The most significant difference is that non Bulgarian's are not allowed to purchase the actual land. They may however form a Bulgarian Limited Company through which the shareholders will acquire the land, and thus purchase and own the property. The process is relatively straight forward, but involves navigating a raft of Bulgarian legislative issues that involves considerable paperwork.

  An essential part of the service offered by BGPLG is to guide you through this using our in-house legal and financial team. * This rule does not apply to foreign nationals who purchase leasehold apartments or parts of larger developments.
 
  The costs associated with real estate transactions are however, lower. As elsewhere in Europe, the transfer is the subject of Notary and Municipal (Local Authority/Stamp Duty) fees. These fees total approximately 2.4% of the value of the transaction and are paid to the municipality in which the property is located.

  In addition to these statutory government fees clients will normally incur solicitor's costs of between 1% and 3% of the declared price of any real estate transaction.

* As with most other EU countries these charges fall outside of our published tariff of BGPLG charges. However our clients can benefit from our low solicitor fees of between 0.5 - 1%.

Typically, owning property in Bulgaria has the added benefit of significantly lower running costs, compared to those in other European countries. The owner of a property is obliged to pay an annual property tax of 0.15% of the declared value of the property (compare that to your UK council tax!). Amazingly, this property tax also covers all waste-collection fees for your property!
 
If your property is a part of a residential complex the owner will normally pay a contribution to the Housing Association of about 350 Euro per year – this provides for 24 hour security, cleaning, swimming pool, lighting and maintenance, etc.
 
All foreign buyers purchasing real estate Bulgaria must be aware that there are such terms as "Government Tax Estimation Price" and "Purchase Price". The "tax estimation price" is for the purposes of real estate taxation and is often calculated by the municipality lower than the actual selling (purchase) price. Bulgarian property vendors will wish for the "Tax Estimation Price" be written into the title deed, and not the actual price which the buyer has agreed to pay. As a result of this common practice there may well appear to be discrepancies between the price written in the title deed and the actual cash consideration paid by our Clients. If our Clients wish that the purchase price to be written in the property title deed they must notify us in advance and we will attempt to negotiate with the vendor of the property on your behalf.
 
For step-by-step guidance and itemised charges, please click onto our standard Client Contract and/or our contract to assist you in the formation of a Bulgarian limited company. These documents give our clients a greater understanding of the process of acquiring Bulgarian real estate and provide a simple checklist of administrative tasks that are undertaken by BGPLG on your behalf. Our legal team are highly practiced professionals that are superbly qualified to take away the pressures associated with all property purchases.
 
* All the team at BGPLG look forward to hearing from you and assure you that we will pay prompt attention to your enquiry.