It wasn't long ago when selling property in Bulgaria was rare. Even beyond perestroika. The population in the main had no real reason to sell their homes. The rule was it was passed down to the next generation before the elders had passed away. Effectively most families lived in the same home for many decades and it is normal for three generations to be living under the same roof.
There would quite often be a town and village house in the family for those fortunate to have been granted town citizenship during communist times. These where given to families from the state where work brought them to the town areas. At the same time the village family home still remained in the family and worked or eventually left abandoned in more recent times due to a new generation seeking jobs elsewhere.
During the 90's a million Bulgarians left to seek their fortune new pastures such as Spain, Germany and America leaving many properties to be managed and kept by their now aging parents. Moving into the 21st Century the elders who were left behind now reach the age of either not managing their properties tot he state of total disrepair or in other cases the returning more wealthy generations of Bulgaria who had made a good living abroad return to care for them, quite often moving them into apartment accommodation into nearby towns. This creates ghost villages and thousands of village property abandoned and in disrepair.
Up until 10 years ago there was no realisation that the abandoned properties were worth anything. Then the droves of foreigners came and put an every increasing price tag associated with these homes. There had always been a supply now there was a demand and that's exactly what happened here.
More recently the supply of property for sale is still around but the demand has fallen. It seems that supply will always outweigh demand, which is why the prices of property in small villages will never spiral upwards out of control. If near a major town or City then they will of course be more valuable due to location in a commuting sense to both the Bulgarian and foreigner alike.
Many of the Bulgarians who choose to make a killing with selling their, 'spare' village dwelling spent the proceeds on luxury items such as a car, white goods and media equipments such as plasma screen television, etc. The availability of ready cash is something very new to most Bulgarians and the prestige of being able to actual own something that before was only seen in TV advertisements was grabbed at the very first opportunity.
More recently there has been more prudence with selling and in many cases prices they ask for are way above anything ay foreigner expects, especially is the new middle-aged generation have control of the sale. They have wised up to the value of property now and regard it as an important family asset that will now potentially be looked at as an investment. The learning curve has been travelled and now getting a property that is 'going for a song' is becoming much rarer.
The Bulgarian concept of owning a house that is now longer used by the family has now changed from thinking it has now real value and is surplus to requirements to an heir waiting to be tapped upon. The thoughts and expectation is to wait for foreign investors to come along and offer them far in excess of anything they could have expected five years ago. Even with the glut of derelict houses standing unsold the waiting game is in progress - it wasn't before.
So, how Bulgarians think of property now is very much the way many westerners think, the table have turned in view of most being taken for a ride in terms of the true value of their properties. In fact many foreigners as now looked upon as mugs rather than the Bulgarians in the recent past. How quickly they learn.
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