Hi, has anyone bought in Panorama Casino & Spa in Bansko? There are delays in completion of blocks A & B & also some of the surrounding areas. Any info please? Thanks a lot

Juliette,

Hi, we have bought a 1 bed appt in C block and my parents have bought one in D block. We were told the property would be completed by 30/10 and have recently received a request for the final payment as Act 15 has been served. We have made an arrangement to visit next week (11th - 13th Dec) but have now been told by the developers that the appartments are not yet complete. I would be interested to hear how everyone else is doing...

Hi Juliette / Olliesdad,

We've bought in block A, but are similarly uninformed about building progress. Our agent requested final pymts mid-Nov, but we didn't pay since our lawyer informed that act 15 had not been granted. Other investors have suggested to us that completion would still appear to be some time off.

I'll be willing to share info as I get it.

Regards,
Tim

Well, we bought ours through avatar and they also informed us that the development wasn't complete and to hold off. I'm going out tomorrow to see whats going on and will post a message when i get back on Friday.

I rang our lawyer in Bulgaria & she said that Blocks C&D are completed & act 15 cert issued. Is that right for those of you who bought in blocks C&D? Have you [paid the balance yet? For Block B act 15 cert should be issued in around 2 weeks. Block A act 15 cert in January or possibly end dec. She said that the reason for the delays is that the mayor of bansko stopped all development work in bansko for 3 months. The surrounding areas ie: pool, restaurant, reception etc will not be ready until april. Our apartment will have an act 15 certificate issued in about 2 weeks & the inside will be ready, elevators, water & electric. The last document for the complex is an act 16 habitation certificate which should be issued within 33 days of the act 15, but these are always late because not enough people work in the offices & bansko has so many developments. We become the owners with act 15 & we need to pay then, think it was within 14 days, but legally we shouldn’t rent the apartment without the habitation cert, although she said many complexes do. I said I wouldn’t be happy with that ie: if someone had an accident etc. Aparently the developer tried to catch up on the work with extra workers but has been unable to. I asked what happens if the developer just never finishes it off & we have paid & she said that it is in their interest to complete asap as they will be making a profit by managing most of the apartments through Top Property management, owned by same people as STC. Also, they have plenty of money & 2 other complexes are currently under construction. Good quality materials have been used & the view is beautiful apparently (although I imagine still building work going on!). it is one of the biggest complexes in bansko. Any comments about paying prior to the surrounding areas being completed? Also we tried for compensation but were told as the delay was outside the control of the developer we would not be entitled & that this is stated in the contract.

Juliette / tim,

I got back at 3am from Bansko so this is just a brief message. I will hopefully find some way of uploading some photos for you later. Basically, the structure is complete but the development is not finished by any standard. Blocks C and D are far more advanced and theoutside is rendered and cladded and looks very good. Inside, some rooms have laminate flooring down and are plastered. Most rooms in D block have fitted bathrooms. The most striking aspect is how incomplete the rest is. The lift shafts are empty and all stair cases are bare concrete.

Our legal rep from Ralitsa Galiva (throught fidentia) state that we should hold off final payment as it is perhaps 3 months until it will be habitable.

I will try to get a link to some photos and will post a message when I have worked out how to do this.

Tim, where have you been contacted by other investors?

regards.

thanks for this olliesdad. we are using the same lawyer (Ralitsa) but not through Fidentia/Avatar. she told us we would need to pay in the next couple of weeks - although our block is far less complete then yours. the info above from me was from a phone call with her. we have not had any written advice of the delay from the developers & we actually only found out about it from the furnishings company we planned to send in to measure up. What are your thoughts on the whole situation? If this delay was due to the mayor stopping work then surely loads of other builds are late? Did you get to speak to the developer? What did Avatar say? etc... Thanks

I have loaded some pics on but can't paste the link into this blog for some reason. i'll get back to you on that.

Just had an email back from the lawyer to say that we are within our rights to withhold the final payment until act 16 has been served. I intend to visit again once they say it is finished but will request some up to date pics before I travel this time.

Incidentally, our contract states that we are also purchasing a percentage of the common areas. Surely then, it would need to be fully complete before the final payment is due. I have not heard anything about the mayor stopping all building. He has stopped approving any further plans as he feels the area is becoming overdeveloped. I have no doubt they will try and suggest some administration problems as this will negate a penalty. It would be interesting to see some documentary proof. While I was out in Bansko I spoke to another investor who said it is not unusual for a development to be late.

Olliesdad,
Thanks for the update. I also keep an eye on a different forum, 'Talk Bansko', and I've exchanged emails with a couple of investors from that site. They were worried that there was a conflict of interests issue with Ralitsa since she also represents agents selling the property.
Interesting point on withholding final pymt until act 16 - I'll check this out with my own lawyer.

Tim

Tim,

Thanks. Found the talk bansko site. Can't post email addresses or web links on this site so Ive done it on the talk bansko site. Will catch up with you on there.

Juliette, while I was there I spoke to a spokesman for the developer who states that C and D block will be finished in 2 weeks (end of Dec) and A and B will be finished at the end of Jan 08. Either he is dreaming, or he is scared of becoming part of the foundations for the next development because anyone can see that it will be more like March or April before the whole development is complete. I have spoken to Avatar who refer us to our legal reps and don't seem to want to get involved any more. typical agents!