There are 2 types of property in Bulgaria, properties that have land attached and properties without land. With both types of property the ownership has no time limits and your heirs will inherit the property, provided you do not sell. This is similar to freehold; you are the owner for life.

The Bulgarian constitution presently forbids foreigners from owning land in Bulgaria. The law at the moment states that only Bulgarian citizens and other such legal persons can obtain ownership of Bulgarian land. Therefore, any foreigner who wants to buy either land or land with a building has to register and have a Bulgarian company, because under the law the company is acting as a Bulgarian juridical person and can acquire land.

Now, aliens or non-resident legal persons may acquire a right to ownership of land under the terms arising from the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union or by virtue of an international treaty which has been ratified, which has been promulgated, and which has entered into force for the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as through legal succession.

The type of property that is without land is usually apartments but it is possible to buy other properties without land such as: shops, offices, restaurants, houses, terrace houses. There are some detached houses or villas that are without land but these properties very rarely come on the market.

If you are interested in this type of property and want to know more about the possibilities, do not forget to ask us when we meet. Of course, when we show you properties we will tell you if they are for sale with or without land.

In any case, if you need more information about this matter, please do not hesitate to ask us.

If you wish to purchase a property that is without land we will carry out the following in order for you to purchase the property and become the owners:

We will collect all the necessary papers, notary deeds, building permissions, company registrations, probate certificates for inheritance, property plans and layouts. We will check with the court for any outstanding mortgages, restrictions of use or similar problems relating to the property. Then we will be able to explain and tell you the history and the legal status of the property.

Using our knowledge of the property market we will let you know if we feel that the price you are paying is a fair market price. We will also let you know if it would be possible and appropriate to negotiate the price with the seller.

After agreeing the price, we will discus with you and the seller the conditions of the purchase and then prepare the preliminary contract.

At the same time we will assist you, if necessary, to arrange through the banks the funds and the currency for the deposit, which is usually 10 percent of the purchase price. This depends on the type of payment method you wish to use: credit cards, travellers’ checks or cash. Usually the sellers in Bulgaria want to receive the money in EUR or in Levs/BGN/ and in cash.

We will also arrange the opening of your Bulgarian bank account for future payments including taxes and other costs.

The next step of the purchase is the signing of the preliminary contract, at which time you will have to pay the deposit. When this contract has been signed the seller assumes the obligation to sell you his property and you assume the obligation to purchase and pay the agreed price. The preliminary contract specifies all the details of the deal.

You will need to sign the necessary powers of attorney for us, so it will be possible for our team to undertake all necessary actions on your behalf without the need for you to be here.

If you are buying a property “off plan” then there will normally be stage payments; this is usually related to the stages of the building process, before the final payment and the issuing of the notary deed. As we are acting on your behalf it will be our obligation to make the payments on time. To ensure that we can make such payments we will remind you of the payments terms enabling you to ensure sufficient funds are available. 

The next step is to obtain the “title deed”, which in Bulgarian law is called the Notary Act. We appear at the notary’s office to sign the notary deed, pay the balance of the price, the local tax, the notary tax and the court tax. After the notary has signed the deed and the deed is registered at the court, we then receive the documents.

Congratulations, you are now the owner !

The final step is that we still have to declare the property for the tax administration and register you at the statistic administration.