Recently I have been looking on estate agents websites because we are selling our property. Some of the descriptions are hilarious or just downright lies. On one our village is described as 'well developed with a medical centre, shops and bars and a bus service' . However its all by comparison isn't it. Well developed could be as compared with other 'dead villages' of maybe a dozen inhabitants. Although we have our moments (see Rockfest) I, and most Brits wouldn't call it well developed with only 200 residents. It is attractive and has many things going for it and things have certainly improved since we arrived 8 years ago. Pensioners club and working people's club(?) but a doctor only calls on Thursday evenings, the dentist doesn't come anymore, the bars(?) are not a bar as a Brit would expect and only one that is a 'real bar' the others being attached to shops and their opening hours. Yes, there is a bus service but not regular all day which is what is implied. So to sum up, I suppose the description doesn't really lie but doesn't tell the whole truth either. One website even mentions a school and orphanage, both of which closed years ago although there is a school bus to another close village.
As to properties its often even worse and you really have to read between the lines which Brits may not understand having been used to regulated agencies in Britain. For instance, 'beautiful property in need of renovation' means it needs pulling down and starting again. One I saw was priced at 15,000euros which should read about 10,000levs for the land, which is not much and overgrown. There is another in the same price range which is even worse. From the photos they look okay so there are some ace photographers around.
I post this as a warning to those who maybe considering buying off the internet or as a DIY project. These properties make others ready to move into from 30,000 - to around 40,000euros complete with furniture and cleared land an absolute snip!!!

You've really sold your village to us Oldun!

I think wherever you are Estate agents are Estate agents and they take photos with super douper cameras with amazing wide angled lenses. makes our house look very spacious!

Do people really buy sight unseen, from internet photos and description? They must have lots of money to waste! You only have to see what the photographs do to a small amount of land....make it grow. And how do they know the village is still alive, or the town is clean and not full of naughty people. Even in Chester, which looks great on the telly and commands good prices for property, has it's rough "
no-go"
areas. Oh my, oh my.

We have a viewing on Wednesday, would you believe. It has only just gone back on the market! Wish us luck.

Unfortunately here in Bg there are lot of estate agents who do exactly what you say oldun, and believe it or not there are those that have bought from only pictures and the agents word of what the property is like and the village and most of this happens every day on ebay but people will never learn no matter how much all the forums advise against it.

I totally agree with you oldun and in my opinion there isn't a point to where agents won't stoop to sell a property so don't be surprised when you find one your going to use that they hype it up beyond belief.

Also, beware thinking an agent is your friend! Some will court a potential buyer shamelessly! Yes, its true, Therowfamily, what you say. This topic has been aired many times over the years but folks still believe an agent is their friend and believe everything they say. I love my village but if asked a question I would tell the truth because I wouldn't feel comfortable saying otherwise, but then I am not a property agent. The village sells itself on viewing and I would willingly mention how we have managed to get by over the years without problems. For instance, if someone has a health problem that needs constant monitoring, I would not think a once a week non-English speaking doctor a good idea for a potential buyer, although there is a medical centre in VT only 23kms away. Ah but we do have a PO! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here's a few more euphemisms..

Some delay = disappear when they've got enough 50% commissions.
Helping you = helping themselves
Full furniture packages = five times mark up on cheap, nasty flatpack.
Save 400 quid by not buying a limited company = Penny-wise, pound foolish Brits. You won't own any of the land the apartment stands on.
The service charges = a rip-off now, but can be multiplied 20 times when the existing contract runs out &
then they'll repossess and rent to Romanians..
Highly experienced = established for over six months !
We're your new best friends = we have attractive, clever young people manipulating you with drink and sexual chemistry. (Yambol rings a bell )
How clever and lucky you are to come to us = how clever and lucky they are to make so much money out of you.

Another example..

"
beautiful mountain chalet"
= small run-down cottage in isolated, inbred hamlet. Very difficult and expensive to improve - especially sourcing &
transporting materials and skilled workers. Also extreme weather makes it difficult to maintain. Fewer &
fewer nearby full time residents so little community or security. Small sloping plots with poor soil. Drainage &
sewer problems. Few buses and difficult or no access in snow. No readily available amenities, facilities or emergency services. Poor mobile, internet and TV coverage. Winter lasts two months longer than in the valleys.

Excellent BS I have read this sort of thing so much in the past and even today this still goes on, although I do agree it's not limited to Bulgaria but since we are talking about Bg then what you have said here is spot on especially about 'We're your new best friends' lead the customer up the garden path and then when you have their trust go in for the kill and they won't even notice until it's to late. Why do the agents do this? well to make a living at the expense of others.

Sadly, this problem isn't confined to British expats..three or so years ago, I went to the rescue of an Aussie couple who found themselves stranded, and in trouble, in a village near to Montana. They, foolishly [their words, not mine] had purchased a Bulgarian house and property from a London based real estate agency, which very kindly offered to handle all the 'paperwork, fees etc'. Lots of money changed hands and the 'deal' was done, but both had work contracts to fulfill so it was a month or so before they could get out here to view their new treasure. You can well imagine their surprise when they arrived late at night, in their hire car, to find that the 'property' was the local cemetery!! With a little bit of help from BG friends of mine, we managed to discover that all the photos they had pored over before making their decision.... had been taken in Romania!!
I don't recall seeing two people cry so much.
The name of that agency and the registered business owner used to show up quite often on another[now defunct] forum that some of us on this forum would remember well.

I havn't been as long as some of you and have found that in general most Bulgarians can be short sighted when it comes to business including the Real Estate profession.Business reputation is something that some Bulgarians have no idea what it means and are only after making a fast Lev or two.I know some of these people live hand to mouth and are driven by survival which I can understand to a point. A "
simple labourer"
who works quite often for me has been gainfully employed all this Spring and Summer and he will be this Autumn and Winter. Why? Because he is realiable and hard working and up front about everything, so word of mouth by me and others and has led to his employment and a lot of Bulgarian businesses could learn a lot from him.If they did this in the UK some of these so called Estate Agents would find thier selves appearing on the BBC "
Watchdog"
programme"
and wouldn't it be good if they had a similar programme here it would all day 365 days a year! The"
Rouges Gallery"
would fill the Albert Hall! They are not all bad though as I have found a very few that are good eggs and don't see Lev signs when they realise that you are English and charge around the same price as they would a Bulgarian customer.Having said all this about the Bulgarians the British arn't that much better at times hence "
Rip off Britain"
, the goverment run agencies being the biggest culprits!