Offering real estate assistance in Sofia

Hello Stephen_T,

As you know https://www.expat.com (and Expat-blog before it) has always been about SHARING your expat experiences. In keeping with that mission, if you have any special information for our members, it should be shared freely with everyone on our open forums. It will be appreciated by all.

Cheers,
James
https://www.expat.com Experts Team

Hello James,

You are absolutely right, if anyone has any questions or needs more information, please post your questions here and I will be happy to answer them

best regards
Stephen

Hi Stephen

whats the buy to let situation in Sofia?  Any information would be appreciated.  I'm thinking about a small studio/1 bed for rental purposes, not tourism

Thanks

Corinne

Hi Corinne,

Thanks for your interest.

You have the right idea- the best buy-to-let ratio in Sofia is with studios and 1 bedroom apartments. A nice new building in a good location is a lot more important than size to potential renters, so buy as cheap as possible in a new building. A yield of 8% is very much possible.

The two suburbs which have the best yields are:

1) Students town (Studentski grad)- this is by far the best suburb for investment. The majority of universities are centered here, several entertainment complexes, restaurants, bars and cafes. Best night life in Sofia. Cheap prices with good rents. Generally speaking the price is around 700-800 euros per square meter for purchase, and 5-6 euros per square meter per month for rent. The minus is you are renting to students, so there won't be real long-term clients- 2-4 years is the maximum.

2) Drujba- a suburb on the outskirts, close to the Expo center, airport, and many of the new buildings in development, with metro stations. Has several parks and a very nice artificial lake. Close to Mladost, where the majority of young IT/business professionals work (the Business Center, HP, IBM, Cisco, etc). Currently very cheap to buy, decent rent yields and guaranteed to grow in value- Mladost was a cheap suburb and has grown maybe 30% in the last 2-3 years.

There were several other suburbs that were cheap with good yields, but have rapidly grown and now are too expensive to consider a good investment for renting- Mladost, Ovcha Kupel, Hladilnika.

Real estate brokers will offer you Manastirski Livadi, Malinova Dolina, Krustova Vada and Vitosha- my advice is to avoid these suburbs for now, although it is possible to find cheaper apartments, it's harder to find clients for them since the suburbs have very poor infrastructure for the most part, little public transport, few shops, no schools, etc.

I hope I was helpful! Don't hesitate to ask anything else!

best regards
Stephen

Hi Stephen

thank you for the information.  It is something we are looking into and you will be the first person I contact.

Corinne

Thank you Corinne, glad I could help!

I would really appreciate some advice.
I bought a plot of land in Varna which is agricultural,  how do I go about changing this?
So that it can be building regulated

Many thanks

Hi Jojo,

This is a complex and bureaucratic procedure, it is best to hire a local expert to help you with the paperwork, since it needs to be all done in Bulgarian- and nobody in the municipality will speak English to help you. I have heard of one such company in that area, the site is www.geoimot.com
Please note this is not a recommendation or advertising, I don't know if they're good or bad, since I have never worked with them- I have simply heard of them and know they offer these services. Alternatively, you can hire a good local real estate lawyer for assistance (this will be expensive), or speak to a real estate agency which specializes in agricultural land and offer to pay for their assistance (since they will have their own lawyer).

Generally speaking, you will have to send a petition to the mayor of the municipality, with proof of ownership of the land, a plan of the land by the department of agriculture and forestry, proof of paid fees and taxes, a plan of what you want to build on the land, and another dozen forms.

I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but unfortunately unless you have local "connections" it is best to avoid even building a property on land you own due to the bureaucracy here. It simply works out cheaper and is MUCH easier on the nerves to simply purchase something that has already been build/has all paperwork taken care of.

best regards
Stephen

Thank-you for your response.
It is of some what some help.

How are you finding it in Sofia?

I really love the city. It's developing rapidly with reforms and money from the EU, and there are many new business opportunities. Major world brands like IBM, HP, etc have noticed the qualified and extremely cheap workers (average salary for Sofia is around 500 euros a month) and have moved offices here.
The major difference between a city like Sofia, and Melbourne, where I came from, is the lack of constant pressure. Everyone is a lot more relaxed, and they're taking life less seriously, there is more enjoying life and living for the day rather than planning every minute of the future for the next 50 years.

Stephen , good information ,are you planning on staying on in Bulgaria ? I am Australian [ originally from Ireland] . Would like to contact you . Been living in China for 12 years . However have some business plans that involve Bulgaria . *** Cheers Sean