would love an update on how your getting on Kev if you don't mind , and I'm sure plenty of others on here would love to as well. How did you find your first winter and what's the best of the beers ? Good luck for the future.

Thanks for asking , the weather has been very good so far with only 3 days of light snow , but it does not matter as I think I am living in the warmest house I have ever known with log central heating.
Doing anything here is so easy and cheap buying and registering a car, residency, full health insurance which covers you from the first day even with existing health problems for just 22 lira a month. good beer 1.10 lira a pint, 100 ml vodka with a bottle of coke 5 lira, bottle gas 35 lira, bread 1 lira, all meat half price of Turkey,1.12 lira a litre of petrol.
Have to say we feel so safe and secure here we have never switched the house alarm on since being here just like the last owner who said it was never needed , we go out without locking doors and windows , there is not 1 house here with ugly grills or shutters on, we never lock the car whether it is at home or in town.
We have great venues to visit casinos, cinemas, bowling alleys , top restaurants and proper bars and pubs , NO quizzes or karaoke.
I can honestly say we are living life to the full again, life just got a bit stale there in Turkey, but we do miss our friends of course.

[JJH]

Sounds like Altinkum very cheap in 2005, when we first visited Turkey appx. 17yrs ago
we could get a Beer for less than 40p. and a meal for a couple of quid, how times have
changed, I'm sure the same will happen in Bulgaria in time if it becomes popular like
Turkey.

I really am glad to hear that everything in BG is to your likeing.

But I wouldn't like people getting a false sense of security with thinking the whole of BG is the same as what Altinkum Kev is experiencing, I also use a few BG forums where there are more than enough threads concerning property being burgled.
And obviously as with everywhere in the world there are areas that some are better or worse than some other areas.

As for presumably having a fully working alarm system but not bothering to turn it on I feel to put it polity is a bit foolhardy.

[NETTO]

Kev, Good to hear you and Teresa are enjoying Bulgaria. If you don't mind I have a few questions as we have sold up in Turkey and considering buying another holiday home, Can you give me the names of a few village's near the city of Veliko, maybe only 10 or 15km away, with regular transport to the centre and enough to do in the village without always going into the town. A few shops, bars, restaurants and a bit of life. I have looked around the internet and think there are some suitable but it is always nice to get feedback from people who live there. Do you also think a property would be safe if it is locked up most of the time, just used as a holiday home a few times a year. Do you know the best Bulgarian forums for info. Thanks for any info you can give. Diane

Yes old foggy , there are some very dodgy areas in Bulgaria , and guess where they are , most are very near to the Turkish borders, funny that isn't it.
We chose our area as we did a crime rate check and in this area the crime rate is so very low, last burglary in our village over 7 years ago and that was a relative of the home owner, and he was marched out of the village by the Mayor holding a rifle.
You can spot the bad areas they all have bars on their homes, but Brits buy there because the property is at give away prices.

Kev, Good to hear you and Teresa are enjoying Bulgaria. If you don't mind I have a few questions as we have sold up in Turkey and considering buying another holiday home, Can you give me the names of a few village's near the city of Veliko, maybe only 10 or 15km away, with regular transport to the centre and enough to do in the village without always going into the town. A few shops, bars, restaurants and a bit of life. I have looked around the internet and think there are some suitable but it is always nice to get feedback from people who live there. Do you also think a property would be safe if it is locked up most of the time, just used as a holiday home a few times a year. Do you know the best Bulgarian forums for info. Thanks for any info you can give. Diane

Hi Netto that is the area we live in, we have all that you are asking for , I don't look at the Bulgarian forums much , you are better word of mouth , your property is very safe here, many villages do actually have 24 security for pennies , we do not have it here , and I would say many of the other villages do not need it but its just piece of mind for some, you can get monitored alarm systems which are monitored by someone in the village or next village, ask away I will try to help you.

Cheers for the update Kev , I might seriously start looking in three to four years.

[NETTO]

Kev, thanks a lot for your reply. We cannot come over this year due to work and holidays already booked but hope to visit spring next year, Will hire a car and look around all villages close to Veliko. Have read on the internet about some of the local villages but apart from stating how picturesque they are doesn't give much info on shops restaurants etc so I guess a lot don't have them, Sorry to be a pain but do you know any names of suitable villages? I will continue to read and learn but I know the only way is to come over and look. Just too long to wait. Dare I ask you the dreaded question, do you know of any reliable estate agents in the area, just to have a look what they have on offer. Thanks for your help, much appreciated. Netto

Message sent Netto