Having completed all the above, you are then in a position to complete the deal to commit to the purchase of the property/land by signing the preliminary contract and paying a deposit of 10% of the full asking price. The time between preliminary and final contract can be anything from 1-2 months. If you are unable to travel to Bulgaria to sign the final contract and make the payment of the remaining 90% personally, it may be advisable at this stage to give Power of Attorney to your solicitor or someone else you know and trust. Your chosen person will then have the power to sign the final contract and make the final payment on your behalf. POA (Power of Attorney) is legally binding and once the papers have been drawn up by a solicitor they will need to be signed and stamped by a Notary. Point: every time you use a Notary the fees must be paid by you.

Once the above has been completed and you legally become the owner of your property/land the next step, if it is your intention to renovate rather than a new build, is to do your homework to find a suitable builder to undertake the work for you.

But, if you intend to demolish the existing property, rebuild outside the original footprints or start from scratch with a new build on a plot of land, the procedures are very different. First, you have to find an architect to draw up plans for you and it is advisable to find one who works within the Municipality of your property. The reason for this is that eventually your completed plans will need to be submitted to the Municipality Office in which your property/land is located to get the plans stamped and approved.

This can be a lengthy procedure (from 3-6+ months) as the plans involve both architectural design and constructional drawings to ensure that not only is the design suitable for the area but that the construction of the house has been correctly drawn up. This is absolutely essential as the builder (once you have chosen one) will put together his quote for the build and all materials based on these plans.

During this period it is also the responsibility of the architect to obtain a skitsa (tracing of your plot of land which marks out the elevation and boundaries) to determine the size of the proposed house and to ensure that the house is built within the statutory distance from the boundary. Other documents necessary before the final plans can be submitted are the signed approvals/ documentation from the utilities companies agreeing to supply water and electricity to the site. When the plans have been completed and all necessary signed documents ready, everything will then be submitted to the Municipality Office for approval and stamping and the waiting starts.

When approval is eventually granted for the architectural and constructional plans it is necessary to wait whilst further checks are done to ensure that the "Ts" have been crossed and the "Is" dotted before Building Permission is granted. During the submission stage you will most probably wish to get a copy of your plans to get quotes from suitable builders and, if you haven't already got a builder in mind, it is advisable to get at least 3 quotes for comparison. It is important to know that once the Building Permission has been granted it is in power 5 years. Also, if the build does not start within the 5 years you are able to re-apply without going through all the above procedure and it will start again immediately.