Quest Bulgaria Property Magazine

Article Index
Valuation Time
Price to Sell, Top Tips
All Pages

Establishing a value for the Bulgarian property you wish to buy or sell is a world apart from the exact science it has become in the UK. This article helps you to assess the worth of your home. In the UK establishing the value of your property is not only easy but has developed over the years into a reliable skill, which allows buyers to adjust up or down to take into account time constraints.

Most would be sellers call in the services of around three local agents to give them a valuation on their property and then they either optimistically choose the highest, take an average of the three or choose the agent they like best. Many buyers even now consult the website Up My Street to find out the selling prices for houses in their chosen area.

Once sellers have found the home of their dreams, the house is usually assessed again by a professional valuer from the bank or building society who will be lending the money to purchase the house; few UK houses are cash buys. Valuations in the UK take into account the locations, size and condition of the property coupled with current market trends. They also allow for a margin of negotiation in the price.


The Bulgarian valuation lottery

 

 

 

Whilst many sellers in Bulgaria use several real estate agents to market and sell their property, there is no set system for valuations. Indeed, the seller is entitled to ask whatever they deem fit for their property and often the figure is calculated by asking around what other neighbours are selling for. Isn’t this a little like an informal Up My Street system? Not at all! Bulgarian sellers in particular seem to disregard the fact that their neighbours’ property has not sold in years.

 

 

 

 

On top of this, most Bulgarian sellers are happy to wait until someone comes along and pays their asking price. Most real estate agents will not even advise on whether the asking price is realistic or not and when they do, they seldom offer their own suggestion because they have so little data to go on. Negotiation is a word seldom heard in these parts, indeed most Bulgarian sellers will be offended at any offer on the asking price and many Bulgarian agents will not even pass on your details. The market in terms of negotiation is changing and you would be wise to notify agents and viewers of your willingness to negotiate on the asking price.

The reason for this lack of experience is that most agents carry a very broad portfolio, which encompasses property right across the whole country as opposed to UK agents who specialize in one area. Additionally, most sellers in Bulgaria use several agents to market their property and agents are often not informed if a property sold or withdrawn, whereas in the UK, exclusive contracts and higher fees for using multi agents deters sellers from marketing their property with all and sundry.

 

Finally, the Bulgarian property boom has seen dramatic increases in some areas over a matter of months making it difficult for agents to keep tabs on market trends.

Making a true assessment
Sellers must be prepared to do a little homework as well as consider the following points to realistically asses the worth of their Bulgarian home:-

 

How much are homes selling for in your area? A good way to discover this is to ask around and to contact agents who have property for sale in your town or village. Talking to expats should also bring you a wealth of information as to what people are currently paying.

 

 

 

Houses in Bulgaria are seldom standard shapes and sizes as in the UK where estates are built in the same style making property valuation so much easier. One way of overcoming the irregularity of this issue is to calculate the cost per square metre of each property sold. It is by no means an exact method of valuing a property but it will help put a good perspective on actual prices.

How much did you pay for your home and how much have you spent renovating it?

Recalculate your own cost per square metre and check how it sits in with those of other properties recently sold in your area.

Many sellers use the above point to value their home then add massive percentages of expected profit, which does little more than put the cost of the home out of a realistic price range.