Interview for Vagabond, Bulgaria's English Magazine 

Ognyan Velinov, Executive Director, on the market, professionalism and success

Founded in 2016, "Titan Properties" is a real estate agency that values its partnership with its clients and its human capital, and invests in the latest concepts for effective marketing and workflow organization. The agency has literally tens of thousands of satisfied clients. How is such success achieved? The founder of "Titan Properties", Ognyan Velinov, tells us more.

What does the property market look like in 2023 through the eyes of "Titan Properties"?

My personal view, based on the deals concluded through the mediation of "Titan Properties" across the country in the first half of 2023, is that the real estate market in Bulgaria is stable. I expect prices to rise by 3-6% by the end of 2023.

Interest rates on loans are one of the main factors that motivate buyers. Despite the rise in interest rates, with an average mortgage rate of 2.54%, Bulgaria is among the leaders in the EU for the lowest mortgage rates. This is due to many factors, such as the high total amount of deposits in Bulgaria of over BGN 74 billion.

According to the Affordability Index, Bulgaria is among the leaders in property affordability – with the average salary, 0.6% of a square metre can be bought. In Western and Central Europe, the figure is between 0.1% and 0.4%.

Over the past 10 years, more and more Bulgarians have been migrating from the smaller to the larger cities. The NSI has difficulty spotting the trend because of the lack of registration by current and permanent address. Interest from foreigners seeking a better standard of living in Bulgaria is also growing.

As one of the largest companies operating in the rental market in the major cities, we see rental yield from the long-term and short-term renting of real estate as an important factor in the rise in sale prices. This year, average yield in Sofia is 4%, and in Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv – 4-6%, and we expect the increase to continue. Our impressions of the market show that rental prices lag by 6-9 months behind sale prices. For overnight stays, which cover the short-term rental segment, the yield is 10-20%.

Low unemployment and labour shortages guarantee strong competition in the labour market and lead to rising wages. This in turn gives real estate market participants confidence and security when making a purchase decision.

According to NASP, the cost price of 1 sq.m has increased by 27%. There can be no talk of a property price bubble when, for 2022, we are seeing price growth of 14-19% in different cities.

You started "Titan Properties" as an intermediary in finding rental properties in Sofia, but quickly expanded your business. How did you achieve this success?

Success is hard to measure. But there is one formula that, in my opinion, works flawlessly. It has three constants: consistency, positivity and hard work. These are the values we seek and build in our employees. For more than 7 years we have been developing our business in Bulgaria by building on our own know-how and investing in the development of our human resources. The rental market is among the most difficult in the industry, but for us it was the beginning of something big. After opening our first office in Sofia in 2016 and thanks to our highly qualified and dedicated management and mentoring teams, and our personal development system, quickly, but also with hard work and sleepless nights, we achieved the result that is in place today. We strive to ensure that the services we offer are carried out strictly and to a high standard, in order to build friendships and long-term business relationships with our clients. With us, every client can find support in everything related to renting and letting properties, sales and purchases, management, construction and investment projects in Bulgaria.

Your mission is to provide clients with complete and concise information. How do you achieve this in practice?

We did not choose this mission by chance – it is the key to our success. As I have already mentioned, for "Titan Properties" employees are of exceptional importance – whether they are consultants or work in our administrative units. That is why our biggest investments are in the development of our staff. With well-trained employees, our mission is easy to fulfil – "Titan Properties" has concluded over 15,000 real estate deals. How does this help us? The answer is simple – analysis. After each completed transaction, we analyse not only the results, but also the difficulties and issues that played the role of "obstacles". This helps us to always be prepared and informed, and when we are – our clients are too.

I cannot leave out the importance of each department in the company either. For every unit there is a team that is responsible for the high quality of the processes down to the smallest detail. The "Administration" department updates all new offers on a daily basis, and clients learn about them as quickly as possible thanks to the "Advertising" department. We also have a legal department, a dedicated call centre, a professional team of photographers and videographers, a mentoring and training team and marketing specialists with knowledge and experience in real estate, who make our name recognisable and provide all clients with relevant and reliable information.

In short: we succeed in putting the company’s mission into practice thanks to being surrounded by the right people, who are all moving in the same direction.

Source: https://vagabond.bg/