An Ireland-based investment fund has been acquiring properties on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastline from British and Irish expat owners who purchased property there during the boom but would now rather have their money back.

The Irish fund, headed by Dylan Cullen, has raised seven million euro towards the scheme. According to Cullen himself, the concept has been quite popular because British and Irish owners were increasingly attracted by making a quick sale and returning home, the Herald Tribune reported. 

Cullen has bought 22 properties since December 15 2008. Another 15 purchases were pending.

During a recession – at a time of falling property values – investors are keen to buy properties en masse knowing that, in the long run, their value can only increase. To this end Cullen is spending between 60 000 and 70 000 euro on "good size apartments in a good development with close proximity to the beach".

Understandably, however, not all property owners are delighted at the sums offered. Some people think they have been offered a raw deal. Cullen, however, insisted that "real estate buyers willing and able to close a deal are a rare commodity in Bulgaria these days".

"You’ve got a number of people who agreed to buy property off-plan [pre-construction] and the people can’t come up with the remaining balance of funding," said Cullen, director of Appreciating Assets Ltd, as quoted by the Herald Tribune. "Not speculative or an aspirational figure, it’s a figure that is tangible," Cullen said.

Cullen's master plan was to cash in on collective rental revenue on the properties it acquires for between five and seven years. By then the market, hopefully, would be buoyant again and prices would shoot up once more.  And unlike many British and Irish property owners –  who might be pressed for cash and reluctant to wait that long for a market upturn – he was willing to bide his time and profit from rental income accrued in the interim.  "We believe that anybody selling to us is happy with the price they’re getting," Cullen said. "People are more realistic than they’re given credit for."

Source: PropertyWise.com