Director of Communications Steve Luba gives a wrap-up of the latest happenings in the industry.
Topics: Buy Timeshare, Fractional, Timeshare, Timeshare Podcast, Timeshare Rental, Timeshare Rentals
This week, in the Orlando Business Journal, staff writer Christopher Boyd, covers a new feature offered by the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, one that brings the already overlapping concepts of timeshare and fractionals even closer together.
As of April 28, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has added a destination club option that allows buyers to purchase vacation ownership points; previously all Ritz-Carlton Destination Club membership purchased fractional ownership in a fixed property. The new ‘points ownership’ with Ritz-Carlton will give members access to Ritz’s properties worldwide.
According to the Orlando Business Journal article, the company believes that the new vacation property points ownership will increase the appeal of the high-end Ritz-Carlton fractionals, and will attract people who do not wish to be tied to a single piece of real estate. Quoting David Short, regional vice president for sales at Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, the article says, “Points give you much more flexibility. They allow people to customize each trip to their own needs.”
Points ownership pricing through Ritz-Carlton Destination Club ranges from $100,000 to $800,000.
Follow these Links to Learn More about Opportunities in Ritz-Carlton Timeshare and Fractionals at Timeshare Resale Prices:
Source: Orlando Business Journal
Topics: Fractional, Timeshare Blog, Timeshare News, Timeshare Real Estate, Vacation
Owners Perspective Magazine is a successful publication directed to the needs and interests of timeshare owners. Launched online in July of 2008 and in print in January of this year, Owners Perspective Magazine provides both an information platform as well as a way for the timeshare industry to showcase services to timeshare owners and prospective owners.
In recent months, the editors of Owners Perspective Magazine have recognized a trend toward higher interest in articles about fractional ownership and an increasing response by readers seeking more information from advertisers about fractional properties. With this in mind, the new Fractional Property Guide from the publishers of Owners Perspective Magazine will officially launch on July 1, with a soft launch already in place. To see the new Fractional Property Guide during its test and evaluation phase go to:
http://www.ownersperspective.com/fractionalpropertyguide/
Paul Mattimoe, CEO of Perspective International, (owners and publishers of both publications, as well as other timeshare industry magazines, websites, and directories) says, “Whilst there are several other excellent websites that provide property listings for fractional ownership, we have been compelled to produce ours through demand from our consumer magazine readership which reaches more than 42,000 prospective buyers each month.”
Instead of measuring the magazine’s outreach in terms of “hits” or “clicks”, Mattimoe points out that the publications uses a more targeted approach, providing readers with inquiry forms direct to the advertisers. “It is essential,” Mattimoe adds, “for us to continue to differentiate ourselves from competitors and our offline reach is the key ingredient here.”
Topics: Fractional, Timeshare Blog, Timeshare News, Timeshare Owners
Hawaii tourism has a new reason to celebrate with the recent opening of the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay on Maui. Hawaii timeshare has been an important part of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry for a long time, and candidly, tourism in Hawaii has taken a hit with the depressed economy. So it is especially good news that this $355 million Hawaii timeshare resort and condo complex is open and operational. The Honolulu Advertiser quoted Ryan Churchill, senior vice president and lead project investor of Maui Land & Pineapple Company as saying, “We are delighted to welcome this stunning new property to Kapalua Resort’s portfolio of luxury living.”
The new Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay is the first resort in Hawaii to introduce a fractional ownership condo development on such a large scale. The resort is built on 24 acres and it encompasses nine buildings, each three to six stories high. Included are 84 fee-simple condos and 62 timeshare units. The timeshare units are being sold as fractional ownership condos, in which 12 co-owners share ownership of a unit, each owning a minimum of three weeks apiece.
Offsetting the challenge of selling timeshare real estate in this price range is the fact that many presales occurred as early as June 2006, before the Hawaii timeshare real estate market felt the worst of the current economic situation.
Jenny Ochtera, who is in charge of sales and marketing at the resort, notes that these are challenging times economically, but that the resort has been, “incredibly fortunate.” The Maui Land Company and Ritz-Carlton corporate say that the property continues to attract an impressive number of buyers.
Presently, 267 units of fractional ownership have sold for prices between $350,000 to $850,000. Twenty-five of those sales occurred in the first quarter of 2009. The resort plans for the sale of 744 timeshare intervals total, reserving 16 weeks per year for use at an additional cost by the member-owners.
The timeshare units (fractionals) are spacious, ranging in size from 1,912 square feet to 2,257 square feet, and offering a choice of two or three bedroom units. On-site amenities include a lagoon-style pool with a bar and grill and a private beach club. There is a second bar near the water’s edge. By late June of this year, a 30,000 square-foot spa is scheduled to open, followed by a Maui-themed general store.
The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay was developed by Kapalua Bay LLC, which is 51 percent owned by Maui Land; 34 percent owned by Ritz-Carlton: (a unit of Marriott International); and 15 percent owned by Exclusive Resorts.
Topics: Fractional, Hawaii Timeshare, Marriott Timeshare, Timeshare Blog, Timeshare News, Timeshare Real Estate
Development is back on track at the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay, Hawaii. After lender Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy, they then withheld some $55 million the project was scheduled to receive in September and October. Thanks to a bridge loan from Maui Land and the timeshare/fractional project’s development partner Marriott International, construction was never interrupted.
While a bridge loan represents extra financing costs in the timeshare/fractional project’s development phase, it also prevents a construction shutdown, which always means extensive costs to remobilize equipment, staff, and crew. Robert Webber, Maui Land president and CEO told the Honolulu Advertiser that there were no construction delays because of the financing problem and that the Ritz Carlton is scheduled to open this summer.
At the time Lehman began to fall short, the new 146-unit Hawaii timeshare resort was 83 percent finished. The Honolulu Advertiser describes the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences as, “84 traditional fee-simple condos, and 62 units being sold as “fractional ownership” condos – essentially a longer-term version of timeshare, in which each unit is shared by 12 buyers who receive three weeks of annual use.”
Without the depth of Lehman Brothers, the timeshare/fractional condos needed to restructure their deal, finding alternative money sources. A group of lenders who were already involved in the project, agreed to contribute more money toward the $120 million needed to complete the resort. Now, Lehman is providing $35 million, while Central Pacific Bank; Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg; Deutsche Hypothekenbank; and Marriott are providing the remaining $85 million.
But here’s the part that may be the most interesting news of all: the amount needed to complete the project was reduced because 10 timeshare units sold last month!
Timeshare sales of new properties are taking place. And they are even occurring in Hawaii timeshares where there travel costs during this recessionary period have reportedly hurt Hawaii tourism. This is just one more sign of the economy and the timeshare industry weathering the storm and perhaps beginning to regain its footing. Presales of timeshare units to offset construction costs and reduce the original debt is one of the things that have made timeshare, fractional and condo hotel projects attractive to developers in the past, making this little bit of news especially meaningful to everyone in the timeshare industry.
Other Ritz-Carlton timeshare and fractional news:
Topics: Fractional, Hawaii Timeshare, Marriott Timeshare, Timeshare Sales
There was so much to report from last week’s Canadian Resort Development Association Annual Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, that I couldn’t include it all in one blog post … in fact, this is my third post since Saturday on the subject, so if you missed the first two, please double back and read them.
All of us from Sell My Timeshare NOW really enjoyed the people we met and the new relationships we developed with people in the Canada timeshare and vacation ownership industry, including Fairmont Resort Properties and Aviawest timeshares.
We gave out a lot of information from our display table; the interest in Sell My Timeshare NOW shows that the Canadian timeshare industry is enthusiastically looking for a way to address their timeshare resale needs. During one session, called, “The Last Word: Ask the Experts,” the topic turned very directly to the subject of timeshare resales. The consensus of opinion was that the timeshare industry has ignored the matter for too long, and everyone in the business, from timeshare developers, to timeshare resorts to timeshare resale companies needs to come together to solve the problem.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s The Timeshare Authority post, fractionals were a hot topic and many of the CRDA conference attendees felt that real estate agents will become more involved in selling fractionals on the resale market. This is partly because of the higher resale value of fractionals (as compared to most timeshares) and also because the selling price of most fractionals exceeds the selling price of most timeshares.
We were extremely impressed with the way the conference was conducted and managed; this was our first CRDA annual conference and the membership was very welcoming and inclusive. You could tell they were genuine in their goal to improve the vacation ownership industry and to work with every sector to create ways to build and grow the timeshare industry in spite of the current economic climate.
It was gratifying to see emphasis placed on the importance of online marketing and having a strong Internet presence, and page 1 rankings in Google searches. It goes without saying that is our philosophy here at The Timeshare Authority and Sell My Timeshare NOW.
Lastly, let me add that I was personally honored to meet Keith W. Trowbridge, Ph.D.; President of Executive Quest, Inc.; Editor, Timeshare and Vacation Ownership Review; and author of Resort Timesharing: How you can invest in inflation-proof vacations for life. Keith Trowbridge is a pioneer in the timeshare industry and it was truly my privilege to meet him.
All in all, I would call the conference a great success and add that we are already looking forward to next year. Ross Perlmutter, the executive director of CRDA, summed it up like this, “The conference was really strong with great participation, and we’re looking for another 30 percent increase next year. We’re looking to add workshops next year to the agenda in order to really drill down to the important issues that matter to the industry.”
Topics: Fractional, Timeshare Real Estate, Timeshare Resales
Last week’s CRDA Conference was great. The Canadian Resort Development Association Annual Conference was held in Victoria, British Columbia, and Steve Luba (Sell My Timeshare NOW’s director of communications) and I headed to the great northwest to be a part of it.
You might think that with the economy the way it is and some sectors of the timeshare industry experiencing real credit crunch challenges that attendance would have been down. Instead, representatives of the timeshare, fractional, and vacation ownership industries were on hand, ready to learn, network, share, and contribute to the forward vision of the industry.
As Ross Perlmutter, the executive director of CRDA stated, “I’m thrilled with the turnout of the conference. We had 170 delegates, which was up from 130 last year and everybody said to expect a downturn. While other conferences were down as much as 20 percent our numbers were up 30 percent in the midst of the way the economy is going.”
Much of this year’s CRDA Conference centered around fractionals and how developers can manage the growth and sales of fractionals. Dick Ragatz, president of Ragatz Associates, and industry expert on vacation ownership, delivered the keynote address. He identified that there are 300 total fractional projects with 175 in active sales in North America totaling $2.3 billion in sales in 2007. There are about 50,000 fractional owners/members in North America and the average fractional sells for $200,000 USD.
Now here’s where it gets really interesting. The average marketing cost for a fractional is about 18 to 20 percent of the sales price, compared to 50 percent marketing cost for the sale of new timeshares. This would appear to be a significantly contributing factor in why fractionals maintain their value on the resale market so much better than do timeshares.
We’ve talked about it before, here at The Timeshare Authority. Critics of timeshare are always quick to point out that timeshare resales are much lower in price than timeshares purchased new from developers – they see it as proof that this product loses its value quickly. But in reality, timeshare resales may be the product that is “right-priced” while new timeshare prices are overly marked up to cover the high cost of advertising and marketing in the way the timeshare industry has traditionally approached it.
Timeshares are great. And I am pretty sure buyers would be just as willing to purchase them without the seller giving everyone who listens to their timeshare sales pitch a free theme park ticket or discounted vacation night – especially if giving up the perks meant paying less for the timeshare itself.
We came home from the CRDA Conference with a lot of new information, new food for thought, new friends, and new business contacts. And in tomorrow’s blog post, I will fill you in on more of what we learned and who we met at this very exciting event.
Recent The Timeshare Authority posts about CRDA:
Topics: Fractional, Timeshare Resales, Timeshare Sales
We’ve been talking about this deal for quite some time, as Disney Vacation Club timeshare plans for a new Orlando timeshare resort through their just-completed arrangement with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. First announced in March of 2007, this past week Disney finalized the sale of 298 acres of Disney property in Orlando, Florida, sold to Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
The land will be used by Four Seasons for a 445-room hotel, 18-hole championship golf course, a Residence Club of fractional ownership vacation homes, (timeshare condos),and custom single- and multi-family vacation homes.
If you currently own Disney Vacation Club timeshare, or have ever enjoyed vacationing in a Disney Vacation Club timeshare rental, you know that the Disney resorts mean spacious accommodations, loaded with amenities and vacation fun. Disney Vacation Club offers wonderful resorts available at excellent prices as Disney timeshare resales:
But the commitment of Four Seasons Hotels means the Orlando Disney resorts will, for the first time, include a 5-Star hotel and timeshare property.
According to The Timeshare Blog, Scott Woroch, the executive vice president of development for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, says, “This project is one with which we are proud to be associated. Having memorable family vacation experiences are more important than ever to our guests, and we are excited about working with Disney to create a unique product in Central Florida.”
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts are ranked as some of the best hotels in the world. The Canadian based company was founded in the 1960’s, and has since gone on to establish some nearly 80 luxurious hotels and resorts, with seven of the properties including a timeshare ownership component.
While timeshare or fractional ownership at a Four Seasons Residence Club is not widely available because of the limited number of resorts, Sell My Timeshare NOW currently has timeshare resales available at four of the Four Seasons property.
Walt Disney World, the self-proclaimed, “happiest place on earth,” has always been about great family-fun vacations. With the addition of the new Four Seasons fractional ownership resorts, you can soon be very happy enjoying a whole new level of luxury.
Topics: Disney Vacation Club Timeshare, Florida Timeshare, Fractional, Orlando Timeshare, Timeshare Rentals, Timeshare Resales, Vacation
Ritz Carlton private residence club (timeshare) has now announced expansion into the Bahamas with a new Caribbean timeshare resort at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay.
The Abaco Club is a fractional ownership resort that is part of the Ritz-Carlton Club and will be a Ritz-Carlton managed resort. The Ritz Carlton timeshare program is structured in three tiers called: Select Membership; Preferred Membership; and Premium Membership. The three tiers represent ownership of timeshare points in the amounts of 500 points; 1,000; and 1,500. In a press release issued last week by Ritz Carlton, the company explained the value of the points like this: “For instance, a Member could elect to spend 14 nights (1,190 points) in a cliff-side cottage with the family to escape the winter chill, seven nights (280 points) in a similar cottage in summer while the kids are on vacation and four nights (30 points) in a cabana in the fall for a romantic getaway.”
Pre sales on new vacation ownership at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay are already available and start at $110,000. Spokespersons for the company say that owning a fractional through the Ritz-Carlton Club affords members a carefree homeowner experience with the luxury of a dedicated staff to assist them.
Timeshare occupancy is planned for December 2008, with the Caribbean timeshare resort ultimately offering 16 homes for deeded fractional ownership. Special services include pre-stocking the kitchen with the timeshare owner’s favorite foods before his arrival; storage of personal items; concierge service; assistance with travel arrangements; twice daily housekeeping, and much more.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming at Ritz Carlton timeshare owner, by buying timeshare resales at excellent prices, you will be interested vacation ownership at the following resorts:
Topics: Caribbean Timeshare, Fractional, Timeshare Resales, Vacation
Last week, The Timeshare Authority told you about Padraig Harrington, the winner of golf’s 2007 and 2008 British Open, who bought a fractional villa at Oceânico Group’s Vilamoura Golf & Garden Resort in Portugal. He must have been sleeping well at night after buying his 5-bedroom timeshare at the popular vacation ownership resort, because he was once again playing great golf this past week, holing unbelievable putts, and going on to claim the Wanamaker trophy on Sunday at the PGA Championship. And after winning back to back Majors, we can cut the Irish super-talent some slack for not playing in this week’s Wyndham Championship, held in Greensboro, NC.
Although the Wyndham Championship is not one of golf’s Majors, it is still a pressure-packed event for many of the golfers in the field. The Wyndham Championship is the final tournament that gives the players a chance to pull themselves into (or hold onto) a spot among the top 144 in the FedEx Cup standings and thereby qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs.
The mountains of North Carolina are a popular timeshare resort destination and Greensboro itself holds a special place in golfing history as a favorite Tour-stop since the days of legendary pros, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Effective last year, the Greater Greensboro Open officially became the Wyndham Championship sponsored by Wyndham Resorts and Wyndham timeshare. At the time of the announcement, Wyndham’s CEO, Stephen P. Holmes explained that one of the reasons the company chose to sponsor a PGA Tour event in this location was because so many timeshare owners live in the Raleigh-Durham-Greensboro area.
North Carolina timeshare offers vacation destinations from the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains in the west to the Atlantic coast beaches. Wyndham has nearly 200 hotels and resorts in North Carolina, including Wyndham timeshare at the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Harbour, the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Mountains, and the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Sapphire Valley. SellMyTimeshareNOW.com has a large and attractive inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals in North Carolina timeshare, Wyndham timeshares, and excellent golf timeshare resorts.
As you follow the leaderboard in this week’s Wyndham Championship, look for both Jeev Singh and ViJay as possible leaders. Jeev, because his game is coming along so well right now, and ViJay, just because he is due a comeback, especially after he played so poorly last week. The course is a little shorter than many Tour venues and plays tight with Donald Ross greens, so it will favor someone who had good control of his game. Since it hasn’t been a tournament course in over 30 years, no one comes in with an advantage of having won here in the past. Other names to watch this week include Paul Casey, David Toms, and Brian Gay, as the course and the timing are right for any of these outstanding golfers.
With the stakes this high and so much talent in the field, it’s hard to call a winner, but I won’t shy away from making this prediction: Buying a Wyndham timeshare resale is an excellent way to start enjoying a lifetime of vacations at a price that is just too good to pass up. Visit SellMyTimeshareNOW.com to learn more about the great deals in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.
Here’s an update from Padraig Harrington after winning the 2008 PGA Championship:
Topics: Fractional, Golf, Timeshare Resales, Vacation, Wyndham Timeshare
Jason Tremblay's The Timeshare Authority is a wealth of tips and information on timeshares, fractionals, condotels, vacation ownership and travel.
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