New members of the Bulgaria forum, introduce yourselves here - 2020

Hi, we are looking to buy a Bulgarian property this year and plan to move over in 2021.

We currently have a small holding and live in a very rural area and are hoping for the same in Bulgaria.

Our love of Bulgaria started in 2010 and we have had loads of happy holidays.

Lets introduce myself!
I am Anton at the moment i live in a small place called Nieuwe Tonge in the Netherlands. I work at one off the biggest College in the Netherlands called Albeda College. I want to start more serious to explore the possibility to live in Bulgaria /Hungaria after my pension.  I have time to orientate myself beause my pension is only in  69 months from now. My hobby are my dogs and making Wodka or other strong alcohol.
First for now I want to get it clear where in Bulgaria i want to live after pension age. I think about to buy a small appartment near sea and a house in the mountains (maybe near some like/river) I think it will ben nice iff there live a few Dutch / English or Russian  speaking persons. Iff there i can get tips how to start good i would like to get them.

Greetings from The Netherlands, Anton Slinkman

It is a wise choice, however Hungary is also beautiful, but not  near as much as Bulgaria. 

There are many popular places near the Black Sea, some are comfortable and some are expensive.

There are beautiful opportunities near Bansko and Borovets.    We first had a penthouse within 100 meters of the Black Sea in Sunny Beach.   We now keep it as a rental as the expenses in Sunny Beach are high and getting higher.   Moving a few miles away to Ravda or St Vlas can be a right choice.   You might want to be south of Varna or even Sunny Beach such as south of Burgas and south of Sozopol.  The weather is much better the further south you are.

Burgas offers the best of both-  beach and prices- but far from the mountains--four hours.

Sofia is expensive however bargains can be found if you search.   If you are willing to be an hour's drive from Sofia you can enjoy either of the two major ski areas.   

My mother in Law is from Plovdiv.  Again a great choice.  Closer to the sea and close to Pamporovo Ski resort.  Great deals on houses with some land if you will be 10 km or so out of any of the ski areas. 


Now the warnings-----Beware of ownership fraud--only purchase with the advice of a qualified attorney and registered with a Notary.  Living in small villages is quaint, however you will experience both friendliness and standoffishness.   My best recommendation is to investigate before you invest.   Visit several places and build your network on this forum. 

I urge you to not try to buy a fixer upper as many older homes have insurmountable challenges and you can be taken to the cleaners by local laborers.   Many brokers are honest but many are not so be sure to interact directly with the seller if possible. 

Having said all of this, I choose Bulgaria over any other place in the world to make my retirement home.

I currently reside in Cape Town South Africa and am considering retiring to Bulgaria in a couple of years time and would like to correspond with South Africans living in Bulgaria to get a better understanding of living there as an ex South African


All advice and help would be greatly appreciated

Thanx Jonavann,

for the clear advices. At the moment i think i will plan 3 weeks in summer tot go in the direction of Plovdiv, i don't know why but it has same strange attraction to me. For small Sea appartement i think it will be sunny beach, it is nice there in summer. But for sure before i buy i also want to look in Burgass. 
And i agree that Bulgaria is a nice place to be after pension untill now i only think that to find a good house with somewhere 2000 meter ground is not the most easy to find from internet so i have go look first and to think about how to do it save.

Greetings Anton

Hi all,
My name is Roberto, I am a 29 years old Italian guy.
I have a "passion" for betting. Even though I am aware this matter is not well seen and accepted from most of the people, it is probably the main reason I am interested in moving to Bulgaria.
I hope I will be able to get lots of information from the forum and maybe one day share my experiences.

R

Hello Anton,

Here's my modest input to your request for information.
I can see two main points in it they tend to circle around your dogs and production of vodka.  This sounds great, especially if you live near a forest or/and have a big yard.
In addition, production of home made spirits is in the traditions of the population of Bulgaria probably for more than 3000 years. Every small village has a special house which is used only for brewing rakia - a strong alcoholic drink, usually between 40 and 55 deg. of alcohol. Wine is also made locally.

As for selecting the right place, if for the seaside, I would suggest smaller towns like Pomorie, or Kiten, but I personally would recommend Pomorie due to the availability of mineral water springs there.

Same actually applies for the inland selection  of right place. Though I personally like very much Plovdiv and have a flat there, in your case i would recommend some place near Plovdiv and near the mountains. This could be either Hissaria or Karlovo or a small village near by, and this side is close to the Stara Planina mountain, or if looking at the other side it could be either Bratzigovo or Peshtera, which are close to the Rhodopi mountains.
If you do not insist to be close to Plovdiv, then you can take a look at Kazanlak, near Stara Zagora, again close to the mountain. And if looking at Sofia, then you can check Sapareva Banja or eve Kiustendil.

I forgot to mention that both Hissaria, Sapareva Banja and Bratzigovo have mineral water springs too. If searching for a river, then probably any city close to Maritza would do, but also some of the near mountain towns.

The advantage of living in a smaller place near the mountain would be very well appreciated by your dogs. On the other side, if this is a city, then brewing alcohol would not be permitted, so again things go to a smaller place.

Of course you would probably want to consider a number of other factors such as existence of a nearby international airport (Sofia, Plovdiv, Bourgas and Varna), proximity of a highway, availability and quality of medical service, expat communities etc.

Hope this helps a bit and gives a slightly different perspective to your search.

Dear Kristiann, yes your information helps, it give also good mood if i thing about Rakia. To be honest i also know Rakia from more then 60% with added honey, it really hit me when i drunk it. I already decided that i prefer more not to be in an big city but more like small mountain place because i like the people in small places more. Bratzigovo looks on pictures nice but untill now i didn't find much information that can be a good sign bedause i don't need to live with to much expats (a few is verry nice of course). My daughters tell that the big stones and forrest on the pictures looks good.

Thanks an greetings Anton

Hello, I am new to this group, but not new  to BG. Nice to meet you all! 😊😜

im from Bulgaria  if i can help you with something im here

Hi everyone!  I'm Cheryl, and I'm Australian.  My husband, Olivier, is French.  We've just spent more than 10 years living in Moscow, Russia, and are now looking for a more quiet lifestyle.  We're hoping that we'll be able to find something in Bulgaria, a house to live in and a new life to make together.
I've got a million questions already, although we'll probably only get to Bulgaria early 2021, due to the current state of the world.  I'm looking forward to reading other people's experiences here, and drawing on your knowledge to help us get to our dream. :-)

Hello everyone and welcome aboard !

@Panlumix10 : Nice to meet you too What are your projects in Bulgaria ? It will be nice to hear from you again

@cheryl2009 : G'day Cheryl and Bonjour Olivier
if you have millions of questions, please ask them by creating a new topic on the Bulgaria forum, I'm sure ou community will be glad to answer them!

I hope everyone here is safe and sound

Have a great day

Regards.

Loïc

Merci Loïc!  Looking forward to learning as much as we can about Bulgaria and the possibility of living there!  So excited about it!      Going to read the forum first, then I'll ask some questions.  We're in good health, hope everyone is also healthy and taking care of themselves.   

No problem Cheryl

You can also have a look to our Living in Bulgaria Guide ! It has lots and lots of information

Regards

Loïc

Thank you! 

Welcome to Bulgaria forum Cheryl!
There's a lot of information here - you can either dig in it and search the right topic for you or directly ask your questions. Or both

Regards,

Kristiann

Thanks Kristiann, looking forward to getting enough information together to be able to go to Bulgaria when travelling is a little easier! 

Hello everyone
LadyThurston from Suffolk in England calling😆
I,m a not so young single lady with a passionate interest in Bulgaria, I'm hoping when the covid scare is over, I will be able to visit and hopefully buy a little holiday home.
'bye for now.

Very happy to show you around Varna , I have small website *** which may also help.

Cheers

Sean

Hello
        We are a English couple who are wanting to move to Bulgaria in 2021. We are looking at Nessebar or Burgas. We was wanting to live in Bulgaria for 3-6 months of the year then back home for work as we will only be semi retired.
We was wanting to come over in July to also look at Varna but all our travel plans are on hold at the moment.
Any help and advice would be apprieciated.
                                                                              Thanks

I posted a question about living in bulgaria and have numerous replies but can,t access them. Any suggestions?

Hi everyone! My name is Wieteke, I am Dutch. I left Holland when I was 20, and after having lived for 13 years in the south of France it is now my 15th year in Spain. My boyfriend is Bulgarian and we are talking about starting maybe some new adventure in Bulgaria. He is from Plovdiv. Does anyone of you know if there is an international community in Plovdiv who get together so now and then? Maube there is a dutch, english or french communitity? I am a fysiotherapist for dogs, does anyone who is on this forum and lives in Bulgaria think that I can set up a business there and continue this line of work? Would there be interest?
I also would love to get in contact with doglovers, I have spent 10 years helping to rehome steeetdogs here in Spain.
Thanks

Hi All,

I am originally from Bulgaria, but have been living in America since 2009. I am married to an American and have 2 daughters- 6 and 4 year old. We are considering moving to Bulgaria to reunite with my family, but we are so concerned about finding jobs. Especially for my husband who knows a little Bulgarian. This is such a huge step and we are trying to think of all pros and cons, but the bottom line is we need to be sure we will be able to work and pay all our bills and hopefully have some extra to enjoy life.

So, I am just looking for may be hearing about your experience and tips. We will be living in Varna and we dont have any special skills such as IT, software developers, marketing, etc.

With that said, do you think we have a chance making it?

Thank you

Hi my name in john I have house near ruse got it three year ago with the intention of moving there when I retired but I'll heath mean I cant work now but still looking to move there but need biulder to do some work for me English speaking if pos lol was looking at traveling down in the next two week but wondering how the lockdown was ?is moment ok down there thanks

I know Thurston!

Greetings all y'all...

I only popped over to Plovdiv to get an EU Residence Permit because of Brexit!

But I really liked Plovdiv, and decided it might be nice to stay. So I did.

Have now been here over 2 years. Which doesn't sound much, but it's one of the longest periods I've spent in one place. :-)

I have my flat in the city, but now I'm also renovating a country house in the Valley of Kings.

Hi Lady Thurston,  I hope you do manage to visit Bulgaria,  Like you I am a single female purchased just before the Covid pandemic, however I took the lockdown to get all the work completed in my soon to be new home.  If you need more information on a single female living and exploring BG.  I will be happy to oblige.  I am relocating mid October and so looking forward to it. Deborah

Hello, everyone!

My name is Nick and I live in Plovdiv. I am Bulgarian lawyer and the reason that I am here is that I work very Hard to help people to deal with all these Immigration matter - a lot of paperwork, applications, real estate services, relocation, etc.
My job is to advice everyone for the propper option to get residence/citizenship. This may be easy for EU citizens, but for third-country citizens should be a nightmare.
Greetings!
Nick

Hello LilTil

I can't wait for this Covid to end, so I can come over and check all is Ok. My little house (and I do mean little) is in Yambol.
Like you I used the pandemic to get all the paperwork done, I am actually waiting for the courier to deliver the keys and Deeds etc. I am a tiddly bit nervous that I will be on my own but I am determined to do it!
It will be good to share experiences ☺️
'bye for now.
Lynda.

When 'we are both there, we shall have to meet up and share notes.  i am sure all will be well,   I am in between Dobrich and Balchik in a village.  I am sure all will be well. x

Hello Gwinge
How well do you know Thurston, I live near the rail station. Although living the slower life in Suffolk, I was born in London.
Nice to meet you.
LadyThurston

do you happen to have a recommendation from an agent that we can speak to? The more I look at Ruse the more I think this is probably not for us.

Hello John I have a british friend close to Ruse that does renovations and construction

Hello everyone, We are looking to move to Bulgaria from the US, we are Canadian.,and have been looking in the Ruse area but now we are thinking to broaden our horizons and look to the Black Sea or something closer to the city but not too close (we have dogs and would like the privacy).  We are ok with a fixer upper but some of the houses we have seen require so much work it is daunting. any recommendations as to where to find property is appreciated. where is the valley of kings?

where is the valley of kings?

My connections are on the black sea beaches from Bergers to Saint Vlas.   I have very good referrals of people that I know are honest

If you are looking in this area I will be pleased to recommend somebody once I know what you are looking for

I am not a real estate broker and I do not participate in any transaction

HI Linda,  have you got your deeds and keys yet. hope all is well with you

Kazanluk