The only details from ERE so far are that Sanara will provide a 2 year interest free loan, we can use the apartment when its finished and profit from any rental income (!). I would expect there to be some sort of variation needed to our contract. Not sure why we've had this offered to us except that we haven't paid the final installment; we never said that we aren't going to pay or can't pay or anything at all about the final payment. Have others been offered this payment plan?

I haven't heard anything from ERE and also wondered why you had been contacted by them. I haven't yet paid the final instalment either. Seems odd.

furniture packs
Hi folks Just having a look at the furniture brochure, is there anyway of getting dimensions of the furniture? I have bought apt c204 which is slightly bigger than a studio with a very small bedroom, so I'm not sure how much stuff i'll be able to fit in. It sounds that Sanara are putting the pressure on looking orders for 10th July or we won't be included in winter letting (assuming there will be persons to rent to1). If anyone can help me with furniture ordering and also give me on advice on the whole completion process, I would appreciate it. Cheers Eddie

I haven't been approached about a loan either. It does seem odd approaching one purchaser (one that we know of anyway) but not others.

Has anyone seen the proposed management contract? Apparently owners can only have one week high season, and even that can't be dec/early jan. Also, they can visit no more than 4 weeks a year. Are they having a laugh? Why do they think we bought an apartment? Not to mention the length of the tie in. Is anyone going to go for it? "Holiday Lettings" here I come...

Im' okay with it as I bought the appt primarily as an alternative investment,( if it fails to make money - so be it- that's investment risk!) and intend to use it maybe once a year at Feb half term. I might try and get another week at Easter though. The problem with Bansko for us Brits is it's a pain to get to. Does anyone know what low medium and peak times are? It will be interesting to see if it makes a profit.

Hi all I have only recently found this forum and so far have found it very enlightening! I am currently in the process of buying a 2 bed appt in St Georges Ski and Spa and feel very nervous about the whole process. It's been very encouraging to hear everyones experiences and I'm glad to hear that the development is still being worked on. Up until now I have found it very hard to find out any details from the developer which has naturally caused some concern. I purchased throughh ERE and it was interesting to hear that Jude was offered the 5 year loan from the developer as I have also had the same offer through ERE. Have you recieved any further details Jude? I asked them to come back to me with more information eg what will the interest rate be after the two deal is up? I have not heard back. To be honest I am trying to lie low as I am trying to delay the final payment for as long as possible. Oddly enough I am not being chased by the developers, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they start hassling me. I have no intention of paying the mony until they provide me with all the relevant info regarding furniture packs, rental deal etc. I have heard nothing from them. One other question...Is anyone else struggling to get a bulgarian mortgage? I am being told that I need Act 16 to be complete to qualify for a motgage, hence my reason for lying low for a long as possible! :?

St George Ski & Spa
Hi Sarah Its interesting to hear we're not the only ones to have been approached about a loan. I can't help you with the interest rate though - we were happy with a 2 year interest free loan so never asked what the rate would be for 5 years. For the 2 year loan we split the final installment into 24 equal parts and pay by direct debit. Our solicitor will amend the contract so that it takes into account the varied payment plan. Title deed doesn't pass to us until after the 2 years but the developer grants us right of use and rental on the apartment. We were never hassled or chased by the developer for not paying, which is surprising as they would be within their rights to insist we paid on the terms set out in the contract. We have decided to go ahead with the management plan provided by Sanara and Epoque, mainly through laziness I suppose but I doubt we would do worse from it than trying to rent the apartment through some other means and its a lot less hassle (I hope!). Its a shame we have to have their furniture as it wouldn't be my choice and the limited owners' use of the apartment is a pain in theory but in practice we would have to go at Feb half term or Easter anyway, plus a week or two in the summer as well maybe, so that fits in with the restrictions. Jude

Hi - I expected there to be some restrictions with the rental agreement and only so many weeks a year for personal use. However, I am not very happy about the dates they have used to define high, low and mid season with only 1 week high season usage and with no usage at all over christmas and new year. Like you Westie I find this very restrictive. If you go at half term then you can't go at Easter as well. Strangely, one of the reasons for me for buying an apartment in a ski resort was to be able to use it to go skiing. I realise that there are many different reasons why people have bought ranging from investment only, personal use only and and various options in between. All are valid reasons to the purchaser. It seems to me as though the developer has "packaged" everything re furniture, apartment management and rental management for an arms length investor who has purchased their furniture and they appear not to have considered other owners' perpectives. Until the email on 29 June there had been no mention of the terms of the agreement and certainly no mention of the tie in and profit share being linked to the purchase of their furniture and different income depending upon which package was chosen. For those that have already bought the developer's furniture this knowledge could have had an influence on which furniture pack they went for and for those who haven't bought their furniture it now seems to be too late to be part of the rental agreement. I am not particularly keen on the furniture. It's OK if you just want a hassle free solution at this stage but the very basic questions I have asked about the furniture and for some flexibility will all increase the costs. Margaret

Hi Everyone It will be interesting to see if those who go with the agreement turn a profit. Given the state of the market I suspect that it may be minimal so I am thinking that more availability for us, family and friends may be the best outcome. We are planning to rent it out ourselves for the extra flexibility. To me the worst of all possible outcomes would be one where there is no income and also little availability for use. As to the mortgage problem Sarah, well this has been going on for a while since all the products were pulled from the market. Getting any mortgage at all will be a struggle let alone one before Act 16. If you are offered one it will probably be at a very high rate. I think that the developers offer of 2 years interest free will probably be your best bet. At the end of the 2 years you may find it easier to raise the rest of the funds with a loan or similar. Cheers

Hi everyone Thanks for getting back with your comments. I wish I could be like you Jude and pay off the final installment in two years but we still owe E55,000 so this just isn't an option for us at the moment, as the monthly repayments would be unrealistic. Under the management agreement is there a guaranteed monthly rental income? I know I should probably find this info out for myself but as I mentioned I am currently lying low and do not want to draw attention to myself by contacting the developer! Still find it odd that they have not been in touch for so long and certainly haven't recieved any of the details that you all seem to be aware of. I bought purely for investment so I'm not overly concerned about the availability, happier to think it is being rented out. One of the advantages of thier deal is that presumably if we do not have full ownership we will not be liable to pay taxes for a couple of years so that will take the pressure off a little. One other concern for me is the current market value. As our financial circumstances have changed over the last couple of years I would be keen to sell as soon as we have completed. However with current prices for two bed appts being quoted at about 80k I sometimes think i should just pull out now!? Although we have already paid about E80k i am nervous about commiting to another E55k + taxes + furniture. I feel it will be a long time before we get our monety back on this investment! I don't even ski....... :(

Hi Sarah I would advise that you talk to ERE and the developer as soon as possible, and see what options they come up with. The market in Bansko is the same as anywhere else at the moment, but if you walk away now you will lose you hard earned money and will have nothing to show for it. I was in the same situation a few months ago and was hoping to re-mortgage my home here to pay off St George's but when the values dropped this wasn't possible. In the end I borrowed money against a rental property which I have in NI and I have just made the final payment last week to Sanara. At the time of buying in Bansko I believed it to be a 5-7 year project, now its probably a 10 yer one. I think you should try and finish it and at least you will have somehing to show for it. I also tried lying low for a while with the developer, but the problem doesn't go away. I think that you have invested too much money to walk away and you should also make your solicitor aware at where you are at with this. I think that although our developers are not the best communicators in the world we have been lucky, and from the photos it would appear that we are going to have a nice complex. Originally I was going to do my own rentals which we with a family apartment in Portugal at present. In Portugal though, we can fly over for about £80 return and are only 30 mins from airport to apt. I think it will still be cheaper to go on a package deal to Bankso rather than trying to book everything separate. This is certainly case flying from N Ireland, you guys on the mainland may find it easier. So for this reason I believe the only real rentals will be from the Bulgarian and surrounding countries market. That means we are then tied in to Sanara's contract which isn't ideal and the furnitiure packs aren't the best either. What's everyone doing about the rental contract? Sarah, if you want to PM me, I have detals of some good mortgage companies in the UK if that would help. Eddie

Hi Sarah The new managemant contract does not offer a guaranteed minimum payment. Roughly, the terms as I remember it are that the company will run staff/hotel/spa/advertising etc and that they will take 30% of the hotels profit for this. (On top of maintenance charges paid by all.) The rest of the profit is returned based on a formula depending on price of apartment/ quality of furniture, whether or not there is a kitchen etc. Hope this helps

You may have seen this youtube vid on another thread but I found it very funny http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM although Sarah B might want to give it a miss Sorry Sarah but you must have been nuts taking on all that debt without considering the risks - but we are where we are, you need to stick with it if possible and take a long term view. Oh and learn to ski its fun - I only learnt after buying in Bansko (age 45)

Thanks for that Clipper. One of those clips where you don't know whether to laugh or cry!! Still lying low...does anyone have any idea when Act 16 will be issued? This is our only hope of getting a mortgage. Eddie, I did PM re the morgage companies but have not heard back. It would be really useful to see what you have researched. The management agreement doesn't sound great but I would need to see the details really. And yes, I must learn to ski.....especially as I will probably be having no holiday other than Bansko for the foreseeable future due to this financial commitment!! It may be the one good thing to come out of this. The place itself does look beautiful.