Imagine being brought 50 years back in time into one of those multi-room apartments from communist Bulgaria. Everything is there: the entrance hall, the little toilet, apart from the very little bathroom, the two bedrooms, the communal room, and the compact kitchen with its closet. Actually, this is a true historical place that looks like it has been pulled straight from Balkan grandparents’ memories. It is now put out for sale in the hands of the real estate agent and co-founder of Blagoevgrad Properties, Desislava Katsarska.
Located in the Wide Center of Blagoevgrad, this specific apartment is frozen in time and left on the arbitrariness of fate for years. Desislava is currently trying to sell it to a young family that plans to renovate it. They had a tour that took place on December 7, 2023.
Desislava welcomed the family into the panel block where the flat is situated. Then she opened the door of the apartment and let the family in.
She didn’t need to show any of the rooms, neither to provide any explanation of the origin of the suite nor to give information about the owner, since that was the family’s second visit to the apartment. Desislava had established trust between her and the buyers.
A lot of prominent aspects of this place distinguish it from this decade. There is a conveniently located large oil heating stove in the communal room, like those manufactured by Balkan Factory in the 1960s. A massive brown bookshelf is covering the wall unit, and an old tapestry, depicting African people and elephants in a jungle, is hanging on the wall above the red sofa, which is almost touching the stove.
In this spacious but full of antique furniture living room, Desislava had a small talk with one of the family members, discussing the price of the apartment.
As she says, “the negotiation of terms between buyer and seller” is the hardest part of her job.
“The price is always too high for the buyer and always too low for the seller.”
In the case of the multi-room flat, the situation was no different. Despite the old, dusty kitchen, supplied with a broken washing machine, and the creaking floors, the owner still doesn’t want to lower the price.
Desislava patiently waited while the buyers were measuring all the window frames because they, like everything else, need to be replaced.
Despite everything, the flat has a charm. There are paintings and religious icons in every single room, which add color to the brown landscape of the communist suite.
At the end of the tour, Desislava showed the garage and left the family to make their decision whether to take the offer or not.
“My favorite part of the job is perhaps finding the right property for the right person, but most of all, the research.”
In 2006, Desislava and her seasoned husband founded the firm, driven by their passion for the individuality of each home. Her job involves comprehensive research of the available properties in Blagoevgrad, communication with both sellers and buyers of a property, and negotiating the terms and conditions of the bargain.
Desislava says that she loves her job and has never thought of giving up the real estate business.
This dynamic industry helped Desislava hone a quality she developed in her earlier profession as a kindergarten teacher: patience. The capacity to have an optimistic and nonjudgmental outlook on all people is another benefit she reaps from her work.
However, she has faced many challenges over the years.
“The job of a broker means nothing to many people. For many people, we do nothing useful but get money,” says Desislava.
She goes with customers to various places, like banks and attorneys, and even helps them get paperwork done, even though it’s not formally part of her job.
“These are small things. After you have gone through such a path, people trust you and remain satisfied. They realize you’ve done a lot of work.”
She asserts that in order for the public to have faith in real estate agents, Bulgaria needs legislation that establishes qualifications for the profession.
“I’m all for licensing requirements for real estate agents, just as travel agencies and insurers have a license. This way, the state knows you, obliges you to take a course on the relevant thing, and compels you to have an office,” she said.
This legislation, in her opinion, would eliminate the street brokers who give real estate agencies a bad name.
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Teodora Ruseva is a student at the American university in Bulgaria who majors in Journalism and Mass Communication and Business Administration. She consolidated her ambition to have a job in the future involving direct human interaction, after closely observing and interviewing a real estate agent.
