How much will the maintenance of the real estate in Bulgaria cost?

Apartment by the sea in Bulgaria - one of the few budget options for European coastal real estate. However, do not think that owning Bulgarian real estate, you will not have to bear the annual cost of its maintenance or that it will be insignificant for your budget.

Tax burden

Acquisition of an apartment in the primary market

If your choice an apartment in a new building, then you will not have to pay taxes during the first year. You will have to start paying taxes only from the second year of possession.

Tax on registration of property, annual tax payments

When buying and preparing all necessary documents for an object, you need to pay a one-time tax, which will be about 4-5% of the value of the object.

As for the annual tax, its value varies from 0.15% to 0.45% of the notary price of the object for individuals. It is necessary to understand that the notarial cost is usually two times lower than the real market value. All taxes that you have to pay for owning a property are considered just from this notarial value. If you buy an object as a legal entity, then you will have to pay tax on the real, book value.

The real estate tax is levied on any objects other than agricultural land and forests. The fact that the person (legal or physical) is the buyer does not affect the percentage of the tax rate. The only factor affecting the rate is the municipality to which the object belongs.

If you purchase the object as the main residence, the tax can be reduced by as much as 50% in such case.

Payment procedure

Tax collections are paid quarterly, in equal parts. However, if you decide to pay the tax immediately, with one transfer and make it no later than March 31, then you will receive a discount of 5%.

Urgent needs – utilities and maintenance of the territory

Garbage removal

Removal of garbage will cost 0.2% and up to 1% of the tax value of an apartment or house on average. This fee is set by the local government, it is paid when paying the tax on housing. The size of the account is affected by the type of the building, its cost, the number of garbage containers, the traffic load of the area, its prestige. This means that the further the object from a large city, the lower the rate for this service will be. For example, you will have to pay 1% living in the center of Sofia, and only 0.5% on the outskirts of the city.

Water and electricity

Charges for water and electricity are produced by counters. Heating expenses come in a separate bill. It is necessary to take into account such an unpleasant fact as the lack of central heating (as in most European countries). Therefore, you will have to heat up a flat or a house with the help of heaters or air conditioners. This, of course, will significantly increase electricity consumption. Electricity will cost 0.1 euro for one kilowatt, and water will cost 1 euro per 1 cubic meter.

Insurance

To insure a property, you will need 200 euros on average per year. To insure an apartment-studio from theft, fire, and floods will cost 120 euros. The insurance of a small private house can cost you about 400 euros.

Payment for management company services

If you are buying a home in Bulgaria and you are not planning to live in it permanently but buying it as a holiday property, you can not do without the help of a management company. The company's duties will include checking the condition of the housing several times a week, signing contracts with electricity, water and gas suppliers, as well as paying utility bills and taxes, and organizing repair works. Such range of services on a regular basis will cost you about 400 euros.

Complex facility

Acquisition of an apartment in a residential complex involves the payment of owners of facilities for maintenance of the territory and management of the complex as a whole. You will have to pay for cleaning, security, landscaping, and, of course, for maintenance of swimming pools, if they are available. In addition, your facility can be cleaned regularly. You will need to pay the bill for mentioned services once a year. The amount for payment will vary 5 to 20 euro per square meter.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that the smaller the complex, the more costly its maintenance per each owner will cost.

Pitfalls

Features of the calculation of the area

It should be taken into consideration that the area of Bulgarian real estate includes not only residential space like in Ukraine and Russia. The area declared in the documents will also include the area of the external parameter of the apartment (including wall thickness, balcony, internal walls, corridor, bathrooms, rooms, utility rooms). Here it will also be included part of the entrance, stairwell, and spans, attic, foyer, facade walls and corridors to the footage of your apartment. Each specific apartment has its own section of the "public square".

With regard to calculations, the thickness of the wall between neighboring apartments is divided in half between neighbors, the owners of adjacent apartments. Also, if the apartments have a wall with a window, balcony or loggia, then the entire area of the wall will be included in the housing area. If the window, balcony or loggia is missing, then only half is added, and the second half is added to the common area of the building.

Impact on the cost of the apartment and maintenance fee

Thus, taking into account all the nuances, and calculating the area, proceed from which the value of the apartment and the maintenance fee are calculated. For this, the percentage of common elements and built-up area of housing is added. So, if you saw an advertisement on the sale of an apartment with an area of 50 square meters, you need to understand that the real size of the residential object will be 10 square meters less.