Bulgarian Dreams…..turns into Bulgarian Nightmare

There has been much in the press and online lately about London – Sofia based agent, Bulgarian Dreams, who closed their London offices, blaming the economic climate, and disappearing out of the UK owing thousands to many British and Irish investors.

I was one of the lucky ones, although certainly did not feel that way at the time. I put down a deposit on a property in Bansko, Bulgaria with Bulgarian Dreams back in 2004.

Like many others who are research potential property acquisitions, I trawled through endless websites and must have signed up to the Bulgarian Dreams alert service. In August of 2004, I received an email regarding a new property development in Bansko. I was told that the property would be located within 300 metres of the main (and only) gondola in Bansko and would feature five-star facilities.

After contacting Bulgarian Dreams by phone and discussing the property in greater detail, which included requesting floor plans, I was pushed to make a decision regarding the purchase and told there were only a couple of apartments left in my price range. Unfortunately, I fell for this hard sales tactic and put down a deposit for a two-room apartment. For roughly 1,100 euros per square meter, I was to get 60 square meters of apartment space and a small terrace. The apartment was to have views over the old town of Bansko, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Despite the pressure to send off the reservation fee I waited two weeks to receive a contract and when it did finally arrive it contained numerous errors, including the omission of the agreement with the property developer that one bathroom would be converted into a kitchen and this cost would be absorbed into the already established price of the property. At this point I was expected to agree to a management contract that I had never seen.  

In October of 2004, I arranged a trip to Bansko to see how the development was progressing. I discovered that the property that was located much further away from the ski lift than initially suggested, the kitchen was still a bathroom and the anticipated view of the town was a view of the next door block, (told at the time that this was the house of a famous footballer – actually turned out to be more apartments). Following my return to the UK I tried in vain to get answers to questions regarding these discrepancies and discovered there were many others in the same predicament.  

We were informed that we would have to pay to use the spa facilities located in the development as the leisure facilities had been contracted out to a different company, even though we were already paying an exorbitant maintenance charge. We all felt we had been misled as the property was advertised as including five-star facilities, which implied that the spa facilities were included in the cost of the property. Further the developer refused to renovate one bathroom into a kitchen area unless I paid a further few thousand Euros.  I was constantly told by Bulgarian Dreams to contact the developer for any questions or grievances I may have. The agent was not at all interested in trying to resolve any issue with the developer but instead threatened me with legal action because of my discussions on open forums with other property buyers in the same development. Bulgarian Dreams refused to have further contact with me due to my ‘behaviour’.

I realized I had made a huge mistake in investing in the apartment in Bansko and became negotiations directly with the developer in Sofia to recover my costs. After several months of emails and eventually flying back out to Bulgaria, I managed to get two-thirds of my money returned, but Bulgarian Dreams refused to refund the additional 6000 euros they charged for a commission.

I sent a letter to Bulgarian Dreams, demanding back my 6000 euros, or I would proceed with a lawsuit against the firm in the small claims court in the UK. The agency disregarded my letter just as they had ignored all of my other attempts to get answers from them. I made an official complaint to Trading Standards.

At this point, faced with losing 6000 Euros, I resorted to the small claims court and submitted a claim against Bulgarian Dreams. They requested the case be moved to London, stating that they were a small firm and could not afford to lose a day in the office to travel to Cumbria for a court case. Subsequently, the judge dismissed the firm’s application for relocation of the case and I received a judgment against Bulgarian Dreams for the amount claimed.

Ultimately, Trading Standards decided against prosecution, stating they gave the case much consideration, but that Bulgarian Dreams were spared further legal proceedings because of a loophole in UK Law where they were not caught by either the Property Misdescriptions Act, which does not cover property outside the UK, or the Trade Descriptions Act, which does not cover land and property.

I went on to right an eBook about the whole experience, which is available from my website.

Despite this initial disappointing venture into buying property abroad, I was still keen to buy somewhere in Bulgaria. However, I turned my attention to less discovered areas and cheaper, rural property. Through out the court of 2005 and 2006, I purchased six rural properties for less than I had anticipated spending on the apartment in Bansko. I went on to build up a portfolio of 12 properties around the Stara Zagora region and in October 2006 relocated to the area permanently. I rented an office in Stara Zagora, and began working with a few different property firms, selling property, overseeing renovations, and arranging property viewing trips primarily in the region. 

After selling properties in the Stara Zagora region for around three and a half years, I am now ready for a change of location and am in the process of selling my property portfolio and rental business, pending a move to France.

I currently spend my time giving advice to those who want to invest in Bulgarian property. My website, http://www.thetravelbug.org/, provides advice for prospective property investors as well as offers a few property listings.

My property portfolio would be an ideal purchase for someone looking to relocate to sunnier climates and run a holiday letting business. It includes a luxury, 3 bedroom house with outside BBQ area and newly landscaped gardens, 3 further renovated properties in the same village, one of which is already furnished and used as a holiday let, a partly renovated villa suitable for longer term lets to those needing a base in Bulgaria while they find their own property, another villa close to the city which is currently let out on a long term agreement (to be honoured by buyer), five unrenovated older houses and 2 plots of land suitable for building on. I am looking for offers of around 420,000 Euros for the whole portfolio, complete with Bulgarian company, required as a non-Bulgarian for owning land.

If you are interested in reading more about my experiences with Bulgarian Dreams, or have questions about other Bulgarian property-related matters, or the portfolio for sale please visit http://www.thetravelbug.org/.