investing in bulgaria

RHemmings

There are a lot of good points made here. But I think a few have been glossed over a bit.

In any market, you have to consider supply and demand. If you buy a property for £5000 and expect to be able to sell it for £10,000, then what other alternatives do people have other than buying your house. In the UK, planning permission is tough to obtain. Greenbelt areas are difficult to build on. Is the same true in Bulgaria? Could there be a brief property bubble in Bulgaria which simply halts because people can buy new houses for much less than the UK property "investors" have been selling houses to each other for?

PoorDave

According to TV, Bulgaria's time is over, and we should be concentrating on Montenegro as our chosen investment place.

Then again we could go and do something more interesting instead...

Chip_Butty_3

Read some of the posts above & there is alot of sound advise.

I went over to Bulgaria to see what was available & to get a feel for the place & after the two weeks were up, well actually alot sooner than that, I decided it wasn't for me.

Investment areas are; The beach resorts, Skiing resorts & the capitol. Forget the idillic country retreat.

We were specifically looking for a place in the country side so toured the country for a couple of weeks. The roads & infrastructure are apaulling. I felt that I should of taken caving equipment for the Pot Holes in the roads. The countryside is exceptionally poor, I cannot stress this enough & places looked cheap to buy, however they would have to be completely renovated. Then you would own the local 'Manor House' whilst surrounded by squallor.

As for sell on potential, limited.

In Sofia, I kept on seeing Security Staff in numerous places, crime is high.

The beach resorts are building sites, akin to Spain in the 70's.

If your interested in the area, I cannot stess enough that you should go out there & get a feel of the place.

I witnessed a 'Potential Investor' in the hands of a Real Estate Agent in a Restaurant. Given nice meals, shown selected areas and avoided others. It was a complete sham.

Needles to say, I have taken an interest in an area other than Bulgaria.

chuby

does anyone have 1st hand experience in buying in bulgaria...and some advise

lynzpower

chuby

Seems theres a few people in this thread that have offered advice

What other info are you looking for ?

Welcome by the way

TT9

chuby wrote:

does anyone have 1st hand experience in buying in bulgaria...and some advise

I can offer something.

A close friend of mine has purchased a property for £65,000 in the resort of Varna. This was back in Mid 2005.

Recently he was over there with his girlfriend having a nice Bulgarian holiday on the cheap. So catching up with him, here is his thoughts:

1) His property is now 'worth' £85,000 because thats what likeminded properties are selling for. However, as I pointed out, this is as a new build direct from the developer. It is not a true reflection of market. In fact by his logic the builders could mark a £1m tag against properties (not sell any) and that is what his would be worth. There is no second-hand market whatsoever with these properties. This he acknowledges.

2) In a little over 1 year - and here is the big one - he has had a 100% void period! Yup, totally finished, fully furnished beach accessible property has not had a soul stay there. Why - well there's several '000 competing little appartments similar posiition, similar price so what makes one stand out to another ? The developer has completely washed his hands of any responsibility to assist with holiday tennants.


I wouldn't further comment on market forces, not knowing too much about Bulgarian beach property but no tenants to date in over 1 year of property ownership tells me all I need to know.

Regards.

gallygirl

I agree with tt9.

Just back from holiday in Turkey - property v cheap there - could get villa with seaview sub 100k - BUT - no cheap flights. Would be ideal if you want to retire somewhere cheap & sunny, but no market for rental.

Both Turkey & Bulgaria may be more of an option if/when budget carriers go there. But until they can compete with 1p Ryanair flights to Almeria and v cheap car hire I can't see private rentals taking off.

RHemmings

ali007 wrote:

I agree with tt9.

Just back from holiday in Turkey - property v cheap there - could get villa with seaview sub 100k - BUT - no cheap flights. Would be ideal if you want to retire somewhere cheap & sunny, but no market for rental.

Both Turkey & Bulgaria may be more of an option if/when budget carriers go there. But until they can compete with 1p Ryanair flights to Almeria and v cheap car hire I can't see private rentals taking off.

I think that choosing locations to buy abroad based on "cheap flights" is a bit dangerous. What if the cheap flights stopped? Could happen easily if the profit margins are too low, so that some companies drop out, leaving a monopoly. Or fuel prices might rise sufficiently so that the break-even point for fares is well above current levels.

tidyfinance

Hi,
I'm getting a headache because the Wife is set on buying in Turkey. We have done some research and spoken with various 'selling agents' regarding off-plan developments. All looks very profitable.
I thought that there were already cheap flights available to Turkey?
Turkey will soon be joining the EU also, and when it opens it's doors to Turkish Mortgages, surely prices will go up?
I'm not too concerned with the recent bombing to be honest - my favourite place is Dubai, and the Emirates are the most 'dodgy' areas on the planet right now, but given the money, I'd be 'in like flynn'.
Has anyone on this site bought in Turkey, or does any other member agree that Turkey looks a sound investment?
We are on the verge of taking a trip to view a few developments, but while there are no Turkish mortgages available, it seems the only way we could afford one would be to release some equity in our home. I plan to rent it (maybe), but also get quite a bit of use from it ourselves. However, I do imagine it would be empty for some periods.
Any thoughts guys?

Sallys_Savings

We holidayed in a friends villa this year in Turkey. He brought it earlier this year and whilst we were there another villa on the site (site of 40 villas) is up for sale at £15,000 more than my friend paid for his in February.

We paid £249 each for our flights this year, but our friend has booked flights for next summer at less than £100 pounds each...so if you book in advance there are a few deals out there.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.