Looking for recommendation estate agent in south eastern area

Hi @maureendevine. Welcome to expats.

@maureendevine

https://mp.org/a-slum-called-hope/

there are Gypsies all over, some deserve their reputation, others are as good as gold. I think it's fair to say that all estate agents / vendors selling their house will downplay the numbers in the locality.

my wife's sister lives in Sliven, there is a saying that if you accidently enter Hope, you hope you can get out...

we on the otherhand live close to Elhovo and visit many times per week, there is a small concentration in a neighbourhood, but we've never experienced any problems.

there are bad apples in every barrel, many bad apples in the estate agent's barrel too... use your eyes, and ask lots of questions, never relying on one sole opinion...

good luck with the house hunting, I'd go with location location location first, then worry about other things once you've found the right location

@Erm1ntrude

Thanks for that, gypsies don't particularly worry me it was the estate agent not wishing to show me properties in/around Elhovo that

Confused me. Maybe it's just not his patch 🙄

Thanks again for replying.

@maureendevine

I cant remember who told me, but Sliven was a place I was advised to avoid. Maybe he's pushing you into that location because he's struggling to sell something and a foreigner, with "more money than sense" is an easy target....maybe I just have a suspicious nature. 🤔

@grumpyoldbird

Lol 2 suspicious old birds together 😜

@maureendevine

😉 I like to think older and wiser. 🙂

Hello everyone,

Please note that this new thread has been created from your posts on the Bulgaria forum for better interaction.

All the best

Bhavna

@grumpyoldbird

I dont remember who told me, some German geezer it was telling everyone non Aryans are bad. Maybe I should go flapping my gums about it on the internet.

@maureendevine

I've put a brain dump of my experience of buying a house in Bulgaria at https://notfromroundhere.co.uk/buying-a-house

Obviously people will have different experiences and opinions

It's not complete, but I'll update when I can

@Erm1ntrude

Thank you so much for this information, (it should be mandatory reading before buying 😁)

I didn't know point 7

Also imot website is already proving useful.

Really helpful, thanks again

Maureen

@Erm1ntrude

Well thanks to you I've solved the mystery of why estate agent won't show me the property 'near Elhovo' that I inquired about.

It's actually listed with another agent 100 miles north of Sofia 😁.

Oh I've a lot to learn 🤣

Next week will be an interesting recci.

Maureen, @Erm1ntrude's article is spot on. Unfortunately you'll find many properties are listed with multiple agents, and many of the online sites simply scrape other agents' listings. And as she said, the habit many sites have of leaving sold properties on the site as available, even years after they've sold, as bait to get buyers in. (Not uniquely Bulgarian, we had this same issue when trying to buy a property in Australia, before I gave up hope of ever being able to afford to go back).

We had a lot of frustration using Bulgarian estate agents websites - no reply to queries, replied but clearly knew nothing about the property, or the property had already sold, or the listing was years old and the house was still for sale but in far worse condition than shown. We ended up buying from ebay in an area we'd never even visited!

If you can't find a decent local estate agent, Bulgarian Properties is a long established online estate agent that covers all of Bulgaria and is mentioned a lot as being reputable. We didn't use them so no direct experience. Their fees are quite high but I'm told they do provide a good service.

I hope your visit goes well and you find a suitable property!

@maureendevine

This is not in the south, but it popped into my inbox today as a new listing from Bulgarian Properties (a large online agency that sold us our fantastic house). It seems to be a fully-renovated property and, from the look of it, was done by Brit owners. It looks pretty great for 40 grand (39,900 euros if you want an extra clue). It's in Krushovene near Pleven (and the Danube), so I'm sure it's easy to track down if you (or anybody else) is interested. Or you can PM me, if you're the lazy type. :-)

@janemulberry

Thanks Jane,

I literally said to my daughter today I wish I'd just done an impulsive eBay buy when I first started looking at properties.

Bulgarian properties are one company I've made inquiries to on several occasions and still haven't got a response.

I've changed my itinerary to cover 3 cities next week that had local estate agents on Google so hopefully will have better luck there otherwise I'll be giving you a shout saying I've just won an eBay bid. Help! 😜

Thanks again for the reply.

Maureen

LOL! Hoping you see something you fall in love with. But from personal experience, I can say there are worse things to do than an impulsive ebay buy! Okay, so I did cry my first night in the house (there was a huge storm and the roof leaked way more than I'd expected), but I love it now. Having the roof fixed helped.

@mickeyhart

Maybe you should

Ebay is definitely worth checking on. Bulgaria Direct put up several nice properties a couple of weeks ago, and they sold within days... but I'm sure they'll have more soon. Real Estate in Bulgaria is another (much smaller) regular seller, and he has several interesting properties in the NW of Bulgaria.

@janemulberry

There's a lot of stress moving, and you've left somewhere you know well and are very comfortable with. And now you're here in a strange house, in a strange place... it's all a bit overwhelming, and it's easy to burst into tears at the slightest provocation. :-)

Maureen, how did your house hunting go?

@Erm1ntrude many thanks for posting the link. All information noted.  Cheers 🍻

@janemulberry

Disappointing, 2 agents didn't show up. Couldn't find office of another and they didn't answer phone. .

None of the properties I did see where what

I 'd asked to look at.

However, met some good people en-route and a few connections made so onwards and upwards. I'll find the one! ...

Or hit eBay😁

@gwynj

Sorry, just seen your reply.

Do you have a contact at Bulgaria direct you can pm? They do also have some great properties in south east but I've never had a response from my inquiries.

Thanks in advance.

Maureen

@maureendevine

hello there,

are you looking to buy a house please?

@maureendevine

How frustrating! I'm glad you met some good people on the way, even if you didn't find a house this time.

I don't think we're allowed to post contact links in posts. I will PM you.

@joesa222

Yes, took my first visit house hunting last week.