So we have booked our flights for our first house hunting mission. Well technically it will be our honeymoon but we are spending it house hunting! We get married on 26th October and fly out to Sofia on 29th for a week. Children and pets are kindly being looked after by nanny (Matts mum).
We have a good idea of the area we think we want to live in but obviously cant say for sure until we have been there. It’s quite a large area so hopefully our trip will help us narrow it down a little. Because we want a property with at least 4000sqm of land we don’t have as much choice as most people which is good ...... otherwise I would have no idea how to narrow down all those houses for sale!! That said there are still a lot of places suitable for us to choose from. I have ruled out places where the house needs to be demolished and rebuilt .... too much for us to take on. We would prefer a roof in a water tight condition but it seems they are fairly hard to find! I guess we will just learn how to roof. We have the added bonus that Matt is experienced in putting up scaffolding. We are considering buying a tower to ship over. It might provide us with an option for paid work as well.
My time still seems to be spent researching. I read blogs, facebook groups and books about all different subjects that will help us in future. Today I got a readers digest book of hints and tips for gardening .... its amazing! So much helpful information. I have grown veggies in the past but not at the level we will need to in order to be self sufficient. I grew up on a farm so have some basics to fall back on. From what I have read there will be people I can turn to for help and advice once we have bought somewhere over there.
I am hoping we can have a few days over there during the summer but that is subject to the various court dates / outcomes that I have going on right now. Divorces are rarely nice and easy are they?!
That’s me for now. More soon I’m sure!
Hello! Have you been reading my blog, www.bulgariawithnoodles.blogspot.com? My wife and I bought our villa in 2005 and we also have an apartment in Veliko Tarnovo. We will be in Bulgaria in October, so please get in touch with us. My guess is that you will want to buy something fairly near to Sofia, We are at Kaltonia, about 60km north of Sofia.
ReplyDeleteHi. No, yours isn’t one I have read but I will check it out when I get chance. VT is an area we are considering. We don’t want to be near Sofia. We are looking more east, central and north.
DeleteThanks for reading! Let’s hope Minty gets back to regular posts soon!
Hi Kirstie and Matt. Good luck with your house hunting BG is a great place. We have just bought a house (last week) and move over permanent in December we can’t wait.
ReplyDeleteWe met up with Minty and Pete on our first trip in 2016 they are a great couple and their blog has provided us with loads of tips. I have a blog https://plodofftobulgaria.blogspot.co.uk/ which I recently started.
Don’t know which blogs you read but other useful ones are
http://oldschoolbulgaria.blogspot.co.uk/
http://auntiebulgaria.blogspot.co.uk/
http://julieandjoe.jolyonmiller.co.uk/
They are all full of useful tips when considering moving to BG
Best wishes
Mark and Julie
Hi! Thanks for the blogs, I will read them and yours when I get chance. Am lacking hours in the day at the moment!
ReplyDeleteWill you need to work when you move over?
I’m so jealous, you must be so excited!
Fortunately for us we shouldn’t have to work I retire in December age 55 the only benefit of nearly 30 years in the public sector. Probably the only sensible thing I did in life ha ha.
DeleteWe can’t wait to go, when you buy though a word of advice is be careful who you trust. We were warned and researched so much. We can afford to do it but couldn’t afford to get it wrong. We bought through Stara Planina properties and have been very impressed by them.
Just research and join all the forums and Facebook pages and you shouldn’t go wrong. It’s a fantastic country we go there again in July and we can’t wait.
I am in LOADS of FB groups!! Do you know Corrine from https://gradishtedream.wordpress.com/ ?? She has been a great help and suggested blogs, FB groups and put up with me messaging her random questions. She is very level headed and has made sure I think about the pros and cons of everything. Everyone needs a Corrine in their lives !!!
DeleteWe are the same as you in respect we can afford it but can’t afford to get it wrong. We are 20 plus years from retirement and I wasn’t sensible enough to take out a pension so nothing to fall back on!
Can I ask who you hire a car through?
I don’t know Corrine personally but I read her blog, although she hasn’t updated it since Christmas. I have commented on it a few times and she has answered her blog is full of useful tips.
DeleteThere is so much to think about when considering moving to BG just the logistics blows my mind, but I think one thing you do need is an income of some sort. BG is much cheaper to live in but a pot of money eventually runs out. So some sort of topping it up is required.
In relation to car rental we always use Zest car rental from Sofia airport, but they do all airports, New cars and they meet you at the terminal and speak English, we have never had a problem with them and have used them 3 times and have booked with them again for our next 2 trips.
Yes, you can rent a car in BG, but trains are cheap and coaches are a bargain.
DeleteCar repairs are a lot cheaper than in the UK. The Bulgarian equivalent of the MOT is usually a bit of a formality.
You might like to read my blog, www.bulgariawithnoodles.blogspot.com because my wife and I have now been going to Bulgaria every summer for fifteen years. As well as our villa about 60km north of Sofia, we also have an apartment in Veliko Tarnovo. At the moment we are still in China, but we will be retiring this summer and coming to live in Bulgaria, at last.