Irish Investment Fund Buys Bulgarian Sea Property from Desperate Owners

Appreciating Assets Ltd., an Irish based investment fund, is buying up properties on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, primarily targeting UK and Irish owners who bought during the boom years and are now desperate to sell, the International Herald Tribune reported late Friday.

"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 the company director Dylan Cullen.

Cullen's group has raised €7 million for its Bulgaria-focused fund (about million), he says. And so far there has been no shortage of interested sellers. Since mid-December the group has completed on 22 purchases and another 15 are pending, Cullen says.

Typically they are paying in the EUR 60,000 to EUR 70,000 range for "good size apartments in a good development with close proximity to the beach."

Not everyone is thrilled when the company announces a price, he acknowledges. But real buyers willing and able to close a deal are a rare commodity in Bulgaria these days.

The fund's strategy is to collect rental revenue on the properties for five to seven years, banking on the continued growth of the Black Sea's tourism business, a plan many owners may not have the patience or resources to pursue.

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