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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Netherlands: Beyond the HeadlinesHave you heard the term light pollution? It's when the city lights are so bright during the night hours that people could hardly see the stars in the sky. The remedy for your stargazing can usually be found when you go outside the urban areas. But what to do when the whole country is one big urban area? Look at the Earth pictures taken from the space and you'll see a big bright spot or more precisely a myriad of smaller bright spots on the place the Netherlands should be as well as some of its neighbors. Believe it or not but this tiny country that produces such "light pollution" in so large quantities is among the world's leaders when it comes to the other forms of environment concern. The Netherlands is a very interesting country even if many labels put upon it are somehow exaggerated. It's true that you can buy some things, which you can't buy legally in many other countries, but that doesn't mean that you could buy unpunished everything forbidden in the rest of the world. You also could have learned that in Netherlands people can change their sex much easier than elsewhere, or that they can legally commit suicide by euthanasia, or that even the same-sex couples can adopt children. All this is true but, on the other hand, this doesn't make the Dutch society more spoiled. As a mater of fact, people there prefer to regulate some human behavior instead of forbidding it. The result is that in the Netherlands there are fewer crimes than in many other countries where all these sorts of activities are illegal.
 Houses that will never be submerged even during a flood As for Denmark and Belgium, the Netherlands is good for tourists and for business expatriates but isn't a good idea for a permanent relocation. For the tourists the prices aren't the lowest in the world, but this beautiful country, especially during the warmer season, is worth every penny. If you want to buy real estate and if you live in an average-priced house in the United States or Canada, multiplying its price by two could give you a good starting point before looking for real estate bargains. Recently the Euro has become even stronger against the US dollar so this easy calculation should be constantly updated*. Permanent residency in the Netherlands also means that you'll have to report all your worldwide incomes regardless of whether you're working in the country or just enjoying your golden years. As for those looking at the rental market, the smallest apartments outside the biggest cities start at $700-750 per month. In Amsterdam or Rotterdam the same space can be rented for $1,000 and more. Semi-detached dwellings start at $1,500 and the fully detached or the luxurious apartments don't fall below $2,000. If you decide to rent, be prepared to make not only a security deposit, but also to pay the relocation agents a commission of 6-8% of the annual rent.
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Netherlands profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Netherlands.
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