Buying in Bulgaria

Buying a property anywhere can be stressful. In Bulgaria there are certain things a foreigner must do before being able to buy property.

Foreigners cannot buy land in Bulgaria without forming a company. Unless you are planning to buy an apartment (first floor or above) you must have a registered Bulgarian company. This is set to change upon Bulgaria being fully integrated into the EU.

Companies, even non-trading, must produce tax returns every year. Of course as expected the forms will usually be in Bulgarian.

Estate agencies are quite popular here, most offer services to start up your company and complete end of year tax returns. Although it's worth pointing out that sometimes these services can be found at a better price.

Some estate agencies are not altogether forward in their costs and even the true purchase price of houses being sold on their websites. There are quite a few con merchants and those wishing to not only take advantage of foreigners also of their fellow Bulgarians. It's always worth checking out other estate agency websites to see if any properties you like may be advertised at a different price elsewhere.....Certainly worked in our favour as we found our property advertised with a different agent for 14,000 euro's less!

Properties are sold every day on E-bay and I'm sure some of these are bargains but not all. Look closely at the seller's feedback and ask questions about the property and state of repair. Of course not everyone wants to buy blind - I doubt we would have, so get on a flight and come see for yourself what Bulgaria has to offer.