Hi Philip. I'd be interested to know what you are planning to do and what part of Bulgaria you are looking at. If you want to chat privately, please email me at oresh-bg@smartserve.net. Thanks. Brian
Hello Ezza My friend Colin loves it there and now his daughter has gone to live in his house and help to do it up. He is about to go back there for the 4th or 5th time this year and see how his daughter is getting on and I have asked him to take some video while he is there.
I see you live a few hours drive west of Svishtov but also near the Danube. I would like to visit more places when we can travel again. Thanks for your comments.
Hi Sonia I didn't get to do anything in 2018 and we concentrated on my friend Colin's house in the same village. He is out there now and I have asked him to take video of his house. In the meantime I have put together a recap of what happened since I bought my house. This is available on this channel under "Bulgaria Oresh house recap" Thanks for your interest.
Hi bri I lived in Chester well saughall....like your photography bloke Colin....been looking at houses in Bulgaria on eBay and there are some wreaks and some GRT looking places....
Colin and I just flew back from BG tonight and have just driven back to Chester. A property came up for sale yesterday while we were in Oresh. It's two bungalows on one plot for 8000 leva (about £3600). The guy who is selling it is from the Wirral and he flies back to the UK on Thursday. He has bought a house in a road where two other English people live. These people are all in Oresh and that's where we know best, but other people from the UK we know moved elsewhere, such as Pavlakeni. The common theme is we are all fed up with rip-off Britain and want a better lifestyle.
Are you the person we met in Morrisons cafe? If you did send me an email I didn't get it. Hope to keep in touch. Our new favourite restaurant in Svishtov is Svoboda and there are pictures of it in my next video.
Im from Romania and i like Bulgaria a lot ,but anyway i wonder how did you choose Bg and not Romania as the letters are easier to read and the houses and places the same.
In 2005/6 I invested in off-plan property in Bulgaria and Romania but in 2008 the Global Financial Crash happened and the Romanian builder went bankrupt. The Bulgarian developer survives to this day but my credit line was cut-off when the crash happened and I couldn't complete the payments. It was while I was in Bulgaria on a coach trip to the Blue mountains that I noticed all these run-down and abandoned houses and started to ask questions. And that's how I was introduced to a different type of property that was much more affordable. I always stay in Svishtov when I visit Bulgaria and from there we can see Romania across the river. Apparently there is a ferry that goes across but I have never seen it. I have had a Romanian tenant in one of my flats in the UK and chatted with him at the time. I have always wanted to go and visit and there are flights from Liverpool to Bucharest that I was going to try when the pandemic is over. I really have no bias over which country I go to and I have an apartment in Spain and tried to invest in Morocco way back but that project failed in the GFC too. I hadn't thought about which alphabet Romania uses but I would have found that out when I got there. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can travel again!
@@BrianSmart Bucharest which i live in and the south of Romania are not much to see,instead i recommend Cluj,Brasov ,the Danube Delta which is unique in Europe .
Is there a shortage of decent quality sawn wood, paint and cement in Bulgaria? And where have the bulgarians gone that there are so many "spare" homes needing people?
There doesn't seem to be a shortage of materials but you will need a car or van to travel a few miles to get to decent DIY stores. Or use someone who will do that for you. The sawmill is quite nearby and you are best to buy when the timber is at its best/cheapest. If you need it straight away you may pay more. It literally comes from nearby forests and has to dry out. The communists gave every family unit a free home, and they got to keep them when the regime ended. So every generation of every family had a house. When people died, who were they going to sell them to? Why the Brits of course, and any other foreign nationals that wanted one. And although we only pay a few thousand pounds for them, they think it's a lot of money. At first they didn't understand why we would want to pay that, but now it's widely known that we will, so we are very welcome in the villages. That's my take on it anyway.
That's a big subject and I know a few people who have been offered properties at far too high a price for what they are. The best approach is to get to know people in the area you want to buy in and develop a trust relationship before you start. I am happy to help and if you let me know your requirements and what area you are looking in, I will see if I already have contacts there. The village of Oresh where we have bought has quite a few English people there and that is increasing all the time. If you want to talk about this privately feel free to email me at oresh-bg@smartserve.net.
That was years ago when he moved to Bulgaria with all his English stuff. He later said that was a mistake. Yet in a recent Smartabout video you will see he did it again in a house he was renovating for some ladies that are moving from south Wales. I guess they said they had a lot of UK appliances to bring over too! My own solution was to fit a UK 13A 6 outlet socket board with a European plug and just plug it in. Eventually you replace all the UK stuff and then what do you do with all the wrong sockets?
@@BrianSmart Thank you, very informative, although I once nearly got fried doing that, I used my keys to push the earth pin and insert the european socket & it threw a spark shock at my keys and melted some parts of them and my metal flash drive. To this day I don't know how I didn't get shocked.
@@eminem2 Lucky escape! I just cut off the 13A plug from the adaptor block and fitted a European mains plug so I could plug it in safely. One euro plug delivering 6x 13A sockets....
I agree. We have to leave one wall in place for it to be a renovation otherwise fresh planning permission is needed. However, there is no good access to the site and it may be impossible to bring in materials and machines. Not sure what to do now but lockdown has put the matter on hold. Brian
At current exchange rates that's about 26,000 Bulgarian lev. The pre-refurbished houses that we show cost between 5000 and 10000 lev so you would have plenty left to do them up. There is a video posted recently on this channel showing a plot with two bungalows for about 8000 lev if you want to see an example.
Your house gives new perspective to open floor plan and unobtrusive views, quite literally, lol. Judging by Davys house Bulgaria does not promote spay and neuter.
Indeed! Some of my friends say I cannot even refer to it as a house as there's not enough left standing to warrant the term. I have started work on the side extension so that will be like a small bungalow soon. If you have a look at the conversations I have had with Elitza on this page, she is involved in animal rescue and has some interesting perspective on the cat situation. Davey has been overwhelmed by all the strays dumped on his doorstep but he is not able to take on any role other than trying to feed them all. It is a shame that animals are seen as creatures that have to work to earn their keep in these poorer countries, but these people cannot afford the luxury of pets.
From my perspective it's a joy to be in a country where life is still simple and straightforward and people have real values. But I am old and I know that Bulgaria's young people leave the country as soon as they can to live in a modern, busy and over-crowded world elsewhere. Bulgaria needs new, young blood but it's difficult to see where that is going to come from.
IDE have to say the government has to support young professional families financially to live a good life there and the roots will settle the future for Bulgaria. Also Gov has to creat some primary industry.
I am afraid we have no American perspective on this and don't really know what a trailer park is like. But in the UK caravan living is expensive. If you buy a mobile home it will cost you a good £30-40,000 and your annual site fees will likely be around £4000 a year. Every year. Till death do you part - plus inflation year on year. For £4000 you can buy a big house on a 2000 square metre plot in Bulgaria. Freehold i.e. you own it outright. No rent. Just tax to the local council every year. Maybe £50 a year. I believe Americans normally look to south America to live cheaper. Western Europeans look to eastern Europe. And actually some do go to Costa Rica, Thailand, Mexico and other far flung places. In Bulgaria and probably many of these other places you can own and build a dream home like you could never have in the UK. It doesn't appeal to everyone but it's hardly cave dwelling.
So looking forward to my project in 2021.... inspired by you guys!
Hi Philip. I'd be interested to know what you are planning to do and what part of Bulgaria you are looking at. If you want to chat privately, please email me at oresh-bg@smartserve.net. Thanks.
Brian
Every thing looks very beat up but mother nature rocks.
Good luck to Davy.
Would love to visit.....from America.
Hello from Mexico i want travel to Bulgaria 😊
Hello Ezza
My friend Colin loves it there and now his daughter has gone to live in his house and help to do it up. He is about to go back there for the 4th or 5th time this year and see how his daughter is getting on and I have asked him to take some video while he is there.
Eres bienvenida en Bulgaria,Alejandra!
Welcome to Bulgaria!
Hlo .gud mrng .I wnt information for your country .bcz I wnt come here .plz rply
I love the way you made the video.. Greatings from Kozloduy Bulgaria 😊
I see you live a few hours drive west of Svishtov but also near the Danube. I would like to visit more places when we can travel again. Thanks for your comments.
I'm on phestera thinking on moving here
Loved this video. Wonder how far did the restoration project went. Would be amazing to see the transformation!
Hi Sonia
I didn't get to do anything in 2018 and we concentrated on my friend Colin's house in the same village. He is out there now and I have asked him to take video of his house.
In the meantime I have put together a recap of what happened since I bought my house. This is available on this channel under "Bulgaria Oresh house recap"
Thanks for your interest.
Brian,good house.
👍👍👍👏👏👏👏
Hi bri I lived in Chester well saughall....like your photography bloke Colin....been looking at houses in Bulgaria on eBay and there are some wreaks and some GRT looking places....
Colin and I just flew back from BG tonight and have just driven back to Chester. A property came up for sale yesterday while we were in Oresh. It's two bungalows on one plot for 8000 leva (about £3600). The guy who is selling it is from the Wirral and he flies back to the UK on Thursday. He has bought a house in a road where two other English people live. These people are all in Oresh and that's where we know best, but other people from the UK we know moved elsewhere, such as Pavlakeni. The common theme is we are all fed up with rip-off Britain and want a better lifestyle.
Are you the person we met in Morrisons cafe? If you did send me an email I didn't get it. Hope to keep in touch. Our new favourite restaurant in Svishtov is Svoboda and there are pictures of it in my next video.
How many houses?
Im from Romania and i like Bulgaria a lot ,but anyway i wonder how did you choose Bg and not Romania as the letters are easier to read and the houses and places the same.
In 2005/6 I invested in off-plan property in Bulgaria and Romania but in 2008 the Global Financial Crash happened and the Romanian builder went bankrupt. The Bulgarian developer survives to this day but my credit line was cut-off when the crash happened and I couldn't complete the payments. It was while I was in Bulgaria on a coach trip to the Blue mountains that I noticed all these run-down and abandoned houses and started to ask questions. And that's how I was introduced to a different type of property that was much more affordable.
I always stay in Svishtov when I visit Bulgaria and from there we can see Romania across the river. Apparently there is a ferry that goes across but I have never seen it. I have had a Romanian tenant in one of my flats in the UK and chatted with him at the time. I have always wanted to go and visit and there are flights from Liverpool to Bucharest that I was going to try when the pandemic is over.
I really have no bias over which country I go to and I have an apartment in Spain and tried to invest in Morocco way back but that project failed in the GFC too. I hadn't thought about which alphabet Romania uses but I would have found that out when I got there. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can travel again!
@@BrianSmart Bucharest which i live in and the south of Romania are not much to see,instead i recommend Cluj,Brasov ,the Danube Delta which is unique in Europe .
@@livyou1028 Thanks for the info. I will certainly try and get round those places - and I will take my camera with me.
Is there a shortage of decent quality sawn wood, paint and cement in Bulgaria?
And where have the bulgarians gone that there are so many "spare" homes needing people?
There doesn't seem to be a shortage of materials but you will need a car or van to travel a few miles to get to decent DIY stores. Or use someone who will do that for you. The sawmill is quite nearby and you are best to buy when the timber is at its best/cheapest. If you need it straight away you may pay more. It literally comes from nearby forests and has to dry out.
The communists gave every family unit a free home, and they got to keep them when the regime ended. So every generation of every family had a house. When people died, who were they going to sell them to? Why the Brits of course, and any other foreign nationals that wanted one. And although we only pay a few thousand pounds for them, they think it's a lot of money. At first they didn't understand why we would want to pay that, but now it's widely known that we will, so we are very welcome in the villages. That's my take on it anyway.
Thanks very much for the explanation.
I wish to buy a home in Bulgaria, but I am scared to be scammed. Can you advice me?
That's a big subject and I know a few people who have been offered properties at far too high a price for what they are. The best approach is to get to know people in the area you want to buy in and develop a trust relationship before you start.
I am happy to help and if you let me know your requirements and what area you are looking in, I will see if I already have contacts there. The village of Oresh where we have bought has quite a few English people there and that is increasing all the time.
If you want to talk about this privately feel free to email me at oresh-bg@smartserve.net.
Davie you did what? Am I seeing 3-pin sockets? :D :D
That was years ago when he moved to Bulgaria with all his English stuff. He later said that was a mistake. Yet in a recent Smartabout video you will see he did it again in a house he was renovating for some ladies that are moving from south Wales. I guess they said they had a lot of UK appliances to bring over too!
My own solution was to fit a UK 13A 6 outlet socket board with a European plug and just plug it in. Eventually you replace all the UK stuff and then what do you do with all the wrong sockets?
@@BrianSmart Thank you, very informative, although I once nearly got fried doing that, I used my keys to push the earth pin and insert the european socket & it threw a spark shock at my keys and melted some parts of them and my metal flash drive. To this day I don't know how I didn't get shocked.
@@eminem2 Lucky escape! I just cut off the 13A plug from the adaptor block and fitted a European mains plug so I could plug it in safely. One euro plug delivering 6x 13A sockets....
It would cost lessto build new house than to renovate that one.
I agree. We have to leave one wall in place for it to be a renovation otherwise fresh planning permission is needed. However, there is no good access to the site and it may be impossible to bring in materials and machines. Not sure what to do now but lockdown has put the matter on hold.
Brian
Hiw much bulgarian houses cost in their can you hind one for 15000 $
At current exchange rates that's about 26,000 Bulgarian lev. The pre-refurbished houses that we show cost between 5000 and 10000 lev so you would have plenty left to do them up. There is a video posted recently on this channel showing a plot with two bungalows for about 8000 lev if you want to see an example.
Your house gives new perspective to open floor plan and unobtrusive views, quite literally, lol. Judging by Davys house Bulgaria does not promote spay and neuter.
Indeed! Some of my friends say I cannot even refer to it as a house as there's not enough left standing to warrant the term. I have started work on the side extension so that will be like a small bungalow soon.
If you have a look at the conversations I have had with Elitza on this page, she is involved in animal rescue and has some interesting perspective on the cat situation. Davey has been overwhelmed by all the strays dumped on his doorstep but he is not able to take on any role other than trying to feed them all. It is a shame that animals are seen as creatures that have to work to earn their keep in these poorer countries, but these people cannot afford the luxury of pets.
It looks very run down
Carol Delaney looks are deceiving
mate I'm Bulgarian & I get the same bedroom views in Sheffield :D :D (kidding of course)
You could move up into the Peak District for a similar view - but for 20 times the price of a Bulgarian view!
Bulldoze and start from scratch.
For my prospective it looks as if a bomb has gone off close by to everything - its delabitated !
From my perspective it's a joy to be in a country where life is still simple and straightforward and people have real values. But I am old and I know that Bulgaria's young people leave the country as soon as they can to live in a modern, busy and over-crowded world elsewhere. Bulgaria needs new, young blood but it's difficult to see where that is going to come from.
IDE have to say the government has to support young professional families financially to live a good life there and the roots will settle the future for Bulgaria. Also Gov has to creat some primary industry.
Egipsy lodging
Are these men for real? ..Tell me they are joking with us.? Easier said then done. I'ld rather stay in a trailer park in Kentucky, thank you.
I am afraid we have no American perspective on this and don't really know what a trailer park is like. But in the UK caravan living is expensive. If you buy a mobile home it will cost you a good £30-40,000 and your annual site fees will likely be around £4000 a year. Every year. Till death do you part - plus inflation year on year. For £4000 you can buy a big house on a 2000 square metre plot in Bulgaria. Freehold i.e. you own it outright. No rent. Just tax to the local council every year. Maybe £50 a year.
I believe Americans normally look to south America to live cheaper. Western Europeans look to eastern Europe. And actually some do go to Costa Rica, Thailand, Mexico and other far flung places. In Bulgaria and probably many of these other places you can own and build a dream home like you could never have in the UK. It doesn't appeal to everyone but it's hardly cave dwelling.