What To Watch Out For When Buying Property Abroad 18/03/2008
The property industry seems to bring out the worst in many people – or perhaps certain elements of the industry just attract unscrupulous individuals?  It’s probably because there’s so much money to potentially be made from real estate that dirty tricks such as gazumping and undercutting become common practice, and lies and mistruths abound.  However, understanding why bad behaviour is synonymous with property doesn’t actually help the majority of us who are simply looking for a secure home. What’s more, understanding that bad behaviour is common practice in the property industry certainly doesn’t assist those of us who want to buy a home abroad - because then even more complications arise because we’re likely to be less sure of when a lie is a lie, and when something unbelievable is... more

Turkish Dedeman Hotel Chain Enters Bulgaria 14/03/2008
Turkish hotel chain Dedeman Hotels&Resorts International will take over the management of two Bulgarian hotels, owned by Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan, Dnevnik daily reported on February 29. The hotel operator has already placed job ads to fill available vacancies in Bulgarian papers. Dedeman will take over the Ozkan hotels - the 200-room Trimontsium Princess in Plovdiv and the 600-room Sofia Princess in the Bulgarian capital, in early March. The Turkish operator intends to invest in upgrading the two hotels which are currently rated at four stars. Dedeman manages a total of 20 urban and resort hotels, most of them in Turkey, but also in Latvia, Cyprus, Moldova and Uzbekistan. The company intends to add some five or six urban and resort hotels to its portfolio in near future. Murat... more

Another Largescale Property Investment In Bulgarias Kavarna 14/03/2008
Bulgaria's Linexa Property plans a 20 million euro investment in a new residential complex to be constructed in Bulgaria's coastal town of Kavarna. On July 6 Kavarna mayor Tsonko Tsonev revealed the plans for the new complex to be constructed near a golf course, SeeNews reported. Construction work had already began and the 420-apartment complex would be completed within two years, Tsonev said. The complex is the latest in a series of large-scale UK, Spanish and French investment over the past years. Some of the projects include the construction of a golf course, hotels and holiday villages. The increased interest in Kavarna property resulted in a record income from land deal taxes. Kavarna expected over two million leva for 2006, SeeNews said. The total value of the... more

Banks Tighten Purse Strings For Holiday Property Investors 10/03/2008
Having already cut down on loans for coastal holiday developments, Bulgaria's risk-averse banks are now doing the same investors trying to raise funding for ski resort projects, Dnevnik daily reported on March 7. One of the reasons is the sharp decline in the uptake of resort holiday homes over the last 7-8 months, caused to some extend by the pullback of British home buyers. Financial institutions have been shying away from ski resort developments in the past several months, Bulgarian Properties manager Nikola Stoyanov said, as quoted by the paper. Krasimir Dimitrov from property developer Source concurred, saying that the banks were being too cautious. According to Tihomir Toshev from Creditex, an Address Group company, it would be an overstating to say that loan-financing... more

Property Investment Profitability In Bulgaria Decreases Nearly Twice 11/03/2008
Profitability of real estate deals in Bulgaria decreased nearly twice since 2002, research of Creditex showed. Creditex representative Krasimir Goumnishki said that a 100 sq m apartment in Sofia’s residential district of Mladost brought nine per cent profitability in 2002, which had now fallen to 4.11 per cent. The same tendency was valid for all of Sofia’s residential districts, Goumnishki said. According to the research, the returns that companies advertised for coastal property were highly exaggerated. The actual value neared five per cent. Profitability was higher for retail, logistics and industrial property. more