Reliable Estate Agents?

@JimJ

I was keeping it quite simple in all honesty , when I said doing the dirty on me 

Now ,  I know and can sympathize with your friend having been in a long relationship with someone who I thought was normal for many years then they did the 360 Degree on me .  ( i never married this one in English Law )

We had two children together and eventually I left him taking them with me .

Left with the clothes we stood up in .

I had asked him to seek help but he never would although he begged me to stay and said he would get the property transferred into a trust for our children as I had asked him to do this a long time back for the sake of his children . I wanted nothing for myself but for our children to inherit should something happen to him . He was quite a bit older than me and had some health issues before I realized he was a Mental Case  ...

In fact last summer I got an electronic communication from someone I don't know ,  regarding something I own a half share of , an investment outside uk . I recently replied as they messaged again . I enquired as to how they had my private details and said you must know my long , long ex as no one randomly messages about something like this , giving details and part address of investment . I have managed to get a copy of their driving license passport  ( both uk  and current ) and they say they are an Estate Agent  ( not in Uk now but abroad , not EU ) and have given me details address and card that all seems to match up ... I haven't replied yet . I have told them a bit about the long long ex and I intend to back -up what I have mentioned , so they know who they are dealing with . Ex has said I am probably dead and no one can find me and he owns everything . Now this Agent who has twice said he doesn't know my long ex but is acting on behalf of a client who wants to buy the investment said yes that name of your ex appears on the investment ... Now if I want to sell my half  , he can get the money to me , with no  direct dealings with my ex (by me )

as his client, who wants to buy my ex's half , wants to buy my half too ,  but cannot proceed without me ..

At the moment I am in no great need of the monies and basically I said to my husband , hell will freeze over before I do any favours for the ex ... ( haha )

I notified the Builders of the investment when I left the ex nearly twenty years ago . They already were not keen on him and only sold to me because they realized I was genuine and someone they wanted to work with  ( offered me employment when we came over with the children to live ) . The investment had annual management fees , that I explained I would not pay as the ex had changed the locks and was using the investment himself and eventually renting it out , so getting an income from it too ...

I was hoping my ex ( who is a lot older than me ) had actually passed -away and mentioned this to this Agent who had contacted me , last summer and now more recently ... He must know my ex ... although he insists he had me traced , I don't think someones private email can be traced and he must think I am still in Uk ...

Oh what fun ...

@ Jimj

Thanks for mentioning and clarifying about Medical facilities .

I have thought to buy only in places where there was some access or nearby access to them and

know you have to have private insurance / Self-funding in place . This is something I did research a while ago again as a good friend from UK was thinking of selling up his little place and retiring early but now has decided 'he wants to die in UK ' ( quote him ) and rest there . I am main The Beneficary of his Will , along with my youngest daughter . He is childless , never married and he has disowned his family due , to their treatment of him over the years .

In all honestly my health is very good . I have tried to always take best care of myself .

I don't take any medications at all .

@LoveActually

I've dropped you a private message.

@LoveActually

Medically speaking, you sound just like my wife - strong as an ox and as healthy as can be (and quite a bit younger than yours truly)

She didn't feel too well just before Xmas and I eventually persuaded her to see the quack; she was too busy with her job and further preoccupied with worrying about her parents' ill health but agreed to spare 30 minutes to see him.  A couple of days later she was undergoing major surgery and then spent a week in an induced coma.  She now has a colostomy, has undergone an intensive course of radio- and chemo-therapy, and is spending every Friday morning until Sunday night in hospital receiving more chemotherapy until the end of August.

When sh*t happens, it can REALLY happen...

@JimJ

Thanks for your PM . Have replied .

You know you mind a wise choice marrying someone  quite a bit younger .

I can recommend it too ( this time )

Oh bless her .

Wow ,  what a shock but thank goodness you managed to persuade her to go see the Doc .

Doesn't bear thinking about how it could have gone .

In all honesty I have tried to avoid Doctors , as much as possible , thorough out my life .

Obviously there were times when i needed them or their help , so sought it .

I have a close family member  ( Niece )who graduated from Cambridge University as a Medical Doctor in 2020 . Although I have never sought her advise on any Medical issues as I try my best to take preventative care . One of my Nanna's died age 95.5 some years ago . Always avoided Doctors where possible , called them Quacks too ...

@JimJ

Have replied to your PM .

    @geoffreywebb21
I guess that you're fairly new to BG? I have to admit to a good belly-laugh here: the idea of a local bank caring about any fraud, apart from one perpetrated directly on them, is a very novel one.... -@JimJ if you pay with uk bank card you are covered to get money back im not sure if its same for cash taken in england but you dont lose anything in trying i have payed online with my card and its been a scam i got my money put back within 2hrs i dont think you will get anything back in bulgaria banks

@geoffreywebb21

My point exactly - British banks are hamstrung by the ridiculous rules regarding them refunding money lost by the careless actions of gormless customers.  It seems that the proverb is now "A fool and his bank's money are soon parted": there's no incentive for some folks not to act like complete chumps when the bank's other customers will take the actual hit!

@xpatbg We've finally got the house we wanted in BG, spent months until we found " Bulgarian property finder "The Agent Zack Qureshi was absolutely brilliant,  The guy is a highly motivated go getter,20 years in the business ,nothing wrong with that ! Some others were dreadful  ,won't name but c/o Bulgarian House.com,lost a few properties with them .Zack was there for us 24/7 and went to great lengths to find answers down to things like feet above sea level, foreign neighhours, locals that can maintain when you're your not there, the final thing he arranged for us was critical building work from a top Vratza building company giving us FB links to the high standard of work ,,all for less than £500 !! We will be using him again in the future,   Bulgarian Property Finder have our complete trust for all future sales / purchases.

@georgewheelwright .

Wow , sounds like he did an excellent job for you for a very good fee .

May I ask where you have ended-up buying ? 

That c/o Agent you mentioned was rude to me and I know removed a couple of the properties I was interested in lower -priced one that all of a sudden became 'Sold ' then offering me things double plus and a huge amount of work to do before you could even move in and totally ignoring any questions I had ,

similar to your ones ....

I'm no expert on the BG housing market but i learned the vendors can have more than one agent selling their houses, we lost a couple that the vendors sold privately as well.Of course we had a few howlers included in the available lists but I guess different folks have different budgets and different skill levels as to what they are prepared to take on.As many will attest to the house is secondary its the area that is more important. We're 45 minutes from Vratsa, a beautiful medium sized city .We're remote enough but 10/15 minutes from a town of 12k ,shops builders merchants etc ,our nearesr small town a 10 min walk to the shops .Zack even looked into security to counter the usual Romany questions to find out the small town has cameras connected to the police station .I,m old school,sometimes typed messages online can be miss interpretated so I phoned him man to man which puts your mind at rest and just becomes better all round. Hope your search brings you what your after  cheers George.

@georgewheelwright

Yes , it's a bit of a minefield with one thing and another .

I think in the UK The Vendors are more open to stating property is with what we term as 'Multiple Agents ' and of course Sellers can also do the deal privately , once you've seen something and agree to take it off The Estate Agents and do the deal privately . Not so easy for us Brits to do this in Bulgaria , language barrier etc So we need to use an Agent and this is where it's good to know other ex-pats experiences . Also the fees seem to vary wildly , lots of Leva / Euros / Dollars  to be made for sure and with no regulations as to who can call themselves and Estate Agent / Property Broker ... Well done for finding someone who showed -willing and got the desired results .Can you let us know who was recommended on Facebook to put in the inside bathroom ? Thanks . 

Yes , it's a bit of a minefield with one thing and another .
I think in the UK The Vendors are more open to stating property is with what we term as 'Multiple Agents ' and of course Sellers can also do the deal privately , once you've seen something and agree to take it off The Estate Agents and do the deal privately .

That would be a real minefield to walk into in the UK if they find out! The T&Cs of all UK estate agents' contracts explicitly preclude clients from doing this; you'd, quite rightly, be sued for the estate agency's commission and expenses if you bought from a seller to whom they'd introduced you...

Generalisation is a bit dangerous: not all Brits/other foreigners have difficulties with the Bulgarian language. The fees situation is tricky because there's no control, so they basically make it up as they go along;  even if they have a written scale of charges there's always a "special deal" available if you squeeze them, or they think they might lose a deal.  It's certainly a lot better than it was 20 years ago but I prefer it when everything's up for negotiation once they realise that you know the ropes and aren't an easy touch.

@LoveActually Mate I think your off on a wrong one here. From where im standing it looks like you might just be another hopeful who ends up spitting the dummy a few months in. Ask yourself if your going to throw a wobbler the minute things dont go your way? Do you expect Bulgarians to make you feel like the big G when you rock up with ten large?

@georgewheelwright Good on you George! Finally dropped anchor near Vratsa myself this year and tell you what I could not be happier.  Im south of Vratsa on the way to Mezdra. Gorgeous bit of Bulgaria, if you ask me. Hope you find it as cracking as I do. 

@mickeyhart

Well just to let you know , I do have my head screwed-on and I have just put an offer in on something at a very good price with a highly recommended Agent , who a Bulgarian friend knows . I have four long-term Bulgarian friends , one in Lovech who is extremely helpful . None of them will let me get ripped-off if they can help it .

I have been looking to buy in Bulgarian since 2007 , infact I was going to go into an established business with a friends father , who had already got a Business Up and Running . ( his personal circumstances suddenly changed , this is why it didn't happen back then )   I am cute , blonde ,  but certainly not dumb by any means ... 

@JimJ

Yes , that's right The T's & C's with Uk Estate Agents , one has to tread carefully but I know a couple of people who bought privately after viewing with Estate Agents . Took the chance and it paid off . Long time ago but ...

Well everything certainly is up for negotiation in Bulgaria , that's for sure ...

Fingers-crossed I get the deal I want , just put an offer on , extremely good price with Pool ...

Following on from earlier discussion about spouses having rights to properties - this article on paperwork needed to sell a property  popped up in my inbox today: https://www.bulgarianproperties.com/Pro … _9619.html

As Jim said, others may have a claim on the property, regardless of whose name is on the notary paperwork.

@janemulberry

Thanks Jane .

This is something we must take into consideration .

I will take a look at it .

I will make a Bulgarian Will too , once I own properties .

As JimJ says , you never know and Sh*t happens sometimes .... 

@mickeyhart

Just to let you know , I turned down marriage  proposals from two millionaires 18 and 15 years ago . First one was a bf ( early retired Police Officer )  We remained friends for many years .

The other one while I was a client of his .

Both older . Second one much older . I am not a gold-digger , if I was I would have jumped at the chance back then but for a variety of reasons , I declined both offers of marriage and 1/2 of everything they had back then .

Incidentally , I have seen money in my life , a hell of a lot more than 10k , In my time on a personal level let alone what my family have achieved generations before or after me , including my own children and close relatives .

I am married to a European Citizen , son of very wealthy business people .

What I am doing is for myself and my husband who is 100 percent behind me . Although he has his own career and on a very good salary himself through his own hard work and efforts . He is an only child himself and set to inherit everything over here , in Germany , where I live for a while now .

Also doing it for my children from previous relationships ( Two . one long , long , long , ex husband and long long ex ). Towards their inheritance .

Although , my children are independent and all very successful in their own right ,

Through their own hard work and efforts .

Oldest one and her husband have fingers in several pies , including International businesses .

Middle one is IT Specialist .

Youngest age 26 now ,  was head of department age 23 . Has 12 people directly working under her .

So summing -up I am not an idiot or someone who fears change and cracks-up and runs if I break a fingernail .  I already have my business plans in my mind and intend to have them up and running in one way or another once I have the properties I want ...

Good on you@LA! Mickey made an unwarranted assumption there on no basis at all.

****

    Good on you@LA! Mickey made an unwarranted assumption there on no basis at all.
   

    -@janemulberry

Are you a gambling lady Jane? How about a cheeky wager on the dogs? 50 leva says loveactually will spit the dummy within three months of her one way ticket. If old muggins here is wrong I will put my hands up say sorry and chuck 50 leva to a Bulgarian dog charity. Dogs win either way so what do you say Jane?

You are on!  As you say, the dogs win a donation we probably would have made, anyway.

I think we need to define spit the dummy, though. As far as I know from what she's said here, @LoveActually isn't intending to make Bulgaria her permanent home, but to set something up for her adult children. A one-way ticket doesn't necessarily imply intent to stay, just an open-ended visit. So returning to Germany or wherever her permanent home is may be all part of the plan, not running away because Bulgaria wasn't what she expected.

And, um, pot and kettle comes to mind. Haven't you spat the Bulgarian dummy in the past yourself?

BTW, are you an Aussie? No Brit I've met has ever understood what I mean when I say spit the dummy!

@janemulberry

That's a mainly Ozzie expression, of course - but anyone with more than a single-digit complement of brain cells can immediately understand what it means....

@JimJ

LOL! So I must have met more than my fair share of Brits who didn't meet that requirement?

@janemulberry

It's a well known expression from my part of the UK! Used fairly frequently Jane 😆

    @JimJ
LOL! So I must have met more than my fair share of Brits who didn't meet that requirement?
   

@janemulberry

There's certainly no shortage of them, Jane....

@Jules999 this, and 'teddies out of the cot' in my area too. 😁

Obviously I've just been in the wrong part of Britain for the last 26 years!

@janemulberry

From what I read in the UK newspapers, ANY part of the country is the "wrong" part these days....

Sadly, "things ain't what they used to be." Though I think things already weren't what they used to be by the time I arrived in London from Australia in 1996, things have certainly gotten worse. You can't believe all you read in the newspapers though, either. There's no fact checking and even in the better news sources fake news seems to be far too common.

But this isn't fake news - our nice commuter belt town right on a county line has zero policing. Drugs are rife.  Shoplifting is brazen and public, because they know the shops can't stop them. Gangs of semi-feral traveller youths roam around periodically trashing shops, damaging cars and houses, and assaulting whoever they want. It's impossible to get to see a GP. There are dangerously long waits for an emergency ambulance. There are constant traffic jams in the town centre due to illegal parking and sheer weight of traffic.  The town has doubled in size, while public services have shrunk. The list goes on.

I doubt I'll spit the dummy at the challenges we'll face in Bulgaria after living here.  There will be challenges, big ones, especially  dealing with aging and illness there, and our finances. I hope our village is slowly growing again and isn't going to die, but it's a possibility it might. We'll have to deal with what comes.

That's appalling - sounds like a real Druggies' Paradise, Jane! 

I don't suppose I could PM you a shopping list of recreational pharmaceuticals you could bring over for me next time you come, could I?

LOL!!! Unfortunately I only see the drug deals go down, I don't participate in them.

@janemulberry

Tuck a couple of wadded-up teatowels in the inside pocket of your black leather jacket and pop your shades on, Jane.  Then just stroll down to where the deals go down and tell them that they're on your turf and that if you don't get a cut from every transaction, the people you work for will make their displeasure known - just like they did with the punks who used to have that pitch but who neglected to pay their "insurance premiums"...

@mickeyhart

We never did agree a definition. I think "spitting the dummy" in this case should be defined as becoming p*ssed off with Bulgaria, mouthing off, and then running away to another country.  Being p*ssed off with other forum members is not the same thing!

She's buying a Bulgarian house that's probably selling for more than yours and mine put together. And worth it, too, if it's the house I think it is.  I suspect your comments mean that as a matter of principle she won't let you guess if she spits the dummy the way I define it.

I think the mods would be wise to delete a number of posts in this thread, including mine! You're not doing yourself any favours commenting to or about other forum members as you've been. Yes, she's responding too, and I may not agree 100% with all she says either. But you began it.  Be man enough to stop now.

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