Bulgaria is still cheap compared with western Europe – especially average prices – though in certain hotspots prices are starting to approach those of other places in central Europe. You can still find many bargains and old houses in need of complete renovation for under €15,000 (£10,000), but you will need to spend more than this again to renovate them for living or letting.
Most people travelling in Bulgaria arrange for transport in advance to the region or city where they intend to look for property. If you are dealing with an agent in Bulgaria, ask them to arrange an airport pick-up to take you directly to the city where you will be based-this solves a lot of the hassle of getting from the airport into town and finding your way around. For first-time visitors it’s best to get the airport pick-up to take you directly to where you are staying. Once you’ve set up a base camp, then you might consider hiring a car locally for the duration of your stay.
There is good public transport system consisting of trains, buses and taxis to enable you to get around Bulgaria without your own transport. But travelling around the country in a car, bus and-especially-in a train always takes longer than it would in Britain or western Europe. Most of the roads are single carriageway and twist and turn through rural areas and villages. There are a few stretches of motorway, mainly around Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv. On all roads there is a mix of traffic, from slow Ladas to speeding Mercedes and horse-drawn vehicles. The result is that average speeds are low.
Travelling to Bulgaria by sea Travel to Bulgaria by sea is not to be entirely ruled out for sailors or ferry-hoppers. There are people who sail to Bulgaria from ports in western Europe, along the Italian and Dalmatian coast, around the southern tip of Greece, through the Straits of Marmara, past Istanbul and along the […]
Bulgaria is at the far end of continental Europe from the UK, and can be reached in a variety of ways: by air, by sea, by train or by road. With current concerns over climate change and carbon footprint awareness, it is worth thinking about travelling by train rather than plane if you are to become a frequent traveller. For now, most property-hunters tend to fly, at least initially.
The best months for house – hunting are from mid – April and the end of October. Snow can fall any time from November onwards and stay around until February, though recent winters have been noticeably milder than in the past. In midwinter the country can be stunningly beautiful under its blanket of snow but this can hinder accessibility to more remote rural areas.
The use of the Internet has transformed property-hunting overseas. It is now possible to sit at home and look at properties on agents’ websites and start to liaise with an agent about a particular property or region long before arriving in the country to look around.The level of response you get from the agent at this stage is probably a good indicator of the agent’s general efficiency in helping you purchase a home. If you don’t get a quick reply (within 48 hours) to any questions, or the answers a re vague or don’t relate to your questions, you might consider taking your business elsewhere.
It is too time-consuming to scour the whole of Bulgaria looking for a property and visiting agents. Although Bulgaria is roughly the same size as England and Wales, moving around the country is difficult -there are slow roads, mountains, few motorways and the slowest trains in Europe. You will probably get lost unlessyou speak Bulgarian and can navigate roads without road signs.
The system of buying and selling a property in Bulgaria is different from that in the UK, but the basic principles remain the same. Properties are listed for sale on the market, you go on viewings with an agent and you select the property you like. The agent then co-ordinates all aspects of the purchase. This model can vary, of course: some people choose a property off-plan (before it is built), and they may or may not even have seen the place where the development is being built. Others buy a finished property online without having seen it, and sometimes without ever having visited the region or even the country. Sometimes the developers sell directly and organise all the legal work.
Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think they must have such a one as their neighbors.
Henry D.Thoreau, 1854
This chapter is designed to take those who want to buy property in Bulgaria through the nitty-gritty of how to go about finding a house and making an offer. In the course of hunting for a property in Bulgaria you will be given lots of information, help and advice. Some you will remember, and some you won’t.The main thing is to enjoy the process and go along at your own pace. You are the buyer-you can arrive totally unprepared and just wander around the country for a week, or you can take in lots of information before you arrive and have a two- to three-day focused trip and leave with a property.