When a listing says "turnkey", buyers usually picture an apartment they can move into with a suitcase. When it says "plaster and screed", they picture bare walls and six months of renovation. In reality the gap between those two states is smaller than it looks — and the gap in price is much smaller than it looks.
We went through 140 new-build listings on the Bulgarian coast and recorded how developers describe the finish in their own words. In 54 of them the finish level is stated outright. Of those, 22 say "turnkey", 25 say "plaster and screed", and another 7 use different wording. Not one calls its own state "shell condition", although for some of them that is exactly what it is.
What "plaster and screed" means
This is the state an apartment leaves the builder in once the building is finished. Walls are levelled and plastered but not painted. The floor has a cement screed but no tiles and no laminate. Wiring is run through the walls, sockets and switches are in place. Water and drainage are brought into the bathroom and kitchen — but there are no fittings.
Everything after that is on the buyer: paint or wallpaper, flooring, doors, kitchen, bathroom fittings, lighting. Plus furniture. We are not going to quote a figure per square metre — it depends on whether you lay 12-euro tiles or 45-euro tiles, and an honest number comes only from a contractor who has walked the apartment and measured it. But this is not "a bit of finishing off". It is a separate project lasting several months.
What "turnkey" means
Walls painted, floors laid, doors hung, bathroom assembled — shower, toilet, basin, tiles. Kitchen units may or may not be included; that has to be asked about property by property.
And here is the thing worth remembering. "Turnkey" almost never includes furniture. Developers say so in plain words. Here is a studio in the InterHomes 3 complex in Pomorie — 70,900 euros, 336 metres from the sea, completion June 2027. The description states it literally: the apartment is handed over with a turnkey finish, furniture not included. Which means you cannot move in straight away — there is nothing to sleep on.
What the difference actually costs
It gets interesting when you put two properties side by side.
A studio in the Atlas complex costs 67,914 euros. There is no finish: the listing says plaster and screed are done, and a separate budget will be needed for the final finish and furniture. Distance to the sea: 3,407 metres.
The InterHomes 3 studio costs 70,900 euros, turnkey finish, 336 metres from the sea.
The price difference is around three thousand euros. The difference in distance to the sea is three kilometres. So for the same money you get either a finished apartment a ten-minute walk from the beach, or an apartment awaiting renovation half an hour away by car. And that renovation is still ahead of you.
This does not make Atlas a bad option. It means comparing new-build prices without looking at the finish is meaningless — you are comparing different products. The same complex has one-bedroom apartments at 86,648 euros and two-bedroom apartments at 133,827 euros — all in the same condition, plaster and screed.
If you are looking at new builds — see new-build apartments by the sea in Bulgaria.
Ask about the maintenance fee separately
The maintenance fee is an annual payment for running the complex: grounds, pool, security, waste collection. It has nothing to do with the finish, but it is calculated differently everywhere, and it belongs in your budget from the start.
For example, a studio in Magnolia Residence 10 is 61,500 euros for 34.94 square metres, 870 metres from the sea. The description says the studio will be sold turnkey and the maintenance fee is 12 euros per square metre per year. For that floor area it works out at 408 euros a year. In another complex on the same coast the fee is flat — 150 euros a year regardless of size. Almost a threefold difference, and the only way to find out is to ask.
What to do before buying
Three questions cover almost every surprise. First: what exactly the finish includes — ask for a list, not the word "turnkey". Second: whether furniture is included, and if so, what. Third: how much the maintenance fee is and how it is calculated — by floor area or flat.
If the seller answers all three specifically, you can start costing it out. If they start speaking in generalities, assume there is no finish and budget for the renovation.
Our properties with the finish level stated are collected in the catalogue. If you are selling a coastal apartment rather than buying one, we have described how that works on our side on the page for sellers.
Some listings come with a developer payment plan — apartments in instalments.
