Buying on eBay

This blog post has it's origin in a couple of things.

First of all I realised a little ago that I had missed something out of my "catch up" (which is wont to happen when you don't do your blogging in real time) that I had not talked about the time I almost bought a place off of eBay and secondly, I still find myself irresistibly drawn to looking at the listings on there and thinking "oooh I could afford that!!"

So to begin with my experience of eBay. This was the first place I went to when the thought to move to Bulgaria entered my head and it was eye opening. You can buy a place off eBay (and I know of a few people who have done this) for as little as £3000 and it will be pretty much as described (in the main).

There are a few large vendors on eBay and the main one is Investment Link. If you go onto eBay you will not be able to avoid seeing their houses. The first thing I did before really considering anything was a little bit of research. I went to the list of previous customers of Investment Link and contacted three or four asking them for a brief response describing how happy they were with the service / the purchase / the after care etc etc. You hear all sorts of horror stories about buying things from eBay and they aren't what was advertised so I would suggest this should be your first move also, whoever you are tempted to buy from.

The replies were informative. One person didn't reply at all, one came back with a glowing recommendation (though they did admit that they had bought several houses through them; which is a recommendation in itself) and the last person said the process had been fine but when they got to the house the "internal toilet" was actually in the garage.

I was tempted to point at that yes, actually, that is inside... but yeah....

This is (at the time of writing) offered on eBay for £840

So that left me happy that this organisation was to be trusted and it wasn't long before I saw my opportunity. One of the first properties I'd ever seen and liked was a walled compound in the north of the Rhodope and I had watched it all the way until it was sold. This was really the first house I saw which I said "actually, we could do this!" I am trying to remember exactly when it came back on the market (because of a waste-of-time buyer who never completed on the deal) but I think it was after the first visit so I was convinced I was going to emigrate. Even thought the location was not ideal at the prices that these places go for I was thinking it would work as a base, should I not find anywhere in my first choice location, and would be worth taking on to potentially rent out or sell after a minor renovation.

I placed my bids and set myself a firm limit which I would not go above. With about ten minutes to go that limit was passed and, despite much heart ache, I did not increase my bid. I lost the house by £35 on a finishing price of just about £2300.

This was a good thing as now, obviously, I have a perfect house which is in the perfect location and has a huge amount of land and is, itself, huge. At the time however the thought was sound and I am sure I did the correct thing; if I had won it for my limit I would not have been out of pocket and I am convinced it was of good stock. I have also, since, had a viewing trip with Investment Link and while the houses were not great the agents were good on the day.

They list this as an "easily modernisable shower" though...

After this one attempt I did not try to buy any more houses on eBay. As I was put onto the mailing list for Investment Link they did send me one which I thought looked good, which was in the perfect location, but it rapidly went past the price I wanted to pay for anything I had not been able to view. I went near that property on the "Viewing trip to end all viewing trips" and I must say I'm glad I didn't buy it; the access to the property was less than impressive.

I'll probably wrap this up now but I did want to observe that from my research it looks like buying property on eBay works really well if you are looking to move to the north of the country, but as you tend southwards it becomes less successful.

I'm trying to persuade a friend who did buy in the north to write a blog post of his experiences so hopefully that will follow this post shortly.

Trying to buy the School (part 1)

Nearly 15 months after making the decision that moving to Bulgaria was the best thing we could do, we were finally at a point where a suitable location had been found. This was fortuitous as I had been thinking that if the House Hunting Trip to End All House Hunting Trips had not been successful, we would have had to think again.

Me as a confused person

It is a challenging process, trying to buy a house, even at the best of times and it is far far harder when you don't live in the country you are trying to buy in and can only visit for two days at a time every couple of months. I had made the decision that I was not going to do another house hunting trip (as they cost money which could go into the pot to be spent on any purchase) and would change tack by still going at the same time, but renting so all day every day could be spent just house hunting.

Thank goodness for The School as this plan (while sensible) did not appeal at all.

Upon arriving back in the country and making the decision to go for the school the first thing I had to wait for was the decision on the new minimum price that the Obshtina was setting. At the same time as requesting this I also asked for the plans (Skitza, mainly) so I could prove to myself that I was not being led up the garden path with all this.

There is something a little uncertain about starting a process like this; while everything seems OK you can never be 100% sure that the person you are dealing with is not trying to con you in some way. Asking for documentation is the first of a few things I would suggest that you always do before parting with any money at all as, if you send cash and then they don't have the docs, the likelihood is you will not get the money back.

Hey!!! Give me my money back!

In my case Georgi responded within a day with the documents I asked for, and also sent me a really helpful and clear explanation of the bidding process. In this I can say that at every stage of the process Georgi went above and beyond to explain anything I asked him, replying quickly and with clear answers. He was excellent.

Below (and forgive the length of it) is Georgi's email in full explaining the process.

"I am sorry you did not have time when we viewed the property so I could explain you how it works with government auctions but I will do my best to do that via emails!

It is quite complicated and different procedure than normal open auctions in Europe or EBay and to understand all details you need to know Bulgarian laws.

All municipalities in Bulgaria have a lot of properties as agriculture land, medows, aparthments, shops, schools etc and day set auctions for them on monthly basis or when price expires.

The vote of the new price for that property has been planned before and it has nothing with our viewing last week.

We are just lucky that happened now, otherwise takes about two months to get up to date price.

How they form the price:

Municipality hires independent surveyor who comes up with report and price.

For abandoned buildings usually that is not market price and it is tax evaluation price (The price you pay annual council tax)

This price is valid for six months and according to the law the municipality cannot sell the property under tax evaluated price.

After six months they have right to change it after new survey.

This price is starting price but also is reserve price and the bidder cannot bid below that.

Open auctions are held in front of commission of 8-10 council members and any one interested needs to prepare a list of about 15 documents required to take part in the auction.

Also they have mandatory bid of 10 % hen auction start and every next bid is 10 %.

If the bidder is only one to the starting/reserve price is added this 10 % and that is winning/sale price.

That is just basic explanation of the procedure and I hope you get it.

Up to date information about that property.

City council has already voted new price yesterday and now there is 14 days period for objections.

New price is ****** Pounds.

That includes:

Price of the property (All buildings and the land)
10 % mandatory bid.
All transfer and notary fees.
Our agency commission to represent you and act of your behalf.

That is the final price you will pay if you decide to go ahead.

To entry the auction you need to pay for entry documents (That also built in the price) and prepare all document.

We do that for you.

Deposit required is 20 % or ******* Pounds.

If you don't win this deposit will be returned.

Auction date will be set after 20th of April.

After winning the auction remaining balanced is required within 14 days.

I also attach the plan/sketch of the property.

Municipality doesn't have any floor plans and I thing the best way is to ask your friend to draw a hand made one for you.

There is no problem builders to go there now as the price is already voted.

If you think is a good idea you can send me the measurement and their price for the work so I can show them to my master builder and see if the work it's not overpriced!

I think that is all for the moment mate."

So there it was and the price was substantially less than originally requested and (with the thought that the renovation work, while extensive, was not quite as total as all the other houses that we had viewed ie needing completely pulling down and rebuilding again) it seemed like a no brainer that we had to go ahead with this.

Further emails confirmed that after 14 days the auction date would be set, you have to be a Bulgarian citizen to bid on Government auctions so Georgi would act as my representative (though everything would be in my name) and I would have to have paid the deposit at least 7 days before the auction occurred.

Georgi sent me a contract to check through which covered the purchase of the property (including in it the full amount agreed) and was very flexible with regard to the suggestions I made for changes (including adding a time limit to the repayment clause).

Contracts need signing

Once all this was agreed there was another decision to make; would I give Georgi power of attorney to act fully as my representative (opening a bank account for me to make the payments to, signing all the documentation at the auction and basically meaning that my physical presence was not required at all) or would I go to Bulgaria for an extended visit to do all these things myself? My decision was made by the uncertainty around the speed of the process; I would give Georgi power of attorney but would also do my best to be present at the auction.

I think I will leave this update off here, as this is getting ridiculously long, and will continue in another post.

Thanks for reading.

Making decisions

The main feeling after returning from viewing so many houses in such a short time was exhaustion but this was tempered with a feeling of optimism.

Of the fifteen houses we had viewed, numbers 3, 4, 7 and 14 were definite possibilities; we had gone from a position of having nothing to being excited about to having four options.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm decisions decisions

The evening before we left was taken up with eating a huge meal at the hotel and discussing all the options. There were pros and cons to each property and we had to narrow down our options before starting a buying process.

The remnants of the mammoth celebration meal

Numbers 3, 4 and 7 were in a location which we didn't know as well, and number 7 was quite substantially out of budget, while number 4 didn't have great access (we actually drove over sloping grass to get to it which, in the winter, would have been interesting to say the least) and number 3 was close to the road but with an overlooking neighbour.

Number 14 (the school) was in the perfect location right near a town we liked and with relatively good access (a gravel track / dirt track combination) but it was HUGE and also, at the price quoted on the listing, well out of budget.

Clockwise from top left: House 3, 4, 14 and 7

The pros and cons were gone over and over in this way for several hours until it was decided to just let it settle and change the subject.

The decision was made back in good ole blighty; we would pursue all of them, requesting Skitzas and Notaralions from the respective agents and also talking to Georgi Stankov of "Bulgarian Properties for Sale" about the school and finding out what the new price was going to be.

As it happened the Municipality were having the meeting the week after we visited to set the new price for the School and when this came through it placed the school firmly within the budget. This meant that we didn't pursue the other three options at all even though Slavena the agent was exceptionally quick to respond to all questions and did send the information requested.

So, decision made.

Next blog will be about the bidding process and what happened next.

Bidding

The house hunting trip to end all house hunting trips

We went back to Bulgaria in March 2013 with a packed schedule of house viewings for both the full days we were there. I had bought a surveyors wheel so that I could take measurements and sketch out rough diagrams of each property as one of the challenges I had experienced after the last trip was remembering exactly what the layout of the Mountain Houses had been and where each building sat in the land and in relation to each other.

I also had my phone so that a video could be taken of every property. This is a fantastic idea and I would recommend everyone does it; it is amazing how much you can forget and just taking pictures (though I took loads of these obviously) does not actually help as much as a good shaky-cam video.

So we had a busy schedule planned, viewing lots of houses in a slightly different location on the Sunday, and then meeting up with Investment Link to be shown around some places more in our target location and finally heading to the school to see this to fill up the day.

House 1.

House number 1, showing extent of garden

The sketched plan for House 1

The notes for House 1

The first house was up in the mountains and, while it was not ideal, it still set the day off well; at least we were being shown houses which were relatively suitable. It was not one we had seen online however it showed the agent was listening to our requirements.

House 2.

Walking up towards House 2, with agents in shot

Sketched plan for house 2

The notes for House 2

House number 2 was just across the valley from the first one and once again was a suggestion from the agents.I preferred this one as it had a bit more land but it was still not ideal due to a really difficult access road (we had to walk the last couple of hundred yards as a tree had come down across the track and the driving required by the agent to reverse back down was amazingly skilled).

House 3.

House number 3 from it's land

A view from inside House 3 across the valley

Sketched plan for House 3

Notes for House 3

The third house we saw was the first one from the list that had been picked from the website. It was arrived at by a sharp turn off the main road and this was not the most encouraging of approaches but as we walked around it became clear that this was a gem; a real possibility. The house had a flat roof which would make it easy to add a floor if we wanted, and the only negative was slightly small land (but the possibility of renting a stretch of land next to it from the local council). The views (as you can see from the window picture above) were outstanding and the only side was that of a waterfall cascading into the valley below.

House 4.

Looking down onto House 4

Looking back up to House 4

Sketched plan for House 4

Notes for House 4

From the third house we had a drive along the valley and then back up the other side, off road a bit and pulling up by this lovely place. It was another house from the list that had been sent to the agents and was just as spot on as House 3. It was not perfect; the access was a bit bad and the land was very steep indeed, but the location was amazing with gorgeous views and no close neighbours.

House 5.

House number 5

Sketch plan for house 5

Notes for house 5

The fifth house was my favourite on the list I had given to the agent so I was quite excited about viewing it. As is often the case it was a disappointment. The house was small and the land, which on the advert was extensive and looked fruitful, had been effected by the fact that the owner (the local Kmet) had decided to keep the best bit for himself and remove it from the sale. Lesson learned; VIEW A HOUSE! From the listing this looked perfect.

House 6.

One of the agents unlocking House 6

Sketch plan for house 6

Notes for house 6

The sixth house was another which was suggested by the agents; it was just on a rise above the main road (when I say main road, it probably got one or two cars an hour max so not very busy) but the main issue was an overlooking (and very nosy) neighbour. I loved one thing about this house; it had a huge fir tree right at the entrance to the land however the proximity of the neighbour, and the fact the land was very small, made this not an option.

House 7.

Front view of House 7

Looking up the land towards House 7

Sketch plan for house 7

Notes for house 7

House number 7 was up a little track past a couple of barking dogs and then up a track where we had to leave the car as a wall had fallen into the road; it was another option suggested by the agents and with this one they had really managed to find something perfect. It had a good sized building, another fallen down wreck, and loads of flat land with trees and a good solid fence. This went straight onto our list to consider. The issue was the price; it was more than the budget allowed but then it was perfect too.

House 8.

House 8 barely clinging to the side of the valley

Notes for house 8

The next house was one which I had picked out on the internet so the agents took us past it but, as we parked, looked embarrassed and said "it's not very good, this is not a good one for you". It had almost no land, and was very close to collapsing and sliding into the valley below. The honesty shown by the agents (compare and contrast with the positive spin from the agent on Monday) was heartening.

House 9.

Looking up towards House 9

Sketch plan for house 9

Notes for house 9

The last house of the day was another not very good option; to get to it you had to walk through another person's back yard and the land was quite sloping and overlooked. It did have two wrecks included, with the standing house, which could have been cleared.

After this viewing there were discussions about another couple of houses but exhaustion had set in so the decision was made to abandon that, and possibly phone them the day after if we had any time to view any more.

The next day we met up with Investment Link, who were showing us houses they had picked.

House 10.

Looking at House 10 from behind

House number 10 from the road showing the view

Sketch plan for house 10

Notes for house 10

The first house of the Monday was very close to a house we had seen on eBay that I was very close to just buying without viewing it. The description online made that house sound perfect but, having seen this one, I can be very happy I didn't. The location was stunning; as you can see from the second picture the views down the valley (and it is one of my favourite valleys in the region) and if a decision was based purely on that this would be perfect however the access to the property was right through the middle of a load of buildings, down some steep steps and with no chance of getting any kind of vehicle within a hundred yards of the building.

House 11.

House 11 from the precipitous cliff pretending to be a path

Notes for house 11

The second house on Monday was awful. We had to struggle down a cliff to get to it, and when we pointed this out the agents said "ahh it is ok, just use donkeys, or set up a sled and slide it down with stuff on it...." There was a nice stream just behind the house, though, which could have been damned and used for power but this was the only positive about this house.

House 12.

Looking from the back of House 12

Sketch plan of house 12

Notes for house 12

Unfortunately the day didn't get much better with the next house. It was very close to the perfect house we couldn't find the owners of but that was as good as it got. There was little land, it was centrally located in amongst the village houses and as such did not offer the solitude that we were looking for.

House 13.

Viewing House 13 from the back, a property I saw with George (the Mountain Top House)

Next we were taken to a house up a mountain and as we got closer, I started to recognise it more and more and yes, it was one which I had been shown by George during the August trip. Interestingly the description of the land which came with the house was different this time; it does show just why it is important to get the Skitza which shows you the official extent of land you are buying.

That was the end of our viewings with Investment Link and sadly, despite being very pleased indeed with their communication and the service received from the office, none of the houses they showed us were suitable in the slightest.

We picked up E and headed towards the school.

House 14. (The School)

The back of House 14 (the school)

Sketch plan for house 14

Notes for house 14

We met Georgi and co in a layby and followed them across a very narrow bridge (so narrow the wing mirrors on the cars had to be folded in) and up and through a village and then there it was; the school. It was huge, about 16 rooms, all massive, with high ceilings and 2.3 acres of land. Set on the very edge of the village it had neighbours on two sides, but not close, and the other two were not over looked at all. As we all walked around this place I started to get excited; it was more expensive again but the damage appeared mainly superficial and, while it needed a new roof, it did not appear to need much more in the way of structural repairs. This property was for sale through an auction and apparently the price for the property was going to be decided again at a meeting of the Obshtina which was to take place a week or two in the future.

House 15.

House 15 - a lovely little cottage ready to move into

Notes for house 15

Finally, for our mammoth house hunting trip, we met up again with the people from Sunday and they took us to this little cottage which was ready to move in. E actually knew the previous owners and it was just a little small but someone who was not looking to homestead would have found this perfect.

So, there you are... a super long update and I will be back again in the next post.