There are so many conflicting opinions of the merits of investing in Bulgaria. On the one side are reports of booming capital appreciation and the other tales of no resale market.

I was wondering what people's views are on here. Surely as the market matures a resale market will develop. The properties are extremely cheap so it doesn't represent a huge risk. Also Frank Knight predicted growth of 7.5% this year in spite of much doom-mongering

Constructive comments please!

The reports of "booming capital appreciation" are coming from the sales agents and developers.

The total lack of a resale market stories are coming from the people who believed the agents hype and can't sell. (On another forum one 'investor' who bought in Fort Knox two years ago is offering his 2 bed apartment for £40,000 LESS than he paid and hasn't had a sniff).

"Cheap" is a relative term; prices may appear cheap compared to, say, UK prices but compared to local Bulgarian prices they are not.

There aren't really any "conflicting opinions". The consensus amongst investors seems to be overwhelmingly against new build/off plan. If you truly believe the country has potential, then pick up a resale.

Extremely cheap? What are you talking about? If you believe Franck Knight then you probably believe in fairies and witches too...

I cant see any point in buying on the coast or ski resorts as there is just so much going up at present. On the other hand, I can see potential with Sofia as I was out there recently. The city seems very stable, there aren't too many new builds going up and prices seem fair. Once prices do start rising we may see a rental market appear.

Go on Catara, tell me how wrong I am now......

I agree, I think the coastal resorts have pretty well peaked and may start dropping, there is a huge over-supply of appartments and the hotels are so cheap to stop in,why bother buying a flat... I paid around £8 per night for 2 of us inc breakfast last year. I purchased in Veliko Tarnovo, I didn't borrow to do it and to be honest if I had to borrow I probably wouldnt of done it...Whichever way I think you have to look at Bulgaria as a more long term investment, although prices in Veliko have doubled at least in a year. One area to avoid imho is the area north west of vt, looks well dodgy esp Pavlikeni, they look like they are still stuck in the commi era with loads of unemployed adults hanging around the streets etc...Hope this advice helps.

Read the Telegraph. Bulgaria has a 25% deficit, money spent on real estate among others. In the ongoing crash, the BUlgarian economy will be ravaged.

If you really want to purchase in Sofia do it in 3-4 years when prices will be on the cheap.

Sofia is a nice city.

Catara, please tell me where you rekon is a good place to invest, i'm geniunly interested. You are, and alot of the time agree, very negative about anywhere anyone talks about. Its not a critisism just an observation. asides from Germany.

Bulgarian is definitely moving forward! See some recent news !

>> Easy jet announced the launch of yet another new route! From the 6th November 2007, we will be flying from London Gatwick to Sofia from only £27.99 single including tax
Bulgaria's vibrant capital is a well-kept Balkan secret. Sofia is sprucing up its graceful tree-lined boulevards and brushing down its historical landmarks. On the verge of a new European era, now is the time to discover the city's hidden gems.

>>Unemployment in Bulgaria fell to 7,25% of the labour force in July, down by 0,17% compared to the previous month and 1,71% lower than at the end of July 2006.Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria in the first six months of the year grew by 4,8%, compared to the same period of 2006, to EUR 2,11 B, data of the Bulgarian National Bank shows..

>> Piraeus Bank yesterday lowered their standard variable rate to be the lowest rate foreign mortgage available! Their new rate is 2.5% above Euro base, making a very low 6.5% per annum!

http://www.sash-solutions.com

Hold your money now. The credit crunch is ongoing. It will get much harder to get mortgages especially for overseas investments.
Cash will be king.

If you really have money that you need to spend now, I would say buy cheap parcels of land in Florida and build some houses.
By cheap I mean $5000-$6000 for lots with electricity and not far from the Ocean. They might cost $3000 in a couple of months though.

Emerging countries like Brazil might become more interesting soon. the Brazilian Real lost 10% of its value in the last 5 days. if the stock market crash continues, it might lose another 10-20%. That would mean a 30% decrease in the real prices in Brazil.

There are other examples, unfortunately I am not a professional investor but the ones who are might get some gems in the near future.

I asked friends of mine why they are still renting in Berlin, and they told me it was nearly impossible to get a mortgage!!! I dont believe this as i was offered one a months back, granted i never went forward as im holding off investing abroad until I choose a country. (make my bloody mind up!)

Funnily enough Ive been looking at Florida, and it looked like a good time to buy....I really need to go there to scope things out and figure out the best areas/type to invest in. There are folk that believe that the we could see the dollar weakening to 4 or maybe 5 to the pound!!

I would have thought the Amercan savvy investors will pounce all over it if it is indeed a good prospect. They tend to have the best investors in the world.

oh galina mihaylova, why are you selling yourself on these forums like a cheap slut?

i see from your website (http://www.sash-solutions.com/about-us/aboutus.html) that you claim to have a company - sash group ltd - but companies house webcheck http://www.companieshouse.co.uk) tells me that no such company exists. oh dear - perhaps in your enthusiasm to "help" people "invest" in your homeland that you forgot the niceties of english law, with particular emphasis upon the Business Names Act?

so to help you, expect to have a visit from one of my mates from the west midlands investigations unit of HM Revenue and Customs to your address at 9 Sheaf Lane, Solihull, Birmingham B26 3EJ, or shall i get them to give you a ring at 0121 2868 058?

after all, i'm sure you want to make your stay in our country totally above board in respect to
your responsibilities to Her Majesty's Exchequer, won't you?

any what of the delightful dream team? - http://www.sash-solutions.com/about-us/team.html alas, no information appears to be forthcoming re. them. surely my dear, your "group" contains more than one person, delightful that i am sure that you are?

the thing that annoys me most about your boiler-plate website is that you claim to be "dynamic and vibrant". why does **everyone** claim to be "dynamic and vibrant"? even accountants claim to be "dynamic and vibrant" when i can assure you that many are not. about the only trade i can think of which does not require these superficial traits would be that of an undertaker.

but, of course, the great wheel of time trundles ever onwards and perhaps it is the fault of the
"dynamic and vibrant" amongst us that we face perhaps the greatest economic disaster of our lifetimes?

i've not been drinking by the way - on no, not me.

which is about as believeable as the content of your website...

The 7.5% growth rate may be accurate for new builds, albeit this figure shows a slowing growth from the boom years a few years back.

Nonetheless it is irrelevant what the growth rate is if you cannot sell the unit. every professional investor has an exit strategy and this is why they are not getting into Bulgaria. No one knows what the true value of the black sea and mountain units are.

From what I've read it is considerably less than what the new builds are selling for. Here in lies the problem, people are buying and gambling that a resale market will develop. Why bother when you can find these places in the CEE market anyway (being the growth cities such as Warsaw, Prague, Brno, etc).

The other problem with 'resort' type investments (Bulgaria, Spain, Cyprus) is that they are closely linked to the UK market. If things here turn nasty then the markets in these places being heavily dependent on UK purchasers will also likely take a hit.

Proper CEE markets like Poland, Czech, Hungary are far more dependent upon their economy and GDP growth. In the first of these two the economy is motoring and this is where people should be investing, not in resorts in Bulgaria.

Im not trying to be smart, but im experiencing better growth (you are talking about capital growth I hope ) here in Scotland with cheap properties in not so great areas, and the cheap properties sell like hotcakes so no problem shifting them on. Thats assuming that your not scared of the property market going completely t*ts up next year. I'm not buying anymore as ive read too many convincing articles in these forums and on the net that there will be a crash or at least a 'lull' in the UK. Whether that will affect particular areas in remains to be seen.

What about Germany, you not reckon Berlin and Hamburg have got some potential? Czech already quiet expensive is it not?

BTW who are the 'professional' investors on the forum? I would like to copy what they are doing, so I dont have to do all the hard research....that strategy served me really well in University!