Pay monthly companies

They appear to be different companies; the .co.uk one has been around nearly 20 years, according to the DNS records. I haven't used either one, so I can't offer anything as regards recommending one over the other.

Ok thank you

@JosieCrew

There are many agents in Bulgaria, so you can come up with quite a long list!

And, arguably, if you like the property and you like the price... then it doesn't much matter who the agent is. :-)

Mowlem and Bulgaria Direct get recommended because they've been around many years, and there are members here who have personal experience with them. But it's a completely different sales model (pay monthly FROM the agent) compared with most regular agents (pay the owner to buy outright, pay the agent a commission).

The two you mention are two different outfits.

The .co.uk one is (I think) Zack Qureshi. He's been around for years too, I believe, and he probably has a couple of other site names. I've not bumped into him on the forum, but I've not heard anything bad about him, so he's probably fine.

The other one doesn't say who it is, but it has a lot of listings and info and looks like someone's made a bit of effort. If it's got something you love, then there's no harm in going to look at it.

Thank you

The .com one has revamped their website but some of the houses I see listed now were listed there in 2013 when I first started looking at Bulgarian property. After over ten years, chances are those houses that have been listed a while will be in significantly worse condition than the photos show. They never answered my emails about a house I was interested in.

The .co.uk one will send you a lot of emails with a lot of houses, sometimes multiple emails a day, so either good or annoying depending how seriously one is house hunting and how well the emails match what you're looking for. A forum member recently bought using his services and spoke highly of him.

As Gwyn said, Mowlem and Bulgaria Direct have a different model. Mowlem/ Paul Hawtin/Emerge do list some properties as agents, but own the ones they have for sale on pay-monthly. The pay monthly houses are generally reasonably sound, freshly painted with new cement floors on the lower levels, the land will have been cleared, and the properties are in decent villages, but may not all be full-time livable without more renovation work.   

Bulgaria Direct I know more about as I bought through them. They've been around a long time and currently only sell properties they own themselves on the buyer's choice of pay monthly or buy-it-now. Pay monthly buyers get rights and responsibility for the property immediately but the transfer of ownership doesn't happen until after the house is paid off. It's like a rent-to-buy plan, with a robust contract. Houses vary widely in condition, as does the price range. Their admin support is excellent. My house was in somewhat worse condition than expected (statements about roofs being sound only apply to the main house roof, not to attached bathrooms and kitchens!) but overall it's been a positive experience and I would recommend them.

Thanks, we''ve found a house now and its with a different agent. But, this is all very helpful in case that one falls through for whatever reason.

While there are lots of agents around, and I'd guess most are fine... I'd suggest it's easier to stick to a few that are tried and tested and tend to have fairly up-to-date listings.

Nationally, I think there are big outfits like BulgarianProperties and Suprimmo (= property dot bg). It's nice being able to search in any area and find properties, and it's very helpful to have English descriptions and plenty of photos. They have good searching options so you can look for everything in a certain place, or you can look for certain types of property (at a specified price range) all across the country.

I like Ebay too as it's cheaper, and there are several regular sellers. Most weeks there are listings from BulgariaDirect (pay monthly) and realestateinbulgaria (cash sales, up near Montana/Vidin),and sometimes some bargains from British owners. Mowlem/Emerge occasionally appears here.

RIghtMove is a very large site, great for UK listings and also popular internationally. It has plenty of listings in Bulgaria from quite a few agents. These ones are probably pretty good options and include Mowlem/Emerge (pay monthly), BulgariaDirect (pay monthly), Premium Properties, Ideal Homes, My Bulgarian House, Bulgarian Properties for Sale, and quite a few more.

Ideal Homes VT has properties mostly in Veliko Tarnovo (which is lovely), and because it's a very popular area there are often some expat-owned (and renovated) properties that come on. He has a super place on now for 55k euros near Yambol (might sound like a lot, but it's very nicely renovated).

I like OLX too as it's a Bulgarian selling site, so I use it for research just to see what's on sale in a particular area and what the price range is. As it's very Bulgaria-specific it's not very easy to buy here (majority of posters don't speak English and/or can't be bothered dealing with picky foreigners).

Happy searching!

Just to remind everyone: there aren't ANY "estate agents" in Bulgaria, let alone "lots".   There are only "property brokers", and they aren't regulated by any professional body as estate agents are elsewhere, nor are there any required qualifications, professional indemnity insurance etc.

If you (allow yourself to) get rooked here, there's no comeback as there is elsewhere; the BG legal system is unreliable, ponderous and expensive, so Caveat Emptor....

What Jim said! And what Gywn said, too!

It's best to stick to the better known sites that have been around for some time, ideally ones people you trust can personally recommend.

Many of the online sites have no direct link to the buyer at all but are "scraper" sites, copying other sellers links in the hope of getting a referral fee if they send a buyer on to the broker listing the house. Some may provide a good level of assistance to buyers, but listings may be outdated and properties may still show as listed even years after they've sold. Some may be scammers.

I've noticed that, that some seem to be collating and listing properties from the other sites.

How does making an offer work, there is no makng an offer, if I've read right, is that correct? The price just is what it is?

Is there anything in particular we need to check for in the contract?

@JosieCrew

I don't think the pay-monthly guys are very negotiable. There's usually a headline price which is based on a deposit and your monthly payments. You might be able to adjust the monthly amount if you want to pay a bit less per month. And you can pay off the whole amount (and get the property transferred) at any time.

There's normally a lower price, based on a cash sale now. But I don't think they'll haggle much. The pay-monthly offers are popular and typically get snapped up fairly quickly... so there's not much incentive for them to drop the price.

They tend to operate on a first-come, first-served basis, which means whoever sends the deposit gets the property. There's not usually a lot of time (or a lot of interest) in lots of questions and a lengthy back-and-forth over the property/deal. :-)

@gwynj OK thanks

I don't know about the other pay-monthly sellers, but Bulgaria Direct does state in their ads that there's a buy-it-now discount on the price, which I expect would be at least a couple of thousand pounds depending on the selling price. Lower monthly payments are possible but usually require paying a larger deposit. But as Gwyn said, there's not a lot of time for discussion and haggling as impulsive eBayers tend to snap up their places fast.

Their contracts look rock solid to me, in English and Bulgarian, governed by Bulgarian law. It sets out clearly what the sellers responsibilities are as well as the buyer. Main thing to be aware of - the buyer has full use of the property but not actual ownership until it's paid off in full and the notary transfer of ownership takes place; and the property reverts to them if the buyer misses payments (I'm though they'd understand if for good reason a payment is made late), doesn't pay council tax, racks up utility bills and doesn't pay. The buyer assumes all responsibilities for the property as well as rights, so if something goes wrong with the house, it's the buyers responsibility.

@JosieCrew  i bought through bulgaria direct. even though ive finalised on my house they saw my post saying i need help. they called and sorted it all for me. cant thank them enough. highly recomened then

My experience with them has been positive, too. Danislava, their admin person, is amazing!