Purchased a house in Radovets

8POSTS

13 years ago

my wife and i have just purchased a house in radovets,we or i (according to my wife) purchased it without going to see it,we are planing a visit on 9th April 2013 to have a look,although we would like to embrace the Bulgarian culture it would still be nice to hear from Brits in the village.it is our plan to visit 2 or 3 times per year at first then when the time is right we hope to move full time.

does anyone have tips or experiences that might help or if you live in the village even better

i will be looking to have some repairs done to the property and it would be nice to have local labor to do the work.

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axinia milanova Contributor

105POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Hirkland ,
I hope you did not buy this property without seeing it ??
In this region they are not a lot of EU and UK citizen.
Most of Uk citizen are living in North from Velika Ternova up to the Donau river. I am living in Kovachitza near Lom and in my village are living permanentely two Belgian families , one French ,
One Italien , one from Ireland and six from UK. Also many have invest in a house with the intention to live here in the future when they are retired.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sincerely yours,

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽Axinia Milanova

kirklandwalk New member

8POSTS

13 years ago

i did see detailed pictures of it,it is a typical Bulgarian house well presented with a nice garden and outside toilet,i picked it because it is a rural location but not to far from the major towns and only 40min in the bus to edernie in Turkey.
the thought of getting away from brits was also appealing although total isolation would not be good

axinia milanova Contributor

105POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Kirklind

It is absolutely not my intention to make you affraid at all but 90% from people who bought a property without seeing it where very unhappy when they saw it for the first time . Cheep properties over here need always a lot of renovation works . The construction is most of the time strong but during 30 or 40 years no maintenance , that's typical for village houses and village people ! My husband is constructor here in the north of Bulgaria and he can work day and night al year long for people from abroad. Most of the time roofwork , kitchen and bathroom installation. But I am sure that you will be very happy in Bulgaria.聽

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sincerely yours ,
聽聽聽
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Axinia Milanova

kirklandwalk New member

8POSTS

13 years ago

we spent to weeks in Svilengrad and went beck and forward to the house,it needs a new roof a bathroom and septic tank,the village is a typical Bulgarian village and the locals are very friendly.
we will have a new roof put on at the end of the summer this year and a septic tank and bathroom put in next year.
all in all we are pleased with the house and village and the friendly locals,so anyone knows a good builder in southern Bulgaria
we met a lovely English couple called John and Sandra who were very good to us,i spent the day on a horse and cart with one of the locals
please contact me by e mail
davidmarshallm@yahoo.co.uk

axinia milanova Contributor

105POSTS

13 years ago

Hello my friend ,

Beautiful that you are so happy with your new property !!
Maby your English friends can help you to find a serious builder ?
For my husband it's to far away or he would have come to your place and help you with the renovations . I hope you will send us sometimes news about your live and experience in Bulgaria

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽Axinia

Mrsgoddardlisa Member

12POSTS

13 years ago

Radovets i looked on google earth its really close to the border with Greeece.
Nice.
Are there many other ex pat Brittish there.

And how far have you got with doing your work

kirklandwalk New member

8POSTS

13 years ago

Radovets sits 1m from the Turkish border and about 16m from Greece
it is a typical Bulgarian village.it is very nice and the people were very friendly. there is one full time English couple who are very nice and they have been very helpful and 4 or 5 part time.
we have not started the house yet,we will be getting a new roof put on later this year then start on the inside,we will renovate the house over the next 3 or 4 years then if all goes well we will move full time.
there are a few nice houses in the village that are worth looking at.

1 member reacted to this post

Mrsgoddardlisa Member

12POSTS

13 years ago

How much are these houses going for

kirklandwalk New member

8POSTS

13 years ago

#10

anywere between 拢2500 and 拢10,000,there is a lovley house with double glazing and indoor toilet and a good roof going for about 拢4500,they all need some sort of work done but still a steal,its about 拢14 per year for council tax and 拢20 per month at worst for electricity

vandamiam Member

13POSTS

11 years ago

#11

Hi mate we too have a house in radovets, Iy needs lots of work but at the minuit we are not in a position to get back across to organise or do the work due to me having poor health at the minuit. Have you come across any good trusted builders yet that you could recommend and have you completed your roof yet.?

axinia milanova Contributor

105POSTS

11 years ago

#12

Hello聽 Sir ,

If you like to send me your mail adress , I will send you a lot of pictures from my partner who is builder since more than 30 years .聽 He is on big project near Plovsiv at this moment . He works most of the time for EU and UK citizen here in Bulgaria . You can also always call late in the evening ... number *** and ask after Philippe . He speaks very good Inglish
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Have a nice day ,
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Axinia
***

vandamiam Member

13POSTS

11 years ago

#13

Thanks I have emailed you.

JustinRoberton Member

1POSTS

8 years ago

#14

Hi I am currently looking at a property in radovets and wonder if everything went smoothly for you guys any pitfalls I need to look out for ?

vandamiam Member

13POSTS

8 years ago

#15

Hi Justin
I bought a house in Radovets in need of total renovation. but to facilitate living and working on the house we have also bought a great house in Sinapovo which is about 20 mins drive away. The village is realy nice with some great expats and friendly locals. My house in Sinapovo came with an adjoining property which was a surprise and all for 拢7500. Area is great and I spent 7 weeks this year there tidying up and the like I'm back in UK just now packing up our stuff to drive back across as soon as we can. Cat wait to be there again. Stay in touch if you need a place to crash while looking out the area.

lostwithiel2001 New member

3POSTS

4 years ago

#16

Hi ,we have a house in Kovachitsa near Lom ,and have had work done on it and very happy with the work but since covid 19 all work has come to a Holt,and the company that was doing the work don't reply to our emails ( only the first email) saying sorry but no builders at the moment? So was wondering if you know of any ? Builders ? We will be over visiting next year ,any information would be appreciated cheers Paul and Fran leach

Snorrbitz Member

11POSTS

3 years ago

#17

Hi, are there any Expat members currently (or previously) living in Radovets?

We are looking to move there within the next couple of months, from the UK, and would love to hear of everyone's experiences, good or bad, to help give us a better idea of life there.

We have been to Radovets but didn't have much time there so not overly familiar with the area and you can't beat first hand experience.

Looking forward to hearing from you 馃榿

Garry

dreamingspires Member

2POSTS

2 years ago

#18

Hello

I have seen some properties on EBay in Radovets thar are very affordable.聽 I don't drive.聽 How easy is it to get about on public transport?聽 I am specifically looking for a part of Bulgaria where K can go horse riding.聽 Are there any horse riding stables in the area?

Any local information would be appreciated.

Thanks

gwynj Bulgaria Expert

2596POSTS

2 years ago

#19

@dreamingspires

BulgariaDirect (and the other Ebay sellers) have properties in different areas, so you might want to research them too. They like Veliko Tarnovo district, and up near Vidin/Danube has featured recently.

They've had quite a few properties down south near the Turkey border, and there is definitely some pretty countryside down there.

From Radovets, I'd guess that you'd typically be trying to get to one of the nearest towns Topolovgrad, Elhovo, or Svilengrad (the largest). They're all about 30 km or so, a good distance. That might be 30 minutes by car, maybe an hour or more by bus.

It would be too far for me, but you might think it's OK for a weekly shop. You can also order loads of stuff (apart from groceries) online, so there's not much that strictly needs a visit to the big city. Distance from civilization is partly responsible for the lower property prices, so it's a compromise many feel is worth making.

janemulberry ViP

2053POSTS

2 years ago

#20

I think those may be the properties @DreamingSpries has seen, BgDirect has two properties in Radovets at present. One's a real bargain-priced place needing full renovation, the other is probably basically livable as is.

I tried to research buses. Some places have the bus timetables all online, others, not so much. The official Svilengrad bus timetable shows one bus a day from Radovets to Svilengrad and back. The Rome-to-Rio said there's two, but their link to the timetable didn't work. There could be other buses from Radovets to smaller towns, but I couldn't find anything online to confirm that.

I think there are some riding stables not too far away, but whether they're accessible without a vehicle is another matter.

1 member reacted to this post

Snorrbitz Member

11POSTS

2 years ago

#21

@dreamingspires Hi, my wife and I currently live in Radovets.

There are three small shops in the village where you can buy the basics, three bars, one with a restaurant that is very nice.

There are buses but I have no information on them as never used them. I'm sure it wouldn't take to much to find out the schedule at the local bar or post office l but for now the answer is yes, there are bus services available.

There are quite a lot of horses seen around the village but these are working horses in the main and I haven't seen anything about stables or horse riding.

I would say that Elhovo would be your closest town with better services and groceries but we either travel to Yambol or Svilengrad as they have bigger supermarkets and a better variety of food choice, particularly for the more British foods.

To travel to any of the larger towns will take you around 45 minutes minimum in a car so I would expect 1hr+ by bus.

If there are any other questions you have let me know and I'll do my best to reply.

1 member reacted to this post

terryburns1 New member

3POSTS

2 years ago

#22

@Snorrbitz Hello Garry ,where is the nearest hotel or similar ,wher I can stay I want to come and have a look at the house for the first time ,so would need to be local as I dont drive ,any help you can give would be great .Many thanks terry.