It's Official - Cypress Pointe Grande Villas SA

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

In the mail this week is the official notification that Cypress Pointe Grande Villas owners have a $673/3Bed room week special assessment due in June 2008. The fee can be split up over 3 years.

While no one likes to see a SA this was on the horizon for quite some time as the units at CPGV have never had a complete renovation (and are approaching 10 years old). The buildings, just like CPR next door, need roof replacements due to original faulty design and installation, they need a laundry/housekeeping building as CPR built, the pool areas need work - the list is lengthy. Kudos to the Board that they tried so hard and got many things done without an Assessment and for recognizing when there was simply too much to do and not enough time to collect slowly to fund it.

I'm sure the plan now is to get the immediate needs addressed, take on the longer term projects and to set up a reserve collection level to properly fund the future needs without another assessment down the line. If done properly owners will get great value from the current work planned and slowly pay for the future needs as most of us heard would happen back in our original sales pitch.

CPGV is a great little resort (by Orlando standards) that shares a premier location and amenities with CPR. With both improving they will continue to offer great value to their owners and great vacations to owners and guests.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I guess what annoys me is that DRI has a history of asking for SA's rather than putting enough money into the reserve funds to prevent this sort of action. Granted this was caused by past management's financial decisions but, DRI has been no better. Even after the huge SA at Polo Towers, there is still only $45 per 2 bedroom unit going into the reserve fund. This is woefully inadaquate to cover the next renovation, which will eventually have to happen.

The really sad part is we're paying more than Marriott and less than Hilton for our Polo Towers weeks yet, both Marriott and Hilton put in excess of $100 per 2 bedroom unit into the reserves. Either DRI has some extrodinary management fee's or they attempt to do their accounting on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Personally, I'd rather see more money go into the reserve's and less reliancy on SA's to get the job done. Of course, I realize that the deed has already been done for many of these resorts. It is a mistake that I think can be avoided in the future if they'll just start putting more money into the reserves now rather than ask for another SA in 10 to 20 years just to keep the units up to date.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

Reserves are easy to underfund - tough to rebuild

I guess what annoys me is that DRI has a history of asking for SA's rather than putting enough money into the reserve funds to prevent this sort of action. Granted this was caused by past management's financial decisions but, DRI has been no better. Even after the huge SA at Polo Towers, there is still only $45 per 2 bedroom unit going into the reserve fund. This is woefully inadaquate to cover the next renovation, which will eventually have to happen.

The really sad part is we're paying more than Marriott and less than Hilton for our Polo Towers weeks yet, both Marriott and Hilton put in excess of $100 per 2 bedroom unit into the reserves. Either DRI has some extrodinary management fee's or they attempt to do their accounting on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Personally, I'd rather see more money go into the reserve's and less reliancy on SA's to get the job done. Of course, I realize that the deed has already been done for many of these resorts. It is a mistake that I think can be avoided in the future if they'll just start putting more money into the reserves now rather than ask for another SA in 10 to 20 years just to keep the units up to date.

Doug - I couldn't agree with you more. SA's should be rare and only when there is a true unanticipated need for work or the need to clean up past errors in funding levels. Either way a one time thing to get things righted. The biggest mistake resorts make is hitting owners with a SA then not following up with a plan to prevent future SA's. The way to do that is to increase reserve funding to realistic levels. I know it's tough to swallow an increase in annual fees when you are also paying on an assessment but reality is you pay now in smaller chunks for the future or you pay later in, most likely, a much bigger chunk. Meanwhile if done with SA rather than planned fees the resort deteriorates.

To DRI's credit they have supported the need for increased reserve funding at the resorts I deal with. That is a change from prior ownership at Sunterra who were very reluctant to raise fees for reserves.

You are also correct that history says the former Sunterra managed resorts were horribly underfunded for reserves for many years. Sounds like DRI at Polo had the same problem. Getting that situation corrected may end up costly for owners but needs to be done. I just hope that operations costs - including management fees - get a good review at the same time as those rates sound high to only be putting $45 in reserves. Is the money going to its best use?

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

How much should reserves fees be for a typical resort like the size of CY Grande Villas or Greensprings Vacation Resort?

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

It's more than most developers are willing to bill (hurts sales, can't do that!)

How much should reserves fees be for a typical resort like the size of CY Grande Villas or Greensprings Vacation Resort?

Without looking at the reserve plan its a true WAG. Hopefully every resort has a reserve plan. From my experience no resort can be below $100/week in annual reserve collections and still be collecting enough to fund future needs. The exact amount could be higher depending on the resort features and age. If it's under that you can be fairly certain theres a problem brewing down the road.

The ones that really stand to get a horrible wake up call IMO are the OLCC type that have the developer putting in all these expensive to build, maintain and operate features like a small water park. At some point those will revert to the ownership to maintain (unless the developer plans to hang around and build forever which would be even worse). When those bills start coming due look out! The desire to have a mini-water park on site may not be so strong anymore if you could go to a real water park off site for less cost. Nothing is free to operate and maintain.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Very nicely put! Owners don't always realize or appreciate that major amenities can be very expensive to maintain once the HOA becomes the controlling factor, not to mention the insurance liabilities alone that come with an extensive water feature. The developers love these flashy amenities because they get to reap the benefits of increased sales and defer much of the maintenance costs to a later date!

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

Special Assessment Approved for CPGV $673/week for 3 Bedroom units

In the mail this week is the official notification that
Cypress Pointe Grande Villas owners have a $673/
3Bed room week special assessment due in June 2008.
The fee can be split up over 3 years.

How will the CPGV "2008" Special Assessment break down for the various
1 & 2 (3) bedroom units and UDI/Points ownerships? (s/a costs per point)

Cypress Pointe

Cypress Pointe Map & Floorplans

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

How will the CPGV "2008" Special Assessment break down for the various
1 & 2 (3) bedroom units and UDI/Points ownerships? (s/a costs per point)

Cypress Pointe

Cypress Pointe Map & Floorplans

The breakdown is $673 for a 3 BR; $576.40 for 2 BR; $479.71 for 1BR. I don't have a breakdown for the $ for UDI. This information comes from the meeting as I don't serve on the CPGV Board.