There are some main steps you have to go through when buying a property in Bulgaria.

Choosing a property

- is the most important step in the buying procedure.

Whether you are looking for a permanent home or for a place to spend your holidays, will that be an investment with the intention of renting it out or future resale - the property should serve your purpose.

We can help you in choosing the most appropriate property for your future plans offering you a variety of options, so that you can compare their advantages and disadvantages and make the best decision for you and your family. Once you have decided which property suits you most, we pass on to the next step in the buying process.

If the property of your choice is land or house with land, we proceed with:

Setting-up a company:

according to the Bulgarian Legislation, foreigners can buy land or property with land only in the name of a Bulgarian company where you can be a sole owner or partners. The limited liability company is the most suitable form for buying a property. With such a company you can run business or it can be only a "sleeping company" - without activity.

After you specify the company's name and your shares, our lawyers will prepare all the necessary papers to be signed after having been translated by a licensed interpreter.

The starting capital required to set-up such a company is 5,000 leva (equal to  ? 2,560 or £ 1,765 ), which should be deposited in a bank account. This amount is refundable; once the company is registered you can withdraw that money. The company is to be registered at the Company Register and this takes 2-3 working days.

There are some legal fees for the company registration, payable only once, amounting to  ? 600  (£ 415). Another expense that expects you in future is the annual fee of the accountant for bookkeeping services, amounting to ? 150 (£ 105).

If the property of your choice is an apartment without any land - you can buy it without establishing a company.

Taking the property off the market by

Paying deposit

- is the next important step in the buying procedure. We conclude a preliminary contract and you pay 10-15 % of the property price as a deposit.

Once we obtain the deposit from you, we thoroughly carry out the necessary checks on the property documentation like ownership, absence of debts and mortgages, availability of necessary licenses and permissions.

Important note: Sellers in Bulgaria have the right to advertise their properties with different agencies. It happens sometimes the property of your choice becomes object of interest of another client at the same time, who wants to buy it as well. In such situation sellers may gazump the price…The first to pay the deposit wins. We strive to prevent such situations by duly negotiating with the seller.To not let the property to be sold to someone else we recommend our clients to be prepared to pay the deposit as soon as possible.

Usually the period between signing the preliminary contract (when you pay the deposit) and property transaction (when you pay the remainder of the price), is about one month. We are aware that you may not have the time needed for the whole procedure. In case you are not able to stay or come back for the property transaction, we can finalize the purchase on your behalf on grounds of POWER OF ATTORNEY. This will be part of our service for you and is not additionally charged.

In order to pay the remaining balance of the property price we assist you with openning a personal bank account, where you can transfer the rest due. Bank transfers take 4-5 days before money reach the account, so the deadline of the purchase deal should be taken into consideration.

After all formalities related to the sale and the purchase of the property are performed, there comes the final stage of the purchase transaction:

Signing the Title Deed and transferring the property ownership

attested by a Notary Public. At this date you pay the rest of the property price to the seller, our commission, Notary fees and state taxes (see Our Services). The Title Deed is due to be issued a day after it is duly sealed, signed and officially entered in the register of the court.

Congratulations! You are now owner of a property in Bulgaria!

There is one thing left: once the purchase was completed the new owner should declare the new bought property in the tax office. For the clients who have left a power of attorney for finalizing the deal, we accomplish this on their behalf; that service is not additionally charged.