Looking for some guidelines of Sofia

Epeniche, another Bay Area guy here! Cool.

I don't live in Sofia but have visited there a few times and my fiancee is from there. I'm planning on moving there and buying an apartment in 2-3 years. I say that as I don't spend my time there as most do on a vacation completely zoned out but rather I look closely at everything and picture myself living there and what types of things would make it an easier or smoother transition.

From what I've learned so far in regards to questions you've asked:

Don't know how much a house would cost but I do know it would be a decent amount more than an apartment as there aren't many houses in Sofia unless you go to the outskirts. Of all the family and friends I have in Sofia not one lives in a house. The ones who do live in villages outside Sofia. When I move I'll be looking at apartments and my fiancee also insists that's the best and most affordable option. I've found downtown wouldn't be as nice of an option but as you get closer to Vitosha mountain there's some nice options such as the Dragalevtsi district. Another might be the Dianabad district. I highly recommend going over first and looking around and it really depends on personal tastes and there's a number of districts to choose from.

I'd personally prefer living in Sofia, as it makes transportation a lot easier. Very easy to get around on the buses/trams or even get a taxi if needed which are extremely cheap. Driving in Sofia is a mess and is nothing like the Bay Area. Nothing. It's more like Manhattan with more pot holes and a number couldn't care less about the rules of the road or the lines on the roads. Add to that there's few parking spots in Sofia and a car doesn't make much sense to me except for trips outside Sofia.

I'd also think it would be easier commuting to an international school if living within the city but I'm not sure of that. I can look more into it if you'd like. In general though, if moving to Sofia you're entire family should get comfortable using public transportation. Just my opinion. Can be a hassle at times but a great way to experience part of the culture!

People above have stated what utilities cost and they're pretty spot on. Food is relatively cheap imo unless you start eating out in fine restaurants. There it's more expensive but not near SF  expensive. I would think 150-200 leva per month for food would be fine for a family of four, including eating out a few times each month.

Billa is a big supermarket chain in Sofia and is all over the place. Was told it's German owned. If you've never been to Sofia, wait until you see how big the feta section is, lol. But many apartment complexes have a market right around the corner and people regularly stop in to buy what they're cooking for dinner or for the next day. In my experience in Sofia people shop more frequently and eat fresh as the food is fresher. Healthier too. Not anywhere near as common as it is in the states to load up on groceries for the week. food would go bad as it's organic and without preservatives. Far fewer microwavable meals and the frozen section in general is much smaller which IMO is a great thing. That's one reason America has such a problem with obesity.

The newer apartment complexes, especially heading towards Vitosha mountain have security and are more geared towards wealthy Bulgarians or internationals. The older complexes in Sofia, such as my fiancee's parents have never had any kind of security at all.

One small piece of advice is to learn some Bulgarian. Yes you can get by with just English down near Vitosha Blvd but everyday life would be much easier if you know how to order food, pay for food, hail a taxi so you don't get ripped off, buy a bus ticket, ask for directions and generally just getting around is all easier if you know some Bulgarian. I've found while many young Bulgarians do know some English, they're hesitant to come right out and speak it and a number of places the waitresses/cashiers did not understand any English at all. You'll need some Bulgarian to get by and IMO that's also the respectful thing to do. When you speak some Bulgarian people will really open up to you warmly and appreciate the effort. Learning to read the alphabet, while it appears daunting, only took me about 2 weeks, at least the printed alphabet. Cursive is tougher. But knowing how to read the print will help greatly.

Just one caution. People do eat more fresh food here than in the west and vegetables bought n the market are generally fresher and taste more like vegetables than those in the west. Supermarkets, however, are less inclined to follow the sell by dates on ood than those in the west. Always check the sell by date, you may be surprised by what you see.

Hi epeniche,

Welcome to Expat.com!

A new topic has been created with your questions on the Sofia forum.

Thank you,
All the best,
Christine
Expat.com team

I just want to chip in with a few thoughts.

1. Driving in Sofia is really not that bad. I hadn't driven in 10 years before I came here and I'd never driven on the right hand side before and I've really had no problems. Yes, there are a lot of potholes and there are a few bad drivers but it's no where near as horrific as I'd been lead to believe before I came here.

2. Public transport can be great if you only need to go to a limited range of places but it really depends on what you do. I live in the city (not right in the centre but near the park) and work just outside the ring road. There's no real way to get here by public transport.

3. There are a range of international schools here. Some much better than others. I'm possibly biased since I work for one! Do your research and find the one that's best for you.

4. There are a lot of different supermarket options. Carrefour, Billa, Leidl, HIT, Macro etc...

5. Some of the other estimates on food costs seem a bit optimistic to me! Maybe I'm just extravagant but I'm spending about 100 lv a week (not a month as someone else said) and that's just for one person. That's not for eating out, just for cooking myself. Now I'm vegetarian and do pay more to get a range of fruit and veg but I'm not eating anything particularly exotic (except for the occasional splurge on tofu). I cook everything from scratch (no processed foods) and take my lunch every day to work.

6. While of course learning Bulgarian is a good thing and I certainly wouldn't discourage it I've been completely blown away by how easy it is to get by with none whatsoever. Pretty much EVERYONE speaks some English. I know people will likely argue with this (including my Bulgarian friends here who think I'm exaggerating) but I am constantly amazed by the fact that everyone, from the lowly paid cashiers in the supermarkets, the guy whose job it is to open the parking lot near my building, random people on the street can all speak English. Maybe I'm just super non threatening but people have been super helpful about speaking it to me.

And in Sofia anyway it is so well set up. English translations on lots of things. A taxi company you can call and ask to speak English and they'll transfer you to an English speaking operator. You tell them where you are and where you want to go and they tell the taxi driver for you and then sms you the taxi number (so you don't need to try and explain anything to the driver). This place is fantastic.

Yesterday I bought roadside assistance online (using google translate). The company called me (and spoke English from the start) and asked if I was sure I'd understood all the terms and conditions. I explained about the google translate thing and they offered to email me an English version of them. So they did.

Try getting service like that in Australia (or probably the US/UK)

Ok this got long! I've only been here 4 months but I'm pretty enthusiastic about it so far. If you've got any other questions feel free to send me a message.

Hi kaminoge,

Glad you are enjoying your time in Sofia.
A good reply that, though I must concur with the others on food prices.
On another thread I did an alternative cost of living calculation, from a tourist perspective, based on a 4 week holiday in Varna (which i am told is similarly priced to Sofia).
Did all the usual things during the day, mainly on the beach & eating small snacks, coffee etc.
Stayed in an apartment, but decided to eat out in restaurants every single night, and drank copius amounts of alcohol most nights.
Total 4 week bill (not incl. accommodation) = £500 (1165 lev).
Back again next summer

Thanks all for your kind help. I can see that the point of views are similar related to food, slightly different on the driving vs public transport but all makes total sense to me. I lived in Mexico, India and in the US so Bulgaria will be our 4 adventure and we are looking forward to it.

Hi, epeniche,

I used to live in Santa Clara!

I moved back to Bulgaria a couple of years ago so here are my answers to your questions:

Monthly Cost of rental a house? (above 1500 sqft) - I recommend renting an apartment as it would be much more convenient than renting a house in the outskirts of this city (transportation and cost for utilities like heating would be less). The rental cost for a big and well furnished apartment in the below neigborhoods would probably be around 800-1000 USD

Preferred location for living in the city or outside, best neighborhoods? I recommend 'Strelbishte', 'Lozenets' or 'Ivan Vazov'. They are all close to South park which is great for kids and walks. Also you have all kinds of stores within walking distance like grocery stores, kids stores, pharmacies, farm produce stores that sell products like organic milk, yogurt, cheese and also meat products. Close by is also a farm market with bakery, fresh vegetables and great meat store.

International schools ?
There are a bunch of English speaking private schools and kindergartens.

Is is practical to drive or is better to use public transportation ?
This depends on your work location. The subway system is pretty great and clean but not all the well developed yet, so the subway reaches only a few points in the city. That is the only form of public transportation I would recommend. If this won't be convenient for you, I'd say get a car.

Any latest information of cost of utilities expenses and services in Sofia(Electricity, Gas, Water, Internet, Telephone, Mobile, gardening, cleaning, Trash recolection, GYM.

The electricity bill would depend on the heating type you use, but roughly around 120 USD
Hot water - around 60 USD
Internet + cable you can get for 20 USD
Cell phone around 50 USD
Gardening you probably would not need
Cleaning - I have a cleaning lady that comes once a week and pay her $35
Trash fees are a responsibility of the property owner not the renter
Gym - single entry about $7, membership card probably around $70

Average cost of groseries for 4 people per month ? (Milk, Cheese, Bread, Chicken, Meat, Fish, Pastas)

We are a family of three and I spend around 400 USD per month.

What supermarkets chains are in SOfia ? we read about Carrefour only.

We don't have stores like Safeway and Albertson's but we have many other big grocery stores that are popular in Europe. In any case, there's plenty to choose from but I'd rather do my shopping in the neighborhood organic stores.

Insurance of vehicles ?

Yes, you have the option of liability insurance (here it is called Civil insurance which is obligatory) or full coverage which I recommend for driving in the big city. I pay about $250 per quarter for my 2007 VW Jetta.

What about security, I havent been able to found anything related to security in general in Sofia ?
The nice neighborhoods I mentioned are quite safe. Plus, the apartment buildings usually have security guards. All in all, I'd say Sofia is a safe place, at least no crazy people going around with guns

I hope I was useful. Please, let me know if you would need any help.

Many thanks for the detail information. It has been really useful and I think that once we get there to start the house hunting will be more useful , do  you know any realstate company or if there is any realstate website like Zillow that I can use to search my home  ?

Thanks for your kind help

Hi, yes, you can do some search online and make inquiries prior to your arrival. Here are some web sites that can help:

luximoti.com/rentals - this one is available in English and has more upscale properties for rent and sale

Here's one decently priced property as an example:
luximoti.com/Bulgaria/Sofia/Sofia/Strelbishte/2-bedroom_apartments/Property7091_2-bedroom

Another site you may use but is only available in Bulgarian as far as I can see:
imot.bg

But I am wondering if your company would take care of that, I've always thought companies do that when their employees relocate for business purposes.

In any case, I, of all people know how hard it is to move to a foreign country, so please don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions or need any help.