solicitor recommended by estate agent risky for property in Bulgaria

[francky]

Jain,

can you please explain me how this campaign can make a change and how this will going to impact the practises of estate agents ( who I greatly distrust) ?

Thanks,

Fran

[Jain and Chris]

Hi Francky

Well, remember it is only a campaign!

What we wanted to do was highlight the problems in Bulgaria and generate "noise" about this in order to encourage good practices from agents, notaries, developers, etc and indicate to the government that legislation is required in this area.

We've taken the campaign not only to the Bulgarian media - who have reported it in all the major nationals and on television - but also to property shows in Bulgaria and in the UK.

We've seen some successes already, with agents dropping their commissions rapidly when informed by buyers that they will be reported on the campaign web site, the indication by the Bulgarian government that they will legislate that all property transactions over 10,000 lv must be done bank to bank (no more cash deals), etc..., so it's certainly having an impact.

AIPP (Association of International Property Professionals) have also now announced their official support for the campaign. AIPP are fast becoming the industry leader and standard in the UK and have many agents working in the Bulgarian market place. Their membership is growing rapidly in Bulgaria. This is great news that they are supporting the campaign as the AIPP definitely have clout and teeth ! So working together, we hope we can bring about more changes here.

Really all we can do is keep piling on the pressure - and so far it's working. Everything takes time but the more pressure from potential buyers and good agents, the better things will become

Cheers

[Harmony]

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you the heads up for you to keep in mind if an agent tries to recomend a solicitor. The correct thing to do is for the agent to inform you that they cannot recomend a solicitor to their customers since it has to be an independant representative. If an agent does so, you might want to try a different one.

[Jain and Chris]

Hi Harmony

Welcome on board!

I agree, we always recommend to our readers and everyone else that they should take independent professional advice.

By the way, what's your interest in Bulgaria?

Cheers,

[Harmony]

Hi!

I am a real estate broker and am here not to advertize properties but to rather learn some new things myself as well as share information that might be helpful to somebody It's trully sad to see so many people that are dissapointed from their experience in Bulgaria and I do agree with other comments made before me that there are situations and situations and there are people and people and we should not make up our mind on the country and the people as a whole based on a single case. Each individual situation is for itself and I believe that with enough research, everybody's experience could be a good one

Cheers from me too!

[Jain and Chris]

Hi Harmony

I wouldn't worry, there are more people who are happy with their purchases in Bulgaria than those who are not. What tends to happen is that people who have a complaint shout loudest, so it often seems as if everyone is complaining, which is not really the case as those who purchased easily and are happy keep their heads down.

Hope to see you here more often