Looking for the right area to buy

[Sunshade]

Sell Overseas Property

Hi
I wonder if anybody could give me some advice. I have started to look at properties and the areas we seem to like are in, Veilko Turnovo, Rousse, and Yambol in the south. Could anyone tell me what the communitys and environments are like. We are used to living in rural areas with little amenities as we have 4 dogs who are happy to have enough space to run around.We did live in the Alpujarras for three years, which as you can imagine was quite hard.
What we are wanting to do is move ASAP, from Thailand even if we don't sell the property so as much advice as possible would be so helpful to us. As we will be renting on arrival in the chosen area if poss.
Cheers everyone Di

[DANNIA]

Sell Overseas Property

Hi Di
Welcome to the forum
We have been living in a very popular village (with Brits and Bg's alike) near Yambol, since Dec 2006.
I kept a diary of our move here and the first year, which you might find helpful, and we are still here now despite the difficulties we all seem to be faced (with builders mostly) we enjoy our new life here.

The region is very rural, but the town of Yambol, though not as pretty as some, has all that you need with some of the bigger stores arriving recently in the town.

The area is not built up with big villages and towns, and is mainly rolling hills which is great for walking and cycling as pretty much flat (apart from the rolling hills) but where we are we do have very good views of the Stara Planina mountains and the old Monastery hills, and there are plenty of forests, lakes, nature reserves and local historical sites.
We are 2 hours from Greece, 1 from Turkey, and 1 and a half from Bourgas airport and the sea.
We walk our dog everyday through the sunflower fields and don't usually see a soul, apart from the odd donkey and cart occasionally.

The community is one where everyone knows everyone and everyone's business.
The people are very friendly and nosey, but helpful most of the time, they can be as frustrating as they are fantastic.
They are very proud of their history and they celebrate everything with great energy and passion, which is wonderful for us to be part of.
They mostly live off the land, and there is a kind of local bartering system going on, we did grow our own veggies last year, but we seem to be given more than we grow.

I am sure you will be able to arm yourself with enough information from the site, but if you want to ask me anything at all don't hesitate.

Enjoy the forum

Nikki

[fredatinsch]

Sell Overseas Property

Hi Di, you could do no better than to trawl this site via the different forums.
Lots of people post about their village or area good and bad, there are disscusions on the state of the roads through to what grows best and where.
All villages or area's have their good and bad points, it really depends on what your want list consists of. The towns you have chosen are really lovely parts of Bulgaria, there are many more though! I live in a village called Mindya, just some twenty minutes from Veliko Turnovo. Beautiful place.
As Nikki has said if you would like to ask anything in particular, I will answer best I can or point you in the right direction(hopefully!) What part of Thailand are you living, my husbands son lives there, we loved it, but too hot and humid ALL the time for us, hence Bulgaria.
Nice speaking to yoy - good luck
Frieda.

[leedarkwood]

Sell Overseas Property

As I have said before we based our move on climate and the summer and winter extremes of temperature. It all depends on what is important for you. Our area is a lot more expensive then the north or the central plains but we have the mild climate we prefer.

[B52]

Sell Overseas Property

If you are not interested in purchasing as an investment then where you live could be entirely subjective and the prejudices of those who live here and/or have properties here are not necessarily going to be of much help, unless you can define exactly what it is you are looking for.

If you are like us, estate agents’ worst nightmares as we will “know it when we see it”, then without spending some time here and experiencing what the various regions and micro-climates have to offer, you have a difficult time ahead. Having said that, we didn’t use that approach and, fortunately, in some respects, hit lucky property-wise.

I notice you intend renting in your chosen area. Why not move around while you are here and experience all three areas before you choose?

Think of how you have chosen previous locations where you have lived and what you did right and things you could have done better and then try and use that information to formulate an approach to purchasing here.

As far as the three areas that you have chosen are concerned, just by their location, I could probably list several positives and negatives associated with each of them, even though I know none of them very well. However, whether they would coincide with your requirements or not is another matter.

Bear in mind that the population is approx 1/8th that of the UK and the area is half the size so you obviously find lots of sparsely populated areas. Thailand is half as densely populated as the UK so, again, you’ll find lots of room in Bulgaria, relatively.

We are in a rural area, 5 mins from a fairly large town, 20 mins drive to Varna, 30 mins to the coast and almost on top of the main Sofia-Varna highway, which enables easy access to Romania and Serbia and a reasonable back road system takes us to Bourgas and south and south-east Bulgaria. If you want any information, PM us.

Good luck with your search.

[jinx57]

Sell Overseas Property

Hi Di - where to buy is a huge question - differrent strokes for different strokes

from your post of liking VT area and also liking Yambol ..... have you given Sliven a look? North of Yambol, at the foot of the mountains and a lovely town - pastel coloured buildings in a large pedestrian area - really beautiful and an excellent shopping centre and not full of tourists as VT can be.

As for living, how about having a look at the villages north west of Sliven? This will take you into the mountains and high open plains. Borev Dol, Balya, Strupets and around there. For less remote living, north east of Sliven is the Bulgarian Revival area of Tjeravna, Medven, Katinushta, Gradets leading up to Kotel. This area is nearer the coast, still in the mountains but not as high as north west of Sliven. Easier for the coast tho' and airports of Burgas & Varna. Yambol is accessible - a lovely town with Turkish influence and a large mosque. Yambol is cost effective living in comparison to Elhovo, further south towards the Turkish border.

Just about all of rural BG is lovely - good luck with your search.

[izitbcoziizblack]

Sell Overseas Property

I would suggest somewhere near to Plovdiv, there are villages in the foot of the Rodopi mountains, or North there are villages in the foot of the Stara Planina mountains. This way you will be in the centre of BG and it will make it easier for you to exspolre all the areas and see for yourself. There is a village called Medovo 45 km north of Varna which is perfect location for walking and bicycling, the mountains are 10 minutes away, there are many many lakes for walking and fishing and the river Trundja is only 10 minutes away. I will bet a pound to a penny you dont buy a house far away!!!

[scasparz]

Sell Overseas Property

Here it goes:

* As far as possible from environmentally affected areas, as they may lead to health issues. This includes that prevailing winds should not be blowing from environmentally affected areas. It appears pollution is a bit widespread in Bulgaria.
* Micro-climate, as pointed by Lee, as it may affect drastically the quality of life for the residents.
* Not too close to the coast, as this could make it relatively more expensive to buy. For instance Varna is probably the most beautiful Bulgarian city, yet properties there are not on the cheap side. Also not too close to touristic places for the same reason.
* Mountains are beautiful, yet I would expect that winter may be longer there. A hill is preferable though.
* A village but not far from an urban centre with some adequate amenities.
* Not far from the Greek borders, so that I could take benefit from the best both countries can offer.
* Availability of internet infrastructure, to have something for the long winters.
* Availability of Britons around, living permanently. I do not disregard the locals, but currently I cannot speak their language.
* Availability of a nearby railway station.

Any thoughts, even preferably objections will be welcomed.

cheers mates

[B52]

Sell Overseas Property

scasparz...

As far as possible from environmentally affected areas, as they may lead to health issues. This includes that prevailing winds should not be blowing from environmentally affected areas. It appears pollution is a bit widespread in Bulgaria.

No pollution here.

Micro-climate, as pointed by Lee, as it may affect drastically the quality of life for the residents.

Mild in winter, warm in summer. Based on one winter and two summers.

Not too close to the coast, as this could make it relatively more expensive to buy. For instance Varna is probably the most beautiful Bulgarian city, yet properties there are not on the cheap side. Also not too close to touristic places for the same reason.

30 minutes from coast.

Mountains are beautiful, yet I would expect that winter may be longer there. A hill is preferable though.

Lots of hills around, Provadia sits on a valley floor at the bottom of a broken 200m plateau. We are at the far end of the “valley”, away from Provadia. The resultant scenery is great.

A village but not far from an urban centre with some adequate amenities.

Village with basic amenities. Five minutes drive from Provadia, 20 minutes drive from Varna, 30 mins Shumen. We have power cuts but not often and over 95% are less than 10 secs We have had very few that lasted more than one hour. We have negligible water cuts.

Not far from the Greek borders, so that I could take benefit from the best both countries can offer.

Ah well, can’t have everything.. 200km, as the crow flies, to Greek border (470 km atcf to Thessalonika), 150km atcf to Turkish border, 80km atcf from Romania.

Availability of internet infrastructure, to have something for the long winters.

It’s available. Mobile technology, just like most of BG. Also, Bulsatcom for TV.

Availability of Britons around, living permanently. I do not disregard the locals, but currently I cannot speak their language.

We are only permanent residents in the village. However, many in Provadia area generally.

Availability of a nearby railway station.

Station at Provadia which has excellent rail links, also good bus links. Airports, Varna, Bourgas, Constanta, Bucharest in easy driving distance.

[max]

Sell Overseas Property

Hi Di, I'm sure your post will get you lots of info, but as you'll see, there's no substitute for getting yourself out here.........you mention 3 areas, 2 of which I wouldn't live in if you paid me and yet I know people who live there who are absolutely delighted with their choice!

This is the beauty of Bulgaria, there's lots of very different places in quite a small area, so there's something for all tastes but be prepared for a Grand Tour of the country