You are misquoting me Ivan D. I never suggested that the famine lasted a decade, just that it resulted mostly from the collapse of the pyramid scheme in the late nineties. You are right about it being earlier, I was writing from memory, but the facts are the facts and I gather that you largely concede this to be the case.
Just to correct one assumption that you are making, that I somehow have a vested interest in Spain. Not true, but I would still advise anyone looking for a holiday home that offers winter sunshine and a nice winter climate to look at Spain. That country has the best winter climate in Europe, and comparisons made by property agents that suggest that Bulgaria is somehow a viable alternative are simply untrue. I have, to be sure, used Spain as my winter escape from this climate for more than twenty years, and I never tire of it. It can be reached in a couple of hours fom Dublin, and apart from the occasional wet week, the sun shines from blue skies all year long. Yes, you do need to turn on the heating at night in wintertime, but you can still have your breakfast on the terrace in warm sunshine for most of the year. That is not showing some kind of bias, just the truth of the matter. The climate in Bulgaria is nothing like that. That is a matter of fact, not my opinion. If pointing out the obvious, i.e. that Spaiin has the best winter climate in Europe and that the place is easy to get to, somehow suggests a bias, well then ok, I'm biased!
The main reason that I tend to be a thorn in the side of the companies selling overpriced garbage in Bulgaria, Turkey, Dubai and similar markets is because I believe that there is a need to somehow counteract the massive advertising spend and hype that scams hundreds of Irish buyers out of their hard-earned savings (or borrowings, more likely) in these markets. Innocent buyers, finding themselves in a position where for once in their lives and in Ireland's history they can actually make investments to secure their futures, are losing out to marketing hype and dishonest marketing methods. Nobody with any kind of analytical mind could see anything other than a scam in the "guaranteed rentals" properties on sale in Bansko or Sunny Beach, yet thousands of buyers get caught by this trick every year. These buyers have in many cases taken on additional mortgage payments to pay for this dross, and they stand no chance of ever seeing a return for their "investment." Zero. Zilch. They have bought apartments that they will never see any kind of return on. If they are lucky, they will get out at some stage with a good percentage of their money, but in real terms they will certainly lose money at best.
I just don't think that this is right. It's not fair to the young couples who will go out to work for years to pay these scammers their excessive margins. Its not fair that the one chance that these buyers have to put something away for the future is snatched away from them by "three card trick" merchants. On a national level, it's not good that the one chance for Ireland's citizens to build wealth in global markets is being watered down by crooks and conmen. Do I feel strongly about this? Yes, I do,and I'm sorry if it offends the dishonest sectors of the property business, a business that gave me a good living and has now given me a secure retirement.
On the issues that have obviously rocked your boat, I don't have a problem with the kind of stuff that Rachel is doing. She is doing no harm to anyone, just playing the market and reviving tired old properties and giving them a new lease of life as holiday homes at reasonable margins. Nothing wrong with that, and Bulgaria is a beautiful country that will always have a limited market for expat holiday homes, for sale to the small sector of people who like the country and its culture. You are missing the most important point though; any crash of the mass market on the coast and the ski areas wil also pull down the rural properties market, making it a risky market for investors, including people like Rachel.
Yes, there are many nice and honest people in the property business, but the flood of information and hype being dumped on people with a few euros to spend is all too positive and wonderful; I merely try to balance that a little. I know from feedback that my postings cause a lot of annoyance in certain sectors of the business, and I have no doubt that a few of these get on this board to try to negate what I do. Not everyone will listen to me, but a few will, and will save themselves a lot of grief. Property can be a great route to wealth, but not through the mass market stuff that we see marketed every day in markets like Bulgaria.
