Just a thought and wondered what you all thought "
would you buy house anywhere in the world without doing any research"
I know there are many that have and its all gone pear shaped for them and there are those who have done the reaserch and its still not worked out so whats the best advice you would give anyone thinking of buying in another country no matter where it was ?

I think this has the makings of a good discussion, I agree with you blink that a lot of people do buy a house in another country without checking it all out first and then to their dismay they realise what a mistake they’ve made although as you also say for some it works out well I think for those that it hasn't worked out for they can only blame themselves but then you also have those that have made a serious mistake but not prepared to admit it? but the is usually obvious when you either speak to the person concerned or if they post on forum by the undertones in all their posts, its a sorry fact that yes some have made mistakes but as said they can only blame themselves all the information is out there they just didn't either bother to look or didn't know where to look? In which case they shouldn't buy, well that my take on it but I'm sure others will have more to say who have done it both ways

Well its a sad fact that some people do the strangest things and I afraid buying a house in a strange country is common, I also agree with what you say Gimp about them making a mistake and then blaming the country or others for their on stupidity after all said and done its not something you would do in the uk even if only moving a short distance you would do as much research as you could just to be sure so why take such a big risk in another country? I know we all make mistakes but that's how we learn but such big mistakes as not do your research well that's just plain ignorance and you can only blame yourself at the end of the day, but good luck to those who didn't do any research and it all worked out well but what a risk !!! we've only been in Bulgaria for a couple of days and we are going to be renting for the time being to see how things go? we took the great advice you've all given us and passed our UK house to agents for rental, it's not the time for selling property right now so it's probably a good option.
We have arranged to view 3 properties to rent, we wont bother with properties for sale until we feel settled, instead we intend to do a lot of traveling around and taking in Bulgaria and the people, hopefully by the end of May we will have a better idea of where we want to look, I will post more as and when I can.

Having visited Bulgaria for a good many years and met a whole range of people the yes I can see what you’re saying here there are and always will be those who are prepared to spend their life saving etc on a whim and then live to regret it and in some cases don’t even live to do that but all I can say to anyone who is thinking about living in Bulgaria is think very hard about it and not just for Bulgaria either the same common sense applies to wherever you want to live as the saying goes live now pay later but at what cost and I don't just mean money either you have to look at the bigger picture and see what problems you will be facing if you make a mistake and again don't blame others or the country you chose for your mistakes, I also agree that there are those who will never admit they got it wrong and then there are those who as said always seem to have undertones in their posts which speaks volumes in fact some of you might remember a certain banned meber from this forum who did just that he tried to make believe that he was happy in Bulgaria but his posts said otherwise, so do think very carefully before you make that very important decision

Very interesting a provocative subject, its the same old question really that's been asked so many times before but what’s the answer? I personally feel deeply sorry for those who never did their research only to find that the happiness they were looking for never materialised and you have those that think they did their research and the go on to blame everyone but themselves but what’s the answer????