Hello everyone ,

I don't see Bulgararis much mentioned in this forum !

I have bought in Bulgaria 7 properties , was involved with couple of renovation projects too and quite happy with my investment. Was wondering how the other Bulgarian property owners are doing ?

Fran

We usually only talk about proper countries on here. You know, countries like UK,USA.....oh and sometimes Spain & France.

But thats pretty much it really. Sorry.

Have you ever tried selling there? No such thing as a resale market from what I can see.

So you have your money blocked in Bulgaria. You know the saying: to make one mistake is humanly, to make 2 mistakes is stupid.

To make 7 mistakes is...

I don't think I have done a mistake at all !

I started in Bulgaria by buying three old properties in Veliko Turnovo ( found them very cheap ) , which then I renovated and furnished them and after four months sold them all ! Yes I have sold three properties and with the capital re-invested in Bulgaria ! I rent out my property in central Varna with a long term contract to an expax and my Borovets restaurant is also let long term

I think people that make such a comments about Bulgaria don't know the market in depth !
Sorry I didn't know this forum is for countries like UK and US I though it's general overseas forum .....

Any Bulgarian property owners out there at all ???

I've got some in Romania, not quite what you wanted but it might be as good as you're going to get on this site.

Hi,

We'd be interested in your views on the pitfalls of investing in Bulgaria.

Fair play to you for doing it though.

Im all for investing in CEE but in proper places. The growth areas are cities with local resale markets not the countryside where everyone is migrating away from and certainly not ski/beach resorts in bulgaria which are massively oversupplied.

Heres a link showing that there was not one resale in 4 months in Bansko-

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/mountain-...d_24777/catid_5

and prices dropped 10%. nice.

I've been to Bansko about 18 months ago and thought there was too many hotels being built. i remember saying to myself if they crash through over supply I might buy in a few years. i was thinking of buying about 3 years back when they were cheap

Bulgaria is not a bad place though, thoroughly enjoyed it, obviously has some bad points. i'll go back again next year hopefully

Was impressed with the large selections of good food at VERY little money! and good cheap local beers
can't get used to a nod meaning no and a shake meaning yes though

Up market coastal villages such Kamen bryag have seen massive gains over the last five years since i first went there. Many properties are owned by politicians from Sophia who seem to have some influence on the local infrastructure. loads of money being quietly pumped into the village. There is a waiting list for properties as a result. As in any country its location location location. Food beer and girls are wonderful.

For 'politicians', read 'Mafia'. They'll soon start telling you what to do at gunpoint, DB.

BANSKO PRICES FALLING
During the past four months, real estate brokers at the resort of Bansko, in the Pirin Mountain, did not sell any apartments, Bulgarian-language Struma daily reported on September 4. Real estate prices have fallen and the forecast was that, in the near future, some of the hotels in Bansko would have to be demolished because of the bad infrastructure and the construction chaos. “We don’t have work. ,All 150 real state brokers in Bansko did not complete even one sale during the past four months” Foros real estate consultant Vidin Hristov said. He said in May, June and July 2007 the apartment prices dropped by 10 per cent and, even though the prices were low, no one was buying. The only company that has made any sales was McAnthony and MRI. “Our owners are Irish and we make deals with clients from UK, Spain, Germany,” the company’s broker Ivan Shterev said. He said they were selling apartments near the planned golf course in the Betalovoto area, at the foot of Pirin Mountain, and on the way to the village of Banya. The chairperson of Kapman finance’s board of directors, Nikolay Yarumov, said that the serious investors would withdraw from this investment field and would probably re-direct into common funds.

From the Sofia Echo:

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/mountain-...d_24777/catid_5

Bansko, Bulgaria....what a wonderful investment! LOFL.

From what I've read investing in cities such as Sofia and Varna and also coastal Spa towns that are not overdeveloped (ie not Sunny Beach) is a good idea. I would avoid ski resorts at present but I would say that you should make money still in the longer term.

I was considering investing in place called Balchik near Varna on the black sea cost. It has a natural spa, botanical gardens and beautiful marina development.

Anyone heard of this place?!


Oh and by the way, you're probably more likely to encounter crime in London than in Bulgaria so let's cut the mafia crap

Talk to these people:
http://www.mybulgaria.info/bulgaria-property-forums.html

"Oh and by the way, you're probably more likely to encounter crime in London than in Bulgaria so let's cut the mafia crap "


Mafia misery in Bulgaria:

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/sounding-...d_8575/catid_27



Yeah right.You'll be telling me next that Ringo really was a good drummer!

I think the Bulgaria is definitely a long term bet, perhaps 15 years or so. The infrastructure is non existent in some places and unlikely to change for some time, if ever. However the larger cities are constantly getting better and the property in some cities are seriously undervalued.

I was on holiday in borovets and the mafia were there in the bar snorting coke. They had the hotel bar locked up and then sat there having a good snort.

Plus the hotel was full of prostitutes.

To be fair, this was about 12 years ago but was certainly an eye opener

Sounds a great place.

Balchik is quiet a nice place. It is only about 40km away from Varna and certainly a lot cheaper. It is well worth a good look. There is a good picture and description of Balchik in Hiday.net

there are many threads on Bulgaria,
you just need to look for them

I reckon that Bulgaria property will get caught up in the UK price slide- at least for a while

i Have been to bulgaria a few times, sofia, veliko turnovo

and it is a great place, but i think the house prices will slide the same way as the UK

they are well overpriced for the people that live there

http://www.bulgarianproperties-bulcheapland.com/

Cheap properties in Bulgaria,Varna(seaside) on sale by owners

Some of the Irish buyers in Sofia have gained 15 % of the price they have originally paid for their property just for one year and this provided that they actually paid over 6 % to the estate agent (3 % directly and another 3 % through the developer who pays the agent by adding his 3 % to the price of the estate). If they haven’t used an agent, they would have made over 20 % just for a year! I might add that people who made those returns are not professional investors but drivers, nurses and the like. If that’s not profit then what is! Surely there are pitfalls, most of these arising from the fact that buyers are lazy, they tend to take things for granted and thus they use lawyers who are recommended to them by the agent or by the developer instead of independent ones. Surely there’s lawlessness in Bulgaria, but does this short-sightedness on behalf of the careless buyers makes this country not a proper one? As for the mafia, I haven’t heard of a buyer who has been bothered by it. Most of the buyers who lost money in Bulgaria (and they are not many!) did lose because of pitfalls and legalities that could have been easily avoided, not because of the mafia or the lawlessness, or the government corruption.

If you want a laugh, type "Bulgaria" into ebay. Looks to me like you can pick up a place for a few hundred quid.


The mafia in these places seem fairly harmless though. Not nearly as bad as the legalised mafia we have in the Uk (ie local government)

Anybody got an unbiased view about how flats are doing in the ski resort of Bansko at the moment ?

I have a friend who bought off plan 2 years ago, a 2 bed flat. It was 1 yr late to completion and should be ready for this season's skiing.
2 years ago , he talked about his "investment" every week. (He bought from a UK property company in London and only flew to the resort to sign the papers.. ).

I suspect thigs may not be all that rosy as he hasn't mentioned the flat since the end of the summer...........

Any thoughts ?

I think people that make such comments about bulgaria are bulgarian estate agents trying to get some extra business on the net but im afraid you have come to the wrong place my son. 7 properties in Bulgaria......the mind boggles