Did anyone consider Bulgaria?

[zeb]

Hi - someone suggested advertising French property for sale in Loot or on ebay so I had a look (don't want to sell, just being nosey) and couldn't actually find any on ebay (this seems a wee bit risky to me anyway) but spotted several homes for sale in Loot from under £10,000 in....Bulgaria!

This came up in conversation last night and I was told that Bulgaria is the new Dordogne!! Has anyone considered buying a house there? Now I thought moving abroad was for the love of a particular country, it's culture etc.etc but is it just for cheaper property? (But there again, maybe loads of folks have fallen in love with Bulgaria!)

.........er, where next?

regards....helen

 

[SaligoBay]

Where next?   As you say - wherever the houses are cheap!

I think "love of the country and its culture dahling" is often directly related to the cheapness of property and food. 

[Alexis]

Wasn't it all about Poland the other week in the Sunday Times?  £5000 for a little house.  My memory again ....

Must admit, sounds very nice.  Would love a little house by the sea.  Too expensive here.

[Teamedup]

Nah, moving here was just a little adventure for us.

And I've suggested to friends in the recent past that they seriously look at Hungary. As I pointed out after they had discussed perhaps buying in France that their knowledge of France is as limited as mine is of Hungary. Truth is that they know ***ger all about France. So in such ignorance, they could try anywhere really and maybe magyar is easier to learn than french, I can't imagine that it would be harder.

[Mpprh]

Hi

Sorry to say but Hungarian, along with Finnish is incredibly difficult to learn.

When the wall came down I worked there a few times. As the second language was Russian it was a struggle !

Peter

[Teamedup]

Strangely since getting to grips with french, when I hear russian speakers now, I can actually pick out odd words these days. I have no way of telling how hard it would be to learn bulgarian or 'hungarian'. All I know is that having no gift for languages what so ever, french was very very hard for me.

[zeb]

.....and me TU! Will I be fluent in 20 years time?

regards.........helen

[David584]

Since seeing this topic I undertook some research on the Internet.

The main problem with purchasing property in Bulgaria is this.

Foreigners i.e the likes of you and I, can purchase the building BUT we are NOT allowed to purchase the land that goes with it (and I am presuming the footprint upon which the building stands).
In order to get around the problem, any foreigner wishing to buy a property has to set up a company in Bulgaria and then purchase the land through the company name.
On the estate agent's site that I looked at, they offered the services of their company to purchase the land.
My immediate thought was that the estate agency would then actually own the land in name and I for one, would not be very happy with that idea.

Yes property is cheap in Bulgaria, but there again there are always pitfalls when wishing to relocate outside the UK.

 

[BJSLIV]

There are inumerable places in the world where property is cheap, including a few in the UK. However why anybody would choose to relocate there solely because of the price of real estate escapes me.

[Teejay]

[quote]HiSorry to say but Hungarian, along with Finnish is incredibly difficult to learn.When the wall came down I worked there a few times. As the second language was Russian it was a struggle !Peter[/quote]

Spot on, Mpprh.  My husband said he would never choose to live in a country where he couldn't speak the language, cheap property or not.  That of course leaves me no option but to learn French pretty damn quickly.

Frankly it's unrealistic to imagine living in a strange country without language skills and Slavonic languages, as you say, are difficult to learn.

[Evianers]

Funny, did no-one see the programme on BBC2 Wednesday evening about young entrepreneurs buying to let in Eastern Europe, especially in Prague and Bulgaria? They have been priced out of the local market it seems: must be beset with problems. The last shot was of a development in Shanghai!

[Miki]

BJ said :There are inumerable places in the world where property is cheap, including a few in the UK. However why anybody would choose to relocate there solely because of the price of real estate escapes me.

Teejay said: Frankly it's unrealistic to imagine living in a strange country without language skills and Slavonic languages, as you say, are difficult to learn.

I am not aiming this posting at you BJ or Teejay.

I have to say that the above statements corresponds to many thousands of Brits living in Europe. At a rough count I would guess that tens of thousands of expats do just that, in many countries, Spain, Italy and France to name just 3.

As far as I am concerned, I could count on one, possibly two hands, the number of Brits I know (or have known)who speak what might be thought of as fluent French here in France, French nationals excluded of course !!  

[Alexis]

I will admit to speaking rubbish French in my eyes but I am fluent.  But I speak it 24 hours a day as OH doesn't speak Hingerlish.

Miki, all you need to do in these foreign parts is speak SLOWLY and LOUDLY.  As you no doubt already know

Oh, waving your hands or pointing helps too.  It will be no problem for me in Poland/Bulgaria.

[Miki]

[quote]I will admit to speaking rubbish French in my eyes but I am fluent. But I speak it 24 hours a day as OH doesn't speak Hingerlish. Miki, all you need to do in these foreign parts is speak SLOWLY and ...[/quote]

That's me to a T.

Who grassed me up Alexis?

Chicken is; flap the arms about and cluck, Pork is a simple gallic snort, beef is a mooing sound, that's international parlee in any language, wee?

As someone once said (it might even have been me   "I speak great French, it's just that it's not the French that people around here are used to"  

 

[Teejay]

[quote]BJ said : There are inumerable places in the world where property is cheap, including a few in the UK. However why anybody would choose to relocate there solely because of the price of real estate ...[/quote]

I take your point Miki. 

As far as I am concerned, I could count on one, possibly two hands, the number of Brits I know (or have known)who speak what might be thought of as fluent French here in France, French nationals excluded of course !!  

However in our village out of eleven foreigners, four speak fluent French ( I do know the difference between fluency and OK).  Three of them are British.  One of the three has made a very adequate career for herself teaching English to French students.  Of the three Germans, semi residents, one speaks French and English fluently.   Three of the Brits, including myself, take French lessons regularly.

The British people I have been introduced to recently in out local town speak the language very well. In fact I have been very impressed by the capabilities of many of them to master the language.  Several were fluent before they arrived.  With the exception of a few, most are making a real effort to learn by attending various classes.  Hats off to them, I say.   If they are Dutch they speak at least three languages.

I believe the future looks bright. 

[Fontremy]

If you're looking for an investment property (as opposed to somewhere to relocate) Bulgaria looks a good option. I've done quite a bit of research although I haven't got round to going there yet. Positives include becoming a member of the EU in 2007, a fast expanding holiday market (the Black Sea coast is sandy and warm and Thomson Holidays completes the set of British holiday companies doing business there next year), historic towns and cities, ski resorts etc. A meal can be had for under £5 and beer is 40p. It basically depends what you are looking for.

You can buy off plan and not worry about the land ownership issue. A very good new 2 bed flat right on the sea front will cost between £50,000 and £75,000 with shared pool, tennis court etc. Imagine what that would cost in Spain.

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

I agree that if I moved to France it would be through love of the country. I fell in love with France way before I could understand the difference between the price of property, booze etc here and there, but at a time when I was old enought realise that - at that time - chocolate, drinks etc were very expensive in France. So it is definitely the country and not prices. Although I do wish I'd been in a position to buy property in France a few years ago when it was cheap.

On another aspect of this topic, I was talking to a man a few weeks ago, who said his brother was buying vast amounts of farming land in Poland. He is involved in farming apparently, but he was talking about problems with the EEC and farming and reckons that there is farming land in Poland to be snapped up for next to nothing, which will be worth millions in a few years. This is just hearsay - not something I could verify.

[Teejay]

[quote]I take your point Miki. As far as I am concerned, I could count on one, possibly two hands, the number of Brits I know (or have known)who speak what might be thought of as fluent French here in Fr...[/quote]

The British people I have been introduced to recently in out local town speak the language very well. In fact I have been very impressed by the capabilities of many of them to master the language.   Sorry that should have read ability not capabilities.  Fatigue setting in at the time after discussion of renovations.

Bringing the topic back on line, I believe the choice to move abroad, be it France or where ever, are more to do with lifestyle decisions.  Trends, if you like.

Buying land in an Eastern European country is a business arrangement as long as you understand the risk factor.  Having a holiday apartment is no doubt bought for pleasure and possible profit.  Choosing to live permanently in one of these countries is a completely different matter especially if you don't speak the lingo.   How can one compare like with like? 

 

[Miki]

Bringing the topic back on line, I believe the choice to move abroad, be it France or where ever, are more to do with lifestyle decisions.  Trends, if you like

Teejay,

I read a litttle while back that ownership abroad is indeed now a trend, following in the footsteps of a Gucci bag or a Burberry raincoat. No longer wanting to be the odd one out at the dinner soiree, it seems the topic is more likely to be "and whereabouts is your second home dahling"

From someone who missed out on the boom in house prices in West London, bah humbug !!  

[Martinemj]

i have also done research on bulgarian property and will buy a place in the next 12 months .

as an investment which can only increase with the amount of foreigners buying into the country and also their own inward investment of the ifastructure ,all before their joining the eu in 2007 (no guarentee)

people are drawn to these lower cost areas as they can buy the place with savings as apposed to mortgages (10-12% apr in bulgaria)

mabey we will soon see living bulgaria !

[Alexis]

£50,000?  Bloody hell, the one's I saw were for £5,000!  I will have to investigate further.  Shame that I always pass the paper on.  Will try their site to verify the country I was reading about.  Yes, know I will be chucked off!