Bulgaria with Noodles

Our house in Kalotina, seen from the patio The big news is that we have found a buyer for our house in Kalotina! Well, we do not have the money in the bank yet, but it really does look as though the deal will go through. I am going to be meeting the chap who wants to buy it sometime in July and then we will sort out the paperwork and he will give me a substantial deposit.  Irena in action and in the kitchen When I mentioned that we were thinking of selling the house in Kalotina, I was a bit surprised by the reaction of many of our friends. Some of them thought that something awful must have happened and some of them were convinced that we were moving back to the UK! The terrace (and the water channel) Yes, it is hard to believe that we have a buyer. Of course, this means that we do not have to find an agent and that is very good news because some agents, such as Bulgarian Properties, will charge a hefty fee. The dining room, the scene of many happy (and deliciou...

Only five bedrooms and three bathrooms The big news is that we are seriously thinking about selling our house in Kalotina and buying another country house closer to Veliko Tarnovo. It has been a hard decision, as we both love our home in Kalotina that we bought sixteen years ago. We have put a lot of time and effort (and money!) into improving the house and of course we will not get back all of that cash when (and if!) we manage to sell it. A new bathroom, attic, a kitchen, a garage, a central heating system: I just do not know how much we have spent on our house over the years. Nice view, shame about the house. First we were very excited about a five-bedroomed house that was on sale for 79,000 euros. It was about 25km from VT. It was a little bit too big for us and the garden, nearly 1500 square metres, is a mess. Then I thought about a house up in the mountains. It was a lot cheaper, with an asking price of only 27,000 euros and the views really were splendid. The bad ne...

 Pancakes with Stefan & Poli My post about buying property in Bulgaria, Why buy BG , seems to have collected more "hits" than any of the other pages of my blog. In the interests of fairness, I am therefore going to write a few lines about why you should NOT buy a property in Bulgaria. I will try to be as objective as possible. Yes, I love my adopted land, but even a Bulgarophile like me has to admit that this country does have its downsides.  An abandoned house in Kalotina If you buy a property anywhere outside the capital, Sofia, then it is not going to appreciate in value. Silly Brits have this idea that buying a house is always a good idea because it must go up in value and this is not true in BG. A country house in Bulgaria is simply NOT a good investment. It will not go up in value and, if you do try to sell it, then you probably will not be able to get back what you paid for it. (That is, of course, assuming that you can find a buyer at all!)  The...

You will, I am sure, be glad to know that I am not an estate agent. Yes, I have done some silly things in my life, but I have never worked for a real estate company and no, I am not sponsored by the Bulgarian government. Go to the Med, turn right. Now the first question that many of you may have is this one: where is Bulgaria ? Well, it is tucked away in the south-eastern corner of Europe, bordering Serbia , Greece , Romania and Turkey . The capital is Sofia , which is in the western half of Bulgaria , and the second city is Plovdiv . To the east is the Black Sea coast and there are the ports of Burgas and Varna .  Veliko Tarnovo is more or less in the centre of Bulgaria and it was the old capital, before Sofia became the capital. Greece is just around the corner and there are overnight trains to Romania and to Turkey, so you can go to bed in Sofia and wake up in Bucharest or in Istanbul.   In Bulgaria , the main language that most people speak is –...