Property in Romania
Jul 27th 2011, 5:44 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 100
Property in Romania
Hi
I saw on another thread that property was cheaper in Romania than Bulgaria but from the websites I have found and what I know of Romania it seems that Bulgaria is far cheaper. I have seen good looking properties for less than 10K in Bulgaria but nothing like that in Romania. Are houses cheaper in Romania, and if so, where are they and how can I find them?
Thanks
Sarah
I saw on another thread that property was cheaper in Romania than Bulgaria but from the websites I have found and what I know of Romania it seems that Bulgaria is far cheaper. I have seen good looking properties for less than 10K in Bulgaria but nothing like that in Romania. Are houses cheaper in Romania, and if so, where are they and how can I find them?
Thanks
Sarah
Jul 28th 2011, 4:16 am
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2009
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 209
Re: Property in Romania
Properties are cheaper than most EU countries but it's rare to see something less than 10K. You almost certainly won't find the cheaper properties on the internet, or certainly not on English language sites. If you know Romanian, you can scout the online small ads for a particularly area and you will find houses being sold directly by the owner without an agent and those are obviously a lot cheaper. Many other properties are only advertised through a flyer stuck in the property's window.
Agents often add thousands to the price. They frequently don't even have the property on the books officially. They see a house for sale, they call the owner pretending to be interested. The owner says he wants 30K. The agent puts it on his site for 40K. An interested buyer comes along. The agent says he might be able to persuade the owner to sell it for 35K. Calls the owner, says he has a buyer for the full amount. Pockets the 5K difference (plus his commission, usually 3% from both parties). Job done.
Most Romanians buying rural properties have a particular area or village in mind (maybe the one where they originated from before heading to the cities) so they just go there in person, ask around, see who's selling, and take a look. As a result, most property sites/agent focus either on the more popular regions for tourism or weekend-ing, or on the cities and towns - i.e. more expensive properties. Their commission on selling a cheap country house isn't enough of an incentive and there aren't enough foreigners looking for cheap rural summer retreats to compel them to start up website geared that way.
Location has a lot to do with it too. If you want something in the Prahova valley (mountains, 2 hours from the capital, skiing, climbing, etc) then you're going to pay through the nose. Similarly, anything within 60-minutes drive of a major town is going to be higher in price. An old country house in some remote county away from any major population centre will be virtually given away (although you'll never find this property on an agent's books or on the internet).
So let's say you want to buy a house on the outskirts of Sighisoara (a popular tourist destination). We're talking 3-4 rooms (they class things by rooms here, not bedrooms), probably has the main utilities (gas, electric, running water, sewage). A small garden of about 500m2. Needs some 'smartening up', lick of paint here and there, but no major structural work. That'll probably cost you about 40-50K Euro.
If you go about 20 minutes by car from Sighisoara, to a small village, the price probably halves. I looked at one place recently in that area, in a minor tourist village; 3 large rooms, a 'place for a bathroom' (i.e. you need to fit it), 2 cellar rooms and a downstairs room/bedroom, large attic (room for another 2 rooms if you wanted), 1000m2 of land, apple trees, plum trees, and a small vineyard (i.e. about 50 plants), vegetable plot, large oak barn, 3 animal pens, another lean-to barn, a traditional stone bread oven. Would need a septic tank fitted, but had electricity and water. The asking price is 25K Euro, he'd probably accept 20K. I think that's a great deal, specially if you were going to do the self-sufficiency thing. It even had a castle up a path behind the house!
A friend of mine bought a little 2-room plus bathroom house up in the mountains above a small town in the north-west of the country, a long way from anything really and virtually inaccessible in winter. I guess the house was about 50m2, large garden, wonderful views, thatched oak barn, terrace with view. He paid 3'000 Euro for it.
On the other end of the scale, a 5-bedroomed 300m2 villa in Predeal with land and views, parking, close to tourist spots, 1.5 hours from the capital, newly constructed, all utilities, some finishing to do - 350'000 Euro.
I don't know much about the Bulgarian market, but if you're in the market for an off-plan house in a tourist area, particularly geared to summer holidays and probably in an area with other foreign buyers, then I think Bulgaria is a lot cheaper. For the good deals in Romania, you really need to do the work yourself (agents do faff all here, to be honest) and that's hard without knowing the language or have contacts.
Agents often add thousands to the price. They frequently don't even have the property on the books officially. They see a house for sale, they call the owner pretending to be interested. The owner says he wants 30K. The agent puts it on his site for 40K. An interested buyer comes along. The agent says he might be able to persuade the owner to sell it for 35K. Calls the owner, says he has a buyer for the full amount. Pockets the 5K difference (plus his commission, usually 3% from both parties). Job done.
Most Romanians buying rural properties have a particular area or village in mind (maybe the one where they originated from before heading to the cities) so they just go there in person, ask around, see who's selling, and take a look. As a result, most property sites/agent focus either on the more popular regions for tourism or weekend-ing, or on the cities and towns - i.e. more expensive properties. Their commission on selling a cheap country house isn't enough of an incentive and there aren't enough foreigners looking for cheap rural summer retreats to compel them to start up website geared that way.
Location has a lot to do with it too. If you want something in the Prahova valley (mountains, 2 hours from the capital, skiing, climbing, etc) then you're going to pay through the nose. Similarly, anything within 60-minutes drive of a major town is going to be higher in price. An old country house in some remote county away from any major population centre will be virtually given away (although you'll never find this property on an agent's books or on the internet).
So let's say you want to buy a house on the outskirts of Sighisoara (a popular tourist destination). We're talking 3-4 rooms (they class things by rooms here, not bedrooms), probably has the main utilities (gas, electric, running water, sewage). A small garden of about 500m2. Needs some 'smartening up', lick of paint here and there, but no major structural work. That'll probably cost you about 40-50K Euro.
If you go about 20 minutes by car from Sighisoara, to a small village, the price probably halves. I looked at one place recently in that area, in a minor tourist village; 3 large rooms, a 'place for a bathroom' (i.e. you need to fit it), 2 cellar rooms and a downstairs room/bedroom, large attic (room for another 2 rooms if you wanted), 1000m2 of land, apple trees, plum trees, and a small vineyard (i.e. about 50 plants), vegetable plot, large oak barn, 3 animal pens, another lean-to barn, a traditional stone bread oven. Would need a septic tank fitted, but had electricity and water. The asking price is 25K Euro, he'd probably accept 20K. I think that's a great deal, specially if you were going to do the self-sufficiency thing. It even had a castle up a path behind the house!
A friend of mine bought a little 2-room plus bathroom house up in the mountains above a small town in the north-west of the country, a long way from anything really and virtually inaccessible in winter. I guess the house was about 50m2, large garden, wonderful views, thatched oak barn, terrace with view. He paid 3'000 Euro for it.
On the other end of the scale, a 5-bedroomed 300m2 villa in Predeal with land and views, parking, close to tourist spots, 1.5 hours from the capital, newly constructed, all utilities, some finishing to do - 350'000 Euro.
I don't know much about the Bulgarian market, but if you're in the market for an off-plan house in a tourist area, particularly geared to summer holidays and probably in an area with other foreign buyers, then I think Bulgaria is a lot cheaper. For the good deals in Romania, you really need to do the work yourself (agents do faff all here, to be honest) and that's hard without knowing the language or have contacts.
