Our way of working today is truly different!

In the early years of his career, our founder developed his business in selling newly built properties following the standard model of mass-market agencies. Through active – and sometimes even aggressive – marketing and advertising, our extensive portfolio of newly built projects, contracted with various developers, was sold quickly on the young and enthusiastic market at the beginning of the new century. Buyers came from practically all over the world, and purchases were made in a variety of projects – from high-end properties to budget offers in the economy segment. In those first years, we regularly achieved sales of over 1,000 property units annually.

Over time, our team’s accumulated long-standing professional experience, along with numerous stressful situations and issues arising in the course of work, soon revealed that quite a number of construction developers failed to meet their contractual obligations to the buyers we had secured. Multiple reasons led to delays in project completion, unsatisfactory construction quality, substitution of originally planned and promised materials and technologies in order to cut costs and maximize developer profit, documentary irregularities, and many other discrepancies between what had been promised/agreed to “off-plan” and what was actually delivered at the end of the project.

Believing that the primary goal and function of a property sales consultant is, in fact, to protect the interests of the bona fide parties to the transaction (both buyers and developers), our founder, Nikola Stoyanov, decided to completely change the approach to selling properties in newly built projects. Selling off-plan properties is, by its nature, a specific matter where the buyer decides to invest in or purchase a property that is not yet built – most often only at the design stage and represented in drawings and visualizations. With this type of purchase, it is important to acknowledge that the property and the building are still under construction, and completion deadlines are often two or three years away.

The buyer assumes certain risks that, in theory, exist for every project until its realization. Therefore, it is essential for every buyer to carefully assess in which project and with which developer to invest. Sometimes, buyers make an unsuitable choice of project – selecting an inexperienced builder or a location with low prospects – based on emotion or simply because of a lower price. Such poorly chosen properties and projects almost always lead to stress and headaches for the buyer, and often to actual financial loss. In addition to direct losses and missed opportunities, poorly executed projects bring great disappointment to their buyers, who, in turn, damage the image of the entire new-build real estate industry – and all its participants, including developers and brokers – with their negative impressions and reviews.

The accumulation of such negative experiences among buyers, in the long term, also results in losses and missed opportunities for the developers themselves – even for those honest companies that fulfill their obligations with quality and integrity.

Most buyer-clients, in practice, do not possess the necessary years of experience, market knowledge, or in-depth understanding of processes and trends, nor do they have sufficient information and impressions about the developer, their experience and reliability, or their financial status – and, therefore, their real capacity to complete a given project. This is especially true for investments in other cities or foreign markets, where the client has neither local knowledge nor local contacts for consultation.

Sometimes, even experience, acquaintances, and contacts are not enough to verify and analyze a project and/or a construction company. Professionals know that a construction company’s reputation is earned over many years of successful work but must be maintained and reinforced constantly and daily. This implies the need to continuously and consistently monitor the status and performance of any development company whose properties we intend to invest in.

Unfortunately, this is an impossible task for most private investors in newly built properties. This is why the role of the responsible and loyal broker-consultant is so important – their professional duties include in-depth and daily work with developers of various types and scales. We believe that selecting solid construction companies, evaluating their projects, and maintaining constant monitoring of their activity, operations, and financial status is the only correct approach in marketing, sales, and attracting buyers and investors to new-build projects.

Stonehard PREMIER places these principles at the very top of its professional pedestal! The selection of developers whose projects we present to our clients is extremely strict. We believe that the right choice of projects and construction companies is directly linked to our own reputation and status as a trusted consultant for many private investors and buyers who rely on our professional expertise and recommendations when making their own decisions about investing in newly built properties.

How we select the projects and developers included in the Stonehard PREMIER portfolio:

• We prefer to work with established construction companies whose reputation has been built over many years and is based on numerous successfully completed projects.

• Solid builders offer their properties at higher prices and with smaller commissions for us as brokers – and this is entirely normal and acceptable! Every reputable builder knows the value of their quality product, and it is our duty to defend it before our buyers in an appropriate way by emphasizing the advantages and features of each such project.

• We do not work with very new and still unproven construction companies. Attractive terms they may offer – to both our clients and to us as brokers in the form of commissions – are irrelevant to us.

• All relatively new construction companies undergo thorough checks from us, focusing primarily on the experience and reputation of their founders and managers. Often, although the construction company may be new, its managers are highly experienced and bring extensive expertise from older, well-established companies where they have worked before.

• Every construction company is analyzed according to its financial reports (past and current), sources of financing (own or borrowed), relationships with banks, established partnerships with main contractors and subcontractors specializing in specific works and technologies. We often trace the professional history of the construction company, conducting interviews and seeking recommendations from trusted partners who have worked with them in the past.

• We carefully analyze every project, regardless of the developer. The analysis includes its location, design concept and strategy, efficiency in utilizing the site and natural features, functionality and amenities of the building/complex, and construction standards regarding work, technologies, and materials. We also review the reputation of the architectural firm behind the project, as well as the specialty engineers. We closely monitor project financing, gathering information on attracted capital (e.g., targeted bank loans), the developer’s own capital, installment payments from off-plan sales during construction, and other sources. If we find deficiencies in any aspect, we notify the developer and recommend corrections to improve the overall quality of the project.

• We participate in the design stage – mainly for projects we work on under exclusive or co-exclusive rights – offering valuable advice and recommendations regarding building/complex concepts, amenities, materials, design, technologies, and overall execution.

• We participate in the pricing of individual units in the project – again, mainly for exclusive and co-exclusive projects. Developers often consult us or directly entrust us with determining the prices of all units in the building/complex based on the inherent characteristics of each property and its attractiveness (e.g., orientation and views, floor level, layout, room sizes, comfort, etc.).

• We assist developers with legal support, contract drafting, payment collection, and, of course, communication between them and the buyers/investors we have secured. Very often, construction companies receive assistance from our legal, commercial, and administrative departments in carrying out various administrative and legal actions related to the purchase of properties in their projects by our clients.

• Continuous monitoring of the construction progress for each selected project is something Stonehard MARKETING consistently applies in its business practice. For all projects offered with exclusive or co-exclusive rights, we prepare regular monthly progress reports with photos, videos, and detailed textual information, which we provide to our clients.

• No commission for new-build projects – Stonehard MARKETING operates without commission, fees, or charges from the buyer on primary sales of newly built properties purchased directly from the developer (primary sale). For secondary market properties, we charge a small commission from the buyer, as well as from the seller (if the property was not purchased from us at the primary stage).

• Our lawyers review the project and construction documents – this is part of our service to clients.

• Our lawyers and administrators solve problems – if any issues or obstacles arise in connection with the construction of a property purchased by our client, we provide in-house specialists and administrators from Stonehard MARKETING to assist until the problems are completely resolved.

• Mortgage financing for the purchase – through our sister company, SUPER CREDIT, we arrange mortgage financing for our clients from multiple local banks. We assist in preparing the required documents and submitting loan applications to several banks, compare the offers received, and provide a professional recommendation to the client on which financing offer to choose.

• Support for purchasing property in any currency – we maintain close relationships with reputable online currency exchange platforms, through which almost any currency can be exchanged directly into the equivalent in the local currency required for the property purchase.

• Support for purchasing property with cryptocurrency – we can provide a working and favorable solution for any client wishing to purchase a property with cryptocurrency. This applies to all popular cryptocurrencies and almost all global destinations.

• Negotiating special prices and terms with the developer – Stonehard PREMIER consultants can negotiate special prices and conditions for almost any offered project, provided that the buyer plans to purchase multiple properties or make a larger initial payment. Depending on the buyer’s potential for a stronger entry into the project, we can engage in serious negotiations with the developer to secure special purchase terms not available in standard price lists.

• Entering a project before the official sales launch – as a long-standing and reputable player in the new-build market, we at Stonehard are often the first to learn about upcoming projects. This is largely due to our special relationships with developers, many of whom entrust us with exclusive sales mandates.

• Secondary resale without commission – for any client who purchased a property from us in a new-build project, we offer the opportunity for secondary resale without commission (applies to properties for which the seller has granted us exclusive rights). The same applies to the resale of properties purchased for flipping purposes – speculative resale for quick profit – during construction or shortly after completion.

• Furniture purchase bonus – for many projects we offer, we provide a financial bonus for purchasing furniture in the form of an actual cash amount given to our buyer along with the keys to their property. This applies only to projects explicitly labeled with the “Furniture Purchase Bonus” tag.

• After-sales service – Stonehard MARKETING has local representatives or partners in all destinations where we offer properties for sale. With the help of our local partners, connections, and contacts with reputable specialized companies or experts, we can offer our clients a full range of after-sales services. These include, upon request and for an additional fee, interior design, renovation and decoration, furnishing and equipping the purchased properties, as well as additional services such as property management, insurance, cleaning, repairs, rental management, and tenant management. Beyond property-related services, our representatives can assist with opening bank accounts in local banks, company registration, arranging permanent residency in the country where the property is purchased, and much more.

Today, with nearly 30 years of experience, we at Stonehard MARKETING believe that the number of new projects we offer is not what matters. The price of the properties is also not the key factor for a project’s success. The most important thing is the quality of the project and the reliability of the builder! Quality projects, no matter how expensive, always appreciate in value over time. This means that with a quality project, you cannot lose money – regardless of the market positioning of the project.