Skandinav Estate Services (SES) assists you in all phases related to the process of buying property and secures that the transaction is made without risk and unpleasant surprises. All documents are examined by local impartial lawyers and impartial notaries before the contract is signed. Lawyers and notaries have compulsory insurances which cover the buyers’ losses, which luckily hasn’t happened so far to our customers.

Prior to the visiting tour
We present you a number of properties and assist you to choose location and the right properties as well as we inform about Bulgarian law and mentality. We recommend the buyer to select more than one property and after the properties have been selected we calculate all costs. We arrange your tour – typically 2 - 4 days – picking you up and bring you back to the airport, bring you to the hotel and arrange site visits up to 50 km from Varna for free. Further we arrange meetings with lawyer, notary and bank. If you buy a property at the Black Sea or in the ski resorts in the mountains during your visit we refund your flight ticket. Please call us for further information.

Apartments
All off-plan apartments and new projects are sold with legal right to the common areas. It is not necessary for the buyer to register a Bulgarian company for such purchase. Specified maintenance contracts secure that the building owner can not increase the administration costs unless it is proved that the price increases are unforeseen higher than at the time when the budget was made.

Villas, semi-detached houses and land
Foreigners are not allowed to acquire possession of land in Bulgaria but have the right to register a company to be the full owner of the plot of land. Our book keeping department can establish and run this company for you for at a reasonable charge per year and save a lot of trouble for you. Capital necessary is roughly EUR 2,700 which can be taken out immediately after about 2 weeks.
Buying land requires a careful check-up by experts if the buyer wants to avoid doubt about ownership. Throughout our own experience in buying a significant quantity of land and our many construction projects over the years we have acquired a strong competence in this field.

When the property is found
We go through all documents about ownership, legality etc. and assist on this background to point out conditions on which the lawyer and the buyer must pay special attention to. We have experience about the property market and know if the sales price is too high. If the price is too high, we advise the buyer how to negotiate with the seller to find the right price without the risk of losing the deal.

The seller must procure all drawings and the official valuation of the property in order to carry through the deal – among other thing the registration at the Land Register and tax papers from the taxation authorities (about 2 weeks). Further the seller must prove that the property is without loans and obligations. On the day of the deal the notary checks once again via online that no new obligations have appeared since first certificate from Land Register. There might be other documents required in individual situations, as example a certificate of divorce.

Preliminary contract
When the right property is found and the buyer has decided to buy a Preliminary contract is issued and signed. This contract is made in case the seller does not have all required documents ready or if the buyer needs time to arrange his payment. The contract is signed at the notary office and is binding for both parties. The buyer pays a deposit – typical from 1,000 Euro to 10% of the purchase price. The seller is bound to sell the property to the buyer when all paperwork is finalised within the agreed time limit which usually is 1 month. If and when all papers from the seller are available and correct the buyer is bound to buy – or in worst case he will lose the 10% paid as deposit.

Power of Attorney
Only few buyers want to go to Bulgaria just for being present to finalize the deal. Others sign a Power of Attorney (PoA) to us to finalize the deal and the registration of title deed. Further a PoA is given to make bank transfers and banking affairs. The PoA is legalized by the notary. Our company has today PoA from about 100 Danish customers.

Title deed
When all conditions for the deal is clarified and all documents are available the buyer (or his authorized) and the seller must go to the notary. The buyer pays the amount agreed. The contract and the title deed are signed by both parties and registered by the notary. The notary must within 24 hours have the deed entered in the Land Register and the buyer (or his authorized) can collect the title deed after a few days.

Duty and charges on property purchase
Duty and fees on property purchase are approximately 3% of the price stated in the title deed and consist of notary salary, public duty and charges for certifying of documents. Traditionally the public property valuation is stated in the title deed. This value is much lower than the actual purchase price and due to this both buyer and seller save tax and duty. This is not to recommend as it gives you a weak legal position by disputes. The Bulgarian authorities are working hard to eliminate the black economy in relation to the EU membership. The consequences for the construction companies who misappropriate tax and VAT will get serious problems. At the end these problems will hurt their customers. When you sell your property the decreased valuation in the title deed will impose a higher profit and a result a higher tax. We recommend you to declare the correct purchase price in the title deed.
By handing over the title deed a verbal translation to English is obligatory and the cost is appr. 20 – 25 Euro per hour – typically 3 to 4 hours, transport incl.

When the property is acquired
We have established a company solely for property administration and we can offer you almost all services related such as paying of bills, furnishing, security and gardener service etc.

Yearly taxes and charges
Refuse collection, property tax and insurance is appr. 200 – 550 Euro per year – water and electricity is paid for consumption
Electricity:
Day time: appr. 0.077 Eur/kW
Night time: appr. 0.040 Eur/kW
Water: appr. 0.600 Eur/m3

Property sale
If the property owner later on wants to sell his property SES will naturally offer you to sell the property and give you all the service related to the sale.