Property safety in Bulgaria

Get good insurance first and foremost.  Install steel doors on ground floor entrances.  Consider putting bars on ground floor windows.  Don't rely on "good neighbours" to keep you safe - they sleep at night too, and they also get burgled, so consider a contract with a COT (security company).  Don't leave tools/materials lying around if you can help it. Visitors talk about what they see in your house - some innocently, others not, so be security conscious.

I don't think anywhere's more or less safe than anywhere else, but consider what neighbours you're likely to have before you buy a property.  As a general rule, if you're looking at an apartment avoid the ground floor (too easy to burgle) and the top floor (you're on your own if the roof leaks).  Whether you get burgled is in the lap of the gods but don't let anyone tell you it "won't" happen; as a "rich foreigner" you're a tempting target.

All that said, it's no worse here than in the UK and if you keep your wits about you, you'll likely persuade the local tea leaves to pick an easier mark...

@JimJ Oh my, if you need that much security then I will be having doubts about buying. I can leave my front door unlocked where I live in the UK and the only time we locked the house we had in France was when we went away. Is this city areas or rural ones?

This does seriously concern my decision to move or not.

@JimJ Oh my, if you need that much security then I will be having doubts about buying. I can leave my front door unlocked where I live in the UK and the only time we locked the house we had in France was when we went away. Is this city areas or rural ones?
This does seriously concern my decision to move or not. - @jeanmandredeix

I think he means if the house is going to be vacant for long periods of time.

@jeanmandredeix

I've had several properties in the UK, and we always left the door unlocked. Like you the only time we locked up was when we would go on holiday. Our neighbours had a key as they would feed the cats. My parents house, after living in it for 30 years, they had a good relationship with them.

But there have been places I wouldn't dream of not locking the door.

Even in my current property in Austria, the door to our garden is never locked. Our main entrance is rarely locked, again only when we go on holiday.

But I do live here full time, after 16 years and being part of the community you get to know who to trust when you go away to inform. I also installed some flood lights that come when motion is detected. Serves as a deterrent but also quite welcoming when arriving home at night.

I have no concerns for anyone entering from the rear garden, as  I have stream with 2 metre deep bank, and it's literally impossible to cross.

LOL, I'm happier leaving the door open to my Bg house than my UK one! In the UK (a "nice" commuter belt market town) we've had numerous items stolen from the garden and even found intruders in the house when the door was left open while we were just in the side garden.

OTOH, we're still renovating ours in Bg and so most likely no one thinks there's anything worth stealing. Once it's more fitted out, we may need to be more cautious. We're not the type to have wide screen tellies visible from windows or flashy cars, and it's wise anywhere not to have valuable items out on display to tempt thieves. The builders were happy to leave tools overnight in the garden and on the front porch during renovation, doors and windows have been left open for hours while I was visiting neighbours or out shopping, and there's been no issues at all. I haven't heard that any of the other expats in the village had issues.

Our village is generally considered safe, and I think if there were any issues with thefts, it would be taken care of promptly by the locals. But there still could be a risk. It only takes one dodgy family to move in, or for the dodgy types in the not-quite-as good neighbouring village to come looking for better pickings for trouble to start. I do lock up as well as possible (not very at the moment, we still have the old single glazed windows) when it's going to be empty for months. Our neighbours keep an eye on things, however Jim is right, they can't watch 24/7. Movement operated lights are on the list for sure, as long as I can fix them so cats don't set them off.

For us, it's going to be a balance between the value of the stuff we'll be keeping in the house and the cost of security measures. We won't go to bars on the windows or heavy locks or expensive insurance. But it does mean we need to be willing to accept the risk of a break in and needing to replace stuff. If thieves really want something, no security will stop them. Everyone's needs will be different here depending on the value of what you'll have in the house and your acceptance of risk.

That's good to hear Jane

Like everywhere, it's always a gamble.  You may never get burgled, or you may be hit repeatedly. Our village house was burgled quite comprehensively, and our friendly neighbour across the street genuinely didn't see or hear a thing - even though the thieves parked a van outside our house and used its roof to climb up onto a first-floor balcony as they couldn't get in, or out, through the window bars and armoured front door.  They loaded  their swag (including dismantling a large exercise machine) into their vehicle from the same upstairs balcony. They must have been parked no more than five metres from our neighbour's house, but he slept through it all, as did another close neighbour.  Since my in-laws now live in that there's been no further problems; the ringleader of the burglars was a young druggie who lived further down the street - no-one in the village had any idea of what he was up to, least of all his grannie, with whom he lived.

Our British friends in another village have had machinery, tools, garden furniture etc stolen, as have other British residents there, who've had holiday homes stripped bare.  There was a major fracas there a couple of years ago, involving gypsies and Pomaks - one of the Pomaks was knifed to death in the street; the Roma were ejected from the village wholesale, but they nonetheless show up from time to time.  Thefts still occur but no-one knows for sure just who the culprits are..

Members of the Facebook group for our supposedly-swanky suburb of Sofia regularly post security camera footage of nocturnal "guests" in their homes - while the family is sleeping there, as well as chancers knocking at the doors in broad daylight to find out if anyone's in, with spurious stories to explain what they're doing.  Touch wood no-one's visited our house yet.  Apartments in the closed complex where we have a property, with armoured doors, controlled access, security guards and cameras everywhere are regularly burgled - again, so far we've avoided that pleasure, but you never know when your number will come up.

So, in my view, the situation is simple: you take precautions and make thieves look elsewhere for easier pickings - or you just kid yourself that everything in the garden's rosy and the stories of people being robbed/burgled are just alarmist.  Some people like to gamble, but the smart ones at least understand the game they're playing and recognise how to stack the odds in their favour as far as possible.. 😎

There is undoubtedly a very real risk that can't be ignored. Then it's up to the individual to decide what action they'll take about the risk. Anyone who pretends burglaries and other crimes don't happen in Bulgaria is assuming the ostrich position.

I do still feel we're less likely to have problems at our place in Bg, from either professional criminals or petty chancers, than our place in the UK, but that obviously won't apply everywhere.

And a house that's left unoccupied for months at a time with resalable items inside (even the plumbing pipes and the copper wiring in the walls for some thieves) is going to need more precautions taken than one that's lived in.

@JimJ Well that’s certainly put me off relocating to Bulgaria. If it’s like that I think I will change to Portugal. I did start with doubts after seeing a YouTuber putting up cameras everywhere. I really don’t want to live in that sort of environment. That was a reason I moved from London to the countryside. Thanks, now we won’t do something we will regret.

So far since owning our shack we have had electricity stolen ( the chap was caught tho and police dealt with it after that) a satellite dish and external metal stair hand rail stolen including parts of our main entrance gate, oh and a long slabbed path taken up and a complete wall including bricks to an outbuilding taken down and stolen including all fixed sanitary ware and boiler that was once in the building. So be under no illusion such things do occur here just as they perhaps do elsewhere in the world.

Oh I forgot my garlic plants but can’t blame that on anyone it’s the moles according to the neighbours lol

@jeanmandredeix

This topic is about keeping a property safe and secure, so we can expect lots of discussion about security grills, security companies, and security cameras. It would be a pity to take that discussion and conclude that Bulgaria is unsafe or prone to high rates of burglaries! I very much doubt it's worse than France, Spain and Portugal, and most likely better.

This is also a discussion forum with widely divergent opinions. Some are doom-and-gloom folks, and some are cock-eyed optimists. But they're all happily living here, so, evidently, it's just not that bad. :-)

Regardless of the country, holiday homes are more tempting targets and should have more protection. While, of course, it's possible to be burgled while tucked up in bed, this is pretty uncommon everywhere. If you relocate to Bulgaria and live here full-time, I doubt you'd be much concerned about crime and safety. On the contrary, most Bulgarian villages are a bit of a throwback to kinder, gentler times where your neighbours help you find a local plumber, and want to bring you fresh fruit and veggies from their gardens.

If you're not yet retired, then the Bulgarian D visa is a bit of a headache, and both Portugal and Spain have very easy options for younger folks with savings and/or passive income. If you're retired, then all three are easy options.

Of the three, Bulgaria is cheaper for buying property, cheaper for owning property (utility bills, property taxes), and cheaper for day-to-day living. If you find UK or France getting expensive, then I doubt there are profound savings to be made in Spain or Portugal. But more sunshine and nice beaches, of course. :-)

Personally, I still have residence permits in Cyprus and Spain and own property there. They are lovely countries and we have beautiful beaches nearby in both places, and we visit regularly (low-cost Ryanair and Wizzair flights, very convenient).  But I now spend most of my time in Bulgaria because it's safe, relaxing, and inexpensive... and we enjoy a quality of life here that would be IMPOSSIBLE elsewhere in the EU on our income. In particular, Bulgaria has a low population density, so I very much enjoy my outdoor life here as spectacular National Parks like Central Balkan and Pirin are nearby, and almost empty.

In addition, even if you're very healthy (and I am, fortunately) health care access is (or should be) a key issue. I find Bulgarian care access to be exceptional, with free (or nearly free) public cover available by S1 or for 20 euros per month (unemployed rate). Most Bulgarian private hospitals are affiliated with NHIF and get reimbursed by it too... allowing you to choose immediate, VIP private treatment for a ludicrously small surcharge. This is an amazing luxury, I cannot imagine why I would choose to get in a big queue for the NHS (in UK, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal) instead!