Welcome to my site.
Please let me introduce myself, my name is Mark Wright and for more than eight years now I have been in the real estate business, mainly within the UK, where I became an office manager with a leading estate agency group. After moving to Bookavets near Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria in March 2007 I did not work for several months, then for 10 months I worked for one of the largest real estate agencies in Veliko Tarnovo, helping train the English speaking Bulgarian agents, who deal with the International clients.
I am now working independantly locating properties for buyers, who are looking to relocate around Veliko Tarnovo, Resen, Hotnitsa areas. Working on their behalf, I can access far more properties and select only ones suitable to my clients thus cutting down time spent looking at non suitable abodes.
I live here with my wife Sally, and son Shane, (our daughter Teri, lives in Swindon Wiltshire.) in a large village called Resen, just north of Veliko Tarnovo. We enjoy a stress free lifestyle that we could only imagine whilst living in the UK., long hot sunny summers and cold snowy winters.
There are quite a few Brit’s within a few kilometers of us, but mostly we talk to our Bulgarian neighbours, slowly, as we do not speak fluent Bulgarian yet! The local people are very friendly and will often pass you small gifts like fruit and Rakia (local home made whiskey) We for our part return their friendship with home made cakes etc.
Our British friends are great, we meet up quite often to help each other with new products found, or general information we have gathered. Sometimes just for a coffee or beer!
I have found that many British come here looking to buy property, but do not know where to start. I have a few key questions that I like to ask, this gives me a real insight to what they are looking to achieve. As I have been through the process and now know the pitfalls, hopefully I can save others the heartache and stress of searching for the right property.
I can help with all the details required in buying property here, from setting up bank accounts to opening your company, this is required when you buy a house with land. I can source any kind, from land/apartment/house/office even hotels.
Let me know how I can help you.
If you have any questions about my service I can provide you with names and email address's of previous clients who would be happy to tell you more about me and the level of service provided.
Please read all the "post's" on my blog, at the bottom of each page you can click a button for "older post's" this just means "go to the next page". You should find a lot of useful information contained here. If you feel the need for anything else please let me know and I will be happy to oblige.
I am always showing people around properties for sale which require renovation works. Some have the ability to see the potential of a place others need a littile help. When veiwing here the properties are not looking the same as you would expect in the UK.
However after some work they really do look great, make sure you have the work done right the first time and try not to cut those corners to save a few quid.
Here are some pictures of houses that have just been renovated, you will see for yourselves how good they look.
So do not be put off by those overgrown gardens or the poor decor inside.
Many people drive over to Bulgaria. There are great debates as to which is the best route to take, everyone has a reason for the way they choose.
I like to use the Channel Tunnel, it gives me a small break from driving and it is right on the doorstep of Cite Europe shopping centre. It means I can go and get some goodies for the drive. Then on through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and into Bulgaria.
I choose Serbia because the roads are so much better, this means a faster time, but beware, as Serba is not in Europe you will need to have insurance to cover you for your use of their roads. You can buy it on the border, it is usually around £100 for a month, this is the least amount of time you can purchase. Also Serbia is the only place where we had to pay a road toll, it was only 15 Euros in total, but you must have this in cash.
I use a sat nav system to keep me on the right track, I purchased it before we drove over and is so easy to use. I would recomend getting one to everyone making this journey. It saves all those conversations about who told who to take which road, which turned out to be wrong!
Things to remember before setting off.
A green card is vital, this shows you have car insurance for Europe.
A first aid kit, fire extinguisher, GB sticker, red warning triangle for breakdowns, headlamp beam deflectors to send your headlamp beams in the opposite direction to the UK.
Always check your oil, water, spare tyre and make sure your car is serviced ready for the long drive.
Equally important to remember, this is not a race, take your time, four days is still a lot of driving if your only used to doing 10 -15 miles a day! 500 miles is hard work. Enjoy the trip, stop off often and drink a lot of fluids.
Make sure you passengers have something to do, the driver must concentrate all day, so cannot be concerned by passengers being bored etc.
I would do the trip again, but I love driving so it makes it easier for me. The lady I have just driven over, only drives short distances so knew her limitations. We got on really well and enjoyed the trip.
Currency is the last thing to think about. Take plenty of Euros and some Lev, all countries take the Euro, Serbia does, but not in the smaller villages, as your not in the country long it is not worth getting any Dinar.
For those of you who still require the "fix" of UK television like myself, then I have news for you!
I have now found a company who can set up and install a satillite connection that will provide channels like, ITV, Channel 4, all the freeview channels and Sky Movies, Sports etc etc.
There is a one off cost for the dish, reciever and installation, then a monthly fee to get around 6,00 plus channels from all over the world.
Cost's depend on the package you require, you may even choose to go for just the freeview package and pay a one off fee.
If this sounds interesting to you then let em know and I will pass on contact details.
One thing that should be considered when buying in Bulgaria is how are you going to heat your new home?
Heating is not optional, the winters here can get as cold as minus 20 degrees, you need to be prepared. The cold weather usually starts around the end of October, chilly, rather than cold, but the heating maybe needed, until March.
The options are:-
1/ A wood burner (Kamina) heating hot water pumped around the house to radiators, this system can also be connected to a water boiler to heat your domestic water when your Kamina is burning.
2/ Air conditioner units in different rooms, these can be used in the winter to provide heat as well as in the summer for cool air. The only issue with this idea is that if there was a power cut in the cold winter, you could be very cold!
3/ A small wood burner in your lounge that just heats that room, then mobile gas heaters that can be moved around the house to where you need heat. Almost everyone here has these heaters, they can be used just for a small time in the chilly evening or morning to take the chill off of a room, it saves lighting the Kamina.
4/ An electric heating system providing heat to radiators. This is the most expensive system to have as electricity is not cheap. Oue house already had this system installed when we bought it, the bills in the early winter months were high, so we have had a Kamina installed as well.
So if you choose a wood burner how much will it cost to run? Wood is 55 - 60 Lev (£20 - £24)per cubic metre, a good guide is that you'll need between 10 and 15 cubic metres per year, depending on the weather, coal is a good idea to have in as well, this costs about 6 Lev (£2.40) for a 20 Kilo bag, a guide would be about 30 - 35 bags per year.
Instalation cost's.
1/ Kamina and radiators cost from around 7000 Lev (£2,800) depending on size of Kamina required and how many radiators needed.
2/ Air conditioners start at about 600 Lev (£440) each, then the instalation cost is about 50 Lev (320) each.
3/ I am sorry, but I do not know how much the electric system costs, I would not recommend this system due to the running costs.
I hope you find this artical useful when deciding on heating.
When you are thinking of leaving the UK to live abroad, one of the subjects you need to address is your finances. Many people talk to their bank or to their building society. Others speak to their financial advisor. This makes perfect sense because it is important to have your financial affairs in order so that you your financial security is assured.
I work very closely with Jason Ritchie a partner of St James’s Place Wealth Management, one of the UK’s largest and most respected Wealth Management companies. Jason is able to provide specialist, bespoke financial advice to non UK Residents, taking into account tax and non residency issues. Jason is able to help individuals in deciding the best place to deposit their money. St. James’s Place has offices located across the whole of the UK and has a huge amount of experience in dealing with more complex financial situations. The company were awarded the Daily Telegraph Wealth Manager of the year award for 2007 and picked up the same award with the Financial Times and Investors Chronicle for 2008. This recognizes the quality of the brand you are able to take advice from.
Jason is able to advice on Pensions, Investments, Off Shore Investment Strategies and Inheritance Tax Planning. It is possible to meet with Jason either in the UK, or in Bulgaria, where he visits quarterly to visit his existing clients, which include myself.
Everyone, I believe has the right to good quality financial advice and to benefit from a long term trusted relationship with a highly qualified advisor which ensures that their financial position is kept under close scrutiny and constant review. Take the opportunity to speak to Jason, he can be contacted by telephone on (0044) (0) 7917808289/ (0044) (0) 1225860126 or email Jason.ritchie@sjpp.co.uk.
Please let him know that you found him via my blog site, this helps him in understanding how new clients have found him.
Here in Bulgaria there are several orphanges which find it hard to find clothing for the children. Last xmas a couple of my friends and ex-collegue at Remax, Vesalina and Tania set up a fund raising project to try to get enough parcels of toys or clothing so that on xmas morning every child in one orphange would have at least one present to open. This was a great success.
My wife Sally, has continued to save old clothes and has made new blankets etc ready for this year. She has help from her mother and sister in law (Jean) who both regularly send over parcels in the post.
If there is anyone else who would like to help us in this effort, please feel free to email me and ask for our address, or if anyone is coming over, goods can be brought in and stored with us until xmas.
Clothes should be for ages 1 month to 4 years old, we see this as a small way to put something back into the local community.
I have been told several times by clients that they have tried to deal with other agents, but have been driven around all over the place only to find that most of the properties are unsuitable to their requirements. Why is this?
Well, there are two reasons why this can happen. Firstly, they are poorly trained or inexperianced and are asking the wrong questions when qualifying clients, or if the client does tell them what is required they do not listen. Secondly, most agencies here charge for viewing trips, this is understandable as most of the properties are spread far and wide, but this charge not only covers the fuel, it also helps to cover some salary expenses! So if your being charged 40 Euro (approx. 80 Lev) per day, the fuel is around 10 Euro (approx. 20 Lev) you can now see why if you do not buy from these people they still get a wage.
I do not charge for viewing trips! The reason is that if I qualify your needs correctly, we should only be looking at around 5 or 6 properties, unless you want to see more of course. Then we can take time to look at other things like maybe kitchens and heating etc.
In the UK most agents viewing to sales ratio is around 22-1 currently, so people view 22 properties before choosing one, here the figure is much the same I guess. But I do not want to waste your time, so I will only show you what is relevent.
I will also negotiate the purchase for you, I should be able to save at least my sevice fee, as I am very experienced at this practice and more so than most agents here, I feel you can only benefit from my service. If anyone needs to talk to any recent clients of mine I am more than willing to pass on contact details so you can talk directly to them.
I hope this answers the question and some others too.
