Recommend a lawyer?

Contact Helen Fahey at One Stop Property Shop in Burgas, She also has a Facebook account.

The website of the British Embassy in Bulgaria has a list lawyers for various parts of the country and useful advice on buying property in Bulgaria.

I am happy to recommend my attorney in Plovdiv (just message me privately) who I've used for multiple transactions (including immigration, car registration, and purchase of apartment). Not the cheapest, but very serious, trustworthy guy.

All legal purchases here (of property or vehicle) goes through a notary, and they are regulated. I used the attorney once, but after I just went personally to the notary. I've found this to be fine (it's mandated that you take a state registered translator with you).

There are horror stories, so if you're concerned, you have to check the ownership/debts of the property (the notary is supposed to do this)... and be very hesitant about giving anyone a power of attorney (including your attorney!) to sign on your behalf (this is what gives the most opportunity for abuse of trusting foreigners).

I think it also pays to use a big website/agent like BulgarianProperties, who do seem to check the provenance of the properties they list. Certainly it's a good place to start to see what current prices are like (they are rising for sure, and rural properties are enjoying a bit of a boom because of Covid). I've bought two properties through them, and for one I even gave them a POA to complete the purchase for me.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think now that UK is out of Europe, we are back to the bad old days of not being able to buy land! So you can buy an apartment (as long as it doesn't come with some "ideal parts", the share of the land on which the building is built) in your own name, no problem... but to buy a rural property with a big plot of land, you will have to incorporate a BG company, and then make the purchase through the company. This is a bit more complex, so, yes, an attorney might be more worthwhile for this. (I also don't know if this requirement still stands if you actually have your residence permit, in which case it would pay to get your residence sorted out before you choose a property.)

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the email info, really good to read!