Bulgaria Ski discussion board

What Lenny means is that the prices have been talked up by the estate agents. There is massive building of holiday flats in Bulgaria at the moment which is obviously creating an oversupply, in addition to the fact that lots of the people who have already bought off-plan did so with the only intention to sell before completion in order to make profit. Others are clearly relying on rental to be paying off their remortgaging in the UK. This is clearly not going to happen as Bulgaria does not have long enough seasons for that - short summer, etc. Also, the infrastructure is in terrible condition - there are no low cost flights to Bulgaria, there is not a single motorway and while appartments are constructed, no (say) new sewage and water treatment facilities are being built. Also, the excessive building is turning nice locations into cities (e.g. Sunny Beach).
The Bulgarian holiday home bubble is going to burst very soon, especially now that is becoming clear that Bulgaria will fail to be accepted into the European Union in 2007 due to high corruption and organised crime. This will obviously mean that Bulgaria will not receive the (so highly coveted) funding from Brussels to improve its infrastructure.

Tesh, have you ever been to Bansko? Whilst the rest of Bulgaria needs Brussels money Bansko does not.

Personally I would not buy on the Black Sea coast but as permits to build in Bansko have now been stopped, the over supply that I agree, does exist at the moment will disappear when the resort has the planned 260km of piste and the most modern lift system in the world to support.

Do you think that people look at Bansko as the finished article and look to speculate or could it be that there is some potential in this jewel?

EU money is being spent in Bulgaria already!
The entry of Bulgaria into the EU is a geopolitical decision, Austria is and will be the president when the final decision is taken, it also happens to be the biggest foreign investor in Bulgaria .
Bulgaria is also in a highly strategic postion for the Middle East, and the USA is keen to support it (so apply pressure on the EU).

That said I do agree there is definately a 'bubble' beginning to develop in Bansko, my view is you should only buy for the long term (5 years min), if you stretch yourself you may have a serious problem (to my knowledge there has not been a single resale in Bansko).

To Chris H, you do not have to pay well over the odds to purchase a complete property, they are no more than buying offplan, with none of the huge hassles you will have dealing with the VAT evasion, delays, lack of communication, overpriced furniture (I furnished myself)
etc.

Faser and Sarah, Over 450 euro (EU) has been agreed to rebuild the Sofia-Kulata Road, not just the 'rehabilitation' but a complete rebuild.

Finally, straw poll of Bulgarians suggests they are about 50:50 as to whether they want to join the EU!

BanksoBoy

The rods are already being upgraded between sofia ad Bansko funding is already in place on going there the the blue europe funding signs are all down that stretch.

Also forgot to mention keeping your property for 5 years will leave you with no capital gains (in Bulgaria).

Their is a big push foroutdoor activities in summmer such as walking and climbing being that i am a climber the mountain range is not to be sniffed at! also golf is to play a big part.

Without doubt the properosed new airport outside of Bansko will play a big part in driving tourism and also the budget flights are only waiting for bulgarian airways to get their finger out of all the pies!!

Regarding buying for rental or resale i dont or hope their will be no problem providing you buy very close to gondola which i have done.

barronknight, do you feel you need to sell the property before the 5 years is up or keep it for a lot longer?

Banskoboy, normally when you but off plan the property dose work out a bit cheaper, as they dont always come with light fitting ect, and often once the road system have been layed to an area that will increase prices more, also if you consider you can wait a while for the property to be built, you still only pay the agreed price at the begining and usually their is a slight increase by the time they are built.

One thing to bear in mind when buying abroad a slight change in the exchange rate can make a massive difference in the finale purchase price always make sure you have some money to cope with that if it happens. If you are buying on speculation of bulgaria entering the EU I would stay clear and buy some where that is already in the EU.

260 km of new Piste, 2nd gondola, New airport, EU membership, Olympics, hugely improved infastructure, championship golf courses....... some fact, alot of hearsay and rumour some (very ) wishful thinking. One thing is for sure, Bansko has huge huge potential. It would be fantastic to see it developed to it's full potential. I personally think it will finish somewhere in between a ghost town and a thriving top class ski resort. Only problem is that either way it will lose alot of its charm. It's unfortunate but inevitable.