Advice on resale market

[overseas wills]

Really depends what you want to get out of it. Bansko will provide you with an all year option of ski in the winter and hills in the summer. If you are looking at a coastal resort I would recommend St Vlas which is near sunny beach. A cracking new marina has just been developed which has allowed property prices to increase. In adition the buyers market seems to be from Bulgarians, Russians, Nordics and still some British.

[manicman]

Hi All, What Makes St.vlas So Attractive? And What Info Do You Have Access Too, To Show The Prices Have Increased.

[Investy]

Capital growth from off plan investing seems to pretty much be a thing of the past.
This has been caused by over supply of touristic property in most counrties.

Think about it; If you are prepared to part with say £50,000 today, why on Earth would someone be prepared to give you £80,000 in 2 years? In the past maybe, but now the next person in the queue would rather buy thier own off plan brand new place so yours will not appreciate in value.

THE WAY FORWARD:
After some years investing abroad I think the name of the game now is 'rental yield'. Even if you get no capital growth at least you can enjoy a worthwhile rental yield.

[Mark H]

Earlier in this thread Jayne & Chris had mentioned location being important which to be honest it really is. This may well be one reason why you might want to consider St Vlas.

If you are thinking of where to buy around Sunny Beach/Vlas I would personally choose Vlas and not Sunny Beach. Reasons why:

• Quieter and less busy than Sunny Beach
• Easy to get to Sunny Beach if required by bus - 40p each way
• Up market Marina and Restaurants
• Village centre with additional economically priced restaurants
• Good views of Nessebar
• Too much competition for rental from other apartments in SB

Now I'm not saying you are going to make a mint from rentals in Vlas (you could if you work hard at promoting your apartment) but it is my personal belief that a location like this is more likely to generate better returns than most and present you with a better resale opportunity in the future (not now).

I do know of some people who have made decent profits selling their 'Diamond' apartments privately to Russian buyers. So whilst there are many doom and gloom merchants out there there are also some savvy individuals cashing in.

Mark

[Jain and Chris]

Afternoon Mark (well, it is afternoon here in Bulgaria)

Yes, I think you are completely right about location being important.

St Vlas is definitely a good bet and your reasons for saying so are totally valid. I personally would prefer it to SB but then I myself prefer things a bit quieter.

I agree too regarding promoting your property for rent, I think lots of people wanting to rent apartments or houses forget that you have to work at marketing to get the business. There seems to be a strange idea that once you have bought your property, then the business will just arrive (and this is most certainly not limited to people buying in Bulgaria, but indeed all over the world). You need to check sources for advertising and promotion, plus find differentiators, reply to emails in the correct way, over-achieve on managing their expectations, etc.....

The Russians, as you say, are out in force - but it has to be said they are looking for really top notch stuff - location and quality of build combined. If you have that then you can do very well with them. Interestingly though, a lot of our readers have successfully sold to Brits and other Europeans.

It is interesting that holiday home construction in Bulgaria is not currently keeping up with demand, so I expect that all those doom and gloom merchants will be eating their hat soon. One of our key things we always say is that you always have to look forward in a property market and the doom n gloom guys ref Bulgaria are basing their opinion on what has happened rather than what is happening now and is to come.

Cheers

[Mark H]

I certainly prefer Vlas to SB as well due to being quieter but I am not averse to going down there and my kids indeed make me go three or four times every time we are in BG. They also drag me around Nessebar as well, which I do not mind really as I quite like visting the Snake Master to see what he has whittled up.

Rental properties are no different to any other business. If you hand them over to companies like Laguna then expect a low return but no hassle. Put in some effort and you may well be surprised.

I'm glad to see that someone else has some optimism about the future potential. I personally did not buy for the short term and had always intended to hold my property for between 5-10 years so just now I'm not too worried about the state of the resale market.

Mark

[Jain and Chris]

Hi MarkH

You are right and did the right thing - in for the medium to long term. The resale market is much better than most of the internet media would have you believe - as you said location is key, then the build, etc.

"Put in the effort on rentals" - spot on mate!!!

Cheers

[rabarbaro]

....I did it...I've bought an apartment in sozopol, the agent said ( and wrote ) that I could resell before completion, at the second stage of payment...
Up to now, 18 months later, nothing has been sold !
They say that the price has increased a lot, I "earned" 50 % ! Of nothing, as if you can't sell it it means you "lost" 100 %, not gained 50 % !
Furthermore I'm really disappointed with plenty of problems, misunderstandind, no replies and I could do a long list ! Be careful !

[sonia36]

I bought a studio apartment in Sunny Beach off plan 2 years ago and this has just been completed. I have been told that there is NO resale market by at least 3 companies that I have approached. I have also been told by various management/letting agents that the market is completely saturated and my chances of earning any rental this year is practically zero. I cant even persuade family/friends to stay in the apartment as they are all complaining that the flights in July & August are too expensive!! Personally I would not advise purchasing any property in the Sunny Beach region!

[elitehomes]

Hi, Desmond
I don't think that investment in Bansko is good right now.Bansko is overbuild.If you want to make an investment the best is to buy a apartment in one of the big cities like Varna, Sofia, Burgas.Just for an example I did bought 67m2 flat in Varna for 52000e in 2006 right now I can sell it for 80000e.This gonna be easy sell.I think 28000e is good profit for less than two years.
Don't hesitate to write me.