I nearly bought property in Bulgaria earlier this year, but I declined because I feared that a slowdown in the UK would spill over to spain, croatia, bulgaria ... etc.

At about Eur.900 per sq.meter, it looked cheap for a well-located new property, but when I checked build costs, I found that many builders can beat the price, and make money at maybe Eur.500-600 per sm. So I reckoned that these places will be built until the market is saturated and rents come down. I wasnt sure how easy it would be to buy and flip.

I have been watching some of the newly-quoted property vehicles that invest in Bulgaria. So last Friday, after watching for almost a year, i decided to take the plunge and buy. Any one else following these shares?

Probably more chance of a response from these guys: http://www.mybulgaria.info/bulgaria-property-forums.html

Doc,

Do you have a link to any property investment vehicles specializing in Eastern Europe? I'm looking to get into this myself.

Thanks,

John

Dr B

Do you mind if I ask which Company?

Ive been offered a group investor scheme into Sofia where I part with 5% and they claim the rest is funded by a mortgage and that past tranches have provided 30% pa price increases (arranged by www.whereonearth.biz).

Also did u see Soup Dragons Estonia fund?

Ive just bought more shares in this one http://www.treveria.com It is UK based buying German retail real estate

Dr Bubb:- Happy to pass prosepectus your way for Estonia / Latvia property development fund. If interested send me a PM. I've invested 25k Euros with them. Two others I know are also likely to invest.

DogBox:- Think I was approached about the same opportunity in Bulgaria about Easter time. I was wary. Agent (can't remember who) explained that corporate clients could not get enough good quality rental homes (houses rather than flats) for employees relocating to Sofia. To get round this, the corporate clients were providing some sort of rental guarantee for three years on some new houses that builders had been brought in to create. Think rental worked out about 10% p.a. on houses costing £100k or so. The houses were being built and there was some sort of queue of buyers. When you reach front of queue you are then offered 2 or 3 locations for your house. (Same house, varying locations.) Too many risks for me on this one and £100k for a house in that area seemed steep .... though I may have been proved wrong if they have appreciated 30%! Does this sound like the same opportunity?

Talking about Bulgaria you might find this website interesting :
http://www.sash-solutions.com

We fully believe in the high potential of Bulgarian property investment so long as the correct research and due diligence is carried out. Most people don't have the time for this, or perhaps the necessary skills, so our aim is to do the hard work for you, finding great deals, doing the research and negotiating discounts. In so doing, we hope to provide you with the information and tools to enable you to evaluate our deals, and make decisions that are right for you.

Wherever the deal may be, our key principles on property investing remain the same:

- Buying under market value – locking in equity when you buy and letting the discount help you to sell in any market condition.
- Capital growth – looking for hotspots where demand is triggered but supply is constrained.
- Deal structure – making the most of leverage and getting your capital working harder

How many more properties do you think people are willing to buy in Bulgaria? Bansko and Pamporovo are over-crowded, the Blak Sea is way over-built and Borovets is not far from being over built.

Borovets - it's far from being overbuild just because there are only few developments available in the resort. Besides it will not be overbuilt because of the concept of Super Borovets project which was just approved from the municipality of Samokov. This 300- 400 M Euro government ambitious project aims to transform Borovets into whole year resort and the make it the biggest one on the Balkans. New ski lifts, pistes, sport playgrounds, golf courses, horse riding schools, etc and it starts with its own INFRASTRUCTURE. This is the only project in Bulgaria that starts with its own infrastructure and will prevent the resort from overbuilding.
City investments - Varna, Bourgas, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora are a good example where buy to let long-term strategy can work if you know what are you doing and make a good research!

If you need more specific advice please PM me.

Galina, Ive been offered 'schemes' for Bulgaria.

The issue for me is that there are just too many unanswered questions and agents dont seem to have grasped this fact.

Some examples:

1) In order to recieve rent I have to set up a Bulgarian company, but when I enquire 'waht will be all the ongoing costs to run this entity including Accountants fees' I get no definitive answer just vaguaries.

2) I ask 'Will the Accountants and Tax authority and other state organs write to me in English' - again nobody knows.
THIS IS IMPORTANT, here's why - It is difficult enough running a company and dealing with company Tax in the UK, let alone in Bulgaria. CAN YOU IMAGINE CALLING THE TAX HELPLINE.

Now Accountants say they will fully assist but I can tell u from experience that even in the UK all the Accountants I have dealt with never fully answer / deal with all queries.

3) Banking - imagine recieveing a staement from my Bulgarian Bank account which shows I have been charged Bank fees. How will I know if there is a mistake or not? Even a translator may not understand the reason for fees so again I have to call the Bank, nightmare.


To all agents out there: I have yet to find one that offers a truly comprehensive 'end to end' overseas investors agency. You all think you do, but Ive yet to find one.

Hi DogBox,

Accountants fees should be in the region of 300-500 Euro/year.
You will also have the equivalent of Council Tax to pay, although you can pass this on to your tenants, property insurance and service charge.

Your correspondence from the tax authorities will be in Bulgarian as will your bank statements. Your can get a list of bank fees in English from most of the Bulgarian Banks Websites.

Hope this helps,

B


www.InvestNewEurope.com

Hi Dogbox,

If you employ an English speaking accountant he/she would communicate with you in English. I'm sure you don't expect the Tax authorities to write to you in English do you ?
Bulgarian Tax system is quite straight forward and offers very favourable conditions for companies, a good accountant should be able to lead you successfully thought the process of acquisition and management of your company.
As everywhere a good accountant is one of the best assets you can have , if you need advise I can recommend you a very good English speaking one.
About Banking sector , most of Bulgarian banks offer Internet banking with an English option which will allow you to personally control your account - I work with First Investment Bank and satisfied with their services !

I understand you might have many questions please if you feel you need advice or just a friendly chat with someone from Bulgaria don't hesitate to contact me at: info@sash-solutions.com

Happy investing!

Setting up a company is easy. Tax return for a company making no profits/losses i.e. a nil return will be maybe 100Euros.
As others have said - get an accountant that speaks English and there is no problem - they can check your bank statements and so on.
I also bank with First Investment by the way and always helpful and friendly.

Rachel

bulgaria is a nice place but the laws are frequently bent and the language barrier means that you can easily be conned.

the black-sea resorts are really nice - but i don't think that just because they are cheaper, thatthey are a good investment as it is a poor country - surrounded by countries with accessible beach resorts e.g. greece, turkey, the adriatic

PROPERTIES FALLING OVER - as investors flee Bansko

(I received this by email):
"XXX is delighted to bring to your attention the opportunity for you to purchase one of five desirable ski apartments in Bansko Ski Resort, Bulgaria . These ski apartments are being offered for sale through one of our clients at an extremely competitive asking price.

These apartments are one of the best located and quality apartments situated throughout Bansko , Bulgaria . They are situated only a couple of minutes walk from the beautiful old historical town of Bansko and are only approximately 700 metres from the ski lift, with a bus service operational from the apartments to the ski lift.

In order to further provide ‘value for money’ XXX will not be taking any commission on the deal and if you are personally interested in discussing this in more detail, we suggest, with our client’s permission, that you contact him directly.

The apartments for sale are as follows -

Bansko 2:
Apartment 2D – This is 97.42m² and a large two bedroom apartment - EUR 117,950 ono including all furniture and fireplace.

Bansko 8:
Apartment M1 - This is 81.54m² and a two bed duplex apartment - EUR 107,150 ono with furniture.
Apartment E1 - This is 62.89m² and a one bed apartment - EUR 73,575 ono with furniture.
Apartment E2 – This is 75.84m² and a one bed apartment - EUR 91,750 ono with furniture
Apartment F1 - This is 85.92m² and a two bed apartment - EUR 99,100 ono with furniture.

Foreign Property Ventures Ltd
= =

Broker not taking commissions?? A sign of desperation and legal problems.

Eur 1,100 or 1,200 is just too expensive for Bansko IMHO

I'm going to have some T-shirts printed with this logo:

"I bought in Bulgaria and all i got was lousy negative Equity"!

So 2 years on can I ask how your property vehicle shares are doing?

"I found that many builders can beat the price, and make money at maybe Eur.500-600 per sm."

Dont forget the cost of the land. That can sometimes be more than the build cost

Many potential customers on some of those Bull sites probably