| Bulgaria
is a country of immense variety, both geographically and culturally.
As a destination, the country has received widespread recognition
within the last couple of years. Although Bulgaria is fast
becoming one of the most popular countries for tourism, there
are still any locations that have not yet been discovered
- so if you are looking for an up and coming resort, this
could well be the country to start your search.
Also Bulgaria's full potential has yet to
be fully recognised or achieved. With the economy growing
at 6% per year and unemployment falling fast (just 12% currently),
Bulgaria's economy is quickly integrating into the EU prior
to its anticipated membership in 2007. Internal investment
continues apace with international organisations predicting
continued economic prosperity for the foreseeable future.
Initially the interest from International
investors in the property market was generally concentrated
in the coastal beach resorts of the Black Sea. Now as the
market has developed and matured there is an ever-increasing
variety of property becoming available which appeals to the
differing interest and needs of international buyers.
If you are looking to invest in property in
Bulgaria, you can now choose between the beautiful mountain
ski resorts, historic villages, the Black Sea Coastal Resorts
or the capital city of Sofia.
One thing to bear in mind is that the weather
in Bulgaria is definitely season controlled, so although buying
one or more apartments in say Sunny Beach should also bring
you a rental income through the summer months, it will not
be rented over the winter, as temperatures are often below
freezing - not a nice place to be when the resort is not equipped
for winter letting.
If however, you decide to go for a mountain
resort like Bansko, then you will obviously find that the
best rentals are often going to be during the skiing season,
but as Bansko in particular is an established town, there
is still plenty to see and do during the other seasons. So
you would normally expect to receive a longer rental period
for a property in Bansko than in Sunny Beach.
There has not really been a better time to
invest in property in Bulgaria, and record property sales
have been recorded recently. As an example the sale of holiday
apartments in Bulgaria's Black Sea and Mountain Ski Resorts
increased by up to 40% in the 12 months to Dec 2004, and a
further 25-30% in year to Dec 2005.
Forecasters expect prices will continue to
increase 20%-30% annually until at least2007 which is when
Bulgaria is expected to become a member of the EU. Bulgaria
has made a bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, and if successful
these would be in Vitosha (Sofia), Bansko and Borovets. If
this was to go ahead then there would be great improvements
within those areas, again giving a good chance of gains on
investment property.
The tourism industry in Bulgaria is now well
established and it has in fact become one of the fastest growing
tourist destinations in Europe. The number of tourists visiting
Bulgaria is expected to reach between 4-5million in 2006.
As tourism continues to grow exponentially, rental opportunities
for the right property are high, which in turn makes this
a good opportunity for property investment.
The currency (leva) in Bulgaria is stable,
and is linked to the Euro, and this together with the fact
that Bulgaria is politically and economically stable, that
NATO membership was achieved in 2004 and it is in a good strategic
geographic location are all pointers that would indicate a
good return on property investment here is a real possibility.
At the moment one slight drawback is that
no 'foreigner' can own property within Bulgaria - this would
not cause a problem with an apartment, but if you wanted to
buy a village house or have a new villa built you would have
to buy in the name of a Bulgarian company which you would
need to set up.
Although setting up a Bulgarian company is
a fairly simple process (for those who know what they are
doing) I would always advise using a solicitor for this. It
is likely that once Bulgaria is in the EEC then the rules
for 'foreigners' buying property will fall in line with the
rest of Europe.
If you decide to look at buying a property
in Bulgaria either for an investment, or for a holiday home,
then do lots of research to see which area you would prefer
to buy in, ask lots of questions of your agent and most of
all if you are intending to buy as investment and for personal
use, make sure you go and visit the areas you have short-listed.
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