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I found this topic on the Internet but it was originally in Bulgarian but you can make it out so have a read its really interesting

Why England do not buy properties in Bulgaria

In most cases, foreign property owners have themselves to blame for lost money

The first reason is the crisis. The second is that Bulgaria went bad name as a place where British and Irish people are scammed. In forums and in the Western press circulated to the complaints of people who lost money in the country. Such stories as "
horror stories"
. In details not vnikva and that buyers are innocent victims, it seems obvious, because our country is known for corruption and iniquity.

Causes

But I already four years working on these same Englishmen and not see it that way. It is true that Bulgaria is corrupt, but the reasons for lost investments are in themselves buyers. Recently, consult one of them what his views are to regain the one hundred and fifty thousand euro. My conclusion was that they had none. Having heard this, he said literally the following: "
Bulgarian legislation is bad, because it protects buyers by themselves."
A similar idea is in sharp conflict with the Roman maxim that the law is sighted, and not sleeping. In other words, if the buyer is not vigilant, is his own fault that he lost money. And these are the same Romans, whose successors in law are both we and the British.
This man had done anything reckless. Had given a proxy to a stranger to pull its deposits from fully and to spend the money as it sees fit. And not only was not considered any collateral, but even contract was not concluded. He was very surprised when he explained that the attorney only grants rights but does not create obligations. So this same Englishman I find no fault in their actions and was convinced that the reason we lost money in Bulgaria.
Another was convinced that he has bought a house and when he realized that it would receive non-built space, wanted to sue the seller. The contract, however, who stood in his signature, was clearly written that only purchased the land, not building. And that contract was written in their native language, but apparently this guy was not bothered to read it.
One woman complained for months on the forums about what a terrible place is Bulgaria, contacted me to advise her how to return the money. After I read the contract which it was concluded, and found no wrongdoing. It happened precisely what was written in black and white.

Mentality

Westerners come from a different world where everything is settled, calm and where the government protect them from dangers such as small children. Once you give money, it is understood that they will receive what is given them. When people buy apartments there, they worry whether they will be not deceived, but what will be the color of bathroom tiles. You can not lose them, for them is so obvious that they never think about the issue of preventive measures. In Bulgaria, these people are like farm animals removed from farm and thrown into the jungle. They are not accustomed to looking and when they hit just can not understand where they come.

Agents

To this should be added that the West people do not do everything yourself and pay for professionals from the field to do the job. In these real estate professionals are called "
agents"
, so their first job, when they decide to buy in Bulgaria is to raise that term in the search engine together with the name of our country. Immediately leaving many companies are called "
agents"
. They can not imagine a world without such people and I see a familiar word, decide they have found what they want. Their assumption that there are agents in Bulgaria is confirmed. If it does not like to go deep into details and explore how it actually is the issue. Prefer to view color pictures instead of reading thick books. Once something confirmed their expectations, you can not help but be so! English in Bulgaria come to buy property with the mood of tourists who are seated to order in a restaurant rather than serious investors. So they expect the menu instead of the book's instructions.

Differences

Under the Commercial Code, however, the country has firms, not agents. The difference is substantial. The mediator does not represent the parties and shall not be liable if one has not fulfilled its obligations to the other. The mediator only them "
svatosva. The deal is between the buyer and seller of the property. He takes money from both sides and thus protect the interest of neither one nor the other. In England, the agent is paid only on one side and he is responsible if its too expensive to sell property or if it lost money in other ways. Therefore, Westerners who have found the Internet entrepreneur who calls himself "
agent"
are left trustingly in his hands. For them, the story ends. They pay him and therefore no need to think about anything.
Englishmen go even further in its stupidity. They rely on the firm erroneously called "
agent"
to them and choose a lawyer. So instead of an independent and competent counsel, they appear to be the most illiterate lawyer who in some cases not even a lawyer. But even is it necessarily loyal to the firm which he found a job, not the client who is. Customers are changing, the firm remains. Customer is a fee, the firm - many fees. Therefore, those dependent on lawyers do what they want the mediator. Collateral no avail, and contracts are concluded in the most rapid and easy manner, which in turn means that the shuffle.

prawler wrote:

To me, there is no excuse for people not buying at these ridiculous prices, it's pretty clear that there are no more than 2% of the UK buyers scammed, I am not sure if this percentage won't be significantly higher elsewhere in the world.

Main thing here is they thought they were wise buying in a market that marked price increases every year with 15%, but appears that Russians are wiser waiting for the prices to come back to normal levels, there are also scams to Russians BUT they can easily return their investment at any time as prices are at their very bottom unlike prices in 2005-2007 which are unachievable these days and can't see them up in the next 5 years.

I have a close relative who thought they had bought a cheap property in the Montana area after seeing a very flowery site on Ebay, they naively paid for a full package up front including setting up their company they got nothing. They contacted the Bulgarian Embassy and hired an independent lawyer recommended by them still no joy, the annoying thing is the company is still trading but have now registered their office in Switzerland.

Its companies like this who give Bulgaria a bad name, however buying over the internet is always a big risk.

I agree that prices are cheap, the biggest let down is the transport system especially air travel, until they have airports within one hours travel of every major City and resort they will always play second fiddle to the rest of Europe.

Buying a house through ebay is more than stupid.

I can agree on buying via Internet only in an apartment complex where other buyers already bought and are happy enough with the purchase, about this you can always find info on the internet.

prawler wrote:

Buying a house through ebay is more than stupid.

I can agree on buying via Internet only in an apartment complex where other buyers already bought and are happy enough with the purchase, about this you can always find info on the internet.

Totally agree. Thank you for your inputs but can you please introduce yourself in the New Member Introductions. Tell us something about yourself

prawler wrote:

Buying a house through ebay is more than stupid.

I can agree on buying via Internet only in an apartment complex where other buyers already bought and are happy enough with the purchase, about this you can always find info on the internet.

We were amazed they did it, but its easy being wise after the event.

Probably the biggest reason is simply that people haven't got the money. Many have already realised that the houses for less than 10,000euros are normally no more than a ruin or at best very basically habitable with no facilities at all. For anything like a habitable home I would say the minimum is upwards of 15,000euros with 20-40,000euros for anything really good as I have said many times before.
The negativity about Bulgaria on forums also deter people and of course people who have fallen foul of corruption in its many forms don't help Bulgaria's image. Work is practically impossible to find hence the many carboot sales where, it seems to me many 'businesses' operate under this heading. Pensioners often haven't the savings to spend on an 'adventure' that may or may not be for them in the long run.
For myself, I think Bulgaria has a lot to offer and after I have said all that, I can't for the life of me understand why Brits aren't buying anymore in Bulgaria. Where else can you buy a large house with land to grow things and have pets for under 40,000euros? Thats about £36,000 depending on the exchange rate. Its certainly possible to live here on a basic UK State pension.
I believe the original flood of buyers in 2005-8 were people hoping to capitalise on their investment in an unrealistically short time and these are the people who are not buying but trying to sell. The ones like me, who want a little bit of paradise for their old age taking into account the differences in life here, are still coming but who now have a wide choice of houses and locations. They therefore seem a bit thin on the ground.

oldun wrote:

Probably the biggest reason is simply that people haven't got the money. Many have already realised that the houses for less than 10,000euros are normally no more than a ruin or at best very basically habitable with no facilities at all. For anything like a habitable home I would say the minimum is upwards of 15,000euros with 20-40,000euros for anything really good as I have said many times before.
The negativity about Bulgaria on forums also deter people and of course people who have fallen foul of corruption in its many forms don't help Bulgaria's image. Work is practically impossible to find hence the many carboot sales where, it seems to me many 'businesses' operate under this heading. Pensioners often haven't the savings to spend on an 'adventure' that may or may not be for them in the long run.
For myself, I think Bulgaria has a lot to offer and after I have said all that, I can't for the life of me understand why Brits aren't buying anymore in Bulgaria. Where else can you buy a large house with land to grow things and have pets for under 40,000euros? Thats about £36,000 depending on the exchange rate. Its certainly possible to live here on a basic UK State pension.
I believe the original flood of buyers in 2005-8 were people hoping to capitalise on their investment in an unrealistically short time and these are the people who are not buying but trying to sell. The ones like me, who want a little bit of paradise for their old age taking into account the differences in life here, are still coming but who now have a wide choice of houses and locations. They therefore seem a bit thin on the ground.

I agree Oldun, we bought here in 2004 and have spent 7 years renovating our home, we finally moved permanently in March this year. We are in a small village between Smolyan and Pamporovo in the Rhodopi Mountains its a traditional mountain house south facing with nothing but mountains and forest as far as the eye can see.

The villagers welcomed us with open arms and never has more than a couple of days gone by without someone knocking on the door with either friut, vegetables or meat as a gift. This place is paradise for us, to live in a house like this with this kind of back drop in the UK you would need to be exceptionally wealthy.

You can live here very cheaply and have a much healthier lifestyle than we ever had back in England, And the dog loves it.

Vic S thanks for sharing - I would say you are now living the dream

Vic S wrote:

We are in a small village between Smolyan and Pamporovo in the Rhodopi Mountains its a traditional mountain house south facing with nothing but mountains and forest as far as the eye can see.

Sounds lovely - how did you find it?

oldun wrote:

The negativity about Bulgaria on forums also deter people and of course people who have fallen foul of corruption in its many forms don't help Bulgaria's image. Work is practically impossible to find hence the many carboot sales where, it seems to me many 'businesses' operate under this heading. Pensioners often haven't the savings to spend on an 'adventure' that may or may not be for them in the long run.

What you have written sounds very much like Turkey oldun The Turkish forums have many people writing and griping about things going on over here, perhaps it is British thing to have a good moan, I don't know. Corruption is rife here as well, many Brits have lost their life savings on property purchasing. Work is impossible to do unless Brits have a Work Permit and they are impossible to get and the beaurocracy involved would drive an ordinary person mad. Most Brits here are pensioners or near pensioners and there has been a lot of selling of properties by Brits in recent months to release capital and rent instead. Of course the largest amount have come over to you in BG and some have returned to the UK. Properties are hard to sell here, especially those over £30,000, up to that figure the Turkish are buying, some are buying more expensive properties with a mortgage which is new for them, only instigated last year. But on the whole anything over £30,000 is slow to move on.

Getting a property on the cheap is a worldwide thing and not restricted to Brits or anyone else, so people who are desperate to sell and at a low price will always clear down with their properties before others. For me and Annette, an internal staircase or a one storey property would be ideal, I can't imagine getting up for a leak in the middle of the night after drinking some amber nectar. Trudging down some stairs in the middle of winter in the freezing cold would not be my idea of fun, some yellow snow may appear mysteriously underneath the bedroom window.

fruitlover wrote:

Vic S wrote:

We are in a small village between Smolyan and Pamporovo in the Rhodopi Mountains its a traditional mountain house south facing with nothing but mountains and forest as far as the eye can see.

Sounds lovely - how did you find it?

We got a couple of friends to ask all the mayors in the villages we looked at what the real house prices were, if proper sanitation was available and was prossional local labour available. Many of the prices on the internet do not resemble the price the vendor is asking.

Bulgaria is a beautiful country and most Bulgarians are lovely but like most things in life its the minority who spoil things for everyone. You only have to look at the horror stories on the internet to see why Brits wont invest any more. Take sunny beach for example in the past 6yrs it has gone downhill badly, poor roads, bad traffic, rubbish everywhere, bad paving, poor lighting, general dirty scruffy appearance. This combined with the state of the £, puts Brits off from returning. I have been on many a flight home and had to listen to Brits saying they would never return to Bulgaria because of their poor experience. If Bulgaria wants to grow and establish itself with a thriving tourism business etc. it must stop all the corruption and protect those who are investing and visiting the country.

Tourism everywhere is now a dirty word so Bulgaria is not unique in that respect. I have just recently found a website that said the 'powers that be' have been checking out facilities in resorts and the sewage problems which enter the sea. Quite how the last is going to effictively have a quick fix I have no idea but it seems that Bulgaria is recognising the fact that its not providing quality tourism. A small step in the right direction but probably a bit late.
Anyone buying in or near a seaside resort should realise that it will be just as closed in winter as a small village in central Bulgaria plus everything, including property, will be more expensive.
Asking Mayors about property is a reasonably good idea if the Mayor is not corrupt and how you find this out is anyone's guess especially if you are a Brit. It obviously worked well for the last poster - well done. Not many Brits are as clued up or take no notice of advice especially if its a first timer buying abroad. There are good established estate agents around.
Finding a property with an indoor staircase and toilet are very thin on the ground unless already renovated. Of course, the Bulgarians use chamber pots or buckets at night as we British used to do in the past when we too, had outside 'lavvies!' Not so long ago. Indeed I lived in my Greek 'ruin' for years with this solution. The wonderful location more than made up for the lack of facilities. Although the winters were not so cold, there was plenty of rain and with no heating other than a 'petchka' it was no picnic especially when the spring beneath the cottage meant the downstairs completely flooded quite often! You can see why I might be slightly intolerant of the 'New Brits!'
Bulgaria is a paradise and a good place to buy if you take care and keep a realistic outlook. Unfortunately, a lot of damage has already been done to Bulgaria's reputation, but its a better bet than putting money into a bank or stocks and shares!

When renovating in Scotland we installed a composting toilet by choice - but ended up putting in a WC for the visitors, who were dubious about the eco-friendly one! Water closets may have solved inner-city disease problems in the past, but were never an ecologically sound invention, especially when you consider the chemicals we have to put down to sanitise them! An earth bucket upstairs for night use is a kinder and less smelly option than a chamber pot, the soil bacteria get to work on the contents straight away. "
flush it away and forget it"
means you are not giving any thought to where it goes and what happens to it next and who has to deal with it and where the final "
processed"
product ends up - and if that's a healthy option for the planet? Isn't complaining about sewage ending up in the sea rather like people who live in glass houses throwing stones?

Well, noone discusses holiday apartments which to me were 75% of the investments and where the prices are down the most at the moment...

All the buyers at the time were asking how's the resales market in Bulgaria, would they be able to sell their properties in 5 years and gain 50% on top :)
Well, resale market is booming now, but sellers are getting 50% under

prawler wrote:

Well, noone discusses holiday apartments which to me were 75% of the investments and where the prices are down the most at the moment...

All the buyers at the time were asking how's the resales market in Bulgaria, would they be able to sell their properties in 5 years and gain 50% on top :)
Well, resale market is booming now, but sellers are getting 50% under

I'm sorry to disagree with you but the market is not booming in fact its almost standing still, yes there are plenty of properties for sale that quite frankly anyone with any sense wouldn't buy but if you look at the properties further on up the ladder they aren't selling and wont sell unless you give them away and lets be honest that will apply to any country in the world even those with an infrastructure to die for.