Some considerations when buying a house in Bulgaria

Here's a collection of thoughts on house buying in Bulgaria, a brain dump really so might be a bit disjointed and random.

We arrived in Bulgaria (Sofia) February 2023, covered more than 3000 miles to each corner of the country.

We'd been in Varna the year before and had looked at many houses then too.

1. Many estate agents will advertise houses that they have NOT been appointed to promote (they hope to get a cut by negotiating with the appointed agent).
2. Unlike the UK, here the agent seeks to take a commission from both buyer and seller. They will also "offer" to act on your behalf for the purchase (at inflated prices) - often the agent can be representing both buyer and seller - a clear conflict of interest and guarantee that your interests are not protected.
3. Lawyers (who dabble in house conveyancing) are unlikely to help until they see you face to face and you've made an offer - conveyancing searches are very basic and usually only investigate inheritance claims. Make sure that you request the searches go back more than 10 years.
4. No-one here understands the concept of structural surveys.
5. Make sure that you have active "lots" of electricity and water - reconnecting the electricity can be very expensive (I've heard 8-10k (lev))
6. Adverts rarely (if ever) clearly define the location of the house, which is more than frustrating (they don't trust you to not contact the owner direct and therefore deprive them of commission, especially if they aren't signed up with the seller).
7. If you can speak Bulgarian, the town hall will generally tell you which properties are for sale.
8. None of the estate agents that showed us properties knew anything about the property! So any questions asked are relayed to the seller and takes time, if the owner is dead, you might not get any answers.
9. Many houses advertised for sale had actually been sold, sometimes years before! It's just the hook to get you to sign up and be shown other properties.
10. many properties are not entirely "legal" i.e. registered on the land registry https://kais.cadastre.bg/ once you know exactly where the house is, you can locate it on this site (it's a difficult process of zooming in and out, but we became quite proficient) - you may find that part of the property isn't registered, especially out buildings - the state has the right to knock down the entire property! Sometimes the property will be marked as being registered by the local council, so you won't be able to confirm legal status this way [It's imperative that your lawyer establishes this before you purchase and obviously an immediate question for both seller and lawyer] - you can take a risk, I don't think the state does knock down many houses and some councils will amend the plans to show it as it is - just be aware].
11. Many houses are sold "as furnished". Clarify exactly what isn't being left behind.
12. Many vendors will want to sell with two prices - the lower one that the notary records and upon which the notary's fees are based (the sales tax is typically 3%, but varies from area to area) and will expect to recieve the difference between this price and the agreed price). An illegal practice obviously and one that can bite you on the bum when you sell at a profit later, especially if the new buyer insists the real price is recorded. I wouldn't recommend entertaining the practice, but others may have a higher tolerance to risk.

First task is to draw up your requirements and set the redlines between needs and wishes. Give the key requirements to the Estate Agent (if appointed one). (they'll ignore it!)

Bearing in mind that the Estate Agents will charge you a percentage of the purchase price (and they will want you to sign a contract with them before they show you a first house), you have two choices...
a) Find the property yourself (difficult given 6 above)
b) Find an estate agent in a town central to where you are looking and talk and negotiate with them a much lower fee than they want and be clear that you will appoint your own lawyer (see 2 above) - stress that you are very serious about buying and wish to see as many properties as you can

Advice on looking
Do periodic searches on imot.bg, olx.bg, alo.bg, bazar.bg and rightmove bulgaria (there are numerous facebook pages too and even Ebay).
Try and deduce where the property really is (sometimes you can triangulate from the distances to different towns) or see landmarks
If you manage to pin a property down visit it without an Estate Agent and try to establish who the vendor is and view it with them.