Investing / Developing in Bulgaria

[marcoddy]

Hi, has anyone got any info on property development / invetment in bulgaria?

Your thoughts please...

[Oneeyedvic]

The most important thing with any overseas property purchase is to make sure you have a good solicitor.

I know a few overseas companies who won't deal in Bulgaria yet because of this.

That said, there are still plenty of people / companies who do.

My personal opinion - I wouldn't. I like to be able to see and check on my investments and I need to know my protection levels (ie I understand the law in this country, I am protected by FSA for investments etc)

[Curry King]

I saw a programme recently called Buying Property and it focussed on people who had bought in Bulgaria. There was a guy who had bought a house in Bulgaria and it turned out he owned the house but not the land or something stupid like that. The house and land had been passed down the family and somebody sold it who was not allowed to. In the end the presenter told him to make sure it was registered with the mayer and that way it could not be sold again. I think he came out OK in the end because he negotiated to get most of his money back because the other owner wanted to re-sell it.

Anyway besides that. I just remembered it was on A Place in the Sun and she showed them brand new properties where nobody had previously owned. They bought an apartment on a complex.

Just be careful and get your own English speaking solicitor there. Not one recommended by the estate agent.

[Twenty20]

For what its worth, a lot of people seem to be pushing Bulgaria as a place to invest in property which, to me, makes it the very place to avoid!

[EverClean]

Bulgaria is hugely overpriced - mainly because people are speculating on property there. I wouldn't buy anywhere unless you are going to get some genuine use out of it.

Vic - It's the first time I've ever heard of someone thinking the FSA protects them!

[Oneeyedvic]

lol - you know what I mean ;-)

[dasherman]

As I understand it,there are too many properties being built in Spain,Cyprus and Bulgaria at the moment and not enough people who want to buy them,or who want to go there on holiday. So as an investment they are probably not going to be that great,at least not in the short to medium term.

In my opinion whenever something is the latest 'big thing',whether it's overseas property or shares,it usually means that the average bloke has missed the boat and investing now would mean you are more likely to lose money than make it.

In the late 90's there was a big rush to invest in technology shares and a lot of people made some serious money. But had you invested at the height of the market,when the financial press were pushing it, you would have lost most of your money.

So in general I would say if you want to make money from property abroad,you need to go out and find the next boom place before the masses do and in the meantime don't believe the hype.