Articles
HOW TO GET A BRAND NEW SEASIDE CITY
By Penka Atanasova
The background…
The story takes place in Bulgaria - European country with easy access from
all over the world, keeping one of the lowest property prices in Europe.
Due to the altering of the political and economic system there, salaries
are small and subsequently the property prices are small too. Great! - for
foreign buyers. It turned out that they can get a ski or sea property at
a bargain price just 2-3 hours flight away from home. So the news spread
up quickly turning Bulgaria into a magnet for foreign buyers. After joining
the EU the harder procedure for acquiring land has stepped aside to a new
law, harmonized with the European legislation. So the door for new buyers
was opened wider.
Who gives more?
After getting buyers' interest, investors wanted to be the ones who sell
to the new coming second home seekers. This was not an easy task since the
demand provoked much greater competition. Information about the buyers'
"desired homes" turned out to be the advantage. So investors started
researches on what do the new clients like, doing their best to please them
- new complexes with more and more extras were built and sold - each one
offering more than the former. Bulgarian copies of Spanish settlements rose
at the real estate market, same like their foreign counterparts except for
two major difficulties - the geographic location and the price. Swimming
pools, golf playgrounds, jacuzzi, spa centers and so on got a major part
in the new complexes' specifications attracting buyers' investment.
Would you like to live in a brand new city?
After reaching the optimum in functionality, Bulgarian investors didn't
stop developing their product - this time - by increasing its size. The
latest hit at the local market are vacation residential complexes with the
size of a small city! A single complex may spread on something like 50 000
- 100 000 sq.m. And this turned to be a bright idea - an offer of a brand
new home with a brand new infrastructure in a gated complex providing everything
needed for the West European lifestyle - safety (gated communities with
controlled access), comfort (most of them offer maintenance and management
of the complex), recreation (fitness, gym, spa, sport playgrounds, swimming
pools are a must - and some even go beyond that offering minigolf and tennis
courts), entertainment (kids have their own children playgrounds and in
some of the better complexes there are nursery schools, internet, cable
TV and indoor amusements), foods and drink (restaurants, bars, cafeterias)
and various shops. So they build a huge complex providing a desired lifestyle
and start taking care of it. The whole infrastructure - alleys, sewage pipes,
electrical system, internet wires, etc. is new and designed especially for
that particular settlement - thus the infrastructure's life starts with
the opening of the complex - no past history of wearing out, no need of
extra powers.
Which is the best location for such a new-built city?
Nobody can tell so far - there are a couple of huge complexes at the seaside
- in the suburbs of main resorts, there are some in the ski-resorts (smaller
than those at the seaside) and some in Sofia (the capital). They all attract
buyer's interest so it will take time to choose the "Best Location
Winner" among them.
The cost
The cost is not higher than usual new built complexes. A usual complex needs
investment just for the building and a new city needs investment for the
buildings plus the infrastructure - so if they are at the same price where
is the catch? The catch is in the quantity - in a brand new city developers
sell much more than they do in a usual complex, so they get a greater profit
and can afford a bigger investment in a way that it doesn't reflect the
buyer's price.
The changing landscape
So far these new complexes -small or much bigger are getting more and more
on Bulgaria's map. Some macroeconomists believe that Bulgaria is the next
Spain in vacation property sales. True or false - time will show.
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