|
In many ways, Bulgaria remains one of the cheapest destinations on the Balkans. It is the site of extensive Black Sea package resorts and the source of several good wines. As with many little-known destinations, however, there's a great deal to discover here: much of Bulgaria is like an open-air museum of Balkan culture, with beautifully decorated churches, fine mosques, wonderfully preserved rustic villages and a great deal of enduring folklore. The mountainous interior makes it one of the top hiking destinations of Europe, while over on the Black Sea coast, the white-sand beaches are just magnificent. Although quite a small country, Bulgaria has a whole range of attractions within its borders and can offer an unique combination of sunny seaside, beautiful mountains, lovely countryside, numerous mineral springs, and organic farmlands. Once you are away from the noisy towns and the bustle of the large seaside resorts you will find yourself drifting back to the country's centuries old way of life.
Bulgaria always was a relatively cheap country for tourists and, despite the shift to a market economy, most of life's essentials cost considerably less here than they do in the West. That's why the Bulgarian property market is among the cheapest in Europe. For example, rural houses for renovation are still widely available for less than 20,000 pounds. The cost of living is cheap and the climate excellent, and there is a wealth of historic towns, unspoiled villages and some beautiful beaches. Tuscany-like hilltop towns such as medieval Veliko Turnovo are to be found inland, while the ski areas in the Rhodope Mountains in the south are increasingly popular. Rental yields tend to be better for ski properties than those on the coast because of the longer ski season. You could expect about 15 percents gross yield for a good ski apartment and about half that on the coast. The big interest in buying cheap houses with gardens and plots of land in Bulgaria is being driven by three major factors: people's desire to own a second home in a pleasant, picturesque area where they can spend their holidays or even move to live there permanently, by the indisputable, great investment potential of these estates, and the cheap cost of living. For 5 or 6 years now, there have been tens of thousands of foreign people who have bought cheap estates in Bulgaria – the largest investments coming from the UK, Holland, Russia, Austria, Poland, Germany, the rest of the European countries and even the USA and Japan. There are many examples of foreign people who have already moved to live in Bulgaria. They are young families with children or retired people who wish to start their new lives. All of them started with the same idea, to visit Bulgaria a few years ago and buy a cheap house in an unknown country, to see how things would work out, and to invest their spare money at the same time.
Everybody can still afford to buy an estate in Bulgaria – there is a great variety of rural locations, and estates are still cheap. Houses with land or plots of land for building or resale are the preferred option for people who don’t have a lot of money but wish to buy a property abroad, for young people who cannot climb on the mortgage ladder in their countries of residence, for people who wish to move to live abroad, for people who want to try with a smaller investment, and for people who already own a real estate in Bulgaria. It is strongly recommended that people, who buy apartments for investment, also buy a rural real estate to diversify their investment as it will be an additional investment for about one tenth of the amount spent on an apartment. Rural houses with gardens are still very cheap. People who bought estates a few years ago for between 5,000 and 15,000 Euros have now sold them for 25,000 Euros or even up to 70,000 Euros depending on the location and the renovations made, achieving a tremendous return on their cheap investment. This proves that investments in cheap real estates are also profitable and they can generate an excellent rate of return. The resale procedure is very simple and straight forward and there are no restrictions to taking money out of the country. The expectations for huge price increases have appeared to be absolutely correct and it is important to say that it is not too late to invest in and buy cheap estates in Bulgaria as rural properties and land or even not so cheap properties as apartments. The expected returns are of about 15-20% per year or even more. So, together with the option for holiday home or permanent living, buying a rural real estate for future resale is also very tempting. It is not compulsory to make any renovations to the house except if it is dangerously falling down. It can be kept as it is and resold in a few years. According to the British "Independent", the interest in Bulgaria is reasonable, because of the fast and big growth of the Bulgarian economy during 2006 year - 5%, that is supposed to continue next several years. "Independent" pointed out that the prices in Bulgaria are cheaper not only in comparison with other socialistic countries, but compare to these ones in Czech Republic they are one third of them. The real estate market in Bulgaria is well developed now and this growth is expected to continue until the prices in Bulgaria reach these ones in the rest European countries.
|
||||||||
