tortuous legal process. I'm sure I'll be slated for saying so but often a certain level of corruption can often work to ones advantage in these countries when involved in certain transactions, i.e. it would take an inordinately long time to accomplish the most simple of tasks if you followed all the bureacratic channels.

I live in the region and I'm unaware of mafia-related involvement in residential property sales to locals or foreigners in the county where I'm resident, Romania, nor in Hungary or Bulgaria. People who hold forth (Ceatharlach?) about the mafia in CEE countries probably haven't spent any time in those particular countries (Republic of Moldova and the Ukraine aside where it IS an issue). Indeed I'm surprised to see Budapest, given his long-standing residency, raise it as an issue in Hungary! I'd say that the city of Budapest is probably a lot safer than Dublin from a personal safety point of view at the very least!

It might be a different issue if you were to open, say, a nightclub in any of these countries but I'd hazard a guess that your bouncers might have similar shady origins were you to open a bar in Temple Bar, Dublin.

Bulgaria, whilst underdeveloped in comparisson to it's near neighbours will come good in time and hence is probably very well worth a punt of a meagre 36k if you can afford to hang in their for the next 5 years.

Best of luck with it!
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

I agree, organised crime is not a huge problem for the most part in CEE but my point was that it is here in almost every country and can have an impact on businesses, sometimes in not-very-obvious ways.

In relation to the main issue being discussed here, it's hard to predict how the value of the Bulgarian apartment will increase or decrease. In the meantime, the main issue for me would be rental income, which doesn't seem to be very significant.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Ceatharlach said:
Take hand arm and shoulder off the developer.€
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i agree...the price of air travel to these places is going to rise hugely in the next few years.....take his arm at the shoulder!
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Sorry Starlite, I cannot agree! So the OP is concerned, befuddled and baffled but 36k, although perhaps over the odds is not a monumental rip-off! Even assuming he/she has purchased a studio-type apartment then the fee paid probably represents at worst 1200 Euro/m2.

In Bulgaria, or indeed Hungary, that might be over the odds but, for example, in Romania it's not beyond the pail depending on what city or zone the apartment was bought in. Realistically the market will probably catch-up and falling interest rates (as these economies realign themselves with ECB rates) will attract a second wave of investment which will see this particular situation right itself within a few years max.

It would be a mistake to bail out now IMHO.

The rising cost of fuel is an issue but likewise a red herring. If Starlites assertion that this will impact the holiday market is not completely wrong then it is at least a bit misguided. Perhaps, if in a few years time the Irish don't book holidays in Bulgaria because the airlines charge too much, then other factors will counter-balance that. For example Romanians are deserting their own Black Sea coast in favour of Bulgaria since it is much cheaper to holiday there than here and the service and conditions are much better there.

Don't listen to the hype! Look at all the factors likely to impact your investment and then make an informed decision.

It's very hard to invest in the CEE if you are stuck at home in Ireland but it doesn't mean that your inevitably going to come a cropper. There is a wealth of information on this board if you can see through the chaff.
 
Re: Should I take the money and run - Bulgaria bought a front line apartment 2 years

Well the EU has just reported today that it wants a billion of aid back from Bulgaria, precisely because of the issues of corruption and organised crime in agriculture and (road) construction. It doesn't specifically mention domestic property, but that is just splitting hairs in my book. Expecially if there's large amounts of foreign money involved.....

I doubt they would dare to take such drastic measures against a new member unless they had some considerable evidence.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7512955.stm
 
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