To build or not to build - that is the question !

pachou

What do you think about building a house? Do you think its better to buy a house , not knowing who has built it, how and what to expect ? Or it better to have a house built and decide where, what and how ? What's your opinion ?
Share some thoughts about what have you done to your place to make it nice. Ask if you have questions. I am sure everyone has something to add to help the others.

Charlie

We would love to build, design our own house, but it comes down to money for us. We were lucky that my boyfriend has his own home but we have had to do so much work. replaced the windows and doors, new ceilings, cemented floors, laid the wooden flooring, built a kitchen from scratch, fiited wardrobes from scratch as the walls weren't straight so each piece was different sizes (mind blowing but look fantastic now), decorating, lighting, shelving everything. In total it cost about Ã‚Â£6,000 max but we had no labour costs as we did everything ourselves.
As for buying houses not knowing who built it, aren't most houses like that. I think as long as you have the houses checked out by a professional then you know what your buying.
I think it's probably a dream for alot of people building your own home.

Charlie

travelbug

Hey Charlie,

Who built your kitchen, wardrobes etc?
May need someone to do this for my houses.

Rachel

pachou

With prices in Bulgaria I think its not expensive at all to build. In fact it comes out that it's much cheaper than buying a ready one. You might already know that market prices of the available properties (apartments and houses) are about 2-3 times higher than the cost of building. So basically it depends on where and how much the land costs Smile

Charlie for a bit more - Ã‚Â£20,000 for example you could have built a 100 m2 house - fully finished (with double glazed windows, fireplace...,etc.)

travelbug

Ã‚Â£20,000 is a fair bit more for most people! Plus new houses do not tend to have the character of older more traditional houses.

Rachel

Charlie

We already had a house, it was just about liveable so it was a matter of doing what we could. Since we finished the house I have been backwards and forwards from England sorting out visas. We have just bought some land which has a pile of bricks on it that resembles what could have been a house so it's a matter of redesigning. We want to get our business going first then we can look at a building project. For now it's got an established veggie garden so I will have fun with that.

Hi Rachel - Me and Chech did all the work in our house, it's something Chech has been doing for years. Anything from metal work to woodwork, he's a wiz, although I have to say that the tiling is the best bit of the kitchen cause I did it. When the web sites working our before and after pictures will be on it.

Anyway, it is our dream to build a gorgeous home for us, one day.

Charlie

pachou

Rachel You could use stone and wood to cover the house from inside and outside. So basicaly you could combine old and new and build a brand new home for you using the traditional bulgarian design/style and matterials. But still you can't say an old house is the worthier option only because its cheap - what about the old pipes, the old el. cables in the walls, etc ?
Go check the web site i've put on my profile - www - to see some brand new but traditional houses. Its only for info, there are only pictures on the web - no prices , not for sale , so i am not trying advertise Smile

vesko · Newbie Joined: Mar 13, 2006 Posts: 10 Location: Varna

Hello pachou,
What I thing about this matter is that every person have different vision about his house.
Some people have the time and the spirit to renovate old bulgarian house. It may be cheaper if you have Bulgarian friends and helpful neighbors, and you like to work, but it will cost you a lot of time, you will never know the quality of the building and most important Ã¢â‚¬â€œ what will happen in case of earthquake.
The labor in Bulgaria is very cheap, the materials are cheap, and I do agree with you that the prices of the new build houses are high Ã¢â‚¬â€œ off course the builder invested his money, off course he need to have revenue, so in main case already build house will be 2 or even 3 times more expensive.
So the common sense says Ã¢â‚¬â€œ if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have experience in renovating, if you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have time and nerves for it, Ã¢â‚¬â€œ donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t buy old house. Sometimes renovating can be tricky and cost you more money, end the end result may not be exactly as you expected it.
If you have a lot of money Ã¢â‚¬â€œ go ahead end buy already a new house you always will find something for your taste.
But if you want really a home for you and your family Ã¢â‚¬â€œ go ahead and find somebody to design the house suitable for your taste, look for location, end the most important part Ã¢â‚¬â€œ make sure you do quality checks. There are not a lot companies in Bulgaria that build with good quality. So make sure you are not choosing big company, because they like shortcuts..

Elliotssleeping

Hi, We have visited Bulgaria already as we are starting a medical business soon and have thought about the various housing options open to us. Everyone has different needs and likes and dislikes hence thats what makes things interesting and varied. In our case,we need an apartment in Sofia but will probably rent and look for a really nice plot of land to build our own property on the outskirts eventually. Having been hauled around by various agents both good and bad to look at what are mainly fairly run down village properties it seems to us that the best way is to buy a really nice plot and build a wooden kit property. These really are superb and can be erected in 3 weeks leaving just interior stuff to do. These timber framed properties are every bit as good as block built ones and very cost effective to run. They can be boughtt for as little as Ã‚Â£13,000 for a 2 bed bungalow and up to Ã‚Â£47,000 for 5/6 bed with intragal garages and gyms etc. If anyone is interested visit this link www.skyehomes.co.uk I do not know this company well but it will give you an idea of the sorts of kits available. They will even come and erect it for you.

Just my thoughts

Cheers

Dom

travelbug

Hi Pachou,

The homes on your site are gorgeous! At the moment we just need a house to move to and once settled may then start to look around abit more. But currently have 6 to renovate so will stick to those.

Rachel