US citizens looking to move to Bulgaria ( retirement visa )

Dear expats !!!

Can you please advise me what is parking situation near the good sea beaches:

parking  locations,

how  find a spot,

avoid getting towed ,

paid parking,

free parking,

passes, and discounts ?

Thanks,

N.

Hello,

Greetings for making your dreams come true.

The best of living in most of Bulgarian cities are they are suitable for living without cars. If you do not have problems with walking, as you described, life up to , and even 2 km from the sea garden and the beach is achievable whithout cars.

I live in Plovdiv and I have neighbors, retured couple from USA, and even the lady wakls with a stick she never complain about how distant is something (shop, park, bus station). They make trio to everywhere with a bus, train or some friends car.

@bestlikefromme

With good pensions and a $500k property you are very well-off by Bulgarian standards. So I would not expect you to have any problem getting your residence permits, or finding very nice properties to live in.

You mention a 2nd apartment for the winter season. Personally, I find the Bulgarian summer extremely hot (can be 40 or close to it in July/August), and one of the reasons we like Bansko is that it's a few degrees cooler up in the mountains. On the other hand, as electricity is pretty cheap, you can have your AC units on 24/7 for those 2 months (I know folks who do this).

As @Vasilev says, many Bulgarian cities are perfectly manageable without a car. I use the Plovdiv buses for 1 leva a ride, and taxis are very cheap too. You might also consider bikes (or ebikes, I love mine), as there are quite a lot of cycling lanes in the big cities. And the cities are not huge, anyway, it's not like walking across London or Los Angeles! :-) We live in a very nice part of Plovdiv next to Youth Hill, and it's only 2km or so to the main centre. For Burgas and Varna, the sea gardens are a big attraction, so I would really want to live quite close (less than 1km, say), so that I could walk here, and along the beach, most days. This kind of central location in those two cities is rather expensive, so you'd have to explore the options.

But Varna and Burgas aren't the only sea-side options (although they're the biggest / most expensive). I think there are a several smaller towns which are big enough (20k-ish population) to have services/supermarkets, and have a promenade or similar where you can get your daily walk with some fresh sea air. My guess: Balchik (lovely Botanical Gardens), Nessebar (UNESCO-listed), Pomorie, Sozopol (lovely old town and beaches). There are also the seaside outskirts of the two big cities (maybe Sarafovo near Burgas, and Saint Constantine in Varna) which are also popular, and a short car or bus ride way.

If you drive, parking is not usually a problem. There is often free parking (especially if you're a regular, and you know where to look). And if it's paid parking, there are often parking folks wandering around who will sell you a ticket. Most Bulgarian parking zones now use SMS messages from your phone, which is super easy (Plovdiv's central zone is currently 2 leva/hour, for example, and it just gets tacked on your mobile phone bill).

I know you have your heart set on the Black Sea, but I would again shout the praises of Plovdiv (as your main base year-round, with a holiday apartment on the beach at a smaller resort). As you've seen both I and @Vasilev are big fans. It's the 2nd city in Bulgaria, and the fastest growing. It has a delightful pedestrian downtown area, and it has the lovely Old Town (Bulgarian Revival Architecture, I think), as well a plenty of ancient Roman ruins (the aqueduct, the hilltop Theatre, the central Hippodrome, the Basilica and Forum). It also has a very hip downtown area (Kapana) where there are some very upscale bars and restaurants. It is, quite rightly, a former European Capital of Culture. There are several nice areas to live which are only 2km-3km from the centre (walkable) with good buses and cycling/walking lanes. And it has multiple hills/parks (Alyosha, Nebet Tepe, Tsar Simeon Gardens, Youth Hill, Regatta Lake/Park, Maritsa River, Lauta Park) so there are plenty of options where you can be able to walk/cycle every day in some greenery.

In addition, it has several malls, large supermarkets, and plenty of hospitals/clinics. Personally, I've lived in some very large and highly-regarded cities (San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Paris, Barcelona, Panama, Buenos Aires, London) so I'm quite shocked to have ended up in such a small city! But I love my new life here, and we have access to all services close by. We have an excellent doctor and dentist, and there are very nice private hospitals next to our home (as well as Kaufland, Lidl, and Mall Plovdiv). Between Alyosha, Youth Hill, and Regatta I get plenty of walking every day. There is a great fresh produce market next to the Regatta too. And the cost of living here makes it a very easy and comfortable life. As another bonus, living in a large and touristic city means that there are plenty of Bulgarians here who speak English (so not such a problem with no Bulgarian), and plenty of expats (so you can find some folks to socialize with).

We need car.  I think , we  can walking to the  the sea garden and the beach in the morning ...

but I do not thinks we will be happy walking  back to the home in 2 pm when the " 40 or close to it in July/August".

Same with grocery shopping. I like to cook by myself from time to time (we still (mostly) do not eat out  due to the covid.....and do not use public transportation for the same reason  )....so we should have the car and parking near the home.

I did try google maps to find parking near Sea Garden in Varna and Burgas.....but was not able to find any...

Are any public car parking available in Varna and Burgas ( near the beach) or places like Balchik, Nessebar , Pomorie, Sozopol ?

What area/ neighborhoods in Plovdiv have good apartments with out high monthly maintenance and with out utility bills that go to the complex ?

@bestlikefromme

You're right, I think most of us like to have a car available, so we can go explore the countryside. And it's very convenient to drive downtown for lunch, or go pick up the groceries.

However, my experience of the USA is that it's very car-centric, and it's extremely hard to survive without one. Here, the cities are smaller, and they're more geared to pedestrians and public transport, so it's a genuine option to walk or cycle in, or catch the bus. My car sits in the parking area 98% of the time, I would say. :-)

You are also correct that in summer, you will quickly be cooked if you're out in the middle of the day! Then, an air-conditioned car or bus is a more comfortable (and safer) option. For my daily walks, I am usually out at 5am or so during the summer months as the early morning is very pleasant. The evening (after 7pm or 8pm, is also popular.

Google Maps is very good for many aspects of exploring Bulgaria virtually, but parking is one of its failings. There are no large parking garages that Google would spot (except for the Malls)... it's either small parking lots, or street parking. Most of the Bulgarian cities I've been too have free street parking, except for a central zone which is paid street parking. These central zones are paid using an SMS from your mobile phone (with a Bulgarian operator/contract), or by giving some coins to the folks walking the streets with the parking permits (to put on your dash). The sea gardens are in the central zone, so this would be paid parking (Plovdiv is currently 1 euro/hour, so my guess is that Varna/Burgas are the same/similar).

We have 2 big  pools and gym in our community ....but it very crowded by teenagers...they (mostly) nice and polite ( we  live in good neighborhood ) but anyway we very rarely use it ....same,  I do not looking for gym and pools  in Bulgaria, I wanna Sea !!!

I hope that you may have same information about Sunset Resort , Pomorie.

I am wonder if the  owners of apartments in Sunset Resort have their own individual water and electricity meters in their apartment.

Also, if Sunset resort have elevators ? I still wanna penthouse with sea view and ready for it ....

@bestlikefromme It is possible to find a good historic old house and make a renovation or a good old apartment - all in downtown of Plovdiv and you will be free from high monthly maintenance fees. But you will be sure that your propery will keep its price and be a good investment. Alslong with that you will live in the historic center of Plovidv and all sightviews, shops, Billa, farmers markets, restaurants will be by 5-10 min walking. Yes having a car can be a headache when you live in the top venetr of the city, but you can find to buy a garage (5-10minnaway) and keep it for tris in the country.

@Vasilev

It will be interesting to to find a good historic old house  in downtown of Plovdiv or Varna.....but I am not sure I am ready to make a renovation /deal with contractors in Bulgaria...it is not looks like easy task for me....

I am ready to buy a garage...

@bestlikefromme

As to resort buildings, they are in the summer resorts (Sunny Beach area, and other popular Black Sea beaches) and the winter resorts (Bansko, Borovets, Pamporovo). They are catering for tourists and vacations, so they have more services (pool, gym, restaurant, sauna, bus, spa) and hence higher maintenance charges.

Typically, apartment buildings in any of the cities (Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo, etc.) don't have these facilities. But that's how/why the monthly maintenance is low (maybe 20-50 leva, say, but it depends on the building, and how big your apartment is). Essentially, it just has to cover cleaning, running the elevator, and a bit of electricity in the common areas. My old Plovdiv apartment is 10 leva per month or so, and our fancy new apartment in an upscale building is 80 leva or so.

Separately, the common electricity / water meter situation is not typical, even in all the resort buildings (I believe). Most folks want (as you'd expect) to have their own individual water and electricity meters in their apartment. And this is exactly what most buildings do, it would just be massively unpopular to do otherwise! My apartments have individual water and electricity meters, and most apartments that you could buy in any Bulgarian city would be the same.

@bestlikefromme We had similar case with our clients, a young couple from USA, who bought a (not so old) house in the Old town of Plovdiv. Yes, they have to deal with constructors, but they live here and make business, the husband is Bulgarian, and probbaly will use our servces for all the paperwork for the renovation, because The Old town is a Historic area and it is protected. Using also a all-in-one company (design, construcion, management) for the process of renovation is the best solution, avoid close encounters with worksmen.

@Vasilev

We are moving to Bulgaria for  easy, lazy,  enjoyable  lifestyle ....

This means that we may be ready for some "cosmetic " renovation like new paint, new kitchen cabinets and and some update to the bathrooms ....but  without total plumbing system replacement -> meaning no corroded and rusty pipes replacement needed and  that old historical home/apartment  should be structurally sound meaning free from flaw, defect, decay deteriorated, or been damaged.

@bestlikefromme This is nice advertising for our country. I hope many other to see these advantages - easy, lazy, enjoyable lifestyle.

Thanks a lot.

I was looking Plovdiv properties for sale on  luximmo .

I was looking  "Attic two-bedroom apartment in a luxury building next to Park "Otdih i Kultura"

The listing says : "The apartment is rented in the degree of completion according to BDS "

What does this mean ?

BDS - Български държавен стандарт - putty and screed walls, windows, abaout doors I am not sure. You need to make flooring, painting, furniture.

BDS - Български държавен стандарт  is equivalent to  USA " Uninhabitable" 

Definitely not " nice and easy "

@bestlikefromme

BDS or, usually, "Bulgarian Standard" applies to new buildings only, and refers to degree of finishing. If it's an older building / property, then, almost certainly, it will have been finished and lived in. (But, of course, some investors do buy apartments and leave them unfinished for several years, so it's not impossible).

As you observe, BDS is not habitable... and DEFINITELY NOT nice and easy (or inexpensive) to make habitable.

Bulgaria is a bit unusual, I think, in that it's not typical to finish the apartments. In most countries, when you plonk down a big wodge of money for your brand new apartment, you can expect to move right in and enjoy it! Not here, unfortunately. There are, arguably, a couple of advantages: you can grab the desirable (larger / top floor / better view) apartments early in pre-construction. And you can choose exactly the style / materials / colors you want to use. But mostly it's just an expensive, time-consuming, pain in the proverbial... especially for a foreigner with limited contacts, or language. (But it is possible to delegate the whole thing to a local project manager / interior designer.) I am currently finishing a couple of these, and, believe me, I most sincerely wish I had never started down this road... and definitely will NEVER do it again! :-)

When we came here, 5 years ago, we looked at finished apartments, and we were not happy with the interiors. This a broad generalization, but a lot were quite dated. Or done in an ornate and ostentatious (and expensive) style which I've heard referred to as "Russian Mafia Bling" which was (and maybe still is) very popular here. Hence, we decided we had to go the BDS route. But, these days, there are plenty of recently finished apartments which are done in a very neutral, contemporary Western style.

In this state, it is simply a concrete box with a front door, and windows! (Really!) There is a little bit of variation in terms of the finish of the walls (usually rough coat plaster, but sometimes fine coat, sometimes even painted). And most don't include the internal doors, but some do. Typically, you need to plaster and paint the walls and ceilings (and install any plasterboard ceilings and recessed lights). You need to do all the floors (ceramic tiles or laminate, usually). You need to finish the lights and electrics. You need to get a kitchen fitted. You need to finish the bathroom (waterproofing, tiling of floors and walls) and install all the sanitary equipment (WC, sink, shower, bath, etc.). You also need to install your AC units.

It is not cheap, so I'd guess it is at least 300 euros per m2 for this. But you can easily spend much more, if you like a bit of luxury in your life.

All of this is simply to FINISH the apartment. It still remains to FURNISH it!

As to your specific listing which says BDS and rented, I think this is probably a mistake. Typically, these unfinished apartments are SOLD. It is far too expensive to do all the finishing to make it livable, so it's very unusual for someone to rent it and do all this work. Unless they mean that it's simply not furnished, or perhaps you have to fit a kitchen and furnish it. Most commonly, apartments are either rented unfurnished (but finished) or fully furnished (and move-in ready).

When you browse listings, and compare prices, you need to factor in if it is BDS vs FINISHED, and if it is UNFURNISHED vs FURNISHED, and if it has NO PARKING vs PARKING SPACE/GARAGE.

gwynj

You are wise man ! Thank you for your advises !

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Hi I’m john from uk not us and I’m coming to Bulgaria to open a branch of my company

@mrjlynch Congratulations. Opening a Trade representative office of your company is the most effective way to become a bulgarian resident.

How much should it cost some are asking for thousand’s

@Vasilev how is the most economical way to do this

@mrjlynch

Welcome to the expat.com forum and good luck with your potential move to Bulgaria!

The TRO does cost money, indeed (and several thousand euros seems entirely plausible). That's because there are 3 separate stages/processes which an attorney could assist you with:

1. Registering your representative office with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BCCI), based on your overseas company (need the certificate/confirmation for step 2)

2. Application for your D visa at your local (UK?) Bulgarian Embassy (need to enter Bulgaria with this visa for step 3)

3. Application for your residence permit at the appropriate Migration office, in Bulgaria

There are other ways to qualify for a D visa (e.g. student, pensioner, spouse of Bulgarian citizen/resident) which don't need the TRO step, and will be cheaper.