My real estate agent only shows me new buildings

Yes, it's common practice here. If you don't end up paying any extra then it's not really an issue. Many Bulgarians are loath to buy off-plan and prefer to wait until the project is finished and has Act 16; it's not unusual for off-plan properties to be delivered late (or never), to be sub-standard, or badly-run even after completion. I was on the management committee of a large "prestige" complex and I can tell you stories that would make your hair curl..

@JuilaOui

He might be, or he might not. Some agents do a commission deal with the constructor for the building and then do "no commission for the buyer" as an incentive. I'd also say that the prevalence of new buildings reflects the current market: there's lots of construction, plenty of demand, plenty of finance, and, in general, it's much more desirable to have a new flat than an old one. Moreover, if you look around, you'll see that there's lots of listings for brand new apartment (unfinished, Bulgarian Standard) vs. finished new apartments vs. finished older apartments.

I appreciate that there are horror stories about off-plan, but I'd guess that a pretty big chunk of a building are now sold off-plan. I purchased several really nice top-floor apartments off-plan in luxury complexes, and I got a pretty good deal for properties that rarely come on the market when everything's finished.

Having said that, the unfashionable "panel" apartments are getting a 2nd look as folks realize they get a lot more space (they are sold with minimal "common area" vs a typical brand new apartment, and tend to have better provision for parking spaces, and you can make them just as nice as a new build with a decent renovation).

If you're skeptical about your agent, then look around. There's plenty of agents with plenty of listings so it's easy to see what's out there and compare offers. If it's a little outfit, then look at one of the larger options property.bg, imoti.bg, alo.bg, bulgarianproperties, etc. etc. Lastly, prices have gone up a lot, so Bulgaria's looking a bit expensive - certainly not the massive bargain it used to be. So some of your frustration might just be with the prices, rather than the agent. :-)

@JuilaOui

Depending on what you're looking for, and where, it may be worth your while looking at the main auction site online. You can find information about it if you use this site's search function.

@gwynj

Yes indeed.  I didn't think it would be that difficult to find a finished apartment in a fairly recent building. In fact, it's quite impossible to find anything finished and in a building under 20 years old in the center of Sofia so my experience has been very frustrating. It might be better to wait a little longer until those apartments are finished completely and put back on the resale market. So far, I haven't found anything that I would love to buy and it's not even a money issue.

@JuilaOui

It seems like a sensible plan... except that folks are charging top dollar for finished/furnished apartments in new(er) buildings. I daren't even look at Sofia any more, as round my way in Plovdiv (a much cheaper city) the finished ones are already asking 2.5k-3k euros / m2.

The Bulgarian Standard is definitely a pain in the proverbial, as it involves time, money and aggravation as you search for reliable (but not overly expensive) local trades and cost-effective materials and fittings. On the other hand, it's not ready to live in, so it's a little less competitive on the purchase side, and it does let you do it exactly to your own taste/style/standard.  I'd guess you have to budget around 500 euros/m2 if you do this (maybe even more as labour and materials have gone up so much).