Rents in Varna: how much of the rent
actually stays in your pocket.
Gross yield is the number everyone quotes. Net yield is the number you receive. The difference is over a quarter, and it is exactly what decides whether the property works or only looks as if it works.
Gross yield is a promise, not a result.
Gross yield is one fraction: the annual rent divided by the purchase price of the property. Nothing has been taken out of it. It is the number in the listing, in the developer’s presentation and in the conversation at the table. And it is true, as long as you are clear that it describes the income, not the result.
Net yield is the same fraction, but after tax, the condominium fee (такса етажна собственост), maintenance, the months without a tenant and the costs of every change. It is the only one that can actually be spent. The difference between the two is not a technical detail, it is the investment itself.
The lines the listing does not show.
A sample calculation from an analysis of the Bulgarian rental market published in May 2026: a €180,000 apartment, rent of €750 a month. Gross income is €9,000 a year. Here is what is left of it.
Total costs: €2,375, or 26% of the gross rent. At this net yield the property pays for itself from rent alone in about 27.2 years.
One of these lines is ours. The agent’s fee for a new letting is half a month’s rent: €375 in this calculation, or 4.2% of the annual rent. We are agents, this is our price, and it stands here among the other costs, not at the end of the text.
The rate is 10%, but the taxable base is 90% of the rent, because the law recognises 10% as statutory expenses. In effect this makes 9% of every euro received. No social security contributions are due. Advance payments are quarterly, by 30 April, 31 July and 31 October, and the annual return is due by 30 April of the following year.
If the tenant is a company or a self-employed person, the tenant withholds and pays the tax. If the tenant is a private individual, it is the landlord’s obligation. The two cases look the same in the contract and different in the calendar, and this is exactly where the first missed deadlines appear.
One line is missing from this table, because it is not planned: the refresh between tenants. It is not a recurring cost but an event-driven one. It does not come every year, but when it comes, it comes all at once and almost always in a month when no rent comes in.
The rent is rising. So is the price.
Our two two-room apartments for rent, in the Centre and in Briz, are at €490 and €450 a month. Rents are rising, and at first glance that is good news for the landlord.
But yield is a fraction, and its denominator moves too. Prices of completed deals in the city of Varna are 13.2% above a year earlier (National Statistical Institute, НСИ, house price index, first quarter of 2026). The rent goes up, the entry price goes up with it, and the yield does not improve just because rents have jumped. It improves only if the rent outpaces the price.
Fewer deals, higher prices and more credit in them. And new construction means that after every Act 16 (Акт 16) a new batch of homes comes onto the rental market and competes with yours. The empty month is not bad luck but a function of supply.
The sea lifts the summer and eats the winter.
The seasonality of the Varna housing market is not a feeling among agents but a measured quantity: a study by the University of Economics, Varna (Икономически университет) describes it as consistently higher demand in spring and summer. During the season a unit can bring in many times the standard monthly long-term rent.
The high nightly rate comes with the platform’s commission, cleaning between guests, supplies and linen, electricity and water at actual cost, and time spent communicating every day. This is not renting, it is small-scale hospitality.
Out of season occupancy drops sharply and mainly business travel remains. The stable tenant, the student or the working person, brings in less per month, but brings it in twelve times. That is why more and more owners in Varna are moving to a mixed model.
The price of a night multiplied by thirty is not monthly income. Between the two stands occupancy, and that is exactly what is almost always left out. The calculation is made on the occupied day, but you also pay for the empty one: the mortgage, the fee, the electricity for the empty apartment and the cleaning subscription do not stop in November.
The mixed model works, but it is twice as much work, not less. Two different contracts, two different tax regimes, two different audiences and one apartment that has to be ready for both.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 now applies. Every listing for short-term accommodation must be linked to a valid registration number for the unit. The platforms check, and without such a number the listing is removed or blocked. Industry estimates before it came into force spoke of about half the holiday properties in the country being at risk.
The regulation does not in itself introduce a new tax. It makes the exchange of data between the platforms and the authorities automatic, which is a different thing and in many cases more expensive.
Separately there is registration in the Unified Tourism Information System (ЕСТИ) and a unique identification code, a monthly report of overnight stays by the 7th of the following month, tourist tax to the municipality, and categorisation. Varna is second in the country by number of short-term rental units, with about 1,300, after Sofia. So the competition is real, and the administrative burden is no longer optional.
Three price cuts in three days.
We manage a long-term rental in the very centre of Varna: a 46 square metre two-room apartment on Rayno Popovich Street, opposite the Sea Garden, with the University of Economics 175 metres away and Central Beach an eight-minute walk. By our methodology the location scores 92 points out of 100. It is strong.
The listing started at €550. It went down to €500. Today it is €490. Three adjustments within three days in August 2026, for a property that has not a single objective drawback apart from the lack of a lift on the third floor. The market does not ask how much you want, but how much gets paid.
We have also run a short-term operation in the Briz neighbourhood. It ended in July 2026 and is no longer managed by us. Not every operation has to continue, and not every ending is a failure. But the difference between the two models only really shows when you have run both.
Renting is a small business with a tax calendar, maintenance, human relationships and, from this year, a registration regime for short-term letting. A good location does not cancel a single one of these lines. It only gives fewer empty months, and that is already a lot.
Three questions that come after the calculation.
What is the difference between gross and net rental yield?
+Gross yield is the annual rent divided by the purchase price of the property. Nothing has been deducted from it. Net yield is the same calculation, but after tax, the condominium fee, maintenance, empty months and the costs of changing tenants. In a sample calculation for a €180,000 apartment with rent of €750 a month, gross yield is 5.0% and net yield 3.7%, so over a quarter of the number disappears between the two.
How much tax is paid on rental income in 2026?
+The rate is 10%, but the taxable base is 90% of the rent, because the law recognises 10% as statutory expenses. In effect this makes 9% of every euro received. No social security contributions are due on rental income. Advance tax is paid quarterly, by 30 April, 31 July and 31 October, and the annual return is filed by 30 April of the following year. If the tenant is a company or a self-employed person, the tenant withholds and pays the tax instead of the landlord.
Which pays better in Varna: short-term or long-term rental?
+It depends on the month, and that is exactly the problem. Seasonality in Varna is real: in summer a unit can bring in many times the standard monthly rent, while in winter occupancy drops sharply. Most calculations for short-term letting are made on the occupied day, not the empty one, and that is why they look better than they turn out. Since 20 May 2026 Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 has also applied, which requires every listing to carry a valid registration number for the unit, otherwise the platform takes it down.
Rent is not passive income. It is a small business.
Which property, at what price, for what tenant and under which model. This is not decided by a table on the internet and is not easily fixed once the notarial deed (нотариален акт) is signed. If you are thinking about a property to rent out in Varna, it is better that we do the numbers together before you buy.
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