Bulgaria with Noodles

So many nice nature walks around VT... and Bulgaria in general! Even if you are looking at properties that are fairly close to each other, you probably cannot see more than three or four in one day. That would be my guess, if we are talking about country properties. Both to explore / look around / soak in the feel of the places... and to do serious property hunting. We likely won't be buying while we are there, as we won't have enough time to get everything checked properly... unless the perfect property falls into place! Yeah, driving around the mountains everywhere isn't going to make a lot of viewing possible Well, if you really like something, then you make an offer. If that offer is accepted by the vendor, then you proceed to the first or preliminary contract. The initial contract means that you put down a deposit (usually 10%) and the vendor takes the property off the market. He is not allowed to sell it to anyone else and you are not allowed to back out of th...

Lunch with the in-laws I am not quite sure why I married a Russian lady. It was just one of those things that happened. I remember reading War and Peace when I was about 12. At Oxford, in my final year, I lived in the House of St Gregory and St Macrina and there was a sprinkling of Russian Orthodox.  It was a few years ago, the summer of 2018, when I was last in the Crimea. After we left China, Irena said that I must go and see all of my in-laws and I said okay. When will I see them again? It has been more than four years since Irena saw any of her family and no one knows when this war with Ukraine will come to an end. Yes, she can talk to them over the Internet, but maybe for not much longer. The Russian government is trying to promote Max, their homegrown alternative to Skype, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. In Simferopol, with Yevgenny, my brother-in-law My wife and I do not talk about politics. There is absolutely no point in discussing “the special military operation”. Ire...

Yes, you could go to a nice village and speak to the kermit (assuming that he or she speaks English) and ask, "Are there any properties for sale in your municipality?" The kermit might know some, but finding the kermit is not always easy. Different properties might be for sale through different agents, so you will have lots of different headches. (Some people spell it "khmet", not kermit, and he probably does not have a girl-friend called Miss Piggy.) Don't get me wrong. Some estate agents in Bulgaria are AWFUL. We have bought three different properties, so we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Yeah, I know there's a lot of variance in the quality of agents. The biggest issue I've found is that, when you need to buy a lower priced house in particular, I really have no choice but to look at properties from multiple agencies to have enough options to work with. We need to find our forever home, not just one of multiple properties we will own. Un...

Quite a lot of people contact me, as they are interested in buying a property and moving to Bulgaria. Here is part of a long chat I had with Josh, from British Columbia. My comments are in italics, as usual. Alas, I cannot take the credit for the photos. I found these lovely photos of VT on the Internet and I thought that I must include them somewhere in my blog. .................................................................... Maybe you have done quite a lot of research about Bulgaria, but even if you I have would definitely recommend Susan Ashwell's lovely BG-related YouTube videos, "Escape to a simpler place and time". The Yantra Homes property website should give you a good idea of what sort of properties are available and how much you might pay for them. give you a good idea of what sort of properties are available and how much you might pay for them. Oh yes, I watch her videos. I have also exchanged emails with her and I will likely be using Jeff's servic...