'british builder looking to move to bulgaria' Expat

british builder looking to move to bulgaria

Talk for and about Expats. Living in this Bulgaria? Let others know about it. Want to live here? Ask questions! Expat Interviews

stephen Atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

could somebody please advise me what i have to do to come and live in bulgaria. i am a builder looking to escape this hell hole and re-establish a comfortable kind of life for my family. i have been told that there is plenty of opportunities in bulgaria for builders and business men with a have a go spirit

is this likely to be true

please help

steve

Reply #1 Rosemary & Tony (84.66.235.104) -

I have just discovered this site. My partner and I are in the process of buying a property near Varna in Bulgaria. We do not know anyone who is living there as yet but we hope to make friends soon.

Good Luck

Rosemary & Tony

Reply #2 Bill Foster (195.138.138.40) -

Hi

I've lived and work in Bulgaria as a builder, based in Varna

Bill

Reply #3 stephen atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

if you are reading this rosemary or sue or bill please contact me through my e-mail address seatkinson36@yahoo.co.uk i live in beeston(nottingham) and would like to contact you, i am looking to set up a property developing company in bulgaria renovating properties for clients before they move into them, please help many thanks steve

Reply #4 steve atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

are there any brits currently living in bulgaria at present that could suggest or recommend somewhere clean to stay

prferable near to sofia or varna

do you have any knowledge of the building trade or what things cost in the building industry

anybody interested in setting up a building contractors for expats any info would be most welcome

many thanks steve

Reply #5 LMR (24.136.86.56) -

I'm moving from France to Bulgaria (Sofia) in late September.

Does anyone know of any transportation services that transport small amounts of items (I have 9 boxes total + 2 suitcases) or any car rental agencies that rent cars to drive from France to Bulgaria w/o return voyage?

Thank you!

Reply #6 stephen atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

val and ian i have tryed to contact you but there seems to be a fault with your phone

i have study the plans for the renovation work it seems straight forward could you still arrange somewhere to stay for me while i do the conversions

i have fax you a time scale of works along with a budget plan of the costing at estimation

included in this is also the costing of the drainage system and paving of the patio and driveway area

as i said to you i will only charge you labour only as i wish myself to move to bulgaria and you would be an ideal recommendation for future customers

many thanks steve

hope to hear from you soon.

Reply #7 steve atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

could anyone advise me if their are any english people running hotels in sofia or varna that i could stay in while i look for a property to buy please help

many thanks steve

Reply #8 BREDA SIDDIQI (81.131.40.48) -

Hi Steven

I am looking for a reliable builder to refurbish my home in Varna one that will not cost me an arm and a leg if this goes well I hope to buy another house.can you help. breda

Reply #9 steven atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

hi breda i have sent you an email to tell you what i specialise in with property please feel free to email me back if you are interested and i will provide you with my phone numbers and fax details along with a portfolio of my work to date i hope we can work together it would be great

many thanks steve

are you living in bulgaria at present if not where are you based

thanks again steve

Reply #10 stephen atkinson (62.254.0.32) -

for all you english people looking for builders for your renovation work. i am a registered british builder that is looking to move to bulgaria but not sure where to stay. if you need help to do renovations and can supply me somewhere to stay then i am willing to help you do your renovations for nothing as long as i can have weekends off to look at properties myself my stay will be for 14 nights each time i come and i can do total rebuilds or renovation projects

anybody interested no catches apart from free accommodation that is a reasonable standard

ie hot water, decent bed, and nice food

interested then email me

Reply #11 gareth ryles (213.122.121.30) -

hiya my friend and i are both 23, im a bricklayer by trade and my friend is a joiner we r looking 4 building work in bulgaria, we have alot 2 offer between us! we wud be grateful if anybody cud point us in the right direction please email back thank gareth

Reply #12 tracey lancaster (217.137.176.23) -

Hi,

have bought two properties in bulgaria which need refurbishing. are there any builders out there interested in the work? I also have a couple of friends that are looking for builders, so it could be more than a couple of houses!

please email

tracey

Reply #13 Norman (195.93.21.70) -

Ha, more UK Escape artists. I to have just secured a house in near Troyan. Well 2 houses, but they are small, Probably like so many other UK residents, I am slowly being driven mad by rules and regulations which stop me from operating my business at a profitable level. So, I am looking to get out of this dump. It’s had it. Our house has been renovated, and it does not look too bad a job. But, not to our UK standards and it need some ( what I would call ) personalising! Stuff moved, Taverns made into a liveable position. I am looking to spend around 10000 Euro on the place. Do you any good imaginative builders.

Also, does anyone know about this rumour with vehicles in Bulgaria, I have a number of cars and motor-home which I would like to part up on my land out there. Anyway this rumour states that if you bring a car into the country you can’t leave without driving it out, how daft is that!

Reply #14 Quest Bulgaria (83.142.16.157) -

Hi Norman

Yes, it is absolutely true - bring in a car and you can't leave without it.

Why on earth do you want to bring in so many cars and motor-homes to park up on your land? It rather demands the question as to whether you are thinking of doing some kind of business and trying to avoid tax or something????

It's not so daft on behalf of the BG authorities, after all this country is not part of the EU as yet.... and, if you want to bring in cars and then sell them for a profit, what is the problem with setting up a business, paying tax and social security charges to Bulgaria and declaring yourself as a legit business????

All the best, Quest Bulgaria

• http://www.questbulgaria.com

Reply #15 Paul & Jan Newman (88.104.241.163) -

Hi

We are currently having our house renovations done, and it was a nightmare trying to find a builder, we have been lucky and have got a very good one that was reccomended to us, but I am sure you could get plenty of work in the Varna area. Our house is in a village called Kremena which is 16k inland from Balchik so anyone closem to please get in touch.

Reply #16 gareth (212.183.128.185) -

hi, i have an apartment in the centre of sofia which has been sitting vacant for over a year now. I've been waitng for ever to receive planning permission on a duplex floor to my existing penthouse. my builder doesnt speak a word of english and my estate agent doesnt appear to be communicatig with my builder. can anyone help??!!!

I need a fluent english speaking builder who knows the ins and outs of bulgarian planning, and architects drawings.

Anyone interested in staying or renting the apartment would be let down, because its unfurnished and needs bathing facilities. However, if anyone is looking for storage in the capital of about 48 sqm, please let me know.

thanks

gareth

Reply #17 Charlie (85.255.169.138) -

I am currently living in Bulgaria with my boyfriend Chech in a small village near Karlovo which is located in the centre of the country. I am still dealing with the paperwork allowing me to stay in this beautiful country. We are in the process of buying some land in our village atfer totally renovating our own home. We are setting up a company to project manage and renovate homes bought by English in this area. We are also setting up a website soon aswell. If anyone needs any info on getting through the red tape for your visas i would be pleased to help. If anyone is living in or have bought in this area, it would be great to hear from you.

Reply #18 AJ (80.3.160.7) -

DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS GUY!

This guy Bill Foster or William Foster has taken over £6K of our money! We signed a contract with him in October and the deal was 50% up front plus 25% after three weeks plus 25% on completion. We took references before we signed. The guy has not done any work since the end of November. Since the beginning of January he has stopped all contact with us. He has now told us he is not doing the work but refuses to refund our money.

Do not believe a word this guy tells you! He will take your money, do a bit of work then stop communicating with you.

We have contacted our lawyer today to start the ball moving on this but no doubt Bill will change his name, phone number etc has he has done in other cases!

Yet the guy is taking on more work! I have written evidence that he is quoting for new work - no doubt to pull the same scam as he has done here and with others.

If anyone wants further info then please contact me. I can show you every email and text from this guy.

BEWARE! This guy is not what he claims to be and he has the cheek to call himself British!!

I had a guy check the property for me last weekend and he believes that Bill has done just over 300 levs of work on the property.

We have been far too trusting!

Check here

http://www.mybulgaria.info and search for BilltheBuilder

Alan

Reply #19 PAUL-ALICE (213.78.244.3) -

Do not use this builder unless you are willing to lose money in to line his pockets.

We paid him in advance to renovate our house which he will not do or refund us, he is also known as Bill or WPMF PROPERTIES.

He is based in varna but we think he may have moved to avoid court action as we have appointed a lawyer to try and get back the money which we have lost to him.

This guy comes across as an honest builder making a living in bulgaria but this is far from the truth, we have been to hell and back plus our dreams have had to be put on hold.

He is also known as billthebuilder on the mybulgariainfo site but he is suspended at this moment for the scams he is pulling.

Regards Paul & Alice

Reply #20 Michelle & David (81.157.114.232) -

Hi everyone,

We are 42 & 35 years old and live in Northern Ireland and after property searching in Portugal & France we have settled on Bulgaria to buy a home or maybe two.

We are totally fed up with the political situation in NI and the cost of living is getting ridiculous with crime on the increase... we know, sounds ridiculous for NI but NI did not experience much violent/street crime during the troubles but now it's becoming more frequent. We do not know much about the best areas in Bulgaria to buy and would like to settle near other english speaking people. Can anyone help? Also we plan to buy at least one property that needs renovation so we can live move in early next year. Does anyone know a reliable builder etc?

Have a good day and hope to hear from someone soon

Reply #21 Jain Goodall (83.142.16.156) -

Oh, how dreadful to hear of this, I am so very sorry!

If what you say is true, then of course this person should not be allowed to trade and should be made to pay. However, naturally there are always two sides to any story.. and for one person who has a bad experience, usually there are several who have good. We receive many emails of this nature - some from competitors who want to smear that business, some from people who have a genuine grievance, some from foreigners who have been silly paying over cash when they shouldn't.. and so on.

I am not sure this board or any forum for that matter is the place to make this kind of complaint in the way you have chosen. As you say yourself, you are taking the guy to court and involving lawyers.. if this is so, please be very careful as you are now in a situation where you are legally required to maintain silence and the guy you are taking action against can pull evidence (including from this board and others - and he probably has already done so) to use against yourselves and YOU could end up paying if he can show you have done him harm!

In addition, forums will also find themselves in trouble for allowing this kind of content to appear. This regularly occurs with printed matter and the internet will not escape - indeed it has not done so. No matter what the forum owners and moderators say about content being up to the person posting and not their views, this is not true at all and posts such as this have already appeared in court and been used against them. I have noticed that one or two forums with this kind of content have suddenly disappeared overnight - but if they are prepared to allow this kind of scandalous kangaroo court and other opinions not substantiated by fact to appear on their site, what do they expect.

Maybe the best thing is to continue with your chosen course and let justice, the lawyers and the courts decide rather than advertising your problem in this way to the general public: which is not doing yourselves potentially any good at the end of the day. I know you want to be vicious and to have revenge and understand this, but this may not be the best way for you to resolve things.

My sympathies rest with you, given your story; and if you can provide us with hard evidence for your case, we would be happy to take it up on your behalf as we would not want to think that anyone would be treated like this.

All the best to you both and if we can help you in any way, please do let us know.

Jain

http://www.questbulgaria.com

• Impartial,professional advice for all those buying or invest...

Reply #22 AJ (80.3.160.7) -

All that is stated is facts and opinion - and I am entitled to an opinion.

Go to the mybulgaria website and have a look at the gallery and look at the way the house has been left by this guy and decide for yourself!

The house is in a worse state now than it was before we purchased it - and we are £6K down for this!

If this post stops one more person being duped - then something has been achieved! Read the MyBG post well - we are not the only ones who have been conned here!

Reply #23 Jain Goodall (83.142.16.156) -

Hi, yes, I followed and read what you suggested - plus of course you are entitled to your opinion, I would NEVER say otherwise, but slating someone else on open public forum is something else. On the forum you suggested, I noticed with interest that the owner has locked the thread now on the basis that this has become what I said - a "kangaroo court"

Your posts are interesting, but I still remain firmy convinced that what you are doing on forums is not in your interests (and I notice that you and some others who may or may not support you - perhaps they enjoy this kind of thing - are posting all over the place at the moment). The tenor of your posts is rising now to what would be surely considered in court as 'hysterical' and 'vindictive' which will surely not help your case - let alone the silence demanded under British law once you have placed this kind of situation within juridicial boundaries.

I re-iterate, if you have concrete evidence, please do send it to us, I really wish you would as we may be able to sort this whole thing out for you - we remain completely sympathetic to anyone who has had the kind of experience you tell - but, as you will appreciate will you not, we have to be satisfied that the story you tell is truthful and with foundation. There are even plenty of stories on the internet about other people which could be considered truthful, but are actually stories generated by their competitors for example - not that I am saying you would dream of doing this.

Would very much like to help and will certainly do so if only you will provide me with substantiated information as I asked for last time. We are here to help you but replies such as "The house is in a worse state now than it was before we purchased it - and we are £6K down for this!" will not assist us in assisting you.

Hope to hear from you soonest, Jain

• Professional and impartial advice for all those buying in BG

Reply #24 AJ (80.3.160.7) -

Jain

I have emailed you.

What needs to be considered here also is that this is not the first time this guy has done this alledgedly.

E-Mail:         

Name:            (required)

Title:           (required)

Message (do not enter emails or links or urls in the message!):