Hannah is now 13 weeks old and gorgeous. Wrote a review, just have NO time these days. liz.xxxx
Hannah is now 13 weeks old and gorgeous. Wrote a review, just have NO time these days. liz.xxxx
Member since:04.07.2006
Reviews:8
Members who trust:1
Where shall I begin, A few years back my parents and I wanted to buy a place abroad and we spent a long time surfing the net looking for places in Spain, but everything was way out of our budget, so we had to start looking further afield, !!!BULGARIA!!!!, what a find it was too, houses from as little as £5000, we looked and looked for something in our budget but was also good enough to move straight into.
After a lot of searching we found a site called bulgarianproperties.com they had loads of cheap houses that were in quite good order, after browsing their pages we spotted the ideal place, A bungalow with 2 bedrooms a big garden and a bar in the grounds.
We contacted the agency and arranged to go and view the property, it really was lovely!! and all for just £20,000!!! BARGAIN.
We spent the 2 weeks that we were there for the viewing in
Sunny Beach or Slaenchi Briag as it's said in Bulgarian. We had the worst Hotel cheap and nasty but we didn't let it put us off (Hotel Crystal 2).
The beach was great, it even had one of those bungee chairs which throw you up in the air.....but I didn't have the courage to go on it. The bars were brilliant, loads of them did karaoke and I really enjoyed it.
Well back to the real reason of the visit............
The viewing went fine and we put a deposit down straight away!!!
After a few sleepless nights of worrying whether we had done the right thing we decided to just go with the flow.
We had to create a company to buy the house, it was a bit difficult with visas, red tape, etc but we got there, the fees were very reasonable and the agents did everything for you. Very legitimate and easy to deal with.
If you buy apartments you don't need to create a company because you aren't buying any land but for houses this is the way until the law is changed. we bought all the relevant licences for the bar, ripped the insides out and completely revamped it, the bar has been open for a year now and is doing great, just locals, and that's the way I like it.
I speak more or less fluent Bulgarian now and found it surprisingly easy to learn.
So now that Bulgaria is 100% in the EU in January the prices are going to rocket, so take my advice, if you are looking for a place in the sun to retire to, a holiday home, or just an investment for the future then now is the time to do it!!
The visa laws have been slackened too, it was only 30 days in any 6 months without a visa and its now 3 months in any 6, so its easier than ever to get the ball rolling. Visas have to be obtained from the Bulgarian embassy in London. Be warned however that you cannot make appointments, so you have to be waiting outside at 7am to be sure to be seen as it is dealt with on a first come first served basis.
Once you have been seen and handed over all your documents for your business, house and your visa application form (which can be downloaded from the Bulgarian Embassy website) you can choose whether to leave your passport with them and pay them to send it back to you or go back again when they have confirmation that you have been granted a visa, but it means a bit of a wait again. We spent over £20 in parking meters while waiting for the first visit.
With all this said, it is well worth the wait and we probably won't even need to do any of it once Bulgaria joins the EU in 2007.
The people are great, our house is in the small village of Kameno, in the south east of Bulgaria, just 25 mins from the beach. The village is full of traditional people who believe in helping out their fellow neighbours and no sooner had I arrived for my holiday in April of this year the old lady over the road came over and helped me clean the house from top to bottom as it had gained a few resident spiders since I had been away!!
Although someone is running the bar for me, it does not make enough money for my parents and I to live so we are back here in the UK for a while, but we plan to go back for good very soon.
I miss all the friends I have made in the past 2 years.
I also very much miss the weather, the seasons are very defined and March is even called "ladies month" as it is very changeable!!!! Snow normally falls between December and February, then its starts to warm up and the weather is then lovely till November, obviously with the odd fantastic thunder storm and some rain through out the year, but nothing like the UK.
If anyone is interested I can email some pictures of the house to you, so you can see what you can expect for a £20,000 investment. Since we bought it 2 years ago it has already gone up in price by about £10,000. You can't lose.
Anyone who is thinking about buying there can contact me with any questions. I will do my very best to answer them as quickly and as accurately as I can.
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Advantages: Cheap hoilday, not overcrowded, friendly people,fantastic food,beer 30p a pint,Not a 'tourist trap' Disadvantages: Street vendors harassing you, hygiene in toilets, quite a long journey, can be crowded at PEAK times
bwsr2 07.07.2001 (08.01.2002)
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Review of General: Bulgaria
Advantages: Cheaper than Western Europe, Great nightlife, English-speaking, Stunning Scenery, Friendly inhabitants Disadvantages: Pricier than other Eastern European Capitals, Very busy in summer, Adverse weather in winter
bwsr2 15.02.2004 (05.05.2004)
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