Real estate in the European province is best suited for personal residence
Village or resort?
There are villages in every European country. They give residents a measured lifestyle, clean air, beautiful landscapes. You can have a vegetable garden, tend the garden and even raise chickens. However, according to Olga Goryachkina, deputy director of the department of foreign real estate "BEST-Nedvizhimost", in any villages the infrastructure is usually underdeveloped. And the smaller the village, the less civilization. "However, if for someone a rural shop and a paramedic's office are enough, then the village is just what is needed," says the expert.
Moreover, village housing is usually in worse condition than houses and apartments in resorts: "Most often, repairs are needed. And only if you are lucky, you won't have to change the utilities," says Olga Goryachkina. There are few exceptions, and mostly these are new villas and wooden houses, which, however, cost tens of times more than secondary housing: on average, it can be bought for 20-80 thousand euros, as reported by Denis Evseev, managing partner of Kingsland. And this is the main plus of the village: resort property with such a budget cannot be bought, and this is why houses in the foreign province are gaining popularity among our compatriots. There are many cases where elderly people sold housing here and moved, for example, to Bulgaria.
But a significant drawback of village houses is their low investment attractiveness. "Such a purchase cannot be considered successful; it will never be liquid," believes Denis Evseev. When reselling, the property will have to be "marked down". However, lovers of the village buy housing just to live or relax there, that is, "for themselves".
Bulgaria
In Bulgarian villages, the infrastructure is not bad: roads are paved, there is electricity everywhere, central water supply, shops, cafes, medical center, etc. From each village, public transport departs at least twice a day to the nearest town. But the houses themselves mostly leave much to be desired.
"The most objects are those built in the 1950s-60s. Almost all are of the same type: red brick, without external plaster and paint, two-story with an external staircase to the second floor, without a bathroom, with a toilet and shower in the garden. Next to the house there is a summer kitchen and animal sheds," says Elvira Khristova, manager of the Bulgarian company New Home SV. You can buy such a house for just 3.5-5 thousand euros. True, that is the price for quite dilapidated housing. "If the house is sturdy but without repairs, the price reaches 15-25 thousand euros, and if completely renovated, the average cost is about 30 thousand euros (when located 100 km from the sea).
Prices for houses depend on their size, condition, location, size of the garden, but first of all on how quickly the owner wants to sell it. For example, the English, if they are in a hurry, can resell a good house even for 15 thousand euros," says Elvira Khristova. At the same time, she advises buying housing in Elhovo, Bolyarovo, Yambol, Topolovgrad; these areas are considered the most ecologically clean, there are no chemical plants and a lot of forests.
Buying a house in Bulgaria is not difficult. First, a preliminary contract is concluded, in Russian and Bulgarian. Usually, a month is given to pay the first installment (usually 30% of the property's value) and to check the cleanliness of the transaction. "To do this, you need to show the owners' documents, including the Notarial Act (the main document confirming ownership) to a notary or lawyer. If something is wrong with the documents, the owners will be asked to bring additional papers. If the house is new, i.e., built less than 10 years ago, the building permit must be checked. Information about mortgage loans and encumbrances can be obtained from the Agency for Entries, but they are almost never found on village houses," says Elvira Khristova.
After checking the cleanliness of the transaction, taxes, duties, notary services, etc. are paid, which amount to about 4% of the property's value. And then a Notarial Act is issued to the new owner.
However, there is a catch: you cannot buy land in Bulgaria as an individual. To become its owner, you will have to open a Bulgarian legal entity or a branch of a company and buy the land through these organizations. But the good thing is that opening a company in Bulgaria is simple. It can be done even in one day, with total costs of about 1000-1500 euros. And the costs of maintaining a company that does not conduct commercial activities and is actually opened only for buying land will not exceed 300-400 euros per year. But besides that, of course, you will have to bear the costs of maintaining the house, which, as reported by Denis Evseev (Kingsland), average 1000-2000 euros per year, pay bills for electricity, water, telephone, Internet, etc. Also, you have to pay property tax annually, which is 0.15% of the book value (for legal entities) or assessed value (for individuals) of the property.
Cyprus
"Some villages in Cyprus are of interest to construction companies; residential complexes of villas and townhouses are being built on their territories," says Vladislav Andreev, real estate consultant of Cybarco. In Cypriot villages, you can find both old houses and new builds, usually made of stone, stylized as antique.
"In old village houses, many of which are already more than 200 years old, modern utilities, thermal insulation and interior decoration are usually absent. Such properties are characterized by a small area, both of the house itself and the plot, are located in villages with very high building density and very narrow streets, and require a lot of time, money and experience for restoration," says Andreas Khuludis, head of the representative office in Russia of Pafilia Property Developers Ltd. "A house that is more than 100 years old can be bought for 30 thousand euros (and higher depending on its condition, location and plot size), but at least 100 thousand euros will still be needed for its restoration. In addition, many old houses are architectural monuments, so they can only be restored but not rebuilt. And some villages are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, and the owners of houses located there are responsible for their preservation."
To avoid unnecessary hassle but still enjoy all the delights of rural life, experts advise buying new properties in picturesque locations built using modern construction technologies. The company Pafilia Property Developers Ltd. is particularly involved in building such houses. "In a number of implemented projects built on the outskirts of villages, the cost of houses starts from 530 thousand euros," reports Andreas Khuludis. "New houses with large land plots (from 8 to 100 ares) in a new project in the village of Letymbou, located at an altitude of 380 meters above sea level, a 15-minute drive from Paphos and its harbor, cost from 550 thousand euros."
And Vladislav Andreev (Cybarco) cites as an example the houses in the Hillcrest Villas complex, which is located in the center of the village of Pegeia (Paphos district) opposite the famous Coral Bay resort and consists of 17 detached villas with 3 bedrooms, land plots and private pools. Their average cost is 460 thousand euros.
What is gratifying is that there is no need to open a legal entity, because "non-residents of Cyprus have the right to acquire residential property (no more than one unit per person) as well as a land plot of no more than 4,000 sq m," reports Vladislav Andreev.
Owning property in Cyprus is quite cheap. For example, property worth up to 170 thousand euros (old village houses fall into this price category) is not subject to property tax, and for housing worth up to 855 thousand euros the tax is 0.3%. In addition, utility bills and municipal tax (garbage collection fee) must be paid. Resource tariffs are low, for example, the cost of electricity for a family of three can be as little as 10-20 euros per month. And the municipal tax depends on the area.
Croatia
In Croatia you can also buy old village houses and new builds styled to look old. "New houses with national flavor are in great demand among buyers who appreciate the rural way of life," says Natalya Romanova, a specialist in Croatian real estate at Delta estate. Such houses can be lived in immediately, while old buildings usually need repairs or even extensive restoration. "Nevertheless, both new and old Croatian houses usually have electricity, water, a kitchen and a toilet. And living rooms are suitable for year-round living," the expert reports.
True, you have to pay for such amenities: village housing in Croatia is not cheap at all. Old houses requiring repairs cost on average from 60 to 200 thousand euros. The cost of fully restored properties increases by 2-2.5 times. And average prices for new houses range from 200 to 700 thousand euros.
Experts advise buying village real estate on the Istrian peninsula – it is the most attractive region from the point of view of ecology and investment, especially the areas of Umag, Poreč, Novigrad and Rovinj. The most profitable are village houses on the coast, 1-3 km from the beach with a sea view, but there are few such properties. It is easier to find a house 15-20 km from the sea; their investment attractiveness is enhanced by the well-groomed appearance of both the property and the entire village as a whole, and some distance from neighboring plots.
Only citizens of countries with which Croatia has signed a so-called reciprocity agreement can freely purchase Croatian housing and land, and these are EU countries (except Italy), the USA and Hungary. And even in this case, a foreign individual must submit a purchase application to the Ministry of Justice of Croatia, and the review period is from one to two and a half years. Our compatriot can only buy a property through a company, experts assert. Land is also registered to a legal entity.
"In Croatia, electricity costs 7-50 euros per month, water 7-20 euros, garbage collection 17 euros, telephone from 8 euros. There is no annual property tax; you only have to pay a one-time tax when purchasing real estate, which is 5% of the price specified in the contract," says Natalya Romanova. But you will have to pay for the opening and maintenance of a legal entity.
ACCORDING TO MANY EXPERTS, it is not worth buying village houses in Europe. First, they are illiquid. Second, the infrastructure there is not much better than in villages of central Russia. Third, villages are usually not adapted for foreigners: there are no signs in Russian, and locals sometimes do not even speak English (although we can understand Bulgarians anyway).
But still, according to Metrinfo.ru, there are different degrees of remoteness, and compared to the Russian hinterland, the European one is usually more comfortable. And if possible, one can prefer the Bulgarian hinterland over the outskirts of Ryazan. But we must remember that selling a house in a village is really more difficult, and there will be no rental income, so real estate in the European countryside is only suitable for own living, not for profit.