Rental nightmares in Bulgaria

I'd suggest that this thread should also include landlords' experiences of odd, or appalling, tenants - always remembering that "Good news doesn't sell newspapers"..... 😎

@JimJ

Absolutely Jim! I would never rent a house out over here again...... Brainless & disrespectful tenants are a nightmare & can cause havoc in your property, racking up repair costs into hundreds if not thousands....

@Jules999

That can be said in most countries, I had some really shitty tenants in the UK, but had some amazing ones.

Had a bloody awful one in Austria, that did a runner and had to take her to court to get unpaid rent. Never again, was just to much hassle to go through again.

@SimCityAT

Tell me about it🙈 we have some pretty awful ones in the UK at the moment, but I blame the last letting agents for that - instructed new agents who align more with our expectations & we are working "together" to reach a resolution. If I didn't need to rent that one out, I most definitely wouldn't bother!! It's a mugs game.

I imagine more than 90% of the active members here own their own home (...an own it out right at that)......this forum is rich!!.

I imagine more than 90% of the active members here own their own home (...an own it out right at that)......this forum is rich!!. - @Zooldrool

Most are at retirment age or near to it, so probably owned their own property before moving to Bulgaria. You are probably right, the members are rich compared to some of the native Bulgarians.

The average monthly pension in Bulgaria is €543.46

The average total UK retirement income for a single pensioner is approximately €20,150 per year (around €1,680 per month)

Sorry to go off topic!

Some of course might have rented before buying, while choosing where to live or to find the perfect property to live in.

The average total UK retirement income for a single pensioner is approximately €20,150 per year (around €1,680 per month) - @SimCityAT

So you're telling me that HMG is short-changing me? Can't say that surprises me...

SimCityAT's figure must be an average including those receiveing private pensions too. Gov UK says: "The full rate of the new UK State Pension is £241.30 a week (about £12,548 a year)". Still far better off than the average Bulgarian pensioner, though who knows what will happen to UK pensioners if certain politicians get their way.

I agree, as this forum seems to be populated mostly by retirees or those with intentions to buy a home in Bulgaria, our rental experience is more likely to be as the landlord than as the tenant. My only Bg rental experience is a few short-term AirBnBs when we were first visiting and looking around. a couple had some little surprises, but overall they were fine.

In the UK, my main issue when I was temporarily renting was finding that supposedly clean homes, even ones where I'd had to wait to move in while they were supposedly cleaned, were filthy when I moved in. Obviously the cleaners pocketed the money the agents claimed to have paid them and didn't do the work!

As a landlord --  I rented out my UK flat for a couple of years after moving in with hubby. I didn't use an agent, as I've known others who've rented out their properties via agents and had dreadful experiences and their places trashed -- in one case to the extent where the house had to be completely gutted. Anyway, I had mixed experiences as a landlord. I had one terrible tenant who seemed sweet and came with good references, but skipped rent payments, broke things, and left the place a mess. My second tenant was wonderful, a former squaddie with no references, admitted he was in a financial hole and couldn't find anywhere to rent through the agents because he'd fail the credit check, but I never had a day's problem with him living there and would have loved for him to stay forever. When he left after a year, I had so many timewasting no shows from potential tenants I sold the flat instead.

I had intended to buy a Bulgarian city apartment as an investment to rent out with what we'll get when we sell our small UK house, but I may have missed the price boat on that one. And I am sure those forum members who are landlords in Bulgaria have some horror stories to tell!

@janemulberry

If you do decide to buy-to-rent, I'd skip Sofia if I were you, unless those premium bonds come up big time.

Sofia is well out of my price range! Varna is very close to it now, too.

@Cheryl

For new comers, I would definitely advise them to make sure your landlord is in town to go with you and register your address at the Migration department, otherwise you will have a hell of a time trying to register within 90 days (it was my case) , as the Bulgarian law requires. Then make sure that you will be able to receive mail from other countries, impossible to receive mail or just a very small chance that you will receive regular mail in those run down buildings from the socialist/communist era not maintained properly with non-functional mailboxes with no name, no apartment number and so on.... Those two factors are crucial if you want to have a right start in Bulgaria. I wish someone had told me that before I came. Beside that, I feel pretty safe. It's just that realtors usually don't really care about what's important for newcomers.

I have 4 properties rented out in Bulgaria.  No problems my end.

Quite a number of landlords don't want their tenants officially registered at their property, and the landlord's under no obligation to permit, let alone facilitate, it. It's important for a tenant to specify that they wish to be registered at the property and to ask for it to be included in the rental contract.

I don't know which sales agents you're using, Julia, but I've seen plenty of advertisements for new and newish apartments downtown. I guess you may have specific requirements or perhaps have been unlucky in your choice of agency so far.

The older (1990s) blocks that I've dealt with haven't had any problems with postal deliveries; everyone has their own postbox which they clearly mark with the apartment number and name of the occupant. In the much newer closed complex where I owned a couple of apartments and was on the management committee, post was delivered to the administration office where every apartment had a pigeonhole.

In the southern suburb where we've lived for the past several years we have no post box at our house; letters and postal parcels are delivered to the local post office and we get an SMS to let us know that we've got mail..