Real estate

Transactions in real estate are among the most widespread in our daily life, but in the meantime pose many risks for both buyers and sellers. Therefore, and due to the fact that our lawyers possess rich experience in this area, this is a priority field for Nikolaev and Partners’ team. Our lawyers work exclusively on six residential buildings in Sofia with a total of over 170 apartments, one of which has already been commissioned, and the others are at various design or construction stages. In addition, we perform surveys, consultations and carry out real estate transactions on a regular basis for our clients – both natural persons and legal entities. During his work at the biggest private bailiff’s office in Bulgaria, the focus in the work of Attorney in Law Ivan Nikolaev was exactly the survey of real estate in relation to enforcing security thereover.

As a result of all of the above, we are confident to consider ourselves experts with excellent preparation on real estate cases, and working with us will assure you that are you are making the right investment at a reasonable price. We offer you some practical aspects of real estate legal cases that make it worthwhile seeking a knowledgeable lawyers before executing a transaction:

In real estate purchase transactions, there are actual risks of unfair sellers, counterfeit documents, property encumbrance, flaws in the right of ownership and other similar issues that may result in adverse financial effects for you, and in worse cases – in losing the right of ownership without the possibility for receiving indemnity from the seller. Due to the imperfect system of keeping the Property Register at the Registration Offices, very often additional checks are necessary to track a property’s entire history. Only thus can you be sure that you buy from an owner whose right is not prejudiced. There are also substantial risks when purchasing a home “off-plan”; in this case, it is essential that a detailed survey be carried out of the builder’s financial position and that you conclude a perfect contract that protects your rights to the greatest possible degree. The standard policy applied in Bulgaria for real estate purchase is that a check be made electronically in the Property Register and that the latest several notary deeds for transfer of the property be reviewed. Through our work, we have found that in most cases this approach does not provide an accurate idea of the condition of real estate properties, especially those located in the city of Sofia. The multiple spatial regulation plans adopted and dismissed over the years, expropriation procedures and the subsequent repeal thereof, restitution claims by third parties, duplicate accounts in the Property Register and other similar aspects require a very careful survey related to obtaining multiple certificates, drawings and other documents from municipalities, cadastre bodies, professional geodesists, municipal agricultural offices, regional governments, etc., so that a high-quality legal analysis can be made. The effort is worth it, compared with the perspective of losing right of ownership over the property purchased by you without a possibility for recovering the payment made.

In addition, when you use loan capital for the purchase, it is equally important to be sure that the loan agreement you conclude with the bank of your choice does not contain any unfair terms obliging you to pay more. Mortgaging the property purchased by you also deserves special attention, because this will encumber your property for decades.

The other part of this transaction – the sale of real estate, also poses risks and requires competent legal advice, so that you can be sure that you will receive your payment within the agreed period, and that you are protected from ungrounded future claims by the buyer for flaws of the property sold. Depending on the specifics of the particular transaction, we can recommend mortgaging the real estate in your favour, issuing a promissory note in your favour by the buyer, or another approach to guarantee receiving the selling price.

Our rich experience in work with building companies, natural persons, notaries and private bailiffs allows us to identify all risks in a specific real estate deal. We always adopt an individual approach to protect our clients’ interests to the greatest possible degree. Our principle is to be together with the client through all stages of such deals – starting from the negotiations, through the property’s survey and conclusion of a preliminary agreement, work on the loan agreement and mortgage contract with the bank, to the completion of the deal before a notary and the payment.