People budget for a flat by the sea like this: price, plus notary, plus furniture. And they stop there.
Then February comes, the invoice from the management company arrives, and it turns out that ownership costs money every single year. On its own, even if you never came.
What the maintenance fee is
It is what you pay the management company to run the complex. It is calculated not per flat but per square metre of total area, and it is charged a year in advance.
The formula is simple: your square metres multiplied by the rate. The rate is the same for every flat in the complex, so the more metres you own, the more you pay.
What it comes to in money
Across the properties that pass through us the rate sits between 8 and 15 euro per square metre per year. That is our own observation of the coastal market, not a rule of law: every complex sets its own figure.
What that means in practice. A 45 metre studio at 10 euro is 450 euro a year. A 70 metre two room flat at 12 euro is 840 euro a year.
The most expensive complexes are the ones with a lot of infrastructure: pools, perimeter security, lifts, gardens, a playground. Somebody cleans, repairs and mows all of it, and the owners pay for it together.
Property tax is a separate thing
The maintenance fee goes to the complex. The property tax and the waste collection fee go to the municipality, that is, to the local authority. One does not replace the other.
The tax is calculated not from the price you paid but from the tax valuation — a separate official figure issued by the municipality. It is usually noticeably lower than the market price.
The rate runs from 0.1 to 4.5 per thousand of that valuation, and each municipal council picks its own figure inside that band.
Ready-to-move furnished homes — resale apartments by the sea.
There is no resort surcharge, although one was introduced
From 1 January 2019 Bulgaria brought in a separate higher rate for housing in resorts of national importance — 5 to 7 per thousand. Several times the usual level.
It lasted less than four months. On 9 April 2019 the Constitutional Court found it unconstitutional and struck it down.
So today a flat in Sveti Vlas and a flat in a residential district of Burgas are taxed within the same band. Bulgaria has no separate resort tax.
The honest downside
The fee goes up. Not every year and not sharply, but over five years it usually creeps up, especially where there is a pool and a lift.
And you cannot simply not pay it. The debt does not disappear, it accumulates against the flat, and sooner or later the management company takes it to court. Selling a flat with an outstanding fee debt is hard too — the buyer will see it.
What to ask before you sign
Three questions close the subject. How much is the rate per square metre per year. What exactly does that sum cover. Has the fee been raised in the last three years, and by how much.
A decent management company answers all three straight away and in writing. A vague answer is itself an answer.
The right way to price a purchase by the sea is to add a year of running costs to the price of the flat and look at that number calmly. Then the February invoice is not a surprise.
All current listings — apartments in Sunny Beach. Prices, sizes and floors in the catalogue.
