Canada Calling, Part 2

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. Unfortunately, we have limited funds we have salvaged from a failed property/business venture in Spain. Not a lot of wiggle room. Thus why was trying to source out a buyer representative to help weed out the fraudsters, gather further information on extremely lacking listings, and coordinate viewings. It's not going smoothly. Haha!

Well, you might decide to buy what is euphemistically called "a renovation project". Some of these should really be called "a demolition project" because they are wrecks, ruins. However, you should be able to find something with potential for 15 or maybe 20 thousand euros. Spend another ten, and you will have a really lovely house! 

Of course, location has a big effect on price. If you want something super-cheap, then you might need to look further away from VT. Forget about something 10 or 15 kms from VT. 70 or 80 kms might be more realistic.

This house near Dryanovo was recently for sale for 28,000 euros. This might be the sort of thing that you are looking for.

That's pretty much exactly what we are looking for. We know that the condition can be bad for some of them, so we will definitely get surveys done on our final short list. We will likely work with Jeff Ashwell (Susan's hubby) for this. Need to make sure the renovations can be done for 10-20k. We can do a lot of the work as well (the not specialized stuff).

This property was for sale in Pavlikeni for 34,000 euros, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, it's best if we stick to the 25k or lower mark, but we will likely have some time to gather more funds while we wait for my wife's German passport to get sorted. I know that making a lower offer can sometimes be an option.

What you DON'T want is to buy something and then find out that you are going to have to spend a lot more on renovations. 5,000 or 10,000 euros is probably okay, but 20,000 or 30,000 definitely isn't!

Yes, you can put in a lower offer. However, it might be a property that you really like and therefore the best thing is to snap it up asap. We did not bother haggling for our first house because we liked it so much!

A good agent will be able to give you advice on what sort of offers to make. If the property has been on the market for a long time, then a lower offer might be accepted.

That's my understanding. Sometimes it is better to pay a bigger initial price, rather than buying a property for a lower price and then have the cost (and the hassle) of repairs...

The bottoms of our columns were rotting! The previous owner put concrete around them and of course that made it worse!

The new ones look great, but the whole thing cost us 3,500 euros.

Our new garden fence looks great, but it was not cheap.

The old wooden one was always falling down.

Yes, totally agree... finding that balance between price and the amount of money it will take to renovate is super important. We definitely won't buy without the survey, to ensure we don't get stuck with a lemon! I did some research, so I have a decent idea of what to look for to see damp issues and rot. We need to be leery of houses that have been sitting empty for decades with failing roofs and improper drainage.

I am sure that Susan's husband will charge a fee, as well as travel costs, but my guess is that would be money well spent.

It's nice to grow your own food. Well, some of it.

Yeah, there are fees involved, but I think it's important to ensure we don't get ourselves into a dream-crushing situation, where we realize we need to tear down or redo the foundations or replace the entire roof and joists and everything. Super scary.

Nice looking garden!

I'm also stoked for the farmer's markets!

Anyway, I have to take my orders from The Boss, aka my dear sweet wife, but it looks as though we will be moving back to Daveri in March. However, VT is not too far away and we often go into VT for some serious shopping, maybe once a week or so.

We will also be coming to Elena on our trip!

It would be good to see you in Daveri, if you would like to visit us there, or else we could meet in Elena or perhaps in VT.

There is quite a good place for lunch in Elena.

We would love any of the above!

I will touch base closer to, and we can figure something out. I appreciate all the advice!

Gotta love some giant meatballs! It looks lovely.

Bulgarians are serious meat-eaters, but they do eat veggies as well.

Haha! My kinda people.

This is the first house we bought in Bulgaria, more than twenty years ago.

I love how lush it is in the mountains.

This lake was about five minutes’ walk from our house.

Not the same dog! This was our fox terrier, Zoika.

Where was your first house?

Our first house was about 50 kms north of Sofia. We sold it about six years ago, just before we bought the house in Daveri.

I have just come back from Sveta Gora, which is a big park on the edge of VT. It is a huge hill, covered in forest, and there are lovely views over the city. Our naughty little doggie loves Sveta Gora.

What's your JRT's name? Looks like a lovely day!

Tina is our very naughty dog.

Haha!

Well, these are actually some old photos!