According the Bulgarian Constitution alien citizens are not allowed to buy real estate property together with the land. Therefore you shall have to register a company in order to purchase real estate including land in Bulgaria. We usually advice our clients to register a limited liability company.

The person/persons registering the company shall be liable to deposit such part in its registered capital, which is equal to his/her percentage of shares owned. The required minimum registered capital for a limited liability company is 5 000 BGN deposited in your company’s bank account. The process of registration usually takes about two weeks.

- Source: http://www.buldom.com

We usually advice our clients to register a limited liability company.What taxes would the company be liable for? Would audited accounts be required each year?

Limited liability company - EOOD (abbreviation in Bulgarian)
The limited liability company is the most suitable form for the average capital. The minimum capital required by law to set up such a company is 5000 BGN.
The procedure of registration is simple, the size of minimum capital required - relatively small and there is no publicity of the activity. By the moment of submission of documents on registration, the establishment capital of the company should be brought in size not less than 70 % and the rest of it - within one year.


By the way you don’t need to establish Limited liability company if you don’t purchase land. You can buy an apartment in Bulgaria instead of house, there are really good offers for new developments, which may be purchased 'off plan' direct from the developer.
You can see bulgarian properties for sale (http://sunhomesbg.com/) .
More details for buying properties in Bulgaria and the market there you may find at: FindBulgariaProperty.co.uk (http://findbulgariaproperty.co.uk)

Registering a company in Bulgaria will incur the following expenses:

1. Bank deposit of minimum 5000 BGL (Bulgarian leva) ~ £1800. These money can be withdrawn from the account once the registration is complete. They stand as your company liability - the same as £1000 min requirement in the UK.

2. Company registration in Bulgaria is mixed up for some reason with the judicial system, so don't get surprised that you can use the services of a solisitor to process the entire company registration. That is done in the court. You will find all sort of prices on the market anywhere up to 1000 EUR. Our solicitor is charging 400 EUR.

3. There is also a small state fee to be paid

4. As you have already setup a company you will need to submit annual accounts to the Bulgarian version of the UK Inland Revenue. I strongly suggest using the services of an local accountant. The accountant we use is charging £50 per annum for filling in and submiting all the reports for a non trading company. If you intend to trade please send us an enquiery using our website and we will get you an estimate price.

www.my-holiday-home.co.uk

info@my-holiday-home.co.uk

Present Bulgarian legal framework is such that foreign persons can acquire only buildings, but not land associated. Land can be acquired through a company registered in Bulgaria.

We form new limited companies (OOD type) according to customer requirements. Normally it takes two weeks to form a new company in Bulgaria. Our service includes all the necessary additional filings and registrations so that the newly-formed company is ready to trade. These include registration with the Bulgarian Tax Authorities, Registration with the National Statistics Institute and the National Social Security Institute.

The minimum required equity capital by law is BGN 5'000 (circa EUR 2'500). You can choose any name to denote and distinguish your business, provided that it is available (not already used by someone else). To avoid delays, we normally ask you to provide us with two other alternative names. A Bulgarian limited company may have a single shareholder, who may also be its sole representative and manager (director). The company may be seated in any city or resident location in Bulgaria. Its subsequent management address may differ from the registered address.

For further information, please visit www.bulgarico.com

You can register a company in Bulgaria, when buying a property, which costs less than £600. You can find more info on the subject at http://www.premierapartmentsbg.com/bulgaria-property.php.

You can register a company in Bulgaria, when buying a property, which costs less than £600. You can find more info on the subject at http://www.premierapartmentsbg.com/bulgaria-property.php.

Six hundred pounds!!!! Seems a bit steep to me, should be 400 euros or thereabouts

Jain

Well Well Well

We have a many many qualified ersons here, but i want to tell him let the lawyer work to the lawyers, do not talk about some thing that you dont know AGENTS, So if i have a plan to buy a property in BG i will search for a lawyer who will represent me before some agencies, Agents you dont know many things about company registration so dont say a words who you are copy from somewhere. Maybe there somewhere have a chane to register a company only with 1800 Euro only. If someone want to receive a advice from barrster at law maybe you will send me a email

Mrs Dyankova

/barrister at law/

www.dyankova.com
lawyers_house_bg@yahoo.com

Hello Mrs Dyankova

Couldn't agree more... I wouldn't dream of asking an estate agent to give me legal advice. Experts in their field are experts! That's why our legal articles are written by lawyers, our financial articles by accountants, etc..

Best wishes
Jain

Hello Mrs Dyankova

Couldn't agree more... I wouldn't dream of asking an estate agent to give me legal advice. Experts in their field are experts! That's why our legal articles are written by lawyers, our financial articles by accountants, etc..

Best wishes
Jain


I can`t agree with that - most of the Agents as you call them have a lawer working alongside and can give you the most acurate information if they want of course. Me personaly - I`m a lawer by education fut I practice translation - I get advices from a working lawer myself. But you have to be sure that the Agents are getting smarter and smarter - some of them are studying law while working (if this thing is possible).

Regards
Stan

We know just what you are saying Stan, the problem seems to be here in Bulgaria is that a lot of the lawyers working with the agents are well, hmm, perhaps we should say "overlooking things" from time to time as they get a kick-back from the agent.

You're absolutely right though - get a lawyer to act for you in any property transaction. All we would say is, get one independent from the agent to just make sure they are acting in you, the buyers, interests!

All the best, Quest Bulgaria

Upon asking a real estate agency how to go about buying a house with land, i got the following answer can someone pls verify this and will this be all the finances needed or there are other 'hidden' costs .

Thanks for your help

" Besides the money for the property you'll have a few other expenses - 500 euros for setting up a company, 15 euros for opening a bank account, 2% agency's commission or AT LEAST 300 euros, and about 300 euros notary fees for transfering the property in behalf of your company. That's it, no more. :)

For the first time when you come, you'll need just the money for the trip and the hotel, 515 euros for the company and the account, and 10% deposit to leave for the property you want to buy, which means you'll need about 1600 - 2000 euros altogether.
Briefly, the procedure is like this: We set up your company, you find a property you want to buy, you leave 10% deposit and we sign a preliminary contract with the vendors in behalf of your company, when's done, of course.
Then you have 30 days to complete the deal, so when you go back to your country, you'll just transfer the rest of the money.
Yes, a lawyer will act on your behalf...actually on bahalf of your company."

I would tend to leave 13%, some of these agent will take there commission before making the sale thus leaving inadequate fund for the deposit, leaving you in a position where it would be very likely that your properties price will increase before the completion of the sale.

:eek:

Upon asking a real estate agency how to go about buying a house with land, i got the following answer can someone pls verify this and will this be all the finances needed or there are other 'hidden' costs .

Thanks for your help

" Besides the money for the property you'll have a few other expenses - 500 euros for setting up a company, 15 euros for opening a bank account, 2% agency's commission or AT LEAST 300 euros, and about 300 euros notary fees for transfering the property in behalf of your company. That's it, no more. :)

For the first time when you come, you'll need just the money for the trip and the hotel, 515 euros for the company and the account, and 10% deposit to leave for the property you want to buy, which means you'll need about 1600 - 2000 euros altogether.
Briefly, the procedure is like this: We set up your company, you find a property you want to buy, you leave 10% deposit and we sign a preliminary contract with the vendors in behalf of your company, when's done, of course.
Then you have 30 days to complete the deal, so when you go back to your country, you'll just transfer the rest of the money.
Yes, a lawyer will act on your behalf...actually on bahalf of your company."
Hi Madar, this really requires quite a long reply....

1. Yes, you need to be prepared to buy when you come to Bulgaria - but you don't need to rush. So, don't bring everything in cash with you. Apart from the 8,000 BGN legal allowance (everything above this has to be declared), any decent agency will allow you to return home before sending a deposit.

2. Deposit is usually 10% of the price

3. Agency fees usually amount to approx 3% of the price

4. If you are buying a new build, watch out for VAT - often not stated and can be something of a shock if you find it is added on top later on!

5. Notary fees are on a sliding scale depending upon the value of the property being purchased (you can get a copy of this quite easily as it is determined by the government - if you can't find out how, just email me and I'll send it to you)

6. Do not hand over your deposit money without a prelim contract signed by both you and the vendor - and thoroughly checked out by an independent lawyer, not the lawyer the agent recommends

7. You do not have 30 days to complete, you have the time it takes to do the conveyancing... which can be anything from 24 hours to many weeks, depending upon the purchase / sale

8. Do not sign any final set of deeds without the price being stated in full (i.e., no cash 'under the table')

9. If you are setting up a Bulgarian limited company to buy the property (house and land for example), you need to have 5,000 BGN as capital for forming the company. (You can use this money yourself after the company is set up)

10....... Sorry, but there is so much more to this than my very simple quick checklist..... most of important of all is to get yourself independent, correct advice which is divorced of the agent...

Hope this helps a bit. Most property transactions actually turn out really well here despite this long list of potential pitfalls. Good luck and if there is anything else I can do, just get in touch

Quest Bulgaria Team

Yes all of that and many more are true but the part with the INDEPENDENT lawyer - there is no such thing. Lawyers are like foxes they turn the tails whereever the money is. You will turn to an independent lawyer and in 90% of the cases he will tell you that the developer is not strong enough or that the agent is cruked -final result is you run away from the property you wanted till now. What next - the lawyer is the one that is independent - right? - he gives you an independent advise and sais that these and these developers are trustworthy and strong and that these and these agents are best that man can find (usualy true - but the prices differ with some 10k).
Why not use the lawyer that the agent apoints - every lawyer serves the intersts of his client that pays him for his service. If the agent pays the lawyer to serve wrong then he risks to loose his permit to practice.
And what is the problem then to pay to the so called independent lawers to push certain properties to clients.

Think about this. I`m a lawyer by education but I do not want to practice because of such misunderstandings.

Regards
Stan

Hello I am a Ledal Adviser in Bulgaria and can help to everybody that wants to register a company in Bulgaria. I work only that (registration to companies of foreigners). I can do Your company without you to arrive in Bulgaria!!
Your didn't pay much.

If you have any questions or you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards;
Vasil Chonkov
vasko4@abv.bg