Buying property in Bulgaria

We were going to ~Black Sea but settled in ~Yambol region and coast only a hour away. Weather better in winter very mild this year I was working in T-shirt most of January but it gets very cold on some days and at night. Coast is deserted in winter due to cold winds.

I bought a very good 3 bed house in 2000 sq m of land which needs minor renovation for under 5000 GBP. Found it myself and Paid a very reliable estate agent BRE Yambol to oversee the sale. No problems.
We came over in August to test wether we liked it or not staying in rental accommodation and bought after a couple of months as we love it here. Look for Bulgarianrealestate Yambol on facebook and speak to them.

Thanks for the info Frank! I had a quick look at Yambol and some properties available and it looks a little remote for us - very few properties were listed as having internet or utilities etc. Climate sounds good though...

Hi Natalie,

I would just like to add that we bought in the Yambol region and couldn't be happier with our choice. We have been here over five years now and used our (pre-renovation) home as a holiday home for four years, prior to making the leap! Yambol is not at all remote, and the town itself has recently undergone a programme of modernisation to the pedestrianised areas, and looks amazing ( EU funded ) It boasts many restaurants, pizzerias and also a new Chinese restaurant. It has a little cinema, showing many of the latest box office films, so English dialect, with Bulgarian subtitles. Over the river Tunzhda there is a fabulous large park, with rose gardens, amazing sculptures & ponds etc. It regularly holds beer festivals and pop bands etc . Properties in Yambol itself are expensive though, but in the surrounding villages, as Frank has said, bargains can be had.
We live in Simeonovo which is a lovely village, just 9 miles away from Yambol, and is continuing to be invested in. Since our arrival, there has been a hotel built on the edge of it! It's open all year round, has a restaurant and two large outdoor pools. It's open to non residents and is great for a swim to cool down during the hot summers, they have a snack bar and also do cocktails. www.villatrakia.bg if you wanted to take a look. It brings many visitors during the summer.
We have great fibre optic internet here too, and a couple of bars, post office and shop that sells just about everything!

Another thing about the Yambol region, as Frank has said we're only an hour or thereabouts from the coast and therefore close to Bourgas airport,  and our proximity to the other airports that we use are within reach : Plovdiv 2hrs away and Sofia 3 1/2 hrs. We mostly use Bourgas for picking family up in the summer, but Sofia does flights from the Uk all year round and Plovdiv does Ryanair flights.

The good thing about buying property in Bulgaria now, is that you no longer need to form a company, which simplifies the process and there is an excellent notary / translator in Yambol who can help with all the legalities.

You are in a very good position, and the best way to find a place is to visit the areas and ask the locals and mayor to help you. You will not find all the available properties on the internet, as many houses are left to the children, who have often moved out to the towns and cities for work, and abandon the village properties. Word of mouth is your best bet.

If you need any further info I'll  be happy to hep.

Hi Jules and Frank,

Thank you both for info on Yambol and the surrounding areas. We’ve done a little more research and it seems our first impressions of the area weren’t quite accurate. It’s now definitely on our list of places to check out.  Frank - your point regarding the climate has given us food for thought as we’d prefer warmer weather. We’ll follow up the links you gave us.

We wondered if you had any thoughts on the other questions we asked? Like Jules we plan it it being a holiday home for a few years before any plans to move permanently so we’re slightly concerned about crime if the house is unoccupied for the majority of the year. We’re also not sure whether to target an up-together house (preferably with a pool) now or to renovate / add a pool later. Our preference would be to buy it all ready done but it depends on how risky this would be if it’s left unused for half the year.

We very grateful for both of your help and the info you’re giving us - it’s incredibly helpful

Thanks,
Natalie

Hi Natalie,
I think that when buying your property, you should give consideration to how close your neighbors are, as these will be your greatest allies in ensuring that there are no undesirables targeting your property, particularly if they or others have to walk past your property every day etc. I think it will always be more risky buying property that attracts attention , while you are not there as it will give the impression that you have items of value within, even if this is not the case. There are other threads on here, where people have gone into detail about the crime risks and options such as CCTV and registering the property with a security company who will periodically inspect it etc etc so you may find assistance on that topic there.
One piece of advice that I would give is that you don't really need a house that is too big, we bought a small place (bungalow ) and turned it into a large house and converted outbuildings too. During the long hot summers you are outdoors and during the winters, you want somewhere small to heat! We are now living downstairs during the colder months, and have made changes with the addition of extra doors etc as open plan doesn't really work here. You will find that you won't know what works, until you have gone through an entire season here. And even then, an exceptionally cold winter might catch you out! Living here, really is very different to U.K. living with the weather extremes, you only have to look at what it does to the roads, ha ha- having said that, I still have no desire to return to U.K.living.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread I'm looking to come to Bulgaria I have to dogs which I'll be fetching with me I'm going to be in a very tight budget of 12.000 to buy something livable but need decorating etc as I'm handy

Others are doing a great job of talking about areas, so I won't bore you with my opinions! :-)

But some quick comments on a couple of points:

1. There is good internet (and mobile coverage) nearly everywhere, so I don't think comms is a limiting factor. My village house has fiber internet to my router, so I have 70mbps wifi for 20 leva/month.

2/4. I think renting is a pain here, especially if you are living mostly abroad. If you buy a village house (which many Brits do), I would say there is very little rental demand for these. It's a gross generalization, but folks buy cheap village houses, or rent LT in the cities, and ST in the seasonal resorts.

6. After Brexit, us Brits have a harder job getting residence. Easy if you have a pension, but otherwise can be tricky. So if you have (or soon will have) a pension, you can relax. Or, if you're happy with just doing visa-free visits (up to 90 in 180) until 66, that's cool too. If you want to be self-employed, or employed, or run a business... then a bit of investigation is required. It's very unfortunate that Bulgaria doesn't have the equivalent of Spain's very popular "no lucrativa" residence visa.