Bulgarian Apartment

DirtyOilBurner

Hi All,

So here's the story, bought an apartment in Bulgaria approx 1 and a half years ago off an irish company, paid 30% upfront as they were going to organise a 70% bulgarian mortgage for the rest, a year and a half on and still no mortgage as iv found out the company added money onto the price of the property so now the evaluation is coming in too low and the mortgage company wont mortgage it, also the developer is saying i will loose my initial 30% if its not paid soon, after all this i dont feel safe sending any more money out to meet the mortgage and i really want out as i think the whole thing is too dodgy, what do you's think i should do?

All opinions appreciated....

Victor

Are you relying on an Irish or Bulgarian contract for the deposit? You really need to get a solicitor in the relevant jurisdiction to look at the contract to see if there is an out.

Let this be a warning to people.

silverharp

cut you losses , emerging markets are dead and I cant imagine any capital appreciation for years

OverseasCafe

I'd report the company in question to the NPSRA (www.npsra.ie). Unfortunately it won't help you but it might stop others from being suckered by them in the future.

NPSRA doesn't have any official powers yet but when (if) the bill is cleared in the Dail it will have the ability to shut these operators down if it can prove that they were selling in an unethical manner.

Where exactly is the property? Some areas of Bulgaria are doing fine, particularly the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv. Coastal areas like Sunny Beach and ski resorts like Bansko are suffering badly though.

I know someone who may be able to organise funding for you if you want to go ahead with the purchase. Just PM me and I'll pass on the details. He should also be able to give you a pretty good idea on whether it's worth going ahead with or not.

Climate Expert

Get legal advice and try to recover the 30% back. Then you should probably start thinking about re-investing; land prices on the moon are crazy cheap now and is a sure bet for the future.

Emerald Lass

you ned to check the contract you signed - hopefully, if your solicitor did their job right they will have included a clause outlining that your 30% is paid on condition that the developer organise a mortgage for you. As the mortgage fell through, then if your contract was drawn up correctly to protect your interests, you should be entitled to your 30% back.

However if you used the solicitor supplied by the developer then this is unlikely. either eay you really need to seek legal advice from a Bulgarian solicitor - an Irish one is no use, you need someone who knows the laws in Bulgaria.

It is indeed unethical for them to have taken 30% from you when they knew there was a good chance you would not get your mortgage. Looks like they were planning on making money for nothing. I would never take 30% from a customer who told me that they were relying on me getting them a mortgage - in that instance a reservation fee(fully refundable) is enough. This holds the property for 30 days, and 30 days is plenty of time to either be approved or rejected for a mortgage.

As overseascafe said - get their name on npsra. Also maybe name and shame them? Let others learn from your situation.

good luck.

DirtyOilBurner

Thanks Emerald Lass,

You seem to know a bit about it, as far as i can remember its in the contract that if the other 70% isnt paid i will loose the 30%, it was the selling agent that was organising the mortgage not the developer, i think you may know the company too i think i seen you with a thread about them before, they also do rentals.....

kmick

Id walk away unless I had the money to throw away. Bulgaria is run mostly by the mafia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7520736.stm) and any more money you give them is good money after bad. How much was the deposit?

Emerald Lass

DirtyOilBurner, If it who I think it is then FIGHT THEM ALL THE WAY! they are a pack of theives in my experience. <snip>

like I said you really need to get a solicitor to have a look at the contract. If it is as you said that the selling agent made your contract on the basis of a mortgage being available, then you may have grounds to get your money back, and do not pay any more. I may be totally wrong, so don't base your actions totally on this, but there is a good chance that the selling agent did not give the developer 30% deposit. Most likely, if they gave anything it was 10%. If so then demand your money back, get a solicitors advice. If they did only give some of your deposit as downpayment, then you may still loose what they gave the developer but you may be able to get the remaining portion back from the agent.


However, realistically in the current market getting an agent to hand back any money is slim - especially if they are one who is not promoting good business practice to begin with. And definitely not this crowd. I have a court case pending with them regarding rental problems.

First step you need to take is talk to a solicitor. See what you can do. If it turns out that engaging a solicitor is a case of throwing good money after bad then I think a diy on Joe Duffy et al and a little piece in the local rags would be in order, and I will join you!

I think you need to PM me if you are talking about the same people as me!

Victor

Emerald Lass, we aren't here to fight your legal battles, so no "naming and shaming" as such.

Emerald Lass

In fairness Victor this crowd have been mentioned on here quite a few times. A thread I started actually got so many negative comments about them tht a mod had to close it. And that was just my post. Through these boards alone I have been contacted by four other VERY unhappy clients of theirs - all with similar problems. Including me that makes 5 from these boards alone, and I have been contacted by several others through other boards. Now we hear that they are also using bad and unethical business practice when dealing with their overseas sales.

I am not asking for help in my legal battles - that is what my solicitor is for and I have a VERY strong case. Naming and shaming in regards to foreign property helps me not one jot. But naming them and shaming them may help someother poor sod avoid a loss of thousands like OP.

As it is not my thread I cannot 'name and shame' them, and also my issue with them is in regards to another area of their business. But I can't see the problem wit the OP naming them if it helps others know who to avoid.