We are the Groen family from North Holland. We bought a house in Dobrinishte, a village about 8 kilometres from Bansko in a beautiful mountainous area of Bulgaria, in December 2023.

We made the choice to leave the Netherlands for several reasons but mainly to live in the mountains and in an area with more sunshine.
As a child, I used to come to Austria every year for skiing holidays and later hiking holidays. It was always a dream to live in the mountains.

After the corona period, the idea of emigrating slowly emerged. Because of everything that was happening in the Netherlands, everything that was still to come and high inflation, we started looking for a country within Europe where life is even more like it should be. After Sweden, Hungary and Romania, we finally ended up in Bulgaria.

In August 2022, we went on holiday by car to Bulgaria with the idea of getting to know the culture and the country whether it would be suitable for us to live in. Via the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, we entered Bulgaria over the Danube Bridge near Vidin.
The first destination was the Balkan mountains, but we did not like this region.

Then we went to the Rhodope Mountains. We liked this, but here you really live in nature or in deserted villages and with children who have to go to school, this is not so practical. We also did not find our ideal house here, except for one whose purchase eventually fell through.

In the village of Chokmanovo near Smolyan, we had initially bought a house.
However, after checking the preliminary sales contract, it said something different from what had been agreed. Through the actions of an acquaintance, we were saved from disaster.
We had almost bought a house, but without the land around it. This could have caused problems later. The owner could have asked for extra money to buy the land or it could have caused problems when selling the house.

So a teaching moment is when you don't speak the language and don't know the people, it is important to stay alert and gather people around you that you can trust.

After the sale was cancelled, we headed towards Bansko and never left here. For us, this was the ideal region with schools, good roads, good facilities, lots of tourists, mountains and an international community.

Our house in Wieringerwaard went up for sale in early 2023 and was sold after just a few weeks with a surplus value. The key was handed over on 1 September and after staying with grandma for a week with the six of us, we left on 7 September 2023 by plane for Sofia.
Here ended an exciting and uncertain period in the Netherlands, but began an uncertain and exciting period of our new life. After all, by then we didn't have a house. And then, sometime in October, we arrived in Dobrinishte.

The village of Dobrinishte

Here, we had contacted several estate agents. After seeing a lot of houses, we finally bought a house in Dobrinishte. Actually, this was not our dream house, but simply the only good option because of our limited budget and the low number of houses for sale in Bansko.

Nevertheless, we are very happy with the house and have lived there permanently since April 2024. It was in poor condition and still unfinished to this day, but we are very much enjoying ourselves. We have a garden with vegetables, fruit trees and rabbits and have two dogs.
We don't want to go back and have made a dream come true!

After the sale, the paperwork begins in Bulgaria. A lawyer checks the paperwork, drawings, land register, etc and accompanies you all the way to the notary. In addition, the drawings and construction were different and we wanted another check of the construction.
So there is a lot of people and knowledge involved.
There is no way you can compare it with buying a house in the UK. Unless you come across a well-prepared house whose papers are already in order.

Besides buying the house, we also had to apply for a residence document and register the car. At the government office, hardly anyone spoke English so we were glad our lawyer helped us with this.
So in the end, based on experience, you find out who you enjoy working with and who you can trust as a person and based on knowledge and expertise.

We would like to share our experiences with Dutch, German and English speakers who also want to take up the challenge. We know the problems you may encounter when emigrating to Bulgaria and we want to help you with all the challenges and problems you will face. We make sure you can focus on work, learning the language or living instead of studying the law books, for example.
It saves you a lot of time if you do everything right the first time. This time is better spent skiing, hiking, going out on terraces or other fun activities in life!

Do you also want to leave for Bulgaria? We would like to help you!

We are happy to help you find a house and possibly help you with contractors during a renovation, because things are different in Bulgaria than you are used to. Once you have the keys in your hands, you may have to renovate the house. But then there is the language barrier and any possible help is very nice when selecting contractors and requesting quotes for the renovation.

Would you like to know more about what we can do for you? View our services or contact us!