The first point to bear in mind is that Bulgaria is a new country as far as the overseas property market is concerned and will continue to evolve as it emerges as a fully free market and potential member of the European Union, which it hopes to join in 2007.

 In 1992, when, effectively, the Bulgarian real Estate market started, it became apparent that the one of the biggest administrative barriers could be title registration. As a result of the neglected title registration system during 50 years of socialism, land records are often out of date. Some records are missing completely and this, combined with a mostly non-computerised system, can create very confusing picture.

 Buying a property in an emerging market country such as Bulgaria is not the same as Buying a property in, say, Spain or France, where millions of foreigners have already bought homes. As a result everybody knows what to do. This is not so in Bulgaria. You could be the firs foreigner this official has ever dealt with. This can lead to delay, confusion and frustration.

So, to find a clean title is a crucial task in this market. Do not worry too much. It is perfectly possible to buy property with its history properly and legally recorded.  You just need to be particularly careful and get good legal advice before you commit yourself to a purchase.

The second thing we would stress to you is that you should never sign anything until you have had it checked. If you do sign you will be committed to a contract that you may not understand, that may be totally unfair or unsafe and that could be structured, financially, in a way that is totally unsuited to you and tax inefficient