Two major research studies have found that almost half of the UK population are now so disillusioned with their quality of life that they are considering emigration as a lifestyle choice - and property sellers across Bulgaria are upping the ante to attract them ...
According to research from insurance company Aviva, published earlier this year, 54% of the people aged 18 to 45 that they surveyed are considering a move overseas, with 46% definitely planning to leave the UK to live abroad and making their move permanent. And in a parallel poll accompanying the latest uSwitch Quality of Life Index, the same 46% figure is also revealed as the proportion of those who had considered emigrating.
Both of these studies identified that the UK's position in terms of quality of life measured against a fixed set of criteria, such as: cost of living, working culture, spending on health and education, holidays, retirement and fuel costs is continuing to decline. In fact, the uSwitch Index shows that the UK is now considered the worst place to live in Europe.
The nations that are most highly favoured by Brits considering emigration are: Australia for a better work-life balance, America for employment and business opportunities and, in Europe, Spain for the weather and life expectancy and France for lifestyle, healthcare, early retirement and holidays.
So where does that leave Bulgaria? Well, firstly there is the wealth of well established positives, including: the low cost of living, the scenery, the climate, the beaches, the skiing, the culture, the history and, of course, the people themselves, all of which contribute to Bulgaria's ever-rising tourist numbers. Secondly, after a couple of years of relatively quiet activity following the global recession, Bulgaria's economy is strong, investment in infrastructure continues to grow year-on-year, and, in its monthly analysis of buyers' web search activity, the Move Channel has identified that Bulgaria is now firmly back in the top-ten preferred property investment destinations. Thirdly, market experts are now identifying strong indicators of steady and sustainable growth, with leading real estate agents consistently reporting rising sales volumes since the beginning of the year. Fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, we must also consider the highly attractive cost of properties - currently the lowest in Europe - which is consistently one of the main reasons that Brits continue to choose Bulgaria.
But despite all of this, Bulgaria's property sellers are clearly not prepared to rely only upon the price advantage that they have over other European destinations. Instead, they are now bringing forward a raft of value added incentives to make the purchase of a property in Bulgaria even more attractive.
Within its primary role of seeking out the most attractive property offers available in Bulgaria,
Property Partners BG has recently discovered details of a number of 'Buy One Property - Get Another Free' offers now on the market, which information portal
Bulgaria Gateway has described as ".. an interesting and innovative marketing strategy with the potential to create a new niche sector in the market."
And hot off the press today comes news of yet another added value offer. In this case, the deal is for the purchase of a '
Renovated & Furnished Guesthouse plus Property Portfolio', which, in a nutshell, involves buying the Guesthouse for what already seems like a highly attractive price - and you will also become the owner of three additional properties at no extra cost.
Asked to comment on these new offers, David Livingstone, CEO of MovetoBG.com, said "This seems to be setting in as a definite trend which may well be a reflection of the growing levels of confidence that both buyers and sellers are now demonstrating about property in Bulgaria."
"It's all about added value .." he continued, ".. and it doesn't get much more valuable than adding additional properties for free - which is why we expect to see much more of this type of strategy over the coming months."
