Whilst accepting your points Frank I think you must realise that when many of us bought in Bansko maybe 18 months to 2 years ago we were told what the price would be for management & maintenance ie. 7 euros per square metre per annum. This is in our contracts as is the annual increase permitted thereafter. Developers obviously thought this was going to be sufficient while at the same time telling us our properties would increase in value by 30% by 2008. You/they may not have anticipated labour rates increasing so much but at least you have been able to offset by selling at an higher price. It is not a case of wanting something for nothing rather budgeting for a property and it's subsequent running costs as per the speel from an agent/developer. On the other side of course very few of the rental returns promised by said agent/developer seem to be reality. We, the owners/buyers are frequently told on this forum not to moan when things are not as promised ie. delivery date quality rental returns facilities etc and that we should have bought with our eyes open and accepted that this is the nature of 'property speculation'. Surely if we are expected to accept these conditions it is not unreasonable to expect an agent/deveoper to abide by a contract?

Of course! Don't get me wrong. Deal is deal! If I make the mistake to charge my clients too little it is my mistake and I pay for it :-) I am afraid, though, that there may be others who will try to economise and who maybe won't offer their clients the quality service they expect. And I am not so sure if all the Brits coming to live in Bansko now thinking they can make a living out of managing their fellow citizen's properties are really qualified enough to do the job :wink: Unfortunately but at least you have been able to offset by selling at an higher price. is not true in my case since the developing company is separate from the management company. My partners take their profit share (if there will be any) from the developing company but they have no intention to put this profit into the management company which is not theirs :( In other words I subsidise the property management out of my very own pocket. Well, I am not complaining I just wanted yo show you guys the other side of the coin as well.

I agree it may well be too low as since posting I spoke with a British managment company in Bansko, and they said it was very high compared to others, but they think a lot of developers understimated how much it would cost and it may be a realistic price in order to manage everything. However, lets make it clear that as yet there are no jacuzies etc we are paying for! Until they materialise I'm loathe to sign to agree to increased charges as whose to say next year they decide not to build them or if they do its not a shed with a few seats in. There is nothing in preliminary contract to bind them to build them so why should I be bound to pay more charges. I'd pay the 12 per cent if I can be assured its justified, as although it will leave me out of pocket I agree its worth it to know you'll have a well run and managed investment with facilities as opposed to something that gets run down. However they could have explained this rather than giving me a contract and pushing me to sign it that day, probably in the hope I wouldn't notice. I'll get my solicitor to look at it, but not sure what they'll do if some refuse as surely they can't have some people paying 7 and others 12?!

any update then flatlander on how you are feeling now??

Hi, Was feeling a bit better about it the next day. Looking at the positives! There is a lot of stuff being build thats all pretty crowded in. Luckily that hasn't happened to New Inn. Quite a lot of space around it so mostly retained its views, so hopefully it will stay that way. And although there is a lot of building, at least most of them look pretty good and fit in with the local architecture! In terms of being near to gondola (of course thats not important to everyone), there is a lot of stuff nearer now but there is 10 times as much further away! Obviously bansko towns a nice place, some very good food. Place was deserted, but it was end Sept. I went to apartment the next day with some people I hope to furnish it with and let it who've been in Banko a while and seen lot of apartments. They were impressed with the quality of the finish inside. They more or less said the chance of letting it this season is zero but I knew that as its still a building site around it so they'd hardly recommend someone to stay there when they have other options. They also said people are re-selling stuff, though they arn't getting more than what they paid for it. I personally think the bottom line is how the weather stands up. Of course if there is global warming, our apartments are the least of anyone's worries, but progressively more snowless winters and its screwed, plenty of snow and I think it will end up a good resort and places will hold value.

Anybody else had the latest email plus pictures from Teodor? Has anyone else had the maintenance contract? I was told they wanted it back signed asap but they haven't asked for it yet. It was supposed to go to my solicitor to look at, but she never replied to my email about it so looks like she's sick of dealing with it as well!

New Inn
Yeah, I got it too. I loved the bit about doing the road and the landscaping as an extra that wasn't in the contract!!! It was certainly in all the pictures that they showed when they wanted us to buy it! Place still looks bit of a building site round the back and sides and without Art 16 they cant rent it out so what are they talking about?????

I got it too. The building looks good but the surrounding area is still all rubble - not really for renting! I bought on theground floor so looks like I have a lovely view of a grass verge from the patio!!!! And the drain looks wonderful!!!!

It is rather ridiculous that they are implying that by doing the landscaping they are doing us a favour. What else were they going to do?? The spa etc arn't in the contract so I wonder if they'll be kind enough to build those. And the only bit of road is at the back corner. The important bit is the one that leads from the main road to round the front which obviously isn't there, so not sure what they are trying to show.

Could anyone post the full text of what they have been sent? I'm buying in Old Inn and got the emails below. If anyone cold post some up-to-date photos that would be great too. Regards, Tim Archadia 2007 Ltd. would like to inform you that The Old Inn is nearing its completion. We would like to explain the situation for the development at the present moment and we hope you would understand it. When the sub-contractor constructing the development announced that the building was almost complete and they would soon leave the construction site, we went there to perform a thorough check of the external and internal works done by them. Our check revealed a few small defects and errors. Although these were small we refused to accept part of the finishing works. We listed those, submitted the list to the sub-contractor and required their prompt correction. We did that, because for us quality is much more important than quantity and speed. We wish to show you apartments that will satisfy you. Therefore, we would like to ask you for a little more patience until completion is announced. May we clarify that the things mentioned above are small inaccuracies and they are not a reason for not issuing Act 15. The procedure for issuing this document has been started and we are expecting to have it soon. However, we will not require any payments to be made until we announce completion of the building and send you photos proving that. After the corrections are made, we will want to check the building once again and run some tests, so the estimated date for completion will be end of October. In the meantime we would like to inform you that if anyone wants to send a furnishing company to take measures of their apartment there are some conditions that need to be fulfilled before that. First, may we request you to provide contact details of the furniture company you have chosen to do that? Secondly, we would like clients to contact their furniture companies and advise them that they will be granted access to your apartments to take measures, of course, after you give us your permission to do so, but we will require a delivery-acceptance record for the apartment to be signed between them and us before any furniture is put in and after that. The aim of this record is the condition of the apartment to be described before they start furnishing it and after it is furnished and if any damages are caused by the furniture company to your property or the communal areas of the building, they will have to be repaired by themselves at their expense. This procedure is all meant for your convenience and to secure your interest and we hope you would approve of it. Finally, we wish to assure you that once the completion date is clear and the documentation signed, we will e-mail you and provide details regarding payments, completion, maintenance, etc. Yours faithfully, Archadia 2007Ltd. Iliyan Nikolov President 1. The Old Inn apartments have already been completed. We have initiated the procedure of accepting the complete building from the subcontractor and have notified and invited all the bodies involved in the process and required to take part in it to send their representatives. 2. The facilities described on our Website will be located on the ground floor of the building between The New Inn and The Old Inn. 3. The landscaping (groundwork, paths, planting) will be done in autumn, because the weather is very hot and dry at the moment and it will be impossible for any plant to survive the heat. There was a series of flood rains and then very high temperatures in Bulgaria this summer, which hampered landscaping activities. The Glazne River that flows through Bansko was even in flood at the beginning of this month. Access roads in Bulgaria are built by municipalities. There will be a road to the Old Inn and it will be built by the municipality of Bansko. Unfortunately, I cannot say when. 4. With regard to connection of utilities, please see my mail of 21 May 2007 below. 5. As soon as we sign all the documentation related to accepting the completed building from the subcontractor, we will e-mail you. After that you will be able to come on a snagging inspection. 6. The SPA centre between The New Inn and The Old Inn might not be ready for the coming ski season. We had no choice but focus on the apartments completion because as I have already explained the weather conditions were not favourable at all for starting new construction. I hope you would understand especially after you had similar problems in the UK. However, I wish to clarify that there will be no swimming pool in the SPA centre and we have never printed a brochure with a pool. In just a few weeks' time we will upload information of furniture packages on our Website. In the meantime, you can feel free to contact any other furniture company and ask them to furnish your apartment. Kind regards,

This is the email (don't think it will tell you much): Dear Clients, I attach some pictures from outside our complex The New Inn Bansko. Once again I inform you that we are preparing the project for its first guests for the coming ski season. The building was completed as it was required in the preliminary contracts several months ago. We even done some extra things like the road and the rest of the landscape, which was not included in the contracts. Now we are preparing everything with the organization for a working hotel. I want to remind you that we and our renting company are preparing everything with the tour operators for the letting during the season. Also I want to inform you that we moved to a new office again here in Sofia. Down you can see our new address and new contact phones. I am sorry if you tried to contact us before and you didn’t manage to. Regards, Teodor Russanov Sales Department By the way, when did you get the email that says there will be no pool? I was told by the agents and Lakon when I met them in Banko in Sept there will definately be a pool (I was assured this was 100%). This was from my agent as well: I have just spoken with the developer of New Inn. Mr. Dinev assured me that there will be a separate spa building located between New Inn and Old Inn containing jacuzzi, spa centre, sauna, gym and swimming pool. Size of the pool will be 10m length and 5m width. I have pictures but not sure how to download them on here.

I was told there would be no pool on 30 Aug 2007. A pool was not mentioned in the list of facilities when I first reserved. When I visitied Bansko in March 2006 before finaly signing the contracts, the Remax Agent's office, who were trying to sell some of the remaining units in the Old Inn, had printed brochures including artists impressions of the whole complex including a spar building between the Old Inn and the New Inn. This building was stated to include a swimming pool. I was told that this was because bansko Municipality wanted to develop the resort for year-round use and a pool was becoming necessary to make complexes attractive for summer use. I understood that the developer had come under pressure from the local council to add a pool to the development. As my maintenance charges were fixed by the contract with a clear mechanism for indexing them, I was not concerned about additional maintenance costs associated with a pool - rather I was encouraged to proceed with the deal. I am obviously now frustrated that Archadia have moved the goal-posts again.

maintenance charge
I think I've got to the bottom of the increase of the maintenance charge to 12 euros anyway. I copied the email below from the thread on the Prespa Development (developed by Archadia - same company as Lakon, although they will tell you different). its an answer from Archadia as to why it has increased: The maintenance fee stated in Art. 4.8 of most of the preliminary contracts is 7 euros/sq. m. However, in the following art. 4.9 it is described what this fee will cover and what not. It is also described that the 7 euros/sq. m. will not cover insurance and security costs and that these will be settled in the contract for maintenance. So you can see that there are no changes in the preliminary contracts, they have been notified that there will be additional charges at the time they signed it and I do hope they understand how important it is the complex to be guarded and the apartments to be insured against fire, flood, earthquake, etc. when they are so far away or if they wish to let it out. Another thing is that they can not rent the apartments if they are not insured. And after our experience with such properties we have seen that it is very important to have a 24 hour security in the building. To sum up, the fee for maintenance is still 7 euros/sq. m. and as provided for in the preliminary contracts the maintenance company have started making arrangements for security of the complex and insurance of your apartment and calculated that the total amount of the maintenance fee including the expenses for insurance and security is 12 euros per sq. m. You see we are trying hard to fulfil all our obligations and defend the clients interests. In other properties we had cases of floods, thefts, leeks because someone forgot the water running etc., so if they do not want insurance and security they can not really have a maintenance. I'm guessing its been a crafty way to increase the charge, but I've no idea how much insurance normally is. If it would amount to 5 euros per sq mtr per year anyway, that fair enough, but it seems a strange way to have gone about it all.

Your photos Flatlander

Doesn't it look stunning that building in the background on the first photo :P