Buy in Bulgaria where you holiday: let it 11 months, live in it 1 month, and what it really earns

In brief. Bulgaria is not a twelve-month resort: the sea coast earns in about four summer months and Bansko in about four winter months. On our illustrative assumptions a 50 m² flat in Varna bought for about €78,000 can net about 4.0% a year before income tax at home if you let it all year, 3.7% if you take May, October or January for yourself, and 3.3% if you take July. A Sunny Beach studio nets about 2.7% and loses nothing if you take January, because no one rents it then. All figures are our own arithmetic as of November 2026, not market data.

Buying where you holiday and letting the flat while you are away is a sensible idea, and Bulgaria is one of the cheapest places in Europe to try it. This article tests it honestly on three example flats: a year-round city flat in Varna, a seasonal studio in Sunny Beach and a ski flat in Bansko. It also shows what the "eleven months let, one month yours" rule costs, which month to choose and which rules a home you also use yourself has to respect. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. For the method behind the numbers see how to choose your month and calculate break-even, and for the overall idea the guide to buying where you vacation.

The honest premise: Bulgaria is not a twelve-month resort

The "eleven months let, one month yours" model assumes guests for most of the year. Bulgaria gives you that only in the cities. On the Black Sea the guests come from June to September and a little in May and October; in Bansko they come from mid-December to mid-April. Outside those windows a seaside apartment is empty or let at a winter discount, and a ski apartment is empty in autumn. So the realistic Bulgarian version of the model is a mix: short lets in the season, a lower-priced furnished lease or nothing outside it, and an owner month placed where it costs least. Our article on rental yield and investment in Bulgaria says the same: in resorts the months you can let are few, and prices rose faster than rents in 2023 to 2025.

How seasonal Bulgaria is

No source we found gives a full month-by-month table for these towns, and the trackers disagree. For Varna, Airbtics reports 60% average occupancy and a €65 average daily rate (November 2024 to October 2025) and names August as the strongest month, AirDNA shows 59% annual occupancy, AirROI shows $87 and 34.9%, and BNBCalc 25%. For Sunny Beach, AirROI reports 45.2% occupancy and a $85 daily rate, with June to August as the peak (a peak month near 62.6% occupancy and a rate up to $99) and January to March the softest. For Bansko, a broker dataset quoted in our yield article puts the zone next to the gondola at about 35% occupancy and a rate near $97 a night; sources give the ski season as mid-December to mid-April, one says to 15 May.

We treat these as ranges, not facts, and use the cautious end. Tracker averages include large, well-run listings; a small flat you let from abroad will usually do worse.

Three example flats

All three use the same method. We split the year into months, give each a guest occupancy and a nightly rate, and subtract a manager and cleaning at 25% of short-let revenue, fixed yearly costs and income tax at 10% of the rent (the non-resident reading, with no cost deduction). Results are before any mortgage and before tax at home.

Flat 1, Varna, one bedroom, about 50 m², about €78,000 (the citywide average of about €1,552 per m² from our budget article, rounded). Season June to September: 50% occupancy at €55 a night, which is €825 a month. May and October: 30% at €40, which is €360 a month. November to April: a six-month furnished lease at €240 a month, our assumption and below the 5% long-let yield in our yield article because a furnished seasonal lease is cheaper than a year-round one. Fixed costs about €700 a year (building charge €300, property tax about €100, utilities and insurance about €300). - Rent over twelve months: €5,460, which is 7.0% gross. - Manager and cleaning: about €1,120. Income tax at 10%: €546. Fixed costs: €700. - Net: about €3,094, which is 4.0% of the price.

Flat 2, Sunny Beach or Ravda, studio, 36 m², €65,000 (a listing quoted in our budget article). June to September: 50% at €55, which is €825 a month. May and October: 25% at €38, which is €285 a month. November to April: no income; we assume the flat is empty. Fixed costs about €762 a year, with a building charge of €12 per m² (the Sunny View Central example in our yield article), about €80 property tax and about €250 utilities. - Rent over twelve months: €3,870, which is 6.0% gross. - Net: about €1,754, which is 2.7%. The empty winter and the fixed costs eat most of the gross yield.

Flat 3, Bansko, two rooms, 55 m², about €60,500 (about €1,100 per m², inside the €900 to €1,300 range in our yield article). December to March: 35% at €90 a night, which is €945 a month. June to August: 20% at €55, which is €330 a month, our guess for hiking guests. April, May and September to November: empty. Fixed costs about €900 a year (building fee €500, property tax about €100, utilities about €300). - Rent over twelve months: €4,770, which is 7.9% gross. - Net: about €2,200, which is 3.6%.

The model: eleven months against twelve

Now take one month for yourself. The cost is the revenue you lose, less the manager's cut and the tax you no longer pay. - Varna. Take July: net falls to about €2,558, which is 3.3%, a loss of about €536 a year. Take May or October: about €2,860, 3.7%, a loss of about €234. Take January, when the flat is on a winter lease: about €2,897, 3.7%, a loss of about €197 (we assume the lease is five months instead of six). - Sunny Beach. Take July or September: net about €1,217, which is 1.9%, a loss of about €536. Take October: about €1,568, 2.4%, a loss of about €185. Take January: no loss at all, net stays about €1,754, because nothing was coming in. - Bansko. Take January or February: net about €1,586, which is 2.6%, a loss of about €614. Take July: about €1,986, 3.3%, a loss of about €214. Take October: no loss, net stays about €2,200.

Two lessons. First, the price of your month depends far more on the month than on the model: in Varna the dearest month costs about two and a half times the cheapest. Second, in the two resorts the cheapest month is the one in which the resort is closed, which is probably not the month you wanted to spend there. The honest trade-off in Bulgaria is between a free month you may not enjoy and a paid month you will.

Which month to take

• Varna: May, early June or late September to October, when the sea is warm and the city is quieter, cost about €234 against about €536 in July. You can also take a winter month if you like the city off-season.
• Sunny Beach and Ravda: a weak summer month would mean September, which on our numbers costs as much as July; the cheap choices are October, May or the empty winter, which means a quiet resort.
• Bansko: October to November is free; July and August are cheap, and the ski season is the expensive one.
• If the summer is the whole point, price it: in the Varna and Sunny Beach examples July costs about €300 to €350 a year more than a shoulder month, roughly a tenth of a year's net income in Varna.

Registration: what it means for a home you also use

A home you let for short stays has to be registered, and this applies to the accommodation, not the nationality of the owner. Under the Tourism Act, guest houses (Class B) must be categorised and guest rooms and apartments (Class C) registered, with an application to the mayor of the municipality. Since 20 May 2026 EU Regulation 2024/1028 requires the registration number in every Airbnb or Booking.com listing, and listings without one can be removed. Read the details in short-term rental rules in Bulgaria. A municipal tourist tax of roughly €0.10 to €1.50 a night applies, set locally. We found no rule on how the days you use the flat yourself are treated for registration, so ask the municipality.

Two buying checks matter more than the yield table. In a new resort complex ask whether the units are already categorised or registered, whether the building has been commissioned (Act 16) and whether the management company has the right to let units. And read the building's own rules: some complexes restrict letting or require the in-house rental pool. The wider rules are in our article on licences, condo rules and insurance. An apartment that cannot be registered cannot legally be let short term.

Tax in brief

• Rent: sources report a 10% flat tax; Bulgarian tax residents get an automatic 10% allowance, which makes about 9% of the gross rent. Non-residents are reported to pay 10% withheld at source with no deduction for costs. We used the second reading.
• Your own month: we found no Bulgarian rule on how personal-use days affect deductions or tax; ask an accountant for a written calculation. The general principle is in taxes on personal-use days and rental income.
• Home country: a treaty may relieve double tax, but the method depends on the treaty and your residence.
• Sale: a gain is taxed at a flat 10%, and a holding-period exemption may bring it to zero for a resident; for non-residents sources differ. See capital gains tax in Bulgaria.

What buying costs

Closing costs excluding the agent are about 5 to 6%, up to 5 to 10% in some guides. The parts are the municipal acquisition tax, which each council sets between 0.1% and 3% (one 2026 source gives 3% for Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna), the notary (we assume about 0.5% to 1%), a Property Register fee of 0.1%, a lawyer at about €500 to €1,500 and an agent at roughly 2% to 3.6%. On a €78,000 flat in Varna at 3% that is about €2,340 of tax plus a few hundred in fees. New builds can carry 20% VAT, so ask whether the advertised price includes it. Non-EU buyers cannot hold land in their own name, only apartments and buildings. Prices, costs and a worked example are in what you can buy in Bulgaria for €40,000 to €200,000 and property prices and buying costs.

Managing it from abroad

You will not be in Bulgaria for eleven months, so someone else will. Ask for the manager's fee (we use 25% of short-let revenue including cleaning), whether your owner month can be blocked in the calendar and in the contract, and who holds the keys. In a resort complex the management company often is the manager; read what it can do with your calendar. See managing a holiday home abroad.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying on the strength of a gross yield table and forgetting the winter, when the flat is empty and the service charge is still due.
• Taking the peak month for yourself without pricing it.
• Assuming the flat can be let before checking registration and the building's rules.
• Counting on a rental pool without reading its terms and the owner-use limits.
• Taking tracker averages as a forecast: they differ by a factor of two for the same city.
• Forgetting that a new-build price may exclude 20% VAT.

Checklist before you buy

• Is the unit registered or can it be registered, and does the building allow letting?
• What are the service charge and the reserve fund, in euro per m² and per year?
• Who manages it, at what fee, and can your month be blocked in writing?
• What is the real season: ask for two years of booking records.
• Which month will you take, and what does it cost on the numbers above?
• What are the local tax and the home-country tax on the rent?
• Is the price with or without VAT, and who owns the land under the building?

FAQ

Can I really let a Bulgarian flat for eleven months? On the coast and in Bansko only if you accept a long, quiet low season or a winter lease at a discount; in Varna, Burgas and Sofia a year-round lease is realistic.

Which month is cheapest to take? On our numbers it is the month with no bookings: January on the coast, October in Bansko.

Do I need to register the flat? Yes, if it is let to tourists, and since 20 May 2026 the number must appear in the listing.

Is the yield I see in brochures achievable? Rarely: the same city can show occupancy anywhere between 25% and 60% depending on the tracker.

Is this tax or legal advice? No: get a written calculation from a Bulgarian accountant before buying.