So you have scoured the internet for hours and hours and noted down hundreds of properties you would like more information on and to visit. The agent tells you they can arrange a viewing trip for you or you can of course make all the arrangements yourself, but how can you ensure you have a successful viewing trip and that you get the most out of your visit. Here are 5 tips to planning a successful property inspection trip.

1. Before you even start to arrange any viewings or a trip over, have a clear picture in your mind as to exactly what you are looking for. If you are not at all interested in being in a rural village with just a small shop, no nightlife etc, then there is little point in looking at properties in these types of areas. If you do not want to be restricted to hiring a car to get to your holiday home on each visit, then you are going to require a property in a town or village with good rail links or on a coach route. Your time on any viewing trip is at a premium so do not waste hours, or even days looking at properties that do not meet your requirements. Make sure you make it clear to any agents you are using for viewings exactly what you want. Any respectable and half decent agent will not push you into seeing properties that do not match your criteria as this wastes yours and their time.

2. Next make sure you have enough time on your trip to accomplish everything you want to do. You cannot realistically visit a country for 2 days and get a good feel for the place, see 10 properties, get any necessary paperwork sorted and so on. Give yourself plenty of time. Carefully research the areas you are interested in and make a short list of the regions you want to visit. You should estimate spending at least 2 or 3 days in each area to get a good feel for the place and have adequate time to view properties, so make sure your trip is not going to be too rushed. You should aim to limit the number of properties you view in a single day to around 5 or 6 at the absolute most, otherwise it will all become a blur of hopping in and out a car, bumping along roads, taking a few photos and before you know it, you’ll not remember one place from the next.

3. Then look for agents that cover the regions you want to visit. Email or telephone the agents directly with details of what you are looking for to see if they have any properties that may be of interest. Look for good communication, helpful advice, friendly manner etc. If the agent will not disclose the area where the property is, then give them a wide berth. You do not want to waste time viewing a property that is not around where you want to be. Find the towns on a map where various houses are and see how far away they are from the airport, motorway, large cities etc. Once you have narrowed down your search arrange to view a few properties with a couple of different agents. There is no point in listing thirty or forty houses that interest you, narrow it down to maybe five or six a day to fit in with your trip. Also do not get too hung up on a particular property you see on the Internet. It may not turn out to be anything like what you are imagining or it may be sold by the time you are in Bulgaria.

4. It is a good idea to print off the details of any properties you are intending to visit so you can make reference to the details when viewing the houses and you then have something to scribble notes on for easy reference at a later stage. Also make sure you take the agent’s contact details, including mobile phone number in case you are delayed or cannot make a viewing and give him your contact details so he can get in touch with you should he need to.

5. Make sure you have a camera to take with you and a notebook and maybe even a video if you have a video camera so you can refer to these later. After visiting 5 or 6 Bulgarian properties, it is very easy to get mixed up and start thinking the first property had the lovely barn and large plot, when actually this was the second property you visited and so on. If you have photos and notes to refer to, you can take your time to review these later.

So if you keep in mind the above, you should have a well-organised and enjoyable viewing trip.