As we have said the process is broadly analogous to the UK procedure. It has to be because the sale and purchase of land is a serious business in any country. The principle difference is that very much more work is done by the Real Estate Agent who acts as a common link between both parties. This is why it is absolutely essential that you find "an honest broker" to avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest arising.

The agent receives two commissions for two entirely different jobs.

The commision received from the Seller reflects the amount of work involved in visiting the property (including the time and distance involved), discussing and agreeing the price, taking photographs, local and other advertising, putting the property on a website (including translation and website costs) and a reasonable proportion of overhead expenses.

The commission received from the Buyer reflects the time taken in showing the buyer around the various properties they wish to see, the time and mileage (is kilometreage a word?) involved, drawing up the preliminary contract, obtaining the consents and signatures of any relevant relatives, arranging for your Powers of Attorney and completing the transaction. Even after completion there are many other details to be dealt with including registering you property at the Land Registry, producing the Notary Act to the Tax Office (the equivalent of our Stamp Duty) and other more minor but time-consuming matters. All this work is done by the Agent.

Having agreed a sale and purchase in principle, it is then the agent's job to prepare the Preliminary Contract. This is the equivalent of "exchanging contracts" in the UK. It commits the seller to selling at the agreed price and the buyer to paying the price. A deposit of 10% of the purchase price is payable at this point - just as in the UK. This process souunds simple but it can be incredibly complicated.

In Bulgaria, ownership and the selling of land is truly a "family matter". If the owner of the land has a wife and children, ALL of them must agree to the sale in the sale documents. We have had cases were relevant children are working outside Bulgaria and have had to return home to sign the documents. This will not apply to you - limited companies do not have children! For this reason, unless the law changes, it may still be advisable to retain the "corporate ownership" method even after 2012.

Before the Preliminary Contract is actually prepared, a copy of the seller's title deed (Notory Act) is passed to the lawyer acting for the buyer and checked carefully for any mistakes or problems. The description of the property is crucial and usually very complete. There is nearly always a plan showing the location and boundaries of the property. This plan is prepared by the local municipality and is very important. Sadly, many local plans were prepared during the Communist period and surveying techniques were rather cruder than those used today. Some plans were even prepared by actally pacing out the boundary and the area calculated accordingly! This has led to some fairly innacuate descriptions.

Today it is standard practice to check the plan and the description against the modern plan prepared by the Municipality between the Preliminary Contract and the making of your own Notary Act. This sometimes leads to the re-survey of the land by the Municipality who may employ a specialist company to carry out the work. The fees for this are paid by the seller who must, of course, prove his title to the land. It can, however, delay the conveyancing process by up to two months. Usually the results of the resurvey are unremarkable but we have had one client who thought he was buying 1850 square metres and then found out that it was actually 2,200 square metres. The original surveyou must have had longer legs!

Just a word about Powers of Attorney. In the UK we can make a general power of attorney authorising the person holding it ("the Attorney") to do most things. In Bulgaria there must be a separate Power for each task and each one is vital. You will generally need to sign four of them. Most of them are relatively simple but this does not apply to the General Power of Attorney prepared for the management of your company. This is long, complex and ... very boring. It has to be translated to you when you go to the Notary Public who must be sure that you understand every last word.

Our favourite translator, when she did her first one, said to me in confidence immediately afterwards that even she did not understand some of the Bulgarian words and had to make it up! Now, having done many of them, she does understand them but gets very bored at having to recite the same stuff over and over again. The last time she did it, she paused briefly in mid-recital and - continuing in the same tone of voice - said ".... and all that crap!"

The Preliminary Contract and the Notary Act will normally be signed by the person holding your Power of Attorney. We have only had one client who signed it for himself.

The property is also checked for unpaid property taxes and and charges or mortgages. This is done by your lawyer who then goes on to prepare the wording of the Notory Act which transfers the property to the buyer. If you are buying land, as distinct from an apartment, this cannot happen until the company formation process has been completed.

At completion the parties attend, usually the seller appears in person while the buyer is repressented by the Attorney. The Notary carefully scrutinises the proposed Act (deed) and will not proceed if things are not in order. This acts as a second check. Once the Notary is satisfied that all is in order, the Act is perfected by and the money handed over, this is often is cash vecause bank transfers are only just becoming popular and their are no such things as banker's drafts!

Subject to due registration of you title at the Land Registry and the production of the Act to the relevant authorities, you are the owner of the property.

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