I am back from visiting Bansko. I am buying at St George Ski & Spa and went to get a few days skiing and check on my apartment and the development. I was shown around by the developer. My apartment had all the walls plastered and painted, the bathroom fully tiled, the balcony tiled and the laminate flooring is laid. I didn't see all the apartments but as the doors of some were open as I went round they looked to be in the same state. Whilst I was there they seemed to be doing the flooring as some had the flooring down, whilst some still had the concrete floor. There seems to have been a few different colour schemes used for the bathroom tiles. Some seemed nicer than others, although that is probably just personal taste. The public areas e.g. reception area, spa and resataurants were at the plasterboatrd stage. The pool was built and had water in and I was told they were testing it. It was just a concrete finish at the moment and the tiling still needed to be done. They were also constructing the tiers in the garden area as part of the landscaping. The area was covered in rubble still. I asked about timescales for the building debris being cleared and everything being fully functional. I was informed that this would take about 1.5 - 2 months. I asked about Act 16 and I was told that because they were dependent on the municipality it is likely to be July/August. I would think that July/August would be a more realistic timescale to get everything "fully completed". There seemed to be quite a lot of workers around and facilities such as pool, spa, treatment rooms, restaurants were being done so things do seem to be heading in the right direction. Some developments seem to have built the apartments but not the facilities that were originaly promised. They were also setting up 2 apartments with their furniture packages and were in the process of doing that when I was there. I have only received their glossy slideshow so far giving an impression of the furniture and not specific details. I said that precise details of all the items, the dimensions, pictures and prices were required not fancy sales type photos. I was told that they would soon have all the builders off the site and then they would put in the light fittings, sockets and bathroom fittings as well as clearing up the grounds of the builders debris. The developer has retained a number of apartments. They recognised that the property market is generally slowing down and so as the potential for new developments is limited they said they are pleased to have retained some apartments themselves and were looking forward to getting some income from them with the deal they are finalising with epoque. This may be a cynical statement but perhaps as they are wanting to get income from their apartments at least there may be an incentive for the developer to quickly (relative term) move towards "completion" whereby the development is usable, fully functioning and with Act 16. Hope this quick overview of visit is of some help to fellow purchasers. Margaret

Thank you Margaret, its really helpful to hear some positive news. Have you paid your final instalment now? I assume you are also buying through Emerging Real Estate? Are you using their recommended solicitor, Yankov? Did you take any photos, if so it would be wonderful if you could PM me with some.

Jude - I haven't paid my final installment yet. I bought through Emerging Real Estate and I used Yankov. I initially made enquiries about their independence and although given assurance that they are independent of the developer you do always wonder. As I live in Leeds I was able to establish that Emerging Real Estate are a local company and not operating from a fictitious address or just an address of convenience. I have taken photos and will try and send them to you. Just still developing my technical skills in the digital photo world so I hope they come through OK. With the credit crunch and risks in buying property it is easy to get the wobbles every so often, especially with so much negativity around. I know I do. However, I have thought about my original reasons for purchasing and reconsidered if they are still valid and whether they are being met. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Bansko and that was very reassuring. If people were in it for a quick profit they have probably missed the boat but if they bought for other reasons that are personal to them then they are the best judge of the outcome. Personally, I am looking foward to future holidays and met some lovely people on my recent visit. Margaret

Hi folks It's brilliant to hear that someone other than Margaret and I have bought in St George Ski and Spa. Margaret very kindly took some pice of my apartment c204 on her visit and things do seem to be moving in the right direction. In saying that, it was due to be complete in December 2008 (remember the brochure from ERE). Anyway, I haven't paid my final payment as I intend to ask for discount for the late completion. I have not received any proof of obtaining Act 15 and certainly will not be paying any interest for late payment. It's definately good to find a few others who have bought in St George ski and Spa and I do believe we have been fortunate when you here other peoples horror stories! Lets keep each other up to date to make sure that we are all signing off the one hymm sheet! Eddie

Hi All, We are in the final stages of signing our apt at Royal Bansko Resort, so I thought I'd pass on our experiances: Don't buy any furniture before your place has Act16, Snagged & defects rectified. Don't pay full price at act 15 or 16 if poss. Hold back as much as to get snags sorted in the final stages. Overall, Buyer beware & read all the posts on this & other forums. It's tricky when you've signed up to a Bulgarian contract but hold out for what you were promised & don't get sold short! :roll: Best of Luck maz :shock: now!

Hi Eddie Are you using Yankov too? Have you asked your solicitor about a possible discount for late completion of Act 15. We have been deliberating about which solicitor to use so are maybe a bit behind you and Margaret in the process, but I think we will get Yankov engaged this weekend and then start to (hopefull) move forward. Maz - thanks for your feedback. We will certainly try to keep as much of the final installment back as we can until everything is absolutely finished (and maybe the euro will weaken a bit too .... ) Jude

Hi Jude It would appear that we have all slipped up by signing a contract which means we have to pay the final payment at Act 15. At the time of purchase this was something which ERE conveniently forgot to mention. Anyway, I think the best we can do now is to try and negotiate a discount for late completion or try and hold some of the payment back to Act 16. I'm certainly not happy about paying it all before water and electric etc are even connected and the outside is still as building site. As Margaret as mentioned the good thing is that Sanara are keeping some of the apartments for themselves so that should keep them focused in finishing this. Regarding snagging etc, I don't think there is much to snag at the moment and I think when we get to this stage, the only way to do it is to jump on a flight and check it for yourself. I am going to send Sanara an e-mail to re up to pics as it the only ones which I have received in the last few months have been from Margaret. Regarding Yankov, well they seem to tslk the talk, but I haven't heard a lot from them since I paid them 900 euros. I think we will all have to hang in there and I don't think we need to panic too much about furniture packs as I don't think we will see Act 16 in July.

Hi Everyone I have also bought in St George. I have had my independant solicitor look at the contract and he has said that they do have a case for Force Majeure due to the ban from the Town Hall so I think you may have trouble looking for a discount. That said, he thinks that we probably can negotiate a split payment.50/50 with getting act 16.

Does anybody who has been to the development know the distance to the gondola?

Hi jdean I am not particularly good at estimating distances but I would say it is about 300m to 400m. If you go through the gondola carpark, over the footbridge and cut through the side of the development you may be getting close to the 300m mark. I had a look at a few hotel websites to use as a benchmark to assist in estimating. The Guiness Hotel says they are 200m and the Highland Lodge says the plot of land on which they were building was 250m. Hunters Castle is currently being built and is on the same road (track) as St George. They say their development is 350m from the gondola. Most maps of Bansko don't show the SW of bansko on the West side of the River Glazne which is where St George is located. I came across this map a few days ago which shows a wider area. http://www.maxconsult.bg/images/useful/useful_86_en.jpg Some of the hotels may be figments of developer's imagination or were projects that were planned at the time the map was produced but were not completed. Zoom into the bottom left corner and look for the arrows pointing up a narrow road to Pirin Park and also to Pirin Wood park. St George is located above the track between the 2 arrows and to the left of the Alpen. The Alpen is an abandoned part build. To the right of the Alpen is where Hunter's castle is being built. I asked the developer of St george if they knew what was happening to the Alpen and they thought it was being bought up by another developer cheaply so that the orginal developer could pay off creditors so that hopefully it won't remain as an eyesore. ...but that may just be a rumour. James Hughes from the Avalon told me they had starting excavations for the base of the 2nd gondola on the west side of the river which shouldn't be far from St George. Work is held up until they have had the elections and various wranglings but he seemed positive about it eventually happening. Hope the map works ok Margaret

Has anybody actually paid the final installment as yet and if not when do they intend to do so?

Final payment
Hi No haven't paid the final payment yet, and don't intend to until I have documentary proof of Act 15 being granted. I intend to offer them half of the final payment once I have proof of this. I don't know about you all but Idon't fancy paying all my money for something which is still a building site outside. I will definately send Sanara and Yankov a detailed e-mail this weekend. I don't know what Yankov are actually doing for their money!!!

Hi No we haven't paid yet. Our solicitor has had a meeting and Sanara are not keen to do the 50/50 thing. After the holiday (to May 6th) she will meet again to see if she can get agreement and an additional contract between us and them. In addition she will ask about the state of the build and anticipated dates for Act 16. Sanaras point is that we should honour the original contract as nearly all the other owners (apparantly!!) have. Hope this helps.

Hi Everyone, I have just made my final payment for C404 so its interesting to find a forum for fellow owners. It would be great if there was a second gondola as I noticed on my visit in Feb that the queues at peak time seemed much longer than last year. If anyone has upto date photos please send them to earlsmereifa@aol.com.

I am going to St George complex tomorrow
Hi everyone, I am going to Bansko tomorrow to see the complex. I have purchased C202 and I am going to make sure everything was done as it supposed to. Act15 should only be granted if the property was finished, so I hope to see something decent. I am also concern that information is passed on to us very slowly, and finally decided that I needed to check out the place myself. In the contract also they are forced to put the hotel to work by Aug, but then again not sure how realistic is that. I am going to check my apartment and will take pictures of the complex in general so if anyone wants an update please get in touch. Also if you have specific questions you want me to ask please say so. Regards, Daniel