New members of the Bulgaria forum, introduce yourselves here - 2018
I don鈥檛 think you鈥檒l have any problem finding building materials, my husband used to say that wood was expensive over here, and not 鈥榙ried鈥, cured, I can鈥檛 remember the right word for it.聽 There are also several big DIY shops in Varna similar to B&Q that sell everything from screws to furniture.
There isn鈥檛 any tax over here when buying, we had to set up a business in order to buy though but that has been dropped now, although it might come back in after 鈥榖rexit鈥, how fed up I am of hearing that word!
聽 I have to pay an accountant to do 鈥榥il鈥 accounts and put them online every year.聽 The tax will come when you sell your house if it鈥檚 on a business any difference between what you pay for it and what you get for it will be viewed as profit.
Hope that helps
All the best
Sue
When we bought our house we had to set up a company and every year I have to pay an accountant to do a 鈥榥il鈥 account and publish it online, That has ended now for new buyers but I don鈥檛 know if it will come back after 鈥榖rexit鈥.聽 聽 No one knows what will happen or whether we have to start buying visa鈥檚 again.聽
The tax will come when you sell your house if you buy it with a company聽 anything you get over what you paid for it will be regarded as profit.聽 I think it鈥檚 10% but someone will correct me if I鈥檓 wrong.
Hope this helps
Sue
I have been married to a Bulgarian for the past 25 yrs (yes! when it was a mad immigration system)!!聽 聽and live in the UK.聽 We travel to BG frequently and have property there (vrachesh Nr Botevgrad).聽 We have considered moving there a number of times, but maybe the time isn't quite right yet!!!
Would love to make some new friends!!
I'm Ramses, 41 years old and I'm thinking of moving to Bulgaria in a couple of years. I have set myself a few goals and the first thing is learning the language. I'm looking for a good book or teacher in The Netherlands.
Second thing I'm planning to do is to travel through Bulgaria and looking for a place that I could live.
I also want to learn about the culture and folklore, does someone knows a good book or website about this? Or a few dates for festivals or hollidays so I can visit.
however learning the language will take some time. There are many textbooks but to start with this you will need a teacher.
travelling through Bulgaria to find your place is the best approach!
That's why I want to know more about the culture. Like what kind of music people listen to, the favourite writers, famous people etc. The basic things that keep people busy in social live.
Feel free to connect!
Happy Days 馃槑
Penney and Dave x
Working for a Finnish employer in the IT sector, will be moving to Varna to work remotely starting October.
Interested in meeting new people (locals and expats) and specifically learning the language. Wouldn't mind getting in physically good shape while in Bulgaria

Keeping an eye open for business opportunities but at this point it's purely speculative.
My name Bertie and is married to Sharon, and we have to kids Jadon (6) and Abby(3)
We live in South Africa and we are Christian
I work in the Agricultural sector and we are considering to move to Bulgaria.
Naturally there are some questions on my mind and I would appreciate being able to talk to some people who have first hand experience on聽 moving to Bulgaria.
Thanks
It will be a good idea to post a separate topic with your questions. in this way everyone will be able to reply and share experience.
You can also search the forum for previous topics on similar questions.
Kris
There must be SA farmers somewhere in Bulgaria according to this text:
Pls don't think聽 I know Afrikaans, I read it with Google Translate

My name is paula, I am married to Paul we have 7 children and 3 grandchildren so we are always busy..but now the kids are all grown and have their own lives we decided to start a new adventure here in Bulgaria. Why Bulgaria?? Why not... it鈥檚 such a beautiful country and we have visited many many times and stayed in so many places.
We have finally found a property we could see ourselves building into our home, we will not be here full time for a couple of years so will spend 2/3 months at a time here...
We look forward to meeting new people and learning new things...
Wishing you all well

I am due to come into a bit of an inheritance. My best friend here in Edinburgh and I have talked for ages about just getting out and moving abroad.
The inheritance is not huge - but Bulgaria looks like a place where the money would go much further. But getting on a bit (57 yo!) so not taking up a new career, but may have to do a bit of work to keep things ticking over. I have a TEFL certificate, taught English to foreigners in a English school in London for a few years - and loved the job. Recently I have been doing some on to one English teaching with a Kurdish refugee through Edinburgh college (because of injury he is physically unable to get to the college).聽 also have a honours degree (I know that some places, for teaching English, insist on your having a degree!)
Moving to Bulgaria I'd want to be near the sea but also not too isolated from things - so Burgas seems to be the best area to look at.
Also, with the BREXIT mess, what do people feel as per the situation for Brits living in Bulgaria with BREXIT going on?
I wondered if anyone has any advice, suggestions, know what chances of doing some private English teaching?
Ta in advance
Chris (in getting increasingly cold Edinburgh!)
Question 1聽 聽would I be able to receive and live off my state pension
Question 2 would I be safe
Question 3 I need to know requirements like visa income etc to be able to live there
Regards Kay
The short answers to your questions are:
1. Yes
2. Yes / but you have to avoid certain areas and certain minority groups/
3. Do not bother about this. Just apply for a long term residence. No visa is necessary at present.
That was the easy part. The other will take some time.
Having experience in running guest houses is perfect, and you can expand this idea in Bulgaria.
The furniture idea is also very interesting, especially if you can sell it abroad.
Horse riding is probably not the best option.
And .. I've always admired people that try to give an advice for a country they have absolutely no idea of!!! And even will have difficulties locating it on the map! So better ask people living here, especially expats.
Any way, that's becoming pretty long and I would adwise you to post a separate topic on this e.g. SAFETY in Bulgaria, or Business ideas in Bulgaria ... etc. Or even others. Many people will be able to comment and share experience.
Regards,
Kristiann
Regards Kay
Regards K
So no problem for receiving information about the presence / absence of certain minority groups. If you buy in a village, where there are even less than 10 families of them, then you're at risk. Migrating thievs cannot be avoided, but they would not (normally) attempt to rob a house in a village they do not know.
Best approach is to have reliable Bulgarian neighbours. Especially if you're leaving the house unattended for longer periods of time. A dog will also keep them away.
And when you're selecting an area, ask your real estate agent to avoid places with this specific minority group. If you 're unsure - when you arrive on site ask s.o., even a taxi driver. They know everything.
Please post a separate topic for the recommended areas in Bulgaria, or any other detailed information you might need.
I have just joined up! ok I am Paul and will be in Bulgaria on the 21/11 to 24/11 and will be completing on a property, more of a project LoL,聽 I will refurb the property and use as holiday home with the hope of living there in a year or so.
Any one in VT 21/11 to 24/11 and would like a drink one evening please let me know.
Paul
If you have already moved, just wanted to know how it is like living there being an Indian?
Sachi
basically you can follow one of the two routes:
1. Find a good real estate agent/agency and assign the task to them;
2. Track down the property you need yourself, then arrange the deal with a public notary.
In both cases do visit the property before you buy it, this is not a pair of jeans ....
This should be enough for a good start.聽
Kristiann
My name is Joannah and I come from South Africa. I'm a freelance artist and streamer on Twitch. I recently moved with my boyfriend to Sofia Bulgaria and we are both in love with this city. There is just something about this place that makes us excited about the future. We are interested in outdoor sports although it's a little cold for us to go out now. We are foodies at heart and really love seeing the street art everywhere.
I joined this forum to meet other expats in Sofia and discover what their experiences are and to also maybe find some help with the migration office, but that's a bonus.
Nice to meet you all.
Ciao
I鈥檓 looking to learn more of the Bulgarian culture as I have a Bulgarian partner and I like to learn in addition from what she teaches me. Also to impress her gran. On that note, are there any tips on gifts to win her over or mostly, thank her for granddaughter and understanding?
Bought it in November 2018 - it took a week to buy all done and dusted, i currently live in Malaysia as my wife works here. we have bought it as a 10 year project with no intention of selling or profiteering from it, it will be passed on to nieces and has cost me 9500 pounds, all from free savings.
i will be returning to BG to start work on it it in April 2019 and will need an old ford transit if anyone is selling one let me know.
regards
My name is Omar, I'm Moroccan Portuguese who's trying to start a new software service company in Sofia.
I joined this platform to meet up with the community here, learn and share my experiences, and hopefully get some advise on setting up a business in Sofia.
Let the Ride begin!
Love you all
Am from India, moving to Sofia in June with my husband and kid, as part of job relocation.
Looking forward to the move.
Am currently in the process of identifying schools for my 12 year old along with identifying possible neighbourhoods for renting a house.
Any suggestions?
I will not be working initially, but might look at some work / community activity for part of the day eventually
By the way, I got these links from from this publication, which may contain more helpful information about Sofia:聽
As for yourself, this organization helped me to settle into my life in Sofia:聽
VillageGirl
I'm a local well-intended to help out whomever I can with advise on whatever comes up to the best of my ability so ask away. I'm based in Sofia but I'm originally from Plovdiv so I'm most familiar with these two cities but I'll do my best to keep you guys safe from harm here so let's see who needs help with what.
Good Luck to all of you and welcome down.

I am looking at Byala, Varna but also found one at the bottom of the mountains by Plovdiv but the coast is winning as i can drive to snowboard and prefer the sun lol...
I will need to get passports for my dogs and sort importing my cars to Bulgaria as well any advice on pets or cars would be greatly appreciated also additional cost for purchasing homes and a good English speaking solicitor there for purchasing
thanks in advance
Shell
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