Buying Property in Bulgaria

There is no doubt that real estate in Bulgaria is one of today's most profitable investment opportunities. Data returns from the Real Estates National Association show that Bulgarian property prices increased by an average of 26% through 2003, with only marginally lower forecasts for 2004 - and in the past few months, purchasers of off-plan apartments in the Southern Park area of Sofia realised a 30% increase on their investment even before their properties were completed.
In addition, a detailed value analysis survey covering 3000 properties randomly selected from all sectors of the market is conducted each quarter. The latest of these surveys was completed in September 2004 and shows that ...

• the market value of the 3000 properties surveyed was approximately 67 million Euro
  
• for every property on sale at 40,000 Euro or more, there were four below this price
  
• 80% were priced below 40,000 Euro and made up 34.7m Euro of the market value
  
• 60% were priced below 20,000 Euro and made up 14.8m Euro of the market value
  
• 39% were priced below 10,000 Euro and made up 6.2m Euro of the market value
  
• 13% were priced below 5,000 Euro and made up 1.3m Euro of the market value
  

While identifying and locating the right property for your budget is obviously a key factor, the survey also points out that there is a lot more to consider when purchasing a property in Bulgaria. Under existing law, for instance, only Bulgarian resident individuals and entities can own land and, although this is due to change in the near future, what it means today is that foreign nationals wishing to invest in property will need to register a Bulgaria based company and open a business bank account.
This can all seem to be a pretty daunting prospect at the outset but, provided that you have access to the necessary local expertise, it is actually a surprisingly simple procedure. In fact, it’s so simple that the entire purchasing package - from flights, car hire, accommodation and English speaking staff for your viewing trip, through the set-up of your business, the translation and registration of documents, to the transfer of title deeds - can usually be completed in just 4 to 6 weeks.