Is Bulgaria a good place to invest?
Hello, William,It may be but you would have to go in person and investigate. It sounds like a challenge from regulatory, logistics and language viewpoints but local labor costs are the lowest in the E.U. and the population literate and hungry for opportunity. By some counts, it is a “developing” country with all the challenges of doing business there.I also asked such a question but didn’t get much feedback. Bulgaria, like Greece and Romania, entered the E.U. before their societal infrastructure, laws and economy were ready. The result was an exodus of over 1/8th of its population, including younger, educated citizens, leaving one of the oldest and shrinking populations in the E.U. One bright spot is that consumer and real estate credit is not developed so most people do not have debt.From what I gather, without ever having visited, outside of cities, the physical infrastructure is inadequate (holes in roads, uneven sidewalks, poor construction standards…), the civil service is under-resourced and, apparently, corrupted at the highest levels by organized crime. Some €100 million from the E.U. for infrastructure projects just “disappeared” and Brussels has delayed more funds until reforms are made.That said, it is a beautiful country with an ancient language and history with many different influences. It also has Black Sea resorts with a lot of low-cost vacationers from the West and, possibly, Russia, drawn by the commonality of Slavic language.The government has tax incentives for foreign investors but they seem to be packaged in very large deals.I suspect that the only way to know what is possible is to visit and speak to a good bilingual lawyer and tour around with an interpreter, as not many people over 30 would speak other languages very well. The biggest cities are Sofia and Plovdiv and the Black Sea resorts are Burgas and Varna, of note.I would think that there would be these sectors in need of development:Tourist infrastructure (services, hotels, restaurants, resort services)Construction (apartments and retirement homes for Westerners; renovation and repair)Since the currency is not the euro, there may be a role for financial services but one must be sure of not stepping on the local mafia’s toes or annoying government regulators.Another area is outsourced IT services as Bulgaria has perhaps the lowest wages in the E.U. However, there is the issue of language so you would need a fully bilingual contact.
What is the best way to invest 200,000€ in Bulgaria?
The problem of investing in Bulgaria is a problem of trust and rule of law. Technically, we have stock exchange and public companies. In reality they are controlled by a (group of) person/s and work in their interest. Noone to protect you.Investing privately is even riskier if youh do not know the manager and his reputation.Regarding agricultural land - the income depend on (a) the company that uses the land and (b) the EU agrosubsidies. For (a) there could be no alternative as usually there is one big operator in the land of one village. (b) - I do not know what will happen.So I invest in apartments in Sofia center - liquid market that has no direct competition and could produce income through renting. There is a lot of property managers so the mentioned (a) problem do not exist.
Sending a letter to Bulgaria. Is this the right way to write the address?
its close but chances are it's missing something,usually a Bulgarian address goes like this 30 Dobrotitsa St Ent A Apt 21 Dobrich 9300 Bulgaria but it could also not have a entrance number and just have a block number with a apartment number instead.There are just too many variables but from what you have I'd say assuming it's a house. Name Here 31 Grozden St (apartment number and or block entrance if there is one) Sofia 1000 Bulgaria or put Name Ul. Grozden 31 Sofia 1000 Bulgaria Either should work...........If you ever see the Bulgarian Postal services you'd wonder how anything gets through.
Why isn't everyone buying cheap houses in Detroit as an investment?
I perceive detroits market to be cheap for the wrong reasons. Dont foresee it going back up in value anytime soon
Can i buy antibotics in bulgaria over the counter?
sure but if you're a foreigner you need an ID just in case
Has anyone had any experience buying properties in Bulgaria from bulgarianproperties.com?
Hello. I do not recognize the website in question and cannot advise on that particular company, however, I would like to say that you really should not buy an apartment of any sort if the building is not finished (completely) and the paperwork does not contain an Authorization for use (Акт 16). Hope this helps.
Can EU citizens buy property (incl. land) in Bulgaria? Have the restrictions been lifted?
To my knowledge, in 2012 were lifted the restrictions for purchase of real estate representing any type of construction, not land.Regarding land – the issue is more complicated. In 2014 expired the 7-year term following the BG accession to the EU, a period during which the legislation had to be harmonized with the EU acts. Some amendments were passed to relevant domestic laws, which however made the situation around the purchase of farming land even more vague. Although the Accession Treaty states that EU nationals are freely entitled to purchase land in BG, some domestic provisions stipulate that any individual or legal entity residing or having been established for more than five years in Bulgaria, is entitled to land acquisition in BG. Not referring to EU membership. And many other misty interpretations like this giving no real clue to your question. Therefore, until issues are properly settled, the best option still remains registration of a local company, wholly or partially controlled by the foreign entity (the actual purchaser). At least, you face no risk of being dragged on and off legal and court bureaucracy.
Does it make sense to buy several apartments in Varna, to rent them on Airbnb?
I think that it’s not a bad idea, but there’s one very important issue here:Most of the tourists come to Varna between the months of June an September (included). So keep that in mind when making your calculations before buying a property. Rent prices in the summer can be very good and for a nice apartment near the center, the demand would be high.A lot of people rent out the apartments to students during the school year and then rent them out to tourists during the summer. In Varna there are quite a few foreign students that tend to rent well furnished apartments in good areas at a higher price than Bulgarian students.
What do I need to know before buying property in Bulgaria?
Well....my answer can sound a little bit harsh but it strongly depends where the property is. Just for example, my grandfather house is in a small village consisting mainly of minorities (lets not be more specific). We talk about relatively poor region where there is just no work for the people in the village (last time population was about 500). Many people from UK, Austria, France or Belgium (not sure but they are speaking French) and Russia bought houses and they basically spend their summer there. However, as locals are friendly and always help you when you are there, your house will be burglared (thought of putting "most probably", but since I try to talk from my experience "will be" sounds sincere). Even in the case when you pay money to a local to "take care" of the house. My own house is burglared although there are neighbors around and we visit it in the summer.So, if you want to buy a house in a small village you definitely need to check the village. Just other foreigners there is not enough. Not sure how it is on the seaside, but normally all these people there also ravel to a big city for work (summer season cannot support for a full year) - Burgas or Varna. I am not talking only for small villages but also for the resorts locals since there is nothing to do out of the season. If you go for an apartment in Sunny Beach or another resort I would consider it much safer. Also, it will be much easier to connect the apartment to a local security company so there would be no problem for sure. With houses and small villages such security is a little bit hard to find.Hope that helps.