The owners of this property require a quick sale and have priced it to sell. At a price that in no way reflects the value or importance of this building.

It’s one of Bulgaria’s most important buildings. A rare survivor from the days of Communism when many historic buildings were razed. A lot of money has been spent renovating and modernising to make a superb and very comfortable home.

It’s a spacious and beautiful property, with loads of character. It’s also well located in the main town at the foothills of the stunning Rila Mountains. The climate is very healthy, with a lot of sunshine all year round. A perfect holiday home or somewhere to live all the year round.

350 years of History, fully restored

This has to be one of the most interesting property offers in Europe. An amazing historic house, fully restored, in popular tourist location being sold for a song.

It's situated in the centre of an important town at the foothills of the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria and the property ticks just about all the boxes:

• Great holiday home for skiers as near Borovets ski resort
• Town centre location with rental demand
• About an hour from Sofia International airport
• Spacious and full of character house
• Detached garage
• Sold with all furnishings and fittings, worth 10,000 Euros
• Huge capital growth potential

The lord's House is in the Register of buildings of national importance. It's a property of distinction and historical importance. It was the home of the former ruler of Samokov and is a spacious house full of period features, such as amazing carved ceilings and doorways.

Property of this character and importance should be selling for many times more than the modest sum offered here, but personal circumstances dictate the owners need to sell quickly.

Styled for a Pasha!

The Ottoman style of living had a large open plan reception area on the first floor. Guests (or supplicants) would come up from the spacious entrance hall, and arrive to face the Lord sitting on a raised area at the end by lovely bay windows.

This has been made into a relaxing lounge area with TV, making an alternative viewing place to the modern living room downstairs. The rest of the large central open plan first floor is furnished with another sofa (bed) as a sitting and additional sleeping area.

There are 4 bedrooms: 1 twin Master, 1 double and 2 singles, Plus sofa bed in first floor open area. The bedrooms are accessed from the open central area, with two on each side. The Master bedroom in particular has the most impressive carved cupboard panelling and ceiling all restored with wood oil to protect from central heating drying.
Quality construction A property doesn’t stand 350 years without being of high quality. With its massive 14” wall beams and wide floorboards, it’s clear the property was built for a person of high status. With the thick walls (14" frame beams and natural infill) and traditional wooden double glazed windows, the house is remarkably quiet even though it is in the centre of town. It's also cool in the hot summer and warm in winter. Originally, the Ottomans used a large brick "bottle" shaped sauna to heat the house. This still exists and the head of the room went above first floor level, to heat the whole house. Of course, modern heating is provided by a large modern boiler in the rear utility area. Downstairs, off the large entrance hall, is a modern living reception room, with superb open fireplace.
	The property is sold with all furniture and utensils. Nothing will be removed at all. Completely ready to drop your bags in and holiday, or rent out. The property has a detached garage. It also has a full security system, linked to local security company for worry free ownership. A full range of economical and local support services for rental and maintenance are available.

A great area for holidays or to live

Samokov can be described as the gateway to the Rila mountains, which form a stunning snowy backdrop the town. It has recently received a new ski run and ski lift and ski facilities will continue to be extended as a gondola (as part of the Super Borovets Project) is currently under construction.

For any ski fan, a property in this town is not just a good investment but an ideal base from which to use the extensive ski facilities’ in the area. The Lord's house is centrally located in the town, within an easy walk of all facilities.

Samokov is not only popular due to its proximity to ski resorts but also because there are summer activities available. In summertime the weather is really warm and many people go to Lake Iskar, Bulgaria's largest inland lake, to enjoy water sports or some sunbathing.

In fact, the climate for Samokov is famously health. Even heavy smokers don’t seem to have respiratory problems! It’s just as easy to get a sun tan in mid winter as summer, as the sun is usually shining.

It’s not surprising that the area has many UK and other ex-pats living year round, enjoying a higher quality of life.

Sofia city is just an hour away by good road and you can spend the day shopping for bargains there. There is regular public transport from Samokov to Sofia, Borovets, Govedartsi and other places of note.

Bulgaria is on the up

It’s not widely appreciated that Bulgaria is Europe’s best tax haven. Even better than Cyprus, with a maximum tax rate of 10% for personal or corporate tax. No wonder the place is attracting increasing numbers of savvy investors.

Bulgaria is popular with holidaymakers from Russia, Scandinavia, Western and Eastern Europe. In fact, this diversity of appeal is one of the reasons the country is bouncing back from the recession of 2008 to 2010. In addition to the very low cost of living and low taxes, people just love the country’s sunny climate, with good summers and skiing in winter and the laid back friendly nature of its people.

Bulgarian has the lowest Budget deficit in Europe. The IMF says: "Bulgaria is benefiting from stronger exports and the economy is poised to stage a recovery". Growth is 3.5% in 2011 and set to grow even more in 2012. The country is on its way to greater prosperity and higher property prices.

Now is the best time to invest in property, before the wider market recognizes the turnaround that is happening in the Bulgarian economy and prices start to rise again. The Lord's House is presently available for a fraction of it 2008 value (circa 240,000 Euros).

See below market comment which underlines how the property market is turning up in Bulgaria now.

Easy access to the Lord’s House

The property isn’t located in a remote location. It’s at the end of an excellent road from the capital Sofia, just over an hour away. Sofia airport is on the side nearest Samokov and all major airlines like BA fly from there. Flight time is about 3 hours from London airports.

Economy airlines now also fly to the area of the Lord’s House. Ryanair fly from Stanstead to Plodiv, which is situated 121 km from Samokov and Borovets (2 hours and 10 minutes driving time). Flights cost from £20 one way.

Recent reports on Bulgaria’s strong economy

Bulgaria rebounds as top overseas property hotspot

Bulgaria is bouncing back as a top overseas property hotspot, as figures from TheMoveChannel.com reveal it has re-entered its top ten in terms of enquiries for the first time in three years.

The property website’s August edition of the ‘Top of the Props’ report showed that 3.3% of all enquiries in July 2011 were aimed at Bulgarian property.

Dan Johnson, director of the TheMoveChannel.com, believes investors are being attracted back to Bulgaria thanks to low prices brought on by global economic troubles.

"As the Euro debt crisis continues, people are looking for bargain investments and holiday homes at low costs. Bulgaria's real estate sales have been improving all year, with buyers attracted by exceptionally low prices for winter property, so it's no surprise that interest has increased."

Bulgaria seen as Tax Heaven - KPMG

Bulgaria is among the top ten countries in the world with the lowest effective rates and is preceded only by Hong Kong, tax havens like the Bahamas Islands and petro-states like Saudi Arabia, shows an analysis by KPMG consultancy.

Effective rates are derived by taking total income tax and/or social security over gross income prior to deductions. The data takes both the personal income tax rate and social security rates into account for employees earning USD 100,000 across 81 countries.

The survey shows that the majority of rate movement in 2010 comes from Europe. The highest personal income taxes in the world are still paid by citizens of the European Union (EU) where average rates went up by 0.3% over the past year.

The low flat tax initiatives of Eastern European governments fuelling the historic downward trend have stagnated. Estonia, which first created a flat tax in 1994 and intended to reduce the rate down to 18% by 2012, has since abolished its plan. In another example, Latvia increased rates, raising its flat tax from 23% in 2009 to 26% in 2010.

In Western Europe, the upward trend initiated by Ireland last year has spread as anticipated. While the top Irish rate went up by 1% in 2010, the UK dominated headlines with a 10% increase raising its top rate from 40% in 2009/10 to 50% in 2010/11 - the highest rate increase seen globally this year.

As of 1 January 2008, Bulgaria introduced a 10% flat tax applicable for all income levels,i.e., there is no non-taxable income threshold. It replaced the previous system, which combined several different tax rates - between 20 and 24%, depending on income.

Source: KMPG, 13th October, 2011