色花堂

The simple answer is "If you want to be sure of quality construction, don't buy in Bulgaria".聽

The property construction scene here is dominated by shady "businessmen" and other Mafia figures, and the municipal inspectors are paid/persuaded to sign off regardless of how shoddy/downright illegal the construction is. The "investment companies" behind most of the complexes offer long guarantees on the materials used and the workmanship, but they're usually just created for the one project and are then sold off to some illiterate and impecunious ethnic for a few leva before the roofs start leaking and the cracks appear in the walls...聽 It's not very likely that the whole place will fall down around your ears but you're likely to be left with a bitter taste in your mouth.聽 Condos are noted for disputes with neighbours who simply aren't interested in living in communal peace or adhering to simple rules, and many owners have no interest in paying management fees or contributions to sinking funds etc.聽 Having been on the management committee of an allegedly exclusive and up-market closed complex in Sofia, I could tell you true stories that would make your hair and toes curl!

If you want a peaceful life where you won't find yourself being ripped off by shady management companies or carrying other owners who won't pay their share of the complex expenses, buy a house!

@Irene14199

We have two apartments in Varna, one is a three bedroom maisonette and the other a studio apartment. Both are relatively new. The maisonette built in 2008 and the studio 2016.

We've had no problems with either apartment.

However, it's a lottery when it comes to build standard and if you're going to buy an apartment, my advice is look at as many as possible, whether old, middle aged or new.

Finding a surveyor in Bulgaria is pretty difficult, so use your own commonsense.聽 If you see large cracks poor electrical work, badly fitting doors and windows - avoid.

Buying an apartment that's been around for years and still looks good, with well maintained communal areas, is a good sign you'll be okay.聽 I would be cautious about buying a brand new apartment - if you can find one.聽

For a decent selection of what's available, take a look at imot dot bg .

You should always employ a solicitor and a translator. I had both and I'm very thankful I did, as a number of problems occurred with sellers and we were able to avoid them.聽 I was also glad my wife's cousin is a freelance estate agent and knew all the agents in Varna, so we were able to find properties that weren't advertised.

It goes without saying, that you should never buy an apartment without seeing it, at least, a couple of times and checking the block's services. You should also never buy "off plan", meaning to buy an apartment in a block before the block is built or completed, as it's common for builders to go bust and or have significant delays to the building - sometimes years.聽 Saying that, many Bulgarians do buy "off plan" mostly through a desperate need to get a prime property, as there is a property shortage in Varna, due to the influx of Ukrainians and other expats.聽 I witnessed a block being built in the Chaika area, that contained 76 apartments, 6 offices and four shops and every single unit was sold when the building was only at the half way stage! Insane.

I witnessed a block being built in the Chaika area, that contained 76 apartments, 6 offices and four shops and every single unit was sold when the building was only at the half way stage! Insane. - @cyberescue1

What on earth is "insane" about it? 馃檮

It's a common, and increasingly popular, way to buy property here in BG, in the rest of Europe - and indeed in the UK these days

There are many advantages, including:

Potential for appreciation: Property values can increase once construction is complete, and indeed also often during construction for late-comers.

Customization: Buyers can usually personalize finishes and layouts.

Lower initial prices: Off-plan properties are often priced lower than completed ones.

Spread payments: The payment plan is often spread over the construction period.

That's not to say that there are no potential drawbacks, but they're much the same as when having a house built - or even renovated. Risk can be mitigated by doing proper due diligence, which anyone with any sense would take very seriously when splashing out a large wad of cash on any property deal

There are millions of people who have done very nicely out of their off-plan "insanity", in terms of having a home that more closely matches both their requirements and aspirations, or a rental investment that's bringing in a return and increasing in value. No psychiatric therapy needed...馃榿

I shared a taxi to the airport in Sofia last summer with a young Thai guy, working in London. He'd wanted to invest in an apartment in a European capital and bought off plan in Sofia in early 2019. Apparently his mum back in Thailand had similar ideas about the insanity of his "investment". When COVID lockdowns hit and all building work stopped, he heard nothing more from the developer, and he had to agree. He thought he'd lost all his money, and was seriously kicking himself for being so naive.

Then in 2024, he got an email from the developer out of the blue.聽 Act 16 had been granted and did he want to come finish the legal paperwork and pick up the keys to his apartment. He was on his way back to London after seeing his flat, and was thrilled both with the build quality and the fact that apartments were now selling for three times what he'd paid. Being able to tell his mum how much potential profit he'd made had been fun for him, too!

So while I doubt I'd be brave enough to take the risk, it can pay off!

@Irene14199

I'd say "quality" seems a bit hard to define, and certainly hard to search for. There are local standards here, just as in every country, so there isn't massive variability between buildings. Although, of course, developers build to a budget/market, so a "luxury" building on the sea might be spending more for higher end features (fancier tiling, better windows, thicker insulation, high-class common areas, etc.) than a "middle class" building in a up-and-coming suburb.

In general, wages are rising and Bulgarians have more money, and there are more relatively prosperous Bulgarians. This means they have rising expectations for the newer buildings (and willing to pay more for the privilege). In our (desirable) zone of Plovdiv, some of our new neighbours are very upscale buildings which I'd consider to be of a quality most folks would be extremely happy with. (They're probably being sold, off-plan, for around 2k euros/m2 for Bulgarian Standard.)

The "quality" of a building/apartment isn't just down to the original constructor. They are sold unfinished as "Bulgarian Standard" (an unlivable concrete box), so you'll get a completely different impression if one owner did a cheap-and-cheerful finish at 200/m2, while another did a more upscale finish at 1,000/m2. And, of course, maintenance fees/HOA vary widely, but tend to be relatively low, so some buildings will appear lower quality as they're getting a bit tatty over time due to the inadequate HOA.

Personally, I've had no issues here. The condos are not as fancy as in USA and many other countries (so one needs an attitude/expectation adjustment), but the buy price is far lower, as are the ongoing property taxes and HOA. I consider that my Bulgarian properties represent wonderful bang-for-my-buck.

I suggest you look at some big, reputable property sites for what's available on the market... and just see what you like, and what you can afford. Burgas and Varna are great options on the Black Sea, both big enough to have all services/amenities you want in a small city. However, I suggest you increase your budget to try to be as close as possible to the most desirable zones (ideally, I think, near the city centre, the beach, and the Sea Gardens). Your quality of life will feel very different if you can stroll to the Sea Gardens every day. :-)

Whatever you do - don't rely on "standards", or the quaint notion that those that do exist will be adhered to, here! It's common for those responsible for enforcing the standards to accept a "gift" from the builder/investor to certify that everything is as it should be, often sight unseen. 馃槑

Also, don't rely too much on the official building plans: those "concrete beams" aren't necessarily the size, or where, they're supposed to be - or sometimes anywhere at all; I'm being reminded of this fact at present with our current renovation/demolition derby...馃��

@JimJ

Bulgaria, like all EU countries, is expected to implement processes and systems to prevent these kinds of petty bribery of public officials. Even if what you say were true back in the day, it seems unlikely that Bulgaria still has endemic corruption in the building process at the construction approval level. As a building inspector, it's an exceedingly risky proposition for me to accept (relatively small) bribes on inadequate construction, even more so "sight unseen". Whereas, it seems to me that there are much less risky options where I can keep your building at the front of the inspection line (vs. finding excuses/work to see you last), or holding up your approval based on trivial paperwork/procedural grounds (vs. finding a way to magically cut all the red tape).

Besides, even if we accept what you say as completely true, how do you propose that I (or any other prospective buyer) check for this? I doubt it's common here to commission a surveyor for your possible apartment, let alone task someone with examining a whole building and its legal documents for code violations!

What you say does happen (in the world), of course.and it's a terrible thing. When a building pancakes in a minor earthquake (e.g. China and Turkey, I believe) it's very straightforward to identify shoddy and substandard construction as the culprit. But shiny new buildings still look new and shiny, even when the bones are dangerously brittle. :-)

@JimJ
Bulgaria, like all EU countries, is expected to implement processes and systems to prevent these kinds of petty bribery of public officials. Even if what you say were true back in the day, it seems unlikely that Bulgaria still has endemic corruption in the building process at the construction approval level. As a building inspector, it's an exceedingly risky proposition for me to accept (relatively small) bribes on inadequate construction, even more so "sight unseen". Whereas, it seems to me that there are much less risky options where I can keep your building at the front of the inspection line (vs. finding excuses/work to see you last), or holding up your approval based on trivial paperwork/procedural grounds (vs. finding a way to magically cut all the red tape).

Besides, even if we accept what you say as completely true, how do you propose that I (or any other prospective buyer) check for this? I doubt it's common here to commission a surveyor for your possible apartment, let alone task someone with examining a whole building and its legal documents for code violations!

What you say does happen (in the world), of course.and it's a terrible thing. When a building pancakes in a minor earthquake (e.g. China and Turkey, I believe) it's very straightforward to identify shoddy and substandard construction as the culprit. But shiny new buildings still look new and shiny, even when the bones are dangerously brittle. :-) - @gwynj

Unfortunately, there's no "even if" about it 馃槬

I apologise if I've already rehearsed some/all of this, but here's a recent sample from our "upmarket closed complex" experience:

The complex was built by a well-know "Businessman/Investor"; in a nut-shell he "allegedly" paid off the Chief Architect of the municipality to illegally sign off on the original scheme and then the Act 16 without any inspection (fortuitously the Chief Architect is now practising his profession where God apparently has "many mansions") 馃槑聽

The buyers of the apartments received long warranties for the construction etc, all without being told that the specially-formed construction company, and all its liabilities - as is customary here - was then sold on, together with a few hundred leva for his trouble, to an illiterate and impecunious ethnic gent.

Trouble soon ensued, not solely due to leaking roofs everywhere, but more importantly because there was, and still is, no means of access to the complex without crossing private land.聽 This in essence means that the complex should never have received planning/building permission, as access for the owners is a sine qua non.聽 The only access was over land owned by a well-known allegedly-shady "businessman", who then developed it as a car park and closed off access to the complex.聽 The municipality had however indicated that they would, in due time, compulsorily purchase some adjoining land upon which to build the requisite access road; there was even an official plan on file - probably under the heading of "Mythical Highway".聽

It soon became clear that the road was never going to be built, not least because the adjoining land mentioned had been discreetly and personally purchased by some officials in the municipality, who were aware that it was due to be part of the site of a large commercial/residential complex and would shortly rocket in value.聽 Once the complex management committee, of which I was a member, learned the true situation it was resolved to shame the municipality into rectifying the situation, at least to the extent of allocating some land somewhere for an access road; demonstrations were duly organised, and the TV and Press turned up to cover them. However, the municipal mayor isn't one to embarrass easily and, once the media had moved on to more interesting fare, we were informed that if we didn't back down and STFU the whole development would be declared illegal (due it having no access) and all the permissions, including Act 16 (which is needed for it to be inhabited), would be retrospectively rescinded. That threat still hangs over the complex, which has around 400 apartments, many of which are blithely bought and sold (at vastly-increasing prices) without the buyers and sellers being aware of what is hiding just out of sight.

I won't go into any detail about the other "exciting happenings" which the complex has seen apart from to say that there is an excellent restaurant there, much visited by famous TV stars, Mafiosi (complete with armed bodyguards who come in before El Capo leaves his vehicle to check who else might be eating there) and political bigwigs.聽 I could also mention the wannabe "businessman" who pulled a knife on a stranger who wouldn't let him out through the barrier first - unfortunately for him, the stranger was a REAL "businessman" who packs a rather impressive firearm.聽 Then there was the single lady quietly renting a penthouse, who it transpired was discreetly "entertaining gentlemen": unfortunately, she wasn't discreet enough and the franchise for such enterprises on the territory seemingly belonged to another businessman and his associates; a car bomb - thoughtfully rigged NOT to go off - was left outside the entrance to the block and the committee had to politely invite the lady to find a more conducive venue for her venture forthwith.

There was plenty more excitement - the vast majority of which the other inhabitants were blissfully unaware, and we were happy to keep it that way - don'tcha just LOVE Bulgaria? 馃槀

And now you know why we live in a house and not an apartment.....although that too has its moments!

Oh my goodness! A little too much adventure and excitement!

I sense a movie deal in the offing!

I sense a movie deal in the offing! - @RexTechGuy

There's no shortage of material here in BG! 馃榿

It's not an exhaustive list by any means but these might inspire the putative screenwriters:

- the "disappearing gold" that mysteriously vanished from a "secure storage facility" at Sofia Airport - 鈧�35 million worth.

- *the assassination of former senior Security Service agent cum Mafia "businessman" Alexei Petrov during an unscheduled and impromptu stroll on Vitosha.

- *the execution of the reportedly non-Mafia-involved owner of a large clothing company who happened to stop at traffic lights one evening.

- the "Customs Village" near Svilengrad, where it was discovered that a large number of high-level Customs officers and other officials had illegally built luxury villas in a protected nature reserve and with funds whose origins they couldn't explain. The villas were illegally connected to water and electricity by the relevant utility companies, and with no documentation. The government promised that they would be investigated and that the illegal buildings would be immediately bulldozed.

In every case, the case went quiet and no suspects were ever identified, let alone arrested or brought before a court. None is currently even under investigation as far as anyone can tell...

Respect for the law - and a belief that Justice is even a thing - isn't part of Bulgarian Reality. 馃榿

*In case anyone is wondering, yes it IS a total coincidence that both of these happened very close to where we live - honestly, Guv! 馃槑