Selling property in Bulgaria: what should you prepare before committing to a buyer?

1. Start with title, not certificates

The first question is not “where do I obtain a tax assessment?” but what is the legal basis on which I am selling?

Prepare the instrument through which you acquired title — for example a notarial deed, contract, court judgment, award decree or another relevant acquisition document. If ownership comes through inheritance, partition or a chain of transactions, earlier documents may also be needed to trace the right and the people who must participate.

This has a practical purpose. At the notarial transfer, the notary checks the transferor's ownership and the special legal requirements for the transaction. If a title document is missing, a share is unclear or the required participants have not been identified, it is better to resolve that before promising the buyer a completion date.

2. Compare the property's legal description with current data

The next task is to establish that the documents are speaking about the same property.

Compare at least:

• the address and cadastral identifier;
• area and designated use;
• floor and number of the self-contained unit;
• any basement, attic, ideal shares or land that form part of the title;
• the title description against current cadastral data.

Where a cadastral map applies, a sketch or scheme is used in the relevant process depending on the type of property, and current cadastral legislation provides project sketches/schemes for specified change cases.

Do not solve a discrepancy by assumption. A different address, area or description may have a technical explanation, but it may also require a separate step. Do not tell the buyer that it will “be fixed at the notary” until you know what the discrepancy actually is.

3. Check registered rights and encumbrances early enough

The Bulgarian Property Register contains registered acts concerning ownership and other real rights, as well as mortgages and attachments. The Registry Agency also issues certificates reflecting registrations, annotations and cancellations concerning a specific property.

For a seller, this is not merely “something the buyer will check”. An early review may show that:

• a mortgage requires coordination with the creditor;
• an attachment or another registered matter changes the possible transaction sequence;
• the identifying data used for the search need clarification;
• the sale needs more preparation time than initially expected.

The correct search and relevant period depend on the particular title history. A quick online lookup is not a universal substitute for transaction-specific review.

4. Separate baseline documents from “if applicable” documents

There is no accurate single checklist for every seller.

Depending on the case, the basic file may need additional material, for example:

• inheritance documents and evidence of the heirs' rights;
• marriage or family-home information needed to determine who must participate;
• the relevant power of attorney and certifications if someone signs for the owner;
• creditor conditions and documents where there is a mortgage;
• additional papers where the construction or cadastral status raises a particular issue.

That is why online lists are only a starting point. You can collect every item on a generic list and still miss the one document that matters because of the way you acquired this particular property.

5. The tax assessment still matters, but old Article 264 DOPK checklists are now misleading

A municipal tax-assessment certificate remains part of preparing a Bulgarian real-estate transfer. It is also another point at which inconsistencies in declared property data may become visible.

There is, however, an important procedural update: from 3 May 2024 the transferor's written declaration under Article 264 DOPK concerning enforceable public liabilities was removed. The relevant information is obtained electronically between the authorities, including through the system available to notaries.

This does not mean public liabilities are irrelevant. It means that an old guide which still tells every seller to bring that written declaration does not describe the current process.

6. Do not wait for the notarial appointment to discover the gaps

In a well-prepared sale, documents are not collected merely “for the notary”. They help you determine what you can realistically promise the buyer.

Before a deposit or preliminary agreement, you should know:

• whether a missing document or check will require extra time;
• whether another owner, spouse, heir, attorney-in-fact, bank or other participant must be built into the process;
• whether a discrepancy needs to be resolved first;
• which documents can be prepared now and which should be refreshed closer to completion.

That allows the contractual timetable to reflect the real property file instead of an assumption that “the documents will take a few days”.

When an initial legal review is useful

If you are unsure which of these branches applies to your property, the useful first task is not necessarily contract drafting. It is to review the documents you already have, identify the gaps and sequence the next steps.

Kalchev Law Firm's Initial review and plan service is designed for that stage: a review of the main documents and circumstances, followed by a short written plan identifying what is missing, what needs clarification and the next legal steps.