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There are a load of Bulgarian expat and property selling groups. I don't use Facebook so can't say which is best, but entering Bulgarian property or Bulgarian real estate into the Facebook group search should bring up plenty of results.

i@Pumarosa200

Be careful, very very careful!  Foreigners are considered open game by Attorneys, Real Estate Brokers and Notaries who band together to create loopholes in contracts where they can foreclose on your house without serving you notice, and even more so if you are out of the country.  Do your research and if you buy instead of rent get a top notch firm in Sofia to do the closing, become your agent and constantly check on your property in government files. 

Just read the Bg News and you will find dozens of frauds that nothing can be done about.  Bg has very bad laws.  You do not have to be notified, you cannot testify on your behalf, you must have three witnesses who vouch for you and your thief will have multiple fraudulent documents.  Fake loans are the primary avenue as they do not need to be witnessed or notarized.  Foreign manufacturing companies are cheated out of their properties and usually by the same large gang---yet the laws permit this and therefore encourage it. 

Proceed at your own peril.   Better to rent than to buy.   And while property is cheap it will get cheaper as the young population leaves.   There is a reason that the population has declined from  9 million in 2000 to 6 million today.   90% of the departures are from younger adults. 

I live here and have since 2013.  I bought at the right time and own many rental apartments.   I have been a target.  But not a  victim,  however I had the resources to teach the scoundrels a lesson.  They will never bother me again, however this is a rarity.   Most foreigners lose their entire investments.   

Worker theft is abundant and particularly by maids, handymen  and gardeners.  Watches, jewelry and anything not locked down will be stolen.   Not MIGHT be, WILL BE! 

Proceed at your own peril.

Jeez!

I'm a great proponent of the "Bulgaria ain't Paradise" school of thought, but this is just alarmist. The "ripped off by lawyer/notary" scenario is a rarity nowadays - it was fairly common 20 years ago but things have changed a lot since the Wild East era. The thing to watch out for is incompetence rather than malfeasance, that's why you read and understand what you're signing - if you don't then YOU are blindly agreeing to rip yourself off!

As for "most foreigners lose their entire investments", that was NEVER true - a few gullible/unwary ones did but they were a tiny minority... 🙄

As Jane says, there are stacks of BG Property groups on FB, many in English and plenty of others in Bulgarian (and Russian)..

@Expattx paints a rather extreme picture!

Yes, Bulgaria is Bulgaria, and things work differently there, so it's important to go into any property purchase with full awareness. Read up on what the correct procedures are when buying a property. There are risks. For example, I bought on a pay-monthly deal (not a mortgage, more a rent-to-buy scheme) and the contract was clear that missing payments could lead to the rights to use the property being removed and loss of the previous payments. Make sure what you're buying is the entire property, not a part-share, as especially with deals that seem to cheap to be true, that might be the reason. If you're asked to pay a deposit, get a preliminary contract. Make sure the sale is done via a notary, and if possible, pay for the property by bank transfer at the notary office rather than before.

But unless you're buying very expensive properties, you won't need an expensive lawyer. And though theft is common in every country, it's not inevitable. We've had far more thefts and attempted thefts at our house in the UK than our house in Bg.

Good luck with your property search!

@janemulberry

Hi could I ask you which company you used for your rent to buy property’?

I used Bulgaria Direct. They usually list their properties on UK ebay or on RightMove, and they aren't agents, they buy the properties and sell them on, so there are no legal complications.

Like all sellers, they will play up the good points of the property and minimise the not-so-good, so I would bear that in mind. Also, as with all Bulgarian property listings, houses left empty may develop problems and gardens get wildly overgrown, so things may not look like they did when the photos were taken!  When looking at properties online, if the listing doesn't;t say, aways ask how old the photos are.

But I found them good people to deal with and not in the least dodgy. Everything was done correctly from the initial contract (in both English and Bulgarian)  through to the notary transfer and the tax declaration of the price paid. The pre-and post sales support from Danislava in their admin office has been excellent. Their asking price will most likely be above the current market value, that's the cost of using the pay-monthly system. For those able to pay the full amount upfront, they will offer discounts.

LOL, I sound like a commercial! But no, I just had an overall good experience, despite the house having issues I wasn't aware of.

There are other long-standing companies also offering pay-monthly houses.  Mowlem is another who have a good reputation.

Just in case it isn't completely obvious, any English (or any other language) translation of a Bulgarian contract is purely a courtesy - under Bulgarian law only the Bulgarian version is valid and binding. When you sign that Bulgarian contract you are agreeing to be bound by it; if there are any differences between the translation and the original Bulgarian version, the Bulgarian one takes precedence. Some companies are flexible if you get cold feet but they are not obliged to be, so Caveat Emptor

Totally "buyer beware"!  Any contract needs to be checked carefully before signing anything and Bulgaria is not the UK! There are a LOT of property sellers and they may not all be trustworthy.

I did verify the English translation was accurate as well as I could (Google Translate!) before signing. If I was dealing with a company I had no knowledge of (Bg Direct have been around for many years and I knew someone who'd bought with them) I would have arranged a translator to have a look at it.

I am fairly sure with Bulgaria Direct that if someone changes their mind about a house and backs out after signing the contract, they may allow the deposit to be transferred to one of their other properties. But if someone signs the contract then decides they don't want to buy in Bg at all or starts the monthly repayments then stops paying, they will lose whatever they've paid and lose any right to use the property. It's there in the contract!