The transfer costs & expenses e.g. Transfer tax, notary fee, registration fee etc., shall be on account of the buyer’.

How much will these additional costs be approximately?
• Transfer tax – 2% (stamp duty)
• Notary fee (approx) – 0.5 %
• Registration fee – 0.1 %
• POA & Admin Charge (Optional) - 0.5%
These fees are charged on the value on the apartment.

How is the maintenance charge determined?
This is calculated by the number of square meters of built up area plus common area. Typically this cost is between €10 and €12 per square metre.

What is the approx. net % rental yield for the apartments?
The approximate gross % rental yield is averaged between 3% & 8% per annum

Will I need to be present at the signing of the Notary Act (Contract of Purchase) in Bulgaria?
The completion of a Bulgarian mortgage takes place in front of an appointed Bulgarian Notary and all representatives of the parties to the mortgage need to be present. A power of attorney will need to be presented to the lender in good time before completion - a draft document will be provided by the lender.

Investing in Bulgaria
An investment in Bulgaria is an excellent opportunity, however before any investment is undertaken, the proper legal and tax advice should be undertaken by each investor, especially as the Bulgarian economic situation is undergoing rapid change. There is currently a Double Taxation Agreement between Ireland and Bulgaria, and between the UK and Bulgaria. This means that when tax is deducted by the Bulgarian authorities it will be allowed as a tax credit when completing the relevant tax returns in Ireland / UK. Investors in other jurisdictions should seek advice in their own tax district as to whether or not there is a DTA in place with Bulgaria and the terms of the agreement.
An investor in Bulgaria would normally have the following exposure to the following taxes in Bulgaria:

• Capital gains. Capital gains realized by non-resident taxpayers from the sale of real estate situated in Bulgaria are subject to withholding tax of 15%.

• Rental income. For non-residents of Bulgaria, if you purchase property as an investment, and you rent it out then the rental income on the property will also be subject to withholding tax of 15%.

• Transfer taxes. The transfer of real property is subject to notary and municipal fees. The notary fees are paid on the value of the property. In addition, 2% of the market value of the property is paid to the municipality in which the real property is situated.

• Local taxes and rates. The owner of a property is obliged to pay a real property tax. The tax is equal to 0.15% of the book value of the property. In addition to the real property tax, owners also pay waste-collection fees.

• Value Added Tax. Transactions with land and lease of property for residential purposes are exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT).

All other real estate transactions are subject to VAT at the uniform rate of 20%.

How long does it take to get a mortgage arranged?
Typically, it takes around 2 to 4 weeks for a mortgage offer although we can often obtain a decision or indication based on the financial aspects of your application within a few days of the lender receiving your application from us.

Can a non-earning partner or spouse join in a joint application?
Yes, assuming the non-earner has not had any serious past credit problems they can join in a mortgage application with an earning spouse or partner.

What is your procedure for search of title?
When we buy the land we are building upon, we make a thorough investigation of the title of the seller and of any preceding owners for the last ten years (ten years is the maximum duration for which ANY third party claims over the property are precluded). This is fairly easy to do, as all claims that can be opposed to a good faith possessor of a property must be registered with a designated authority. Before we purchase any property, we check with this authority if the previous owner (or some of his predecessors) have mortgaged the property, sold the construction rights (see below) or had a court claim filed against him for that property etc. If no claim is registered against him then no such claim can be held against us and subsequently against you.
Similarly, you can make such verification of our title of the apartment we are selling to you. If we have mortgaged your apartment, sold it to someone else before you, etc, this would be registered under our name in the Registrar. If there is no such registration on our name for your apartment, you can be certain that there are no encumbrances over it. The papers that the due diligence requires in search of title are the Notary deed (as well as the Notary deeds of any previous owners for the last 10 years), scheme of the land plot which accompanies it, Liens and Encumbrances Certificate (Issued by the Registrar described above), certificate from the State and Municipal authorities that the property is not registered as being in their possession and Certificate from the State authorities that there are no claims for that property filed in pursuance of the Restitution legislation (for restoration of property seized by the state during Communism) and construction permission. We seek to obtain all of these before starting to build and can produce them to you before the sale takes place. Actually in order to conclude such a sale the public notary will ask them to produce to him.

Do I own the land the apartment is situated on?
Yes. On March 9, 2007 Bulgarian Parliament allowed foreign citizens to buy land in Bulgaria. Now foreigners and foreign legal persons may acquire land, plots, forests, forest stock land tracks and agricultural land. This law also regards the adjoining land of apartments, flats, houses, etc. Now it can be bought as easily as the building itself.Non-Bulgarian citizens will also be allowed to have forests and land in preserved areas, unless these areas are not exclusive state property. A buyer of a piece of land in Bulgaria should make sure whether the property he is about to buy is a part of a protected area or not, because if he buys a property in a protected area he will have to follow the rules for using a land in a protected area.Foreigners, who are not permanently resident in Bulgaria will be able to own land for a second home after the expiry of the terms set in Bulgaria's EU accession treaty.So far, foreign citizens who want to acquire land in Bulgaria had to establish a local company and buy the land on their company's behalf. This was a routine, legal procedure, used by the thousands foreign buyers of Bulgarian properties. Now, after joining the European Union, Bulgria harmonized this law with the EU legislation. And foreigners who want to have land in Bulgaria no longer have to settle a company to buy it. This made acquiring land from non-Bulgarian citizens a much easier and less expensive procedure.

Is the purchase freehold or leasehold?
By the Bulgarian law once a person becomes an owner with a notary deed, he/she is also the owner of the infinite constructional rights.

I assume that the legal right of ownership is indefinite, that is there is no time restriction like leasehold right?
The ownership is indefinite. Banks are very comfortable with the title ownership rights of Bulgarian projects and that is why interest rates have dropped from 18%-7% in the last 2 years.

Can I open a bank account in Bulgaria?
Yes. Bulgarian non nationals can open bank accounts in any currency. They can also freely repatriate any money that they have invested in such accounts.