Bulgaria, a country with 7,3 million population - is located in the South East Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, by the Black Sea. It's neighboured by Romania from the North, Serbia and Macedonia from the West and Greece and Turkey from the South.

The capital city is Sofia (1.1 million). The other major cities are Plovdiv (375 thousand), Varna (350 thousand) and extremely popular among the property investors - Burgas (250 thousand). The location of Bulgaria makes it an unusually attractive destination, both for investment and living - you can enjoy great beaches of the Black Sea or climb the mountains nearby. Golden Sands - a city famous for the kilometeкs of its beautiful, sandy beaches, has experienced huge growth in terms of the property construction and prices. In parallel, the tourist infrastructure is changing rapidly - today one can enjoy all types of the water sports, as well as volleyball, tennis and golf. The climate of Bulgaria makes the summer very pleasant - with average air temperatures from 28 Celsius degrees and water of about 24 Celsius degrees, it is always a great option for the holiday and tanning.

Economy: Bulgaria has been an associated member of the European Union (EU) since 1992. In 1997 an agreement was signed with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for economic stabilization and for the carrying through of economic reforms in the country. A currency board was introduced. The national monetary unit has been referred to the EURO. A structural reform is underway aimed at an economic growth, a functioning market economy and at paving the way for foreign investments in the country.

Business: Relationship building is important in Bulgaria, and initial meetings may be used as an introduction, after which more business-related meetings can be planned. Face-to-face meetings are therefore preferred over communication by email, fax or phone. The use of English in business is increasing, however the services of a translator might be required, and presentations should include the use of visuals where possible. Introductions include firm handshakes, and the exchange of business cards; dress should be conservative business attire and punctuality is expected.

Why to invest in Bulgaria:
- the ex-communist country has been seeing tremendous growth lately and is benefiting from a red-hot property market
- Bulgaria boasts political and economic stability and has been recording a sustained GDP growth of between 4.7% and 4.9% per year
- The country’s currency is stable
- Bulgaria is a member of NATO and European Union
- property prices seeing a 25% increase over the last several years
- benefits from a very strategic location
- Bulgaria experienced tremendous economic growth
- Bulgaria offers tax incentives for investing in depressed region

The Bulgaria property market is going through a growth spurt fuelled by the country’s recent ascension as a full member of the European Union. Along with its booming tourist trade and its ever-growing community of expats, the Bulgarian real estate sector is seeing some of the strongest activity in its history.

The Bulgarian property market is still considered an emerging one, which is another big fact in its favour. Bulgaria offers investors a better value for their money than most other European destinations because it is not over-developed yet and because the prices are still relatively low compared to what they are in other countries.

Bulgaria is a beautiful mountainous country, with tourism opportunities being one of its biggest assets. Bulgaria possesses beautiful landscapes and beaches, and is becoming a real resort paradise. The Black Sea Coast on its East border is famous for its fine sanded beaches, and perfect temperatures of water and air.
The larger seaside resorts draw huge crowds of tourists from Western Europe, who comes attracted by the low prices. All in all, the huge dynamics of the tourism fuels growth of the real estate market in Bulgaria.

Further, Bulgaria has around 600 natural mineral springs, with water temperatures ranging from 20 to 60 degrees Celsius, whose baths and health spas are famous tourist attractions. There has been very little done, however, as far as development and improvement of facilities. The spring water is rich in mineral elements and often runs unattended.

The buyer without Bulgarian citizenship will need a valid passport in order to have the property rights trasferred. There are no limitations anymore related to the residential property acquisition. There are some when it comes to the land purchase, would this be the type of the property in Bulgari you're looking for, please contact MostProperties.com.

Generally, being a foreign investor in Bulgaria, one can't get 100% mortgage. Most of the banks will agree on 70%, though, using the property as a collateral. The bank will only approve the credit for property under construction or ready. The good old off-plan investments can't be financed by the banks.

Below is the standard purchase process for properties in Bulgaria and issues that may affect that purchase.

1. Reservation and reservation fee, which is afterwards deducted from the price and is usually refundable up to 30 days.

2. Preliminary contract is normally drawn up by the developer and checked by the purchaser’s solicitor in respect of the property rights, seller`s credibility, construction permits, debts on title and terms of contract at which stage the purchaser will be expected to pay a deposit of 10-30%.

3a) Power of attorney and other notary paperwork, authorizing the solicitor to conclude the final contract in form of Notary deed on the purchaser`s behalf

or

3b) Travel preparations and additional agreements, if the buyer chooses to be present in front of the Notary public himself.

4) Notary meeting. The final form of the purchase of real estate property in Bulgaria is Title Deed, which is signed by either the purchaser himself or the lawyer, acting with a Power of attorney, which must be certified by the Bulgarian council in London or by a Notary Public. In case they are legalized by a Notary Public at the back of the document an apostille is placed that allows then to be legally used in Bulgaria. (In London or Dublin the apostille is issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). If he has not done so, yet, the purchaser must pay the balance of the purchase price as well as the relevant fees, amounting to around 4 % of the purchase price.

Costs of a standard property in Bulgaria include the following:

* A municipality tax is calculated on the purchase price on the Title Deed and is similar to a stamp duty. This is determined by each City council and may vary between 2% and 3,5% of the price in the Title deed
* The notary fee is calculated using the property price in the Title Deed. The following can be used as a guide:

€25,700 - €51,300 - the notary fee is €180 + 0.2% of the amount over €25,700
Over        €51,300 - the fee is €230 + 0.1% of the amount over €51,300 but no more than €1550.

These are added to the purchaser`s cost. Notary publics in Bulgaria are tax registered and therefore calculate 20 % VAT over the above listed amounts.
* Land registry costs 0.1% of the value.
* After becoming the owner of an estate in Bulgaria, you also have to be BULSTAT registered. This is normally done by your solicitor as well/ and a special Declaration for obtaining real estate in Bulgaria has to be filled in and filed with the Tax authorities. This registration results in the issue of a BULSTAT card containing each buyer`s tax identity number.

A non-Bulgarian national may own real estate in Bulgaria (flats, houses, etc.), but not land. When a purchaser buys an apartment he owns the property right on it and also the building tenancy on the land, which the development is built on. Therefore it is not absolutely necessary for him to register a company in Bulgaria.

If a non-Bulgarian national wishes to purchase land or shares of land, he is currently not permitted to do so, it is still necessary for the purchaser to form a Bulgarian limited company that can own land. The clauses of the contracts, that Bulgaria has signed in relation to its admission in the European union, stipulate that this regime will be lightened in a few years for citizen of countries – members of the EU.

An average distance from Burgas to the Moon is 384,4 thousand kilometres.

The first people appeared in Bulgaria long time ago.

The length of Bulgarian border with Romania is 608 kilometres, while with Macedonia it is 148 kilometres. Surprisingly, both numbers end with digit 8.

Despite the Golden Sands is purely metaphoric name, we can offer you some literally luxurious property in Bulgaria.

When Bulgarian says "yes" or "no" it means "yes" or "no" and the other way round.

In the biggest "Bourgas Street Marathon of the Late Summer of 1971" Timothy Barvinkov participated in person.

Christo Sotichkov, the legendary footballer of Bulgaria's national team, CSKA Sofia and FC Barcelona, prior to retirement was a great player.