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I just called Foxrun to make a maintenance fee payment and the fee for 2007 has gone up to $595 !! I'm still on the floor and slowly coming to. I think I passed out! YIKES!
Mav
Mav
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Oh boy that hurts.
Was the MF below $400 before the increase.
Timeshareforums Shirts and Mugs on sale now! http://www.cafepress.com/ts4ms -
Wasn't Foxrun the low cost tiger trader touted over the past few years ? Any reason why the fees have been going up so much the past couple of years ?Comment
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Answer: VRI's a ripoff and has the Foxrun BOD eating out of its corporate hand.Originally posted by tonyg View Post"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed and those who are cold and are not clothed."
-- Dwight D. EisenhowerComment
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Carol,
I know you are upset but Becky Varn seems to think the increase is an assessment, perhaps for some redecorating and for rebuilding that retaining wall. I hope it is just a small assessment that is covered by this year's fees. We can all live with that.
I thought the suggestion to separate Foxrun Yahoo Usergroup into two groups, Disney/Foxrun and Foxrun was a little odd. There aren't that many posts daily, only when some subject comes up that is controversial. I appreciate seeing all posts as they relate to Foxrun and would just end up belonging to both.
If you are worried about Foxrun's direction, I would love to see you join the board to look out for our best interests.
I am concerned that VRI might be the problem because our Colorado resort is considering them for our management company.Comment
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It is a 33% increase in maintenance and taxes for the year.
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At both of my resorts on the OBX, it is the members who have to adopt the budget which establishes the m/f. The board only proposes the budget. One sends out the proposed budget in the newsletter before the annual meeting. At the other a member has to turn up at the meeting to be handed a copy.
This system gives the members ultimate control. It serves as a brake on the boards, but as a result of boards having to sell their budget, not a single budget has ever been defeated or reduced. In fact at one, some years ago, a member motion actually increased the budget (and m/f) because of a desire for a particular project that was not in the budget.One of them has never had a special assessment. The other has had a special assesment twice, once in the dicey days soon after the developer was kicked out, and the other in 1999 for upgrades. The 1999 assessment was sold so well by the board that the members adopted it unanimously.
VRI has taken over management at Sea Ranch II on the OBX, and fees there have definitely gone up, but I hear they do a good job in running the resort.Comment
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VRI presents the facts - the Board acts
I can only speak to my experience with VRI as management for two of my resorts. At one they were in place when we purchased. I watched how that resort was run vs one of our others that still had management by a developer group. When I was fortunate enough to become a member of the Board at the non-VRI resort it didn't take long before I was boring the other members with tales of how my VRI resort did things and how much better I felt their approach was over our management.Originally posted by shopgirl
When the contract ran out three years later the Board interviewed 5 management groups and ended up choosing VRI. It was the best decision we ever made. Within 3 years the changes made under Board direction and VRI implementation were beyond dramatic. VRI has never - never - tried to do things "their way". They aren't afraid to make proposals or suggest directions but would never take action without Board approval. They are the ultimate in professional management IMO.
If a VRI resort is not being run correctly you have to look to the Board as VRI will take the direction only from them. Some do not take necessary actions even when needed or simply don't have enough interest in the operatioin of the resort. VRI will do as much or as little as they are told. If there is a problem look to your Board members not VRI.Comment
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John, that is so good to know. I am pushing for a change in management company because I feel that we have been represented unfairly by our current situation. We actually have whole owners that outnumber timeshare units, 33 to 27. As an interval HOA board, we have to do pretty much what the whole owners decide. That has included paying for most of the expense for replacing all of the decks and common stairways, all made of wood and replaced by TREX about five years ago. Now the whole owners are dealing with exterior maintenance issues and we are once again at the mercy of a management company that favors the group that has the most votes. Maybe I am just paranoid and we will not have to pay the brunt of the expenses for this next round of repairs, but I certainly am not counting out the possibility. I have no vote on the combined boards and was told that I "did not have to feel obligated to attend those meetings."
I talked to VRI and was thrilled they would be willing to take on the interval owners' HOA. The whole owners can keep their current management. I really like the guy that owns the current management company and he says he does not favor the whole owners over the interval owners, but who really knows? I know that he does not favor me and I was embarrassed by a comment made at one of the meetings I attended that I was not "obligated" to attend. The embarrassment came from the secretary of the interval HOA, a person who has been on the board for 25 years. Frankly, I am over her as secretary after she informed me that we did not need to replace the treasurer because we trust the management company. Even the owner of the management company thought she was out of line. But he didn't say anything to her, just to me later. I would rather he would have defended my stand with her there, then I would have more respect.
Anyway, to me it seems that a management company needs to take care of everyone, not just a chosen few. Maybe I should just buy one of the condo units up there and have the timeshare owners pay my exterior maintenance expenses. There was recently a conversation about crediting current whole owners for already converting their fireplaces to gas. With a structural problem that relates directly to the chimneys (soffit repairs and chimney structures that were leaking), the board decided to get rid of them altogether, a total savings over fixing the existing mess. I was all for that, but when they started talking about rebating whole owners, I was very upset because the timeshare owners paid to convert to gas many years ago and no talk of rebating us!
I have no idea what they decided to do, since I am not "obligated" to attend the meetings. They do not want someone questioning the goings on of the board, that is all there is to it. Do you know how many meetings the interval owners have had this year: Zero, nada, none!Comment
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Cindy- I would also ask for a bid from SPM Resorts. They are the other national t/s management company represented on the OBX, where they manage Outer Banks Beach Club I and II. I hear very good things about them from the Beach Club. They are based in Myrtle Beach but manage resorts in various parts of the US and the Caribbean.Comment
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I called yesterday to make another maintenance fee payment, and they have decided to raise the maintenance fee to $550 instead of $595. Apparently there was a lot of negative feedback on the large increase. The notices will be mailed out in Nov.Comment
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Not billed not set
I thought the bills had gone out already at the $595 rate? If not, and the rate was only proposed, until you get the Board to approve a rate it is only that - a proposal. At that point owners still have the ability to influence the final fee by contacting the Board/Management with suggestions. Don't just say "cut fees" - offer thoughts as to how they should be reduced. Tell them what they have proposed that you think you can do without. Once they set and actually bill the fee it is too late to change it.Originally posted by mav View PostComment
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