Everything that happens on the American market follows the Bulgarian one. For the last few years, practice has shown exactly this. For example, at the moment in the US there is a strong interest in purchasing fully furnished homes. This, although in rarer cases, is already being observed on the Bulgarian market.
Brokers report an increase in the demand for fully furnished luxury real estate. The properties must be completely ready to move in and equipped, down to the last household item. The trend reflects how the expectation of instant gratification from owning a desired property has become the norm.
"The pandemic has accelerated the change," said Steven Weiss, a real estate broker at William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Massachusetts, quoted by the WSJ. Between battling supply chain delays, ordering expedited deliveries and making more ambitious home design decisions, many people are becoming increasingly impatient. “Buyers want to use their house right away,” Weiss said. “They don’t want to wait to sit on the couch.“
More than 50% of luxury real estate sales now come fully furnished, up from about 25% before Covid, says Weiss, who currently has a fully furnished 10,000-square-foot property listed for $13.5 million in Alford, Mass. Weiss himself bought a fully furnished residence in 2010.
These deals are more common for second homes, where convenience is paramount and sellers are less emotionally invested in the furnishings, says Melissa Jennings, a Dallas-based real estate agent with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty.
A high-end design aesthetic can broaden the pool of buyers, say Bill Hernandez and Brian Sereni, real estate agents with Douglas Elliman based in Miami Beach. This is especially true when the exterior matches the specific style of a region or is so distinctive that the contents become inseparable from the architecture.
Not always, however, does a house’s contents help sell. Agents recall a $30 million Miami home decorated by a Los Angeles firm in a Californian style that didn’t fit the Miami market.
A fully furnished sale is often a win-win situation. Sellers can benefit from a faster sale. "A furnished property typically spends 25% to 30% less time on the market than an empty one," says Hernandez. Buyers can settle in right away. Both parties avoid relocation issues.
"This type of sale is quite complicated", says Los Angeles-based Compass agent David Kramer, who emphasizes that a lawyer should be involved. Real estate law governs the house, but the furniture is personal property, which creates different tax implications, obligations and valuation issues. He says the lawyer should also ensure that the home and furniture transactions are mutually conditional to prevent disputes.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be found at imot.bg