Usual agent fee/commission for rental properties

From 50% to 150% of the first month rent is not unusual and you can be assured the landlord will pay a fee too. Agents in Bulgaria, like those in many undisciplined markets make their money where they can. what is worse is the amount of work the agent will expect to do for the fee. I would not consider renting anything through an agent as the relationship you need is with the landlord. You need to be sure what your rent is buying you. There is no protection here like one may be used to in Western Europe.

Renting unseen is also not a good idea. Pictures lie and landlords here, Bulgarian and other nationalities will represent their property in the best light possible. Representations are often more imaginative than the law would allow in the UK. It is entirely possible to find a decent hotel for under 40 BGN per night. A month long booking might even achieve better and the cost of the hotel will be funded in part by what you save in agents fees.Advertise for what you want on Facebook pages and bulletin boards; you should be able to line up a few properties to see before you come.

The property market in Bulgaria at the moment is a mess and uncertainty over Ukraine will make things worse. Cash is king and rents are low in most places, with the exception of Sofia which is like capital cities everywhere. Check out the sites where owners advertise holiday lets. Some will be keen to take a long let at considerably lower than advertised rates; what you pay is down to your negotiating skills!

hi,myself and the wife came here on a 30 day holiday in 2002 to look around varna to see if we would like to settle here and after 3 days i said that this is the place for me so we looked at a lot of properties till we found the one that we wanted.after returning to the uk to finalise things we were back in 4 months and moved in 21 days after we got back. we rented nearby to our villa and got to know the area well.we rent out rooms and apartments which are fully equipped for self catering and are minutes from the beach.9 km from varna city and 4 km from the famous golden sands resort.we live here full time and have been in the villa 11 years now and have done a lot of work on the place.piccies can be seen on hostelworld.com.varna bulgaria and scroll down for villamurfee .home tel 359/52/354933. mobile359/889078701.eddie and jane.hope we can be of help.

If only there were similar facilities in the south. It is clear there is a demand for long let accommodation in Bulgaria nd this is, I suspect, a demand which will increase. Renovating a property in Bulgaria is not easy and highly risky unless you can oversee the work yourself. The availability of decent rental accommodation will, therefore, have a direct effect on where most ex-pats settle. We spent months looking for such accommodation around Ivaylovgrad without success. Next year we plan to renovate a fairly standard Bulgarian huse on an easily manageable plot, live in it ourselves whie we rebuild a more substantial project and then let it out to prospective immigrants. I foresee much nmore of this type of development in the more remote areas in years to come..

Thanks for your help. We ended up booking a "holiday rental" for the first month in Trakata as I'm having my computer shipped over but during that time we can have a look around to see if there's anywhere else we prefer.

Eddie/Jane - your place looks lovely! Great to see you're getting such good reviews as well

Hi, when I first arrived in Yambol the agents I used found a nice 2 bed apartment for me on a short lease - 3 months, I only used for 2 and they gave me a refund. If you look in this area try Bulgarianrealestateonline.com.They were great...and still are. I bought from them 2 years ago. I wouldn't pay more than half of the first month. I rented in Velico from an agent and never got the deposit back.

I'm available to help.

Es

Elite agencies in Sofia charge upto 100% of one month's rent however market standard is 50% or half a month's rent