Dorset family moves to £7,000 Bulgarian farm: financial necessity.

A family moved from Dorset to Bulgaria after realizing they would never be able to buy their own home and saved £293,000 by buying a farm abroad for just £7,000. Lewis Vai and his wife Jordan, both 31, left their two-bedroom rental in Bournemouth and moved 1,788 miles away to the province of Haskovo, Bulgaria, in June 2022, with their two children, Leo, 11, and Faye, two.

Jordan got the idea from an acquaintance who told her she had bought a house in Bulgaria for just £3,000. After mulling over the idea and constantly checking the Rightmove website for properties, the couple bought a two-acre plot of land, including a three-bedroom house, barn and outbuildings, for £7,000 - cheaper than the £300,000 they needed to pay off their mortgage in the UK.

But then the covid happened, and the family was unable to visit their new property until May 2021. Jordan and Lewis then informed their family of their decision, sold most of their possessions, packed up their motorhome and arrived in Bulgaria in June 2022.

The couple says their quality of life has improved as they now have more time to spend with their children and each other.

Jordan, a freelancer and social media manager originally from Bournemouth, said: "We were really struggling with our mortgage. We had our son at 19 and moved into an apartment we couldn't afford and things went from there. It put us on a path that never allowed us to get a mortgage - it was a real barrier to our dream of owning our own home.

"Even with two earnings it was something unattainable for us in the UK. It hasn't been easy, but there is a wonderful community here in Bulgaria. It reminds me of what my grandmother used to say when she lived in Bradford. It was a real community, it was a village, everyone knew everyone, everyone helped. When we arrived we had so many people offering to help."

Jordan originally heard about the idea from an acquaintance in Southampton who told her she had bought a house in Bulgaria for £3,000. Jordan says: "I was talking to a friend of a friend of a friend and she told me she had bought a house in Bulgaria for £3,000. I asked her to show me, I couldn't believe it. I came home and looked at it myself, I remember showing Lewis and jokingly saying 'let's start again'.

"Then we looked, and we couldn't believe what we could get for that price. We've always liked the idea of making something with our own hands. "It's also about the countryside, we've always wanted to live in the countryside. In Bournemouth, if you want a house in the countryside, it's never going to happen for us."

Lewis and Jordan bought a house in Bulgaria for £7,000 using their savings. But after buying the property, due to covid restrictions, they were unable to visit their new home. When they were finally able to view the property, they told their family, who didn't want them to leave. Jordan said: "They felt we had suddenly pushed the news on them, but we'd had it planned for some time.

Inside the farmhouse. Jordan got the idea from a friend of her friend who told her she had bought a house in the village for just £3,000. After mulling over the idea and constantly checking Rightmove for properties, the couple bought the two-acre plot of land, which includes a three-bedroom house, barn and outbuildings, for £7k - cheaper than the £300,000 they needed to pay off their UK mortgage.

"A couple who had already moved here advised us to book because if we didn't book we would never leave.

A couple booked a ferry ticket on June 1, 2022. After packing their motorhome, Jordan, Lewis, and their children set off from Bournemouth to Bulgaria and arrived 20 days later on June 21, 2022. Jordan said, "We made sure to leave only the essentials; we were going to transport all our belongings, but the prices were excessive. We decided it wasn't worth it and sold everything - everything was for sale."

“We stopped every day to park the RV somewhere and unload it, as it was full of our things. We unloaded the RV every night and loaded it up again in the morning to continue our journey.”

Since they arrived in Bulgaria, the couple has been doing all the renovation work themselves, spending around £5,000 so far. Lewis said he hopes to complete the entire project in 10 years. Lewis, a former engineer, said: "Everything is going well. We moved into the house from the motorhome quite quickly, although we didn't expect that."

Lewis Vye and his wife Jordan, both 31, left their two-bedroom rental in Bournemouth, Dorset, and moved 1,788 miles to the province of Haskovo in Bulgaria in June 2022 with their two children, Leo, 11, and Faye, two. Jordan got the idea from a friend of a friend who told her she bought a house in a village for just £3,000. After considering the idea and constantly checking Rightmove for properties, the couple purchased a two-acre plot of land, including a three-bedroom house, barn, and outbuildings, for £7,000 - cheaper than the £300,000 they would have had to pay on their mortgage in the UK.

“We have already done a lot of work - we completely replaced all the plumbing and electrical wiring. We repaired the roofs of three buildings, and we have a septic system, so the sewage is in place. I don’t have experience in construction, but I have always been good at doing minor repairs. I watch videos on YouTube, but I also have friends who work in this field, so if I run into difficulties, I turn to them.”

The couple documents their renovation journey on their YouTube channel - @frombournemouthtobulgaria - and acknowledges that the path has not been easy, but it was worth it. Jordan said: "I remember when we stopped in the motorhome in the middle of our plot and started unpacking. I remember looking at all our things, at the food covered in flies, and thinking, 'What are we doing?' I said so many times that I wanted to go back home, but now we are in such a different position. When we arrived, people realized we were struggling and started bringing us bags of vegetables. It was wonderful; on the day we arrived, the neighbors came over, and everyone helped us settle in."

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