Situation and trends for the Bulgarian real estate market in 2008 - part 2

Taking a look at the construction materials, used in the building of these dwellings, we should gladly notice the increasing popularity of the German-made 15 or 30 cm red bricks, that allow mechanized application of gypsum plaster; 150 or 200 cement quality class; good exterior 4 or 5 cm polyurethane façade thermal insulation boards; ETALBOND-type aluminum façade panels, natural stone facing slabs of local or European origin; multi-chamber PVC window framing, double glazed window with tinted glass in a range of colours; polished aluminum tubing and connections or stainless steel tubes for outdoor and indoor railings and outdoor railings for terraces and balconies; high quality and Bulgarian and Spanish tiles and granitogres, sanitary ware and mixer taps, both regular ad designer series; high quality interior and exterior doors with natural facing; high class laminate parquet; natural plank wood flooring or classic oak patterned parquet; interior paint finishes – mainly durable innocuous water-based paints; water supply and sewerage mains of polypropylene pipes and connections; autonomous electric- and water-meters ; contemporary electric units with safety fuses and switches .
Looking at the new construction private homes in Bulgaria, it may be remarked that this kind of building is mostly concentrated in new complexes of closed type, located either within close distance to a populated area, within the boundaries of small towns or villages, near the sea or the beach, as well as in the villa areas of district centres such as the cities of Varna and Burgas.
In terms of construction, the houses are monolithic, brick-built, two-storey buildings: as a rule, there are a spacious living room with a kitchen and some auxiliary rooms on the first floor and bedrooms on the second. Oftentimes, the second floor could be described as attic because of the type of the roof. The roof itself is either classic type of wooden beams with hydro insulation, ceramic or bitumen tiles, or a contemporary “flat” type with thermal and hydro insulation and finishing exterior bituminous membrane. Exterior 4-5 cm façade thermal insulation using a silicate plaster and paint. It is common to see houses with a stone base up to the level of the basement premises and garages. Furthermore, if houses are built in the style of the Bulgarian national revival, their particular features are the oriel and the partial or complete wooden planking of the second and third floors.
Frequently the roof of these houses is deliberately made of old Turkish-style tiles and the windows are double-glazed of stained glass or with window grating, in order to thereby invariably stick to the intended ancient style of the buildings. A quite common feature are also the working fireplaces in both modern and traditional natural stone style. The interior walls and ceilings are mostly plasterboard finished with mineral wool quilt provided for insulation. More often in the practice the walls and ceilings are finished with smooth gypsum joint-filling and high quality paint or with decorative plaster finish. The sanitary premises are fully finished and fitted, including room tiling, lighting, an electric water-heating boiler, equipped with sanitary ware, mixer taps, showers and shower cabins. As the newest standard in construction we can define the use of multi-chamber PVC window frames available in various finishes imitating wood or simply in white colour; a regular double glazing or stained glass double glazing in a few base colours; also the installation of high quality interior and exterior doors with natural facing, modern locks and hardware; the floorings are made of high class laminate parquet; natural plank wood flooring or classic oak patterned parquet; the water supply and sewerage mains is made of polypropylene pipes and connections, autonomous electric- and water-meters ; contemporary electric units with safety fuses and switches.
The equipment of the home with the most necessary communications, such as telephone, internet and television is a must. The installation of electric plugs, switches and lights on the walls and the ceilings is also obligatory. Often the properties allow having an original and impressive landscaping: a lawn and decorative trees, free-growing flower compositions, decorative blooming bushes etc.
The contemporary market and the services of specialized companies provide the opportunity of building indoor or outdoor swimming pools and non-complicated children’s water rides. As far as the market nowadays offers a rich variety of price options, it is possible to install such kind of a water system with comparatively small budget. The fences are usually erected on the base of reinforced-concrete rings – the fundament of slag blocks, concrete blocks; they can be solid or made of spans with wooden or concrete elements with openings. Tiling elements covering the top of the fence could also be seen; often the entrance gate is massive, made of wood or iron, with modern damper mechanisms to facilitate opening and closing of the wings