Bulgaria - advice starting out ?

mikeyw

Guys,

It seems Bulgaria is set to offer good returns over the coming years. Admittedly i'm maybe a year too late but i'm sure there's plenty left for the latecomers.

What's a good starting point for locating reasonably priced coastal new build ?

Is it likely the mortgage costs could be covered by holiday rental ?....I guess there are plenty of sites who will advertise your holiday home for you. I expect a few months occupancy over the summer months would just about do it.

Anyone who's gone down this line i'd love to hear your advice.

Was hoping to buy in the UK but think growth will start to flatten out over the next few years apart from a few select areas....still i've no crystal ball !

TIA,
Mike.

Guy_Montag

How much were you thinking to spend?

lynzpower

have you been MIkey? What did you make of it? Ive skiied in borovets a few years ago and thought it was a bit of a hole. Might have improved though?

I dunno, personally I wouldnt holiday there?

my mate bough a cottage in bulgarian countryside somewhere adn thebuilders made off with all her tools & equipment- same as co;uld happen here I guess. Bear in mind though it is a very poor country in parts.

dunstonh

We had a serious look at this ourselves but the number of properties going up was staggering and many are empty. Plus many of the off plan developments are going to fail but its knowing which.

In the end we decided to not go ahead as we felt the risk wasnt worth the potential level of returns and we would have been drawing against our investments which are performing better than the current growth on bulgarian property with far less risk.

I think you need to be in the know and experienced on this front to make a good go at it. Many are going to get their fingers burnt though as lending to invest is high risk, it is going to be an expensive mistake if you get it wrong.

mikeyw

Oh Dear - a bit more negative than I was hoping :-(

What else outside of the UK & Spain are people considering then ?

Was lookin to spend £50K in Bulgaria....wont go far elsewhere unfortunately

bootman

A lady I work with has just bought 2 run down houses in Bulgaria. They are going to do them up themselves and let them out. I am sure she said they cosrt £15k each to buy.

lynzpower

mikeyw wrote:

Oh Dear - a bit more negative than I was hoping :-(

What else outside of the UK & Spain are people considering then ?

Was lookin to spend £50K in Bulgaria....wont go far elsewhere unfortunately

Kirsty & Phil were talking about this not so long since.

I cant really remember, where they were suggesting, but I remeber sweden being up there, although I doubt your 50k will go that far there, but it is beautiful, economically stable and just a fantastic country from what Ive seen & heard ( had a swedish freind, it does seem liike a bloody good place to live)

Is it a holiday home with a rental component for inceome you are after?
Or a BTL sytle investment?

Acc72

bootman wrote:

A lady I work with has just bought 2 run down houses in Bulgaria. They are going to do them up themselves and let them out. I am sure she said they cosrt £15k each to buy.

Who are they going to let them to ? - holiday makers : see above (plus are they close to airports etc), or locals : are there any / can they afford it ?

Who will manage the let ? / what if the tennant doesn't pay - you cannot pop round.

Last but by no means least ..... I was reading something a while ago about the Russian Mafia getting involved in these schemes. If these guys decide to "repossess" your property than I wouldn't bother going to the CAB !!

Whatever you decide you need to research all factors thoroughly - you wouldn't give me £50k just because I said I could get you a good return ... would you .... ?? .....

Guy_Montag

How about Transdniestra?

mystic_trev

Acc72 wrote:

Last but by no means least ..... I was reading something a while ago about the Russian Mafia getting involved in these schemes. If these guys decide to "repossess" your property than I wouldn't bother going to the CAB !!

If you buy a newbuild or "off plan" there's a good chance you'll be throwing money away. Many who've bought in Spain are now finding this out. Bent developers building large estates and apartments on land they later find has no planing permission! I believe there was a program about it this week? Real Story? There are plenty of crooks in Bulgaria just waiting to take your money!

lynzpower

I agree with you trev.

Theres something ever so slightly sketchy about bulgaria, or maybe Ive heard far too many horror stories?

Its the language that puts me off. I wouldnt invest 50k where I didnt fully understand what was going on, maybe Im just risk averse :rolleyes:

I also reckon your "sunny beach" type places are oversupplied to holiday makers I often get emails offering 100 quid deals to bulgaria including flights & transfers. This would be undoubtably cheaper that renting privately, as clearly the flights would cost at least 100 quid Id reckon there? Wouldnt they?