In search of the best apartment in Sofia

I follow the press. I am particularly interested in the news related to the property market in Sofia and this is so for several reasons. Several years ago I bought an apartment and I want to know if I made a good investment having in mind the recent changes. Besides, I'm surrounded by friends, who have one or another reason to search for a new home and I want to give them an adequate advice. It is not easy, as the trends in this fast growing sector in Bulgaria are quite divergent and one can not be constant in one’s decision when it comes to the eternal question – should I rent or should I buy an apartment in Sofia? I was a tenant for over ten years - first as a student, then as a young professionalist. The accommodation in Sofia I had has always been decent and mainly in the districts of Dianabad and Students City, though I have also lived on the boulevard "Stamboliiski" and near today's large shopping mall on "Tsarigradsko Schousse" Blvd. I've come across good landlords, but also bad and although I have not lived with them, I was convinced it was high time to get a home of my own – I was so sick moving baggages from one place to another.

I started actively looking for a one-bedroom apartment in Sofia in March 2006 - and the proposals were quite nice, but even then it was a challenge to find a good one-bedroom apartment with a nice view and in a good neighborhood. The developers were offering nice projects - many of them off-plan, while I was looking for an apartment in a building with a roof - that was the condition of my bank. Now I realize that I found relatively quickly the property I was looking for, as I did only one compromise – with the price. I got a south-facing apartment with good location and spacious rooms, in a quiet area near the boulevard and in an area with good infrastructure. The price compared to the apartments prices at the moment seems quite low. The loan, however is large and the monthly payment is not something that wait for. Sometimes I think about what I would have done with this money if I should not pay my mortgage ... But soon I realize that I would have given them to pay for a rent.

Lately many of my friends are looking for a decent one or two-bedroom apartment in Sofia and have difficulties finding it. There is a choice of apartments for sale, but something is wrong – either the neighborhood or the size of the apartment, but most often the price. My friends who are searching for an apartment want to live in a bigger flat because the family is getting bigger. In the past they have bought one-bedroom apartment, but now this is not enough. They tell me there are no many offers, and when they state their requirements for a new construction, brick-built apartment in a good neighborhood in Sofia, these offers are just a few. The apartment prices are as high, although we are all aware that they will not get lower and because of this they want to make a deal right now. At the same time the developers are offering apartments in Sofia with discounts, but today's buyer is careful, prefers tobe slow in one’s choice and consider carefully the best properties in terms of price - quality. To choose the right time to buy an apartment in Sofia seems to be pure luck, and yet the best the buyer can make is to be fully informed of what's happening on the property market in the capital Sofia. The more one knows, the most likely will be not to make a mistake.