Saturday, August 4, 2007
Bulgarian property buying diary
When I first came to Bulgaria it was with no business plan at all, The idea was for a single house for me and my family. This soon all changed and now at 50 I find myself with lots of new challenges, lots of excitement and may I say some major dissapointments, but its all part of business so does not worry me too much.
I thought basing myself and my plans around one village the sensible thing to do, and it has worked, that village is Exarch yosif, 35 kilometres out from Ruse on the main Sofia highway. There are now 30 British people who have bought there after me. Some have bought there to live, some for investment and some for holiday homes. Whatever thier reasons its so nice to be able to see the village have a new lease of life, indeed many Bulgarians are now renovating thier own houses now because of the new influx of people.
I love this village, its people are warm and friendly as they are in all other villages, we have a good sound relationship with the mayor, I employ many people there bringing new spending power into the village, all in all its pretty wonderful. I have personal interests in 2 other villages as well, but I will cover those later.
It soon became apparent that there was a need for good quality building renovations on Bulgarian houses. I found, with no disrespect, that many Bulgarians in the villages do not have the necessary skills to bring these houses up to standard, I also found that as we are all seen as millionnaires that the prices are somewhat high, not always, but as a general rule they are.
Some people from the UK have said that it doesn`t matter they are only trying to get what they can from those who can afford it, now that reminds me that the Bulgarian word for Bullshit is Gluposti (Hope that does not offend anyone) but it is, are we supposed to take that, after all, living in a village is cheap compared to the city, anyway I digress, my point is that as a businessman I employ those who want to work and pay a fair rate, for that I expect a full days work, normal hours lets say 8am till 5pm with an hour for dinner, why would I pay more than the regional rate in any country????.
I must be doing something right, I have thier respect and they truly have mine, we all work, we get paid, our families benefit etc etc etc.
Going back to my earler point of them not having the skills to bring these houses up to standard? Thats not meant as an insult, merely that we as Brits are used to something different.
The structure of many of these houses is a mixture of mud bricks and stone, there are many with normal houses bricks but even these may have earth floors both up and downstairs. Lets just look at an average Bulgarian household, look inside and you will find the necessities, look in a British home and many times you will find that and the luxuries.
We recently had some clients move over to BG and I was there when the wagon arrived with thier personal belongings, I had never realised before just what a full house, minus lots of furniture, looked like, It made me think of another house we were renovating ready for some more clients to move over, and especially made me think of the structure of the upstair floors.
So? I know these are earth floors, basically on this house the beams are covered with cane, nothing more just simple cane, close packed and then earth is placed over the top. Time to drop a ceiling downstairs, this done it simple to determine whether these are hard or softwood, in this case its hardwood, aged, strong and durable, its now possible to screed the floor with concrete, and that will take all the shoes Imelda marcos can through at us, But what if thin softwood beams, this can prsent a problem. as said earlier a typical Bulgarian house is furnished with the things that matter and are needed and thats not always the case with an English house, Triple wardrobes, king size beds, dressing table, mirrors etc etc etc, all adding to the weight of the floor, But the major case in oint has to be an upstairs bathroom.
Not many Bulgaria houses have these, they where always simpler to fit downstairs, and a bath? well you won`t see them very often. So? here we are, we have moved walls, created walkways to access the house at all points from inside, can you imagine outside stairs at minus 20 below, the wife is in bed, waiting to christen her new Bulgarian home, The husband switched of football makes his way outside, climbs the stairs, and thats it, all ardour has dissapeared into the frost.
I digress, back to the bathroom, with its 1 ton of tiles, half a ton of concrete, its new toilet, sink, and bath, now I know a gallon of water weighs 10 pounds, so you fill the bath and it weighs,,,, well I aint sure but you would not want it dropped on your foot.
I am sure your getting the idea, don`t let this put you off, with proper building skills, common sense and a knowledge of Bulgarian house construction all is possible.
I have looked at partially renovated houses that are for sale, and sometimes I cringe, cosmetically they look beautiful, but structurally they give me the hee-bee-gee-bees (First time I have written that in my life, is it spelt right, who knows).
Just reread all I have wrote and its looking like a sales pitch, its not, we can only cover a small part of Bulgaria, and there are many others like us in the Ruse region, all I am saying is get the right people to look at your house, this house is your new pride and joy, its a showhome for your new lifestyle, and something to be rightly proud of, lets just make sure its still there in 5 years with all its alterations and added weight etc this can be achieved just don`t expect a local villager to be able to do this for 1000 leva, its unrealistic and potentaiily dangerous as well as financial suicide for the house.
I will cover more on this subject later, and especially about our latest renovation which is a completely mud brick built house, These little beasties need some extra care and attention.
Date now 24-07-07, will write more soon.
Any Words Underlined Are links, Click On Them And You`ll Receive
More Information
The beginning of this story has to be September 2005. We had rented a villa in the Algarve (Portugal) which was absolutely marvelous, Whilst living to us what was the good life we talked about how good it would be to own one here, I guess there's no harm in asking, so we did, and, quickly decided this wasn`t going to happen for us, I don`t care how many adverts the lottery run about feeling lucky, I had afeeling we wouldn`t win,. Still no great loss, 2 weeks then back to work.
My eldest son and his girlfriend Danny were with us and she told us next year she was going back to Bulgaria for an holiday, having been there three times already. She told us about her holiday, the nights out, drinking, eating and the people. I sat quietly in the background, just asking questions now and again to clarify something. I knew after one hour that the future wasn`t Portugal, or even the UK, It was BG.
You may ask how, after one hour I could be so sure, Well I`ll tell you, I wasn`t,Didn't have enough information for starters, But being an optimist I knew if others could make this work so could I.
So? Back to England, Back To work, and prepare for Christmas, But I couldn't shake the idea of Bulgaria from my mind, and having no real life :) Set about finding what information I could on the Mighty Internet.
Now you`ll do the same, there are some wonderful forums with good information, But your going to have to sort out the wheat from the chaff. There are some people who have been duped, misinformed, had a hard time, or just like to look to others
like pioneers or explorers, I found it much simply than that, But I did research hard. There are many website's offering houses and services for sale, I tried many with test questions, asking for additional info , Room sizes etc, these allowed me to get rid of a few that weren't for me. Eventually I was left with 3, Now I`m not here to run others down, they have their way of doing things, That's fine, But I can`t do with complacency, Lies, Lack of communication etc etc etc. So now
I have 2, As said not here to mess with other peoples business, But Be Careful, Your money is hard earned, your chosen country to buy in is a long way away, they have power of attorney over what may be your business and you`ll need Communication, Loyalty and Trust,
So Moving on;.
Early December I told my family that next year I was going to move into the BG Property market, Always amusing reactions, There was a time that would have scared them but there reaction was muted, mainly because I`m older and a little quieter, so they thought, Ah Bless him.
By the 5th of January I had placed a deposit on my first house, By the 10th, a deposit on my second (Whose laughing now).
So now to start the formation of a company;
I sent for the necessary forms, Name of Company, Agents name, Company address, Remember they had power of attorney so using there address was no problem. These forms, 9 of them were emailed to me and printed out, Now I had to get them notarised, You`ll find a local notary here
So Off I go with 9 forms, 7 of which need signing, My passport, utility bill and I think my driving license, But not sure about that. Anyway, make my appointment, goto house, enter the 17th century (Well felt like it) and met my local Notary.
(Awfully nice man). He takes a look at forms, checks passport and then watches me sign them, seals them with stamp. Takes about 15 minutes all in, and the bill? £125, Seems a lot but only way to do it, so you pay.
Next you send these back to your agent, and then you have a choice, have them notarised again in BG for about 20 pounds, or have them sent to commonwealth office in Uk and have them finally notarised there so formation of company will be ready when you arrive in BG. Cost me another £17 a sheet, But meant I could arrive with company ready.
Next transfer across to agents 1800 GBP as starting capital of business, This can be withdrawn or used against a purchase, But has to be done to show company as solvent. So so far I`ve spent £125 on first notary, £153 on commonwealth office notarisation, and sent £1800 as capital.
Now its time to saddle up and begin the adventure.
Looked around for cheap flights, direct from Manchester to Sofia, Cheapest
I found were Here
£98 return with meal, Flying times;
Out at 1:50 Pm
Back at 8pm There time (2 Hour Time Difference)
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1:50 pm 11th of March 2006. Saturday;
Here I am sat aboard Thompson Flight From Manchester To Sofia. Always a little nervous flying, But have placed myself on a window seat last row of the aircraft.
What a Rush!!!!.
On the way to Sofia I make sure I have my pre-arranged bookings for accommodation, Was informed these would need to be shown, and a new twist we would be given forms on the aircraft to fill in, although some did say these would be found on desks within the airport. So I have my booking forms sent from hostels and hotels and a pen.
3 Hours later we land at Sofia, Bit of a barren airport, hardly any aircraft, makes me realise just how busy Manchester Airport is. Terminal is about 125 Feet away, and they send a coach, well 3 actually. So in we get go in a circle and Voila we are in.
Now till now no-one has mentioned any forms or asked where we are staying. Its 4 lines of people, each one marching slowly up to a glass enclosed cubicle, Soon be me, I have my passport, My reservations forms, hand luggage and a pen, Oh Yea, I`m ready. Suddenly I get the nod and march forward stiff upper lip and all, Hand him my passport and wait. Gotta admit he took a few looks, Me, Passport, me, passport then computer screen, me then waved me through. into the baggage carousel area.
Bags were quick, and before we knew it we were outside, No forms to fill, No awkward questions, So lit a cigarette, walked to taxi rank, found a English speaking driver and asked him to take us to the Red-House Our first point of stay,
Heres the link We stayed In Room 3
We were told by our friends in Sofia would be about 5 euros, he charged us 20, Our fault, Hadn`t switched his meter on, I could off course just told him to shove it, But was tired, Cranky and didn`t think it wise, so gave it him, 1st lesson learnt. Watch that meter.
It was now about 8:30pm, Incidentally the drive from the airport to the red house is about 10-15 minutes, Pretty good after flying. So went for a walk, Place is full of small bars, had a drink went back to the room and unpacked.
When we checked in we were asked were we would like breakfast, In the dining room, In our bedroom or on the terrace, being an adventurer I opted for the terrace. It was snowing outside and Cold so the terrace was out, Instead we opted for our room. Breakfast was some Feta Cheese, Toast, A boiled egg, Jam, Coffee and Orange Juice, Not Bad Eh!.
There is a shared kitchen there, Buggers had hidden the coffee but we found it, Then I rang Roni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Now? Roni is worth a paragraph on her own, So she shall have one.
Roni (Andronia) Is 32 years Old, and Has a beautiful Daughter Rada, and that my friends is all I`m going to say, except for her character reference.
I`d been introduced to Roni Via another English property buying person. Conversed via email and phone and built up a friendship. Her English is Good, She has a quick mind, And is just an all round lovely person. She now helps me, and is there to help you. She will arrange your accommodation, take you sight- seeing around sofia, answer questions, show you were to eat, In fact, She`ll be a friend, and that's a good thing when making a new start in a foreign country.
There will be a small charge of say 5 leva and Hour, From meeting To leaving. This girl is worth it and in time will be one of your biggest assets whilst in Sofia. This money is for her, and her alone, No-one from this website or anyone else takes a share. As for contacting her and asking her to make bookings, please remember when you do meet to thank her for her services. I know the reference to monies I keep making will embarrass her but this is a business and she deserves an opportunity to better the lives of her family and herself.
Right so I have rang Roni, arranged to meet at 12noon the next day, That being sunday, and so we sleep. Funny thing sleep, seems to be an whole package to me, The sheets, The room etc, One off and I aint getting off, But did plan for that and brought the Book `Digital fortress`, actually a bit weak for me, about computers, about the NSA, about spies etc, But all a bit twee, Still eventually dropped off, It was either the book or my mate Kevin's melodious snoring, whatever it was helped.
12th of March 2006. Sunday;
At noon we made our way downstairs, and waited for Roni, bang on time and with her friend Vlada she arrived, we were shown to the car being driven by Vlada's boyfriend Peter (Piter) and shown around the City, I suggested lunch and they pointed out many Cafe/bars, But I wanted something better so after much discussion we made our way out of the city and towards a local mountain, there we found a ski-lift with a lovely typical tavern next too it and entered for lunch.
The place was lovely, Not a word I`d often use about a building but it was. I was buzzing, Here I was in a strange country, with people I hardly knew, About to order food I couldn't even pronounce, And it was great.
Just a quick note, I`ve done trips like this in the past to other countries and places, Its always a challenge and can be a little worrying. If, you find the right people, If, they are not there to rip your arm off (Fiscally speaking) and language isn`t a problem then that allows you to concentrate on the work at hand, Not having to worry about what's going on around you. Do as I did and relax, its quite a buzz.
Ok, Lunch was served, there were starters, salads, main meals, coffees, Rakia, Whiskies, Liqueurs and desserts, can`t remember all we had, Shopska salad, meatballs, Steaks, Mushrooms, Oh you name it we had it. Now bear in mind there were 5 of us and this was an expensive restaurant, and we drank all kinds of things, The Bill, 112.00 Bulgaria Leva = 39.56 GBP, pretty good I thought, again bear in mind this was no Simple country restaurant, But a rather exclusive ski-lift, And there were 5 of us.
The rest of the day was spent sight-seeing, Mostly by car, But occasionally we would stop find a cafe, have a coffee and chat, One such Cafe was in the Opera House, magnificent building. I`m not as said earlier a building Buff, To me they serve a function and that's more or less it, But some of the once Eastern Bloc Cities, Sofia in particular, have fantastic architecture which you can`t help but notice, The detail is amazing, and now they are receiving EU Monies to repair and repaint this will be a lovely city in a very short space of time, and perhaps some will say instead of weekends in Paris or Barcelona, We, Are going to Sofia. I hope so, I love this place, Its people, Its warmth and passion for arts and music, They will be a very strong player within the EU within a very short space of time.
So now its late afternoon and we have decided tonight we`ll go to a Jazz club to see a live band that are friends of Roni's, Roni is a singer if I haven`t mentioned it, And at the moment they have a new Big Brother Show going, This is full of famous celebrities and Roni was part of a conversation on there for awhile. She`s very modest, I would have started signing autographs on the back of that.
Ok lets talk about Jazz, I need to be careful here, as I know it has a huge Fan base, However, Jazz???????? What's it all about???????? I`m not very trendy at all I must admit, But must be allowed the freedom to like what I like, and sorry, Jazz doesn`t do it for me. But we arrive, Pay our way in about 2 leva, Find a table thats reserved for someone, move the sign, sit down and look like we belong, as it turned out it was being kept free for anyone that arrived lets say a little out of the ordinary, and that was certainly us, Drinks ordered, band warmed up, and away we go.
First thing I noticed that it was all young people, I very rarely go out, especially into the town centre where I live, But my sons do, and to them the inevitable tensions that arise are normal, Maybe I have some sort of Radar for trouble but I don`t enjoy it,
back to the story, Its full of young people, all drinking, all chatting, smiling and some girls dancing to the recorded music, then the band begins;
Ummmmmmm, Well it was musical-ish, I`m not sure I`m qualified to comment here, but as its still a free society I`ll exercise my right to free speech, I thought it was bloody horrible, and to be honest I don`t even know why, There was a rhythm, there was a melody, there was a tune, But I think it didn`t work, The lads seemed like nice people and the crowd were either enjoying it immensely or were very kind. Still thats Jazz, and its not for me, Now you see, A bit of Kylie singing Lucky, Lucky, Lucky and my night would have been complete.
Came out of there about 12:30ish, back to the Red-House, Have some sleep, for tomorrow, we meet our agent.
We thanked, Roni, Vlada and Piter for there care and consideration, and looked forward to seeing them again this Coming Friday, Which would be late, and spend time with them again on our final saturday.
We talked for awhile me and Kevin, And both agreed that we had been lucky. I had researched Bulgaria for Months, Talking to people, asking advice, And Finally met The lady who put me in touch with Roni, Boy, Do I owe her a meal, Will be meeting her in Bg in June, so will be able to thank her properly then.
Time to sleep, Tomorrow we drive toRuse (Rousse)
13th of March 2006. Monday;
I open my eyes, and its 10:15am, 20 Minutes later after the quickest breakfast and shower ever we are downstairs with our cases, Pay the bill, Thank them and leave. Incidentally the bill was 50euros, (A little short of £35). It was called the Red-House and Heres the link .
Car is right outside Into the car and leave the city of Sofia for the main highway to Ruse.
Now!!! There are cities all over the world whose drivers are a bit more adventurous than ours, and Sofia fits in nicely. Oh yes, it was bedlam for awhile, I`m not a nervous passenger really so just sat back and watched, I was amazed as to why there weren't more crashes, I think its a bat thing, I think they have built in Sonar, awfully good fun, and helluva lot cheaper than Disney land, I mean the scary rides and all.
Anyway, onto the main highway for what will be about a 4 hour drive with a stop for coffee.
Oh it was snowing, yet the roads were surprisingly clear. A little about the car, Ford escort estate, Worth mentioning most cars in BG are factory converted for LPG which is in plentiful supply, Unleaded is about £3 a gallon, Petrol stations fill up for you and most have cafes, one large chain also has Bed and Breakfast facilities, I think this chain is called OMV, I`ll check that.
Eventually, about half way, we stop at a shell garage, pop in sit down and have a coffee. The coffee here isn`t like you get at home in the UK, not much of it and very strong, You can ask for a Long Coffee, doesn`t get much bigger, but a little. Still its nice, and ruined my taste for coffee when I came home, It all seems a bit weak now.
Coffee over, back on the road, arrive at Ruse, arrive at hotel get settled in. Its a good hotel, I`ll post pics of that later.
Its now about 2pm and we are Hungry, The hotel has its restaurant downstairs so we eat there. I had Chicken soup for starters, Then steak, Coffee etc. The soup was great, The Steaks are grilled, and you don`t seem to have the choice you do in the Uk, No T-Bones, No Rump etc, Although that may have just been here, The steaks are cut quite thin, But really tasty as are the vegetables. I think they take pride in their cuisine,
I remember Roni pointing out a large building in Sofia, With the famous Mcdonalds Golden M on the top, and thats all that was left, Seems Bulgaria doesn`t like Mcdonalds and it closed down quite quickly, never to re-appear.
The room in the hotel has 2 single beds, Cable TV, and Air-con. Bath, Shower and toilet, its just what it is, Clean, Simple, warm, Dry and Safe. Drinks are served day and night, meals end about 10pm. But its only a short walk into the pedestrian zone of Ruse, and thats lovely, Its really clean, friendly and not at all what you expect. The buildings are superb, the shops are fashionable and modern, Good styles of Clothes, All the latest electronics, Phones, Mp3 Players, Ipods etc, And lots of small bars where you can sit and enjoy a quiet drink. We walked around here the first night, It was cool. Ruse is an amazing place, and I have a CD of its history, With a small movie, Pictures etc, well worth a look, If you want one they are £3 Including postage, Please email me to let me know. This money will be used in Bulgaria to provide something for village schools.
In the meantime here are some Photos;
I have lots of others, If anyone would care to see them.
Just a quick note on why I chose Rousse, There is a large Customs clearing port here, with a large duty free area, The new European highway will pass here making travel through Bulgaria down to Turkey and Greece faster. There are 4 cruise ships a day arrive in summer bringing in a large tourist contingent.
Now based on the fact that there is a shortfall in tourist facilities, which will be even more apparent when they join the EU and border restrictions relax a little, there is a massive market for establishing business`s here. Which is of more interest to me, I don`t have the money just to buy and Holiday there, I want to earn money there, To receive an income even when I`m in the Uk, All this is possible, I have looked deeply and am convinced that Ruse will become a major player within BG over the next few years.
If business isn`t what your looking for then there is the medieval aspect, Old Forts, medieval villages, fantastic scenery, Good roads and infrastructure, and only a short drive from Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria's original capital before Sofia.
There are other reasons why I chose Ruse, But for now I`ll keep these to myself, But I promise you, There are massive opportunities there.
Lunch over and we decide to go out to the Village of Shirokovo to look at an house for sale. again the roads are good, the drive pleasant. As we near the village I spot a bird of prey in a tree, Wow!, I see the occasional kestrel at the side of the motorway But nothing like this, I have no idea what bird it is but I`ll look it up and get it on here as soon as possible.
A Few of the birds of prey are; Black, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Booted Eagle,
Short-toed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard.
It may be the ones we saw were Lesser spotted eagles? These are bigger than I`m used too, and wouldn`t seem to have much time for mice, But definitely rabbit, and even small sheep etc. And when they took off you could see the talons? All in all a spectacular site, Must learn to be quicker on my camera.
Anyway I digress, Back to Shirokovo;
Location: North-Central Bulgaria
Distance to capital city: 233.172 km from Sofia
Latitude: 43.55N
Longitude: 25.933E
Altitude: 100 - 199m above sea level
Province: Rousse District
Municipality: Dve mogili Municipality
Area size of Village of Shirokovo: 18.472km2
Population of Village of Shirokovo: 119 inhabitants approx
Post code (ZIP) of Village of Shirokovo: 7159
Phone code of Village of Shirokovo: 081464 from Bulgaria, 0035981464 from outside
All Cities, villages and resorts in Dve mogili municipality: Village of Baniska, Village of Batishnitsa, Village of Buzovets, Village of Chilnov, Town of Dve mogili, Village of Karan Varbovka, Village of Katselovo, Village of Mogilino, Village of Ostritsa, Village of Pepelina, Village of Pomen, Village of Shirokovo.
Nice village, Friendly people, I won`t fill this page about the village, if you want any more information I`ll pass it on. The house I looked at was very nice and the house opposite was owned by an english person, It was on the list as a possible, But for now it was about looking so we left and as it was now getting evening we decided to start again tomorrow and return to the hotel.
14th of March 2006. Tuesday;
As you can see this diary is way out of date. This has been due mainly to time constraints as we have accompished a lot over the last 11 months. In fact so much that we were taken completely by surprise.
8th of June 2007
As the new site is now up and running I will update more often
9th of June 2007
Its now 9:35 am Bulgarian time and I am just mulling over this particular trip. I arrived on the 26th of March to go back to the UK on the 23rd of April, and I am still here.
I have goals to accomplish here so thats my reason for finding it hard to leave this wonderful country, But for some its different, asleep at the moment in one of the rooms are Dave and Charlotte, they came to invest money into property and then leave, They stayed 7 weeks, left for 2 weeks and are now back to live here full time.
Yesterday Pete and Isobel left, they came for 10 days, Pete wanted a house, Isobel at first was not coming at all, Then reluctantly agreed with the words " I am not buying ", They saw and fell in love together with an house after 5 days, and there is talk in the future that they too will come and live here.
Bulgaria has a way of doing that to you, I think there are a few reasons;
1st - This is a country very similar to our own, just as green, architechture in Rousse not to dissimilar, Food not to different to our own.
2nd - We are an English company, open and honest and here to answer any questions. We can show our renovation projects and what we hace achieved over here in a short space of time.
3rd - There are usually like minded guests staying with us who to have their story to tell, This is important, these people are unbiased.
4th - Whether they like it or not, they have friends here, We don`t intend to live in each others pockets, but there are many of us so we can arrange and enjoy social get togethers, trips, as well as share views and ideas, and also share our knowledge.
5th - The cost of living - This is a big bonus, all the things we can buy at home we can buy here, and at very much lower costs, so in Bulgaria we can afford to live well, furnish our new homes to an high standard, as well as enjoy the nature, purer water, cleaner air, more sun.
And the list goes on.
19th of June 2007
90 degrees in the shade!!!. Coming from Manchester I don`t really think I am built for these temperatures, I was thinking how many people say The British weather is awful and unpredictable, I guess it is, But its what I am used too. Earlier me and V where talking about mans greatest invention. We ran the usual gamut of things, The wheel, telephones, television, computers etc, But then it hit me, without a doubt mans greatest creation in my present situation is, wait for it!!!!... Air conditioning.
Driving around all day on business and sleeping in a well insulated attic does not help to work at 100% effeciency. I don`t expect my arguement to stand up to debate, But to help reinforce my arguement it will reach 100 degrees or slightly over by the end of the week.
30th of June 2007
Finally the heat has broke a little, for me thats good news, at least now work will be a little easier. Speaking with clients in the middle of a field about houses and land is great, but when its 100+ keeping that British stiff upper lip, or indeed a smile on your face is hard, Don`t think anyone noticed, well? if they did they did not say anything.
4th of July 2007
V`s grandmother died last week, I was thinking whether it was appropriate to include it here, But V says its ok.
It gave me an insight into the process involved when a person passes away in the villages.
We received the call at about 8pm BG time, V and her mother where understandably shaken, and could not deal with what had to be done immediately. I asked whether the doctor had been informed, at that point the answer was no, I phoned my village foreman to ask him to take the doctor from my village, Exarch yosif, which is next to Obretenik, V`s village. By the time we arrived the lady was pronounced dead. At that point her personal id card was taken by the doctor to a lady in the village to inform her she had passed away. V`s auntie was there and took over the situation. Within 10 minutes the village bell began to toll, and a casket arrived. These are unlike ours in the sense they are more of a frame, shaped like ours, but without all the trimmings. From where I was sat I could see the coffin being placed on supports and watched the peoples gentleness as it was dressed with clean sheets, blankets etc. The body was then placed into the coffin, at this point I looked away. There where obviously tears and a certain amount of shock, but the family where very brave and did what had to be done.
I then learned that the grave had to be dug by the family, and so arranged for the next day 5 of my lads to go and do this, I also leant that when you have little money the transport of the body is dealt with by the family as well, so I arranged this also.
I did not attend the funeral as V was with her family and friends and me being there would have felt like morbid curiousity, but I was on hand nearby if needed.
Her grandmother was left at home overnight with family and the funeral took place the next day.
All in all I found it a very humbling experience, The care taken was lovely to watch, and it made me think when my time comes that this type of arrangement would be for me far more suitable than the business effeciency of strangers and all the formalities that go with it.
Rest in peace Grandmother, as V tells me you taught her most about life, Your legacy is that you have helped form a wonderful and caring grand-daughter that has learned, indeed, had to cope with difficult times in her life, but has come through them with pride, strength and an inner beauty.
For that, even though I did not know you, I thank you x
2nd of August 2007
Imagine the scenario that you are a Bulgarian real estate agency. Clients come over who choose you as their agents, we did not look for them, they are shown an house at a set price and agree to buy.
They cannot buy until they have sold their house, so even though we do not know them we agree to help.
Imagine then that they cannot pay for any renovations until again they have sold their house, a friend lets say agrees to lend them 3000 GBP as long as he can have the deeds to the house (So they told me), I think this is harsh so even though I do not know them I start the renovations with 3000 GBP of my own money, not company money, my money, this was after I suggested they did not take a loan from the bank for 20 days because they would lose money, They thank me so much, leave lovely comments on forums etc, sing my praises etc.
During the renovation it becomes apparent due to an heating engineer/plumber that we have hugely under-quoted, because I am a man of my word, I will not increase the cost to them and accept this as my fault.
Imagine they are having a huge problem with their delivery from one country to another, and that I am at the point of hiring a vehicle to go for them (never knowing if I will get paid or not).
Further imagine (Stick with me its nearly over) that due to others mistakes I bring all my people to their home to ensure we complete on time, no extra cost mind.
D-day comes and I meet them to escort them to their new home, so far they are happy as they should well be.
AS POA we sort out every problem, we deliver mail when it arrives at my address (Their registered company address). I beg them to sleep here one night because they are both so tired. I gave them one of my cars for a couple of days free of charge so they would not have to drive a large camper around the streets of Rousse.
Imagine we have become friends.
One day they come to my office and ask for their company documents, I simply state whilst we have power of attorney would they not be better locked in my office, They can of course have them if they choose. (They do have the documents translated and given to them earlier)
Now lets digress a little;
Imagine I fire 2 employees, the fact one of them found a clients ring in the bathroom and took it home, then brought it back when questioned, throwing it on the desk, saying " I do not know what all the fuss is about, its not a good ring".
Nope thats not the reason I fired them, there were plenty of others, but thats not for here.
Ok, back to the main plot;
Try to imagine that these people begin to moan about everything, asking crazy questions, like can we buy stamps in Bulgaria.
Moan about the village, moan about the heat, about the mosquitos, about next doors sheep, about the mayors father, their neighbour wetting his head under the outside tap, moan about people just coming up to their door without invitation, probably just saying hello, I don`t know, tell me turkish people are walking into their home, helping them move their belongings around, bear in mind they had just moved here, oh, by the way, it was my people that turned up and helped them empty the truck, to be fair, they did pay them.
Imagine they buy a car and drive for a short time with a flat, the discover, what may have been rim damage, don`t know not a mechanic, but then tell all that someone deliberately cut with a knife all around the inside of the tyre. Someone trying to kill them???
Hey, but they are new here, and did have a few problems, so lets not be too harsh, but I am in the clear, after all I did everything I could to help them, even taking a financial loss, but thats my problem, still, they are my friends, and I care for them, so try to understand that it must be hard relocating to a new country, but as my friends, I am here for them.
Now, this next bit is going to take a huge piece of imagination;
Imagine them meeting up with my 2 sacked ex employees and somehow starting to dislike me, crazy!!!, nope its true.
Lets talk about their company documents, They did indeed ask for them but as we represent them in front of government institutions they were advised that they stay here, after all as Power of attorney we have a legal obligation to both them and government departments. Now advising them that they stay here was wrong of me for these particular people, but hindsight does have 20/20 vision.
Ok, so suddenly we receive documents from the court/lawyers/notaries to take their documents to the notaries office within 7 days, I am reminded that it is a criminal offence to tamper with mail????? Something that has never been done by me or any of my staff, I am also accused of disloyal actions???? Not sure what that means, but reading all the earlier help we gave them I am not sure where disloyalty comes in. My thought is loyalty is a 2 way street and they have certainly not, in any way shape or form, been loyal to me, but this is a business not a fan club.
There is a sad side 2 this, I will never go above and beyond the call of duty again for any of my clients, from now on its strictly business, No excuses about monies, and using my own, no free use of one of my hire cars, no favours at all, from now on this business will be run tighter, one example is several times people have been unable to get the money here in time when a property has been secured, meaning a loss of deposit, several times, unsure what was happening I have put my money forward to make sure they do not lose any money at all. This stops as from now, These people have taught me a valuable lesson, trust no-one.
Incidentally they where seen with my 2 sacked employees so not hard to imagine the disinformation being fed them, maybe thats who advised them, I do not know just guessing.
Time I think to put this story to bed, But first just want to recap on the facts;
They found us.
They chose the property.
They agreed our selling price.
They agreed our renovation price.
We began the renovations with our money, which was paid back in full and on time.
We took a loss because of our mistake of employing one wrong person, whose work had to be put right at our expense.
We spent a lot of money from this country to theirs on telephone calls.
We sent lots and lots of pictures to shown the renovation being done.
We answered all their questions, honestly and truthfully.
We liaised with their delivery company to help with a problem and where at the point of hiring a vehicle to go collect them ourselves.
We gave them a car free for a couple of days so they had something more comfortable to drive around in.
We merely informed them that is was best to keep the originals 35 kms away in my office for safe-keeping, My PA was here when they asked and I replied.
We delivered the documents to the notaries within time.
We had one of our people deliver their mail the day it arrived, Not a big deal bit costs time and fuel.
We listened to how people were cutting tyres, how they now had CCTV cameras, and how annoying it was to have people turn up at their door. They have now secured both gates of the property with a link fence, Can understand it keeps the sheep out, sure makes a statement as well as to the friendliness of the British living in a Bulgarian village.
We were 3rd party informed how, that within a month they wanted to sell, to go where was never made clear.
We had to read how they would not hesitate to inform the UK authourities about our disloyal actions?????.
We had to read how they may have chosen the wrong agents, well again, thats a 2 way street, I am sure we chose the wrong clients.
We wish these people no ill-will, I am sure in time they will find their place in Bulgaria.
We did everything we could to help them, everything, and still it comes to this, but thats life in business, shame it now has to reflect on past and future clients, I never wanted to lose the friendliness we show, but never again will I place myself, my staff or my business in this position.
I await their next contact now, which I am sure will not be a favourable one. However I will deal with this in a proffessional and businesslike manner, Not wanting to get into a slanging match or Tit-for-tat battle with these people.
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