advice:not such a bargain in bourgas

boypathos · #1 24-10-2007, 03:00 PM

Hello all...

this is my first post and I am looking for advice...

I bought a property in a village outside of bourgas 3 years ago from a well known bulgarian real estate company.

The village is popular with Brits and i thought for the level of investment (under 20k euro) it was worth a punt for 450 sq m of land and a small house in need of a great deal of refurbishment...everything appeared ok...I bought it at the end of one trip in September.

However, on my return in May following year I was told by a third party that my deeds didnt include the house... so after much panic, and confirmation from an advocate that no one else owns the house...quote, its just not recognised by the municipal authorities...I am unsure what to do...the real estate company shrugged their shoulders saying tough, and the two people who sold it to me had left!!

Frankly, Ive had enough of this project and want to sell... but being that technically the house on the land is not included in the deeds...what to do next...

I have been back once or twice since but a week is never enough to deal with everything ... and i got bogged down last trip in a much worse situation...

any suggestions are welcome...

Jain and Chris · #2 24-10-2007, 03:34 PM

Hi there

I'm really sorry to hear about what has happened to you.

It sounds like a case of the fact that the house was built before planning regs, so was just put up and, of course, later, it was found that the house did not have planning permission, which is now naturally reflected in the land registry plan. Why didn't this show up before or at the time of completion (signature of the notary deed) in the land plan? Why have you decided to highlight this now three years after purchase?

Right now, if this is the case and you have no house on the property, you'll have to sell it as land.

Let me know if you need more help

All the best,

boypathos · #3 24-10-2007, 04:29 PM

zdrasti...

and thank you for such a prompt reply...

I employed an advocate who didnt speak English only to facilitate the transaction.
I met him through a, now former, business associate, (he was well known to her and did all their work) and so my understanding is he wasnt aware there was anything wrong with the purchase as I had previously bought land and there was no reason to question the absence of the house on the deeds, as it seemed, he wanst aware it was a house I was buying and had no sight of the deeds...

I gave power of attorney to the real estate, again you learn from mistakes, as a normal course of events, since it was explained to me this was indeed, normal (plus I was returing to UK before completion, and had missed a deal for this very reason before) ...again I realise only now how naive I was, and the real estate agent most likely purchased the property from owner and sold on again to me ... the two involved both left said estate agent before I returned.

Not speaking or reading bulgarian I only discovered when collecting the deeds the following May by way of sheer luck when a bulgarian was looking at my deeds with a veiw to selling it for me...this trip then was taken up chasing around estate agent, getting no where...

Hence, and my recollection is not perfect, but as you can imagine I have been walked from place to place being advised what is going on and where to sign...but the PoA has clearly allowed this purchase to take place without the scrutiny I should have applied...

So as I touched on, since then I have been back and forth each trip with very limited time so last September an advocate confirmed at the appropriate office that at least , worse scenario, no one else owned the house... But then I had to return and could not contact this advocate for follow up work...

I returned in May of this year to be completely side tracked about not submitting company accounts, employed another advocate...however, circumstances have left me without my usual September trip and again unable to contact an advocate!!!

I found this forum... and thought I would get some suggestions...I realise selling the land is a way forward, but will not get the price I want as it stands now, but do not want to mislead anyone with this house on the land...so it has to be resolved...but i am in Uk, and its near impossible to organise from here ...

I have been told to get the house its appropriate planning permissions, but I have now gone through 3 advocates, a handful of good intentions, dont speak bulgarian and fed up with it all...

apart from that... I like bourgas very much...

Jain and Chris · #4 25-10-2007, 12:00 PM

Hi again

Sorry once more to hear of your plight.

You could try approaching the municipality and endeavouring to get retrospective planning applied but I am informed by a lawyer that this is not legally satisfactory. I think this is one for the record books of all on here, check what you really are buying and don't give PoA without limits and proper definitions of what they are doing and what is being bought.

You could try emailing the lawyer who writes for our magazine. Our readers and others all say they are excellent. They speak fluent English and may be able to offer some advice.

All the best,

seamus · #5 10-01-2008, 12:21 AM

i may be interested in your land pm pls

Salt Lake CC Developer · #6 29-03-2008, 08:28 AM

Hi, boypathos,
I think the best to do in your case is to do the procedure the opposite way.
Usually people do it this way: 1. buy land; 2. arrange the regulation procedures (if not regulated); 3. make an architectural plan; 4. build the house
In your case the thing that you don't have is the architectural plan and the approval for building by the local authorities. What I suggest to you is finding an architect who will see the house and make a very similar plan for the house to what it looks like. With the architectural plan you will have to apply before the local authorities for all the building permissions and once you get them, your house will be legal.
I know an architect who would be able to help you I think but would not publish his email or phone number as I will be banned by the moderator.