Real Estate & Property
Overview
Property transaction consulting and advisory.
In property transactions the risk is almost never in the deed itself. It lies in what was not checked beforehand — an incomplete chain of title, a registered encumbrance, a co-owner who has not consented, or a preliminary contract signed on terms that give no real protection if the seller withdraws.
We review the legal status of a property before a transaction, draft and negotiate preliminary contracts, and prepare the transaction through to completion before a notary. We act on purchases and sales, leases, rights in rem, co-ownership and partition.
Off-plan purchases deserve separate attention: payment precedes completion, and the buyer's protection depends entirely on how the contract is drafted.
What the service covers
- Legal review of a property — title documents, encumbrances, restrictions
- Preliminary sale contracts and negotiation of terms
- Preparation of the transaction through to completion before a notary
- Off-plan purchases and contracts with developers
- Creation and transfer of limited rights in rem — right to build, right of use, easements
- Co-ownership, voluntary and judicial partition
- Lease agreements — residential and commercial
- Condominium matters and relations with building management
- Mortgages and security over real property
- Acquisition of property by foreign individuals and companies
- Possessory and title recovery claims
- Tax and duty aspects of the transaction
Who it is for
Buyers and sellers of residential and commercial property; developers and off-plan buyers; co-owners seeking to end co-ownership; landlords and tenants of commercial space; and foreign individuals and companies acquiring property in Bulgaria.
Frequently asked questions
What is checked on a property before purchase?
The title documents and the chain of title backwards in time; registered encumbrances — mortgages, attachments, filed claims; the existence of co-owners and of spousal consent; consistency between the documents and the cadastre; the status under the applicable development plan; and the existence of construction permits. For inherited property, the circle of heirs is also checked. The review is made as at completion, not as at the preliminary contract.
I am buying off-plan. What must the contract contain?
A precise description of the unit and of the common parts; a payment schedule tied to completed stages rather than calendar dates; a completion deadline with defined consequences for delay; the specification and degree of completion; the handover procedure; warranty periods; and what happens on default — including the right to terminate and recover sums paid. Securing the payments is a separate question, answered according to the particular developer.
Does a preliminary contract oblige the seller to transfer the property?
A preliminary contract creates an obligation to conclude the final contract, and on refusal the performing party has a judicial route to have it declared final. The practical value of that route depends on whether the property has meanwhile been transferred to a third party. For that reason, measures reducing this risk are considered alongside the contract itself.
I am a co-owner and the others will not sell. What are my options?
Co-ownership ends by agreement or judicially, through partition. Judicial partition proceeds in stages and the outcome depends on whether the property can be divided in kind and, where it cannot, on allocation or public sale. Before taking that route it is worth assessing what each party would receive under each possible outcome, since that often changes their willingness to settle.