Reality or myth? When it comes to the real estate market, we are referring to housing, it always comes down to several basic issues that cannot be ignored, such as prices, the dilemma of buying or renting, whether the property is new or renovated and last but not least, how secure the profitability is in it.
1. Property prices always go up.
„Property prices go up in the short term. In the long term, like any other price, they depend on supply and demand, i.e. there may be declines. There was a similar decline during the pandemic caused by the coronavirus“, recalls Miroslav Yazov, owner of a real estate agency. Also, let's not forget that the decline in 2008 was so big that it took the market nearly 10 years to recover prices.
2. Better to buy than to rent.
This is great, but many people have a variety of jobs and work in different places. For this reason, the question arises: “Why should they buy?“. In Bulgaria, everyone works where their home is. Around the world - everyone lives where their job is.
“The answer to this question also depends on the specific situation - do you want to be mobile or do you want to look for a job where mom is“, explains Yazov.
3. Secure profitability.
And it is not very secure. “Imagine that your tenants are leaving now and the next ones aren't coming until August. What do you do during that time? The apartment is sitting empty. Or a situation where the tenant has left the apartment in terrible condition and you have to invest all the income in renovations“, explains the intermediary and adds that many people who rent out their properties through Airbnb recently have raised their fees and the income has fallen.
4. Should you buy an old apartment and renovate it or a new one
One of the likely advantages of old construction is supposedly larger rooms, supposedly better quality, supposedly lots of things and the entrance hasn't been touched since 1968, when the block was built. The elevator, if it works, is in a miserable condition, but on the other hand, the interior of the apartment is furnished in a designer style.
„It is very important when buying real estate to choose the environment in which you buy it. And not because it is cheap, and you do renovations and after 6 months the renovations are nowhere to be seen, and the money is gone“, explains Yazov.
5. I have to wait for the perfect moment to buy.
„The perfect moment to buy is always „yesterday“, especially if you are looking for a property to live in. There is no such thing as „perfect property“. I have clients who wait 4-5 years for prices to fall, for Donald Trump to come, for crypto to rise, and the like. If you are going to buy a property for your own needs, the perfect moment is “yesterday“. There, everything justifies the purchase itself“ explains Yazov and adds that the situation is different if a home is purchased for investment purposes. Then the perfect moment is any moment in which the client finds a property below the market price.
“Please be careful who you trust“, Yazov urges clients who have decided to buy a home.
Detailed statistics on the average prices of properties in Bulgaria by cities and neighborhoods can be seen HERE