Selling your apartment in Bulgaria: documents, payment and timing

Selling from abroad is routine for us: many of our clients have never come back for the sale. What decides the speed is mostly preparation.

Documents to have ready

• Your title: the notarial deed from your purchase, or the gift, inheritance or court documents. If the original is lost, a certified copy can be obtained.
• Passport or national identity card.
• Cadastral sketch or scheme of the apartment. We can order it for you.
• Tax assessment certificate from the municipality, issued in the current year. It also confirms there is no unpaid property tax.
• Certificate of encumbrances from the Property Register, taken shortly before the deal.
• Proof of marital status. If you were married when you bought, your spouse may need to consent or sign; after a divorce or a spouse’s death, the relevant certificate.
• Receipts for electricity, water and the maintenance fee, so the buyer can see there are no debts.

Special cases need more. For an inherited apartment, the death certificate and a certificate of heirs or its foreign equivalent. With a mortgage, a letter from the bank on how it will be released from the sale price.

Selling without coming to Bulgaria

You can sign a notarised power of attorney for the sale at a Bulgarian consulate or before a local notary with an apostille. Our lawyer then signs the deed for you, hands over the keys and transfers the money to your account.

How you get paid

The buyer pays the deposit and then the balance into a lawyer’s client account or a notary’s deposit account a few days before the deal. On the day, once the deed is signed, the money is transferred to the account you give us, in Bulgaria or abroad. A domestic transfer usually arrives the same or next working day; an international one in one to three working days.

For you this means the money is already secured before you sign, and the buyer knows it will only be released after the deed. Neither side has to trust the other.

How long it takes

Preparation of documents takes one to two weeks. Finding a buyer depends on price, condition and season; for a well-priced apartment, one to three months is common. Once a deposit is paid, the deal itself can usually be completed within about five weeks, sooner if you come in person.

A sale may also have tax consequences. Whether capital gains tax is due depends on how long you have owned the property and where you are tax resident; we cover the rules in our article on property taxes.