Money transfer

Wise or revolut

I use Wise. The exchange rate is usually good, fees are low, and it allows for doing online shopping in Bulgarian lev without paying big conversion fees. It also gives an ATM card, handy for fee free spending when travelling. Revolut does much the same. Either is a bit of a pain to set up (the take a selfie holding your passport next to your face routine!), but far easier than faffing with a UK bank or money transfer service.

If this is the property with Bulgaria Direct, my fees for the monthly payment transfer to their Bulgarian bank account were generally about 5 GBP (will vary depending on amount transferred). So not super cheap, but I couldn't find anything cheaper at the time.

Wise or Revolut being multi-currency is useful as you'll find they ask that some things are paid in GBP, some in EUR, and some in BGN. Generally the deposit and house repayments were GBP,  anything admin like setting up the notary transfer will be EUR (this is based on the house sale price, and will be stated in the contract, unlikely to be more than 1000 EUR even for their most expensive property), and little additional things like paying council tax etc will be BGN. Dani in the admin office (an absolutely wonderful person, so helpful!) will invoice for any of the extra expenses and it will be clear what currency is required.

@Pumarosa200

I endorse what Jane has said.  Wise is great.

I bought properties outright. I transfered funds from.my UK account to Wise in tranches of just under £10,000 per transfer,  as this prevents banks from notifying the inland revenue - not that I have anything to hide, but I just didn't want the hassle of an IR interrogation.  After transferring to Wise (which was fee free) I converted the funds to euros within Wise, as they give an excellent exchange rate and low fee.   Then I transfered the euros to my Bulgarian bank account, which made paying the vendors of the properties easier.

You can hold.multiple currencies with Wise, all under one account and converting currencies is super easy and instant.   Also, when I transfer money from my UK account to Wise (which also has a UK sort code) the time it takes is usually less than 15 seconds. The Wise app is full of useful features.

@Pumarosa200

Another Wise fan here! :-)

I used Wise recently when we purchased a Bansko studio. This was an outright purchase at the notary in Razlog. Officially, it's illegal to pay in cash, and so the government-approved way to handle this is for the buyer AND seller to sign the Notary Act at the notary. Then the notary gives the buyer some time (a few hours) to go to their bank and order a bank transfer from their account to the buyer (according to the bank details in the Notary Act)... and bring the proof of transfer back to the notary. If the buyer doesn't send the money, then the notary voids the transaction... which means the seller doesn't have to stress about signing before they've received the funds, and the buyer doesn't have to stress about getting mugged while carrying a big wodge of euros in their pocket that day. :-)

I stepped out of the notary, sat down at the cafe in the park next to it, and then used my Wise app to do the transfer. And then emailed the transfer receipt to the notary. It only took a couple of minutes (I hadn't even finished my coffee), and was way quicker and easier than walking to the centre and going to a physical bank branch. And, actually, the seller was another Brit with a Wise account, so he had all the money in his account about 10 seconds later! Nice bit of tech. :-)

As Gwyn quite rightly noted the legal need for the notary to see a paper trail of what's been paid before allowing the transfer of the property, I'll just comment that it's a useful thing with pay monthly to keep track of all the payment receipts. I downloaded them as pdfs as I made each payment, and saved them in a folder online.

With my purchases, Bg Direct showed the notary their proof of receiving payment, and Dani did say they might also ask to see proof from my end that I'd made the payments. They didn't, as it happened, but it's useful to have that proof just in case it's needed. Also lets you keep track of exactly where you are with payments.Of course, you'd be able to grab them all from Wise if needed too.

LOL, maybe it's just me, I like tracking things and seeing the balance I owed drop each month was satisfying!

Thank you so much for the info! You’ve been so helpful

WISE! So far very happy and recommend it!

The dollar rate is fantastic and keeps getting better!!!!

Despite that they raised their fees they appear to be the most reliable company for big purchases as well.