Once you identify a suitable property, a typical purchase process in Bulgaria could be broken down into the following stages:
- Place a deposit to reserve your plot
- Sign a preliminary contract
- Set up a company (you don’t have to set up a company if you are buying an apartment)
- Checks are carried out on: Title Documents, Licenses and Permissions, Debts on the Title, Terms of Contract
- Sign the Notary Act
Many new developments are being offered under construction (mostly on the coast), where properties may be purchased ‘off plan’. In this case every vendor (normally a construction company) provides some extra terms of sale in addition to our terms of sale. They are normally set out in the preliminary contract.
According to the Bulgarian Constitution, foreign individuals can buy buildings but not land. Therefore, the most common method for foreigners buying property in Bulgaria is to set up a limited company which then owns the land and the buildings. The law is expected to change soon as Bulgaria is to enter the European Union in 2007. This historic restriction is one of the reasons why property in Bulgaria is so competitively priced compared to Western and Central Europe.