Taking the first step to acquiring your property in Bulgaria may seem a daunting task, but the harmonization of Bulgarian legislation with that of the European Union makes the procedure of a real estate transaction in Bulgaria not much different than the procedures in other European countries.
The most
significant difference is that non Bulgarian Nationals are not allowed to
purchase the actual land itself. They may however form a Bulgarian Limited
Company through which the shareholders will acquire the land, and thus purchase
and own their property this way. The process is relatively straight forward,
but involves navigating through a whole raft of Bulgarian legislative issues
that involves very considerable paperwork. An essential part of the service
offered by British Developments is to guide you through this process using
our own in house legal and financial team. This rule does not apply to foreign
nationals who wish to purchase leasehold apartments or parts of larger developments.
The costs associated with real estate transactions are however, pleasingly lower. As elsewhere in Europe, the transfer is the subject of Notary and Municipal (Local Authority/Stamp Duty) fees. These fees total approximately 3 % of the value of the transaction and are paid to the municipality in which the property is located.
In addition to these statutory government fees clients will incur solicitor's costs of between 1% and 3% of the declared price of any real estate transaction. As with most other EU countries these charges fall outside of our published tariff of British Developments agency charges. However our clients can benefit from our low solicitor fees of 0.7%.
Typically, owning property in Bulgaria has the added benefit of significantly lower running costs, compared to those in other European countries. The owner of a property is obliged to pay an annual property tax of 0.15% of the declared value of the property (compare that to your UK council tax!!). Amazingly, this property tax also covers all waste-collection fees for your property!
If your property is a part of a residential complex the owner will normally pay a contribution to the Housing Association of about 350 Euro per year – this provides for 24 hour security, cleaning, swimming pool, lighting and maintenance, etc.
All foreign buyers purchasing real estate property must be aware that in Bulgaria there are such terms as "Government Tax Estimation Price" and "Purchase Price". The "tax estimation price" is for the purposes of real estate taxation and is often calculated by the municipality lower than the actual selling (purchase) price. Bulgarian property vendors will wish for the "Tax Estimation Price" be written into the title deed, and not the actual price which the buyer has agreed to pay. As a result of this common practice there may well appear to be discrepancies between the price written in the title deed and the actual cash consideration paid by our Clients. If our Clients wish that the purchase price to be written in the property title deed they must notify us in advance and we will attempt to negotiate with the vendor of the property on your behalf.
For detailed step-by-step guidance and itemized charges, please click onto our standard Client Brokerage Contract and / or our contract to assist you in the formation of a Bulgarian limited company. These documents give our Clients a greater understanding of the nature of the process of acquiring Bulgarian real estate and provide a simple checklist of administrative tasks that are undertaken by British Developments on your behalf. You will be assured to know that our legal team are full employees of the company and are highly practiced professionals that are superbly qualified to take away the pressures associated with all property purchases.
All the team at British Developments look forward to hearing from you and assure you of our most prompt attention to your enquiry.