Property purchase

The Bulgarian property market currently offers good investment potential considering the long-term prospects for the country. We offer some general information on the process of purchasing a property:

Finding a property

Once you have contacted us, we will select the most appropriate properties from our listings according to your requirements. We also quote the advantages of the properties and stress on the hidden defects if there are any. If you cannot find any suitable properties on our website, we will search for other properties in VT area to suit your requirements. When we meet in our office we will agree a list and schedule for viewing of the properties, chosen by you. When you find a property we will negotiate on your behalf about all the conditions of sale and if needed will be your legal representatives during the process for purchasing a property.

If you are traveling from abroad, we can help you with transport to Veliko Tarnovo and organizing accommodation.

Company formation

After Bulgaria’s entry into the EU in 2007 and with the latest amendments in the Bulgarian Law, EU citizens and some other nationalities DO NOT NEED TO FORM A COMPANY in order to purchase property with land in Bulgaria.

At present non-EU citizens can own buildings but not land in Bulgaria. Non-EU citizens can only own land by registering a company in Bulgaria – a simple and straightforward procedure, which company then acquires legal ownership of the land. Most often the company is set as a Limited Liability Company (Ltd).
We can prepare the necessary documentation and register a company in your name in Bulgaria for 300 EUR. This fee includes all state fees, translation of documents, notary taxes, company stamp. The process for company registration takes about 10 days.

All the information required for the company registration is:

-passport details and address of the shareholder(s),

-company name and an address in Bulgaria where the company will registered. For initial company address our clients can use VT Bulgaria’s office address, but as soon as the company is formed and has acquired a property, we require for the company address to be moved to the address of the property.

Preliminary contract
The preliminary contract contains all of the agreed details (term for signing the final contract, description of the property, selling price, etc.) and states the deposit paid. The deposit is normally 10% of the selling price, but in some cases you can reserve a property with less than 10% (500 EUR for example). The deposit is not refundable if you decide not to buy the property. We act on your behalf and do all the checks regarding title deeds, permissions, licenses, debts on the title etc. You can use your own solicitor if you already have one arranged.

Notary deed

The notary deed is the final document for ownership of the property which is basically a contract between the seller and the buyer for the sale of the real estate. This deed is issued by the notary and is stamped by the Registry Office, sent to the local Townhall, Tax Administration. A copy is kept in the notary’s office as well. The Bulgarian notaries are an independent legal institution that witness deals for transferring of ownership and legalize signatures. They do not act on behalf of the buyer or the seller. If you are not present when the notary deed is signed, you have to authorize someone to act on your behalf and sign the deed for the property.

The transfer of the ownership of the property is subject to notary and municipal fees. These fees depend on the value of the property stated in the final notary deed and are approximately 4% of that value (of the purchase price). Usually the fees are paid by the buyer.

After the new notary deed is obtained, the ownership has to be declared at the local Tax Administration /within 2 months after the purchase/. Any utility bills like electricity, water, telephone, gas, etc. have to be changed into the name of the new owner. We offer this service to our clients to save you time and hassle with bureaucracy.