timeshare news

Less than a week to go, but still time to register for the 2009 Vacation Ownership Investment Conference to be held at The Peabody Orlando. This year marks the 11th annual VOIC event, each one better than the last.

The VOIC conference is a timeshare and vacation ownership industry event targeting topics of timeshare development, successful timeshare project financing, industry branding, timeshare resort management, and vacation ownership marketing and selling. Educational sessions cover new issues and ongoing directions.

This year’s Orlando timeshare VOIC conference, appropriately titled, “Opportunity in Adversity” will focus on:

• The viability of different opportunities in vacation ownership from private residence clubs, to fractional development and resort conversions.
• Emerging trends in the habits of travelers during the current economy.
• Financial strategies for the “new normal” environment.
• How prepaid vacation ownership encourages usage, maximizing a project’s earning potential and generating additional revenue.
• And the opportunity for attendees to exchange insights and make valuable contacts with vacation ownership experts, timeshare developers, lenders, hoteliers, government and tourism officials, and others.

The conference’s featured guest speaker will be economist and author Dr. Robert Genertski, who will discuss the, “Outlook for the Economy and Financial Markets”.

To learn more about this outstanding timeshare industry event go to www.vacationownershipinvestment.com

Happy Labor Day to all who have been observing this US holiday that is so welcomed this time of year, signaling for many the end of summer and the return to school and all-too-familiar routines. If you have been vacationing this weekend, good for you! And if you have been on the job this weekend, well, that’s can be a good thing too especially considering today’s economy.

However you schedule your leisure time and days off, just be sure you do work vacationing into your routine. Not just because you deserve it, which you certainly do, but also because you NEED it.

We’ve said it here before, but it bears repeating: Men who don’t vacation regularly are 32 percent more likely to die of heart attacks while women are 50 percent more likely, according to experts cited by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) at www.vacationbetter.org.

Referencing the research of John De Graaf, editor of the book, Take Back Your Time and frequent speaker on issues of over consumption and overwork in America, VacationBetter.org explains, “Doctors recognize the connection between vacation starvation and heart attacks, high blood pressure, stress and depression. Studies show the risk of these ailments can double or more for people who don’t regularly vacation. Americans are twice as likely to suffer from chronic illnesses as Europeans, who get a minimum of four weeks off each year.”

Timeshare Vacations Make it Easy

Statistics like these remind us that we don’t just need vacations for our mental health; we need them for our physical well-being. And if you are an over-worker and an under-vacationer, timeshares may be just the solution you need to make a vacation happen.

• Timeshares let you spread the cost of vacation accommodations over an extended period.
• If you buy a value-priced timeshare resale, you’ve reduced the headache of paying for a lifetime of vacation accommodations before you even start enjoying that first day of relaxation.
• Owning timeshare lets you skip the vacation scheduling and planning that you didn’t have time to do anyway, and transition seamlessly from “at-work” to “on-vacation”.
• The numerous amenities of most timeshare resorts mean that should you choose to, you and your family can enjoy a fully relaxing, fully entertaining vacation, without ever leaving the property… now what could be easier than that?

Here’s a little more insight on why vacation time is critical, not optional:

Group RCI has commissioned an in-depth study of patterns within the timeshare industry, particularly looking at where the top demand is for timeshare and where the busiest timeshare areas are located. Essentially, it’s to be a look at timeshare supply and timeshare demand.

Some of the points the RCI timeshare study is expected to show include geographic areas or vacation destinations where timeshares and timesharing has a limited presence as well as identifying areas where demand is being met and the needs of interested timeshare owners are being served. According to HotelNetwork.com the soon-to-be-released RCI Timeshare study will show:

Timeshare: Is the Cup Half Empty or Half Full?

It is interesting to see research that focuses on making timeshare a better product with more application for more people. Perhaps the timeshare industry, like so many other areas of business, has been somewhat lulled into believing that its job is to convince people why they should want or need a timeshare.

In fact, the focus by all of us in the timeshare industry always should be on making timeshare into a product that better serves the vacation and travel wants or needs people already have.

Could some residential homeowners or investors find opportunity by selling properties as fractional ownership vacation homes?

Good question and one addressed in a recent issue of Perspective Magazine. David M. Disick, president of David M. Disick & Associates writes about the opportunity that fractionals may hold within the real estate market. Disick is considered to be a pioneer in the fractional vacation home industry. He is the developer behind the Private Residence Club, Franz Klammer Lodge in Telluride, Colorado and is currently developing Club ElyseeSM.

Is a Fractional Just Another Name for a Timeshare?

If you are unfamiliar with the concept, let’s start with the argument of whether timeshare and fractionals are the same product on different scales. Fractionals afford owners the chance to buy a percentage of ownership in a vacation home. The property is typically a luxury or uber-luxury home, located in a desirable vacation destination. Unlike a timeshare where there are often as many as 50 individual owners, each claiming a week or perhaps two of interval ownership, a fractional is typically owned by a limited number of owners (10 or fewer) who many own several months of interval usage time.

Good approach? Probably it is, since statistics show the fractional industry accounted for some $2 billion in sales in 2007 and another $1.5 billion in 2008. Fractional industry expert Sherman D. Poptvin points out, “Even in the economic downturn of 2008, the fractional market was still the fastest growing real estate product.”

The logistics of sales for fractional ownership vacation property comes down to this: A vacation home in a highly desirable location may be a tough sell at $5 million, but expand the ownership pool to 6 or 7 individuals at $750,000 apiece and you have a much greater market of potential buyers from which to draw.

But here’s the warning. While selling a luxury home (either as the current owner or as an investor) to multiple joint buyers may be a way to expand your market, Disick warns it, “is not for the uninitiated.” He calls the concept relatively simple and potentially very profitable but cautions, “A wide variety of skill sets is required for a successful development.”

Fractional Expert David Disick’s Advice for Selling a Vacation Home as a Fractional

• Before you do anything, consult a financial and a legal advisor.
• Location, location, location. Prime locations in prime resorts are essential for a successful venture into fractionalizing a property.
• Check the zoning laws. Not all properties can be turned into fractionals.
• Find financing sources for your venture. You may even have to educate them about the concept and the opportunity of fractionals.
• Study the rate of return expected as well as the return on investment.
• Look at your pro forma in a best and a worst-case scenario.
• Find properties that you can acquire at a favorable price.
• Be prepared to update the home’s furnishings and technology, or to furnish the home from scratch.
• Be prepared to make any necessary repairs to the property.
• Consider the needs that will arise for property management, concierge or reception services, reservations, bookkeeping and auditing procedures, and documentation for ownership, as your starting needs, with the eye-opening recognition that more needs will become evident as you move through the process.

And lastly, don’t let this list scare you off. As Disick advises, the market is sure to bounce back. He suggests that if the approach of selling fractionalized property appeals to you, then you should prepare now in anticipation of the “pent up demand” there is sure to be from people who have, during this recession, delayed their vacation ownership purchases.

(Source: Perspective magazine, July 2009.)