DRI owners MF thread 2010

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

Since MF's for DRI managed resorts are starting to come out and, since MF's at DRI resorts have many owners in shock with the increases over the last couple of years, I thought maybe we could pool our MF's into one thread for comparison sake.

Polo Towers:
2 bedroom Suite's $1,016.15
2 bedroom Villa's $1,137.73

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

Wow!!! When did you received your MF bill and how much of an increase is this from over last year? Again Wow !!!!!!!

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

Wow!!! When did you received your MF bill and how much of an increase is this from over last year? Again Wow !!!!!!!

DRI is getting them up online. I haven't received a bill yet, I checked the owners website. The increases were a little over 9% this year. This follows increases last year of ~13%.

If you're a DRI owner, go to your DRI account online and see if your MF's have been posted yet. I fear that the mismangement of years past is going to bite everyone in the hind end yet again this year.

The link for DRI HOA's is http://www.diamondresortshoa.com/splash.aspx . You'll need to enter your log on information (same as the home DRI site) and you'll only be able to see your owned home resorts. Not all DRI managed resorts are up on this site as of yet but there are quite a few.

[xnavyss Member Find all posts View Profile Close xnavyss]

Bent Creek Golf Village which is about 10 miles outside of Gatlinburg, is .75 cents more for a 2 bedroom at Polo.

Bent Creek:
2 Bedroom Villa $1,016.90. Up 18.46% from 2009

Just for a comparision, in 2007 it was $572.30.

(And I hear there may not be a Cost of Living Increase this year)

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

I just checked and there is no posting on my account yet. I am a member of the club, so I guess the bad news will come later. I posted a question on DRIs forum, asking if they had any estimates of approximate cost/point as well as cost for club membership and trust. That was two weeks ago and the only response I received was a confirmation that they got my question. I wish we could get at least approximate costs before the bills go out so we have an idea of how much we need to fork over. We usually don't get the bill until the middle of Decemeber and it's always due by the end of the month. Not that I'm looking forward to having to pay the MF - it just would be easier to judge how much money we have to spend during the holidays.

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

I just checked and there is no posting on my account yet. I am a member of the club, so I guess the bad news will come later. I posted a question on DRIs forum, asking if they had any estimates of approximate cost/point as well as cost for club membership and trust. That was two weeks ago and the only response I received was a confirmation that they got my question. I wish we could get at least approximate costs before the bills go out so we have an idea of how much we need to fork over. We usually don't get the bill until the middle of Decemeber and it's always due by the end of the month. Not that I'm looking forward to having to pay the MF - it just would be easier to judge how much money we have to spend during the holidays.

Since the trust based memberships are supposed to be an average of the MF's from all resorts in the trust, my bet would be they're waiting on the figures to roll in.

I'd continue to check your account online. That's how I caught wind that MF's had been set. It took another couple of days before it was posted online at DRI's HOA website. The posting caused me concern because I thought they had lost my advanced payments. It looked to me as if they had posted last years billing amount rather than the 2010 billing. The fact I'd paid a little towards one account made that account appear to be the previous bill for the other deeded week. In short, I confused myself and jumped to conclusions. I'm not accustomed to seeing a firm figure on what I'll owe this early in the year.

I had hoped that, after the large increases seen last year, maybe things would ease up a bit. From the explanation posted along with the billing, I'm now thinking this will be the norm for the next 3 or 4 years. I hate to think where MF's might go if that's the case. Perhaps it won't seem so bad if MF's increase similar amounts in each year. At least the percentage would go down as the base amount would be higher (a $100 increase on $1000 looks worse percentage wise than a $100 increase on $1,100 or $1,200).

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

Bent Creek Golf Village which is about 10 miles outside of Gatlinburg, is .75 cents more for a 2 bedroom at Polo.

Bent Creek:
2 Bedroom Villa $1,016.90. Up 18.46% from 2009

Just for a comparision, in 2007 it was $572.30.

(And I hear there may not be a Cost of Living Increase this year)

Almost looks as if their trying to even out the cost of all the two bedroom units in the system doesn't it? I'm sure that's not true but it is odd. If it is true, I wonder what the 4 bedroom units are going to look like when those bills come out.

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

Grand Beach Maint Fees

On a really positive note, the increase in Grand Beach Phase I maintenance fees for 2010 is a mere .68% or $6 total - NO, I AM NOT JOKING! The MF for a 3BR unit in Phase 1 was $880.50 for 2009 and is $886.50 for 2010.

On a less positive note (because I own units at both) Grand Beach Phase II MFs increased 8.1% or $86.70 from $1064.69 for a 3BR lock-off to $1151.39 for 2010.

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

On a really positive note, the increase in Grand Beach Phase I maintenance fees for 2010 is a mere .68% or $6 total - NO, I AM NOT JOKING! The MF for a 3BR unit in Phase 1 was $880.50 for 2009 and is $886.50 for 2010.

On a less positive note (because I own units at both) Grand Beach Phase II MFs increased 8.1% or $86.70 from $1064.69 for a 3BR lock-off to $1151.39 for 2010.

Are both phases DRI managed?

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

YES.

The Phase I Association Board is very pleased to announce that a new 3YR contract was just renegotiated with DRI as Property Manager.

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

YES.

The Phase I Association Board is very pleased to announce that a new 3YR contract was just renegotiated with DRI as Property Manager.

Well then that's a good sign as it doesn't appear the DRI wants MF's even across the board. Perhaps there is light at the end of this tunnel once finances are on an even keal with some of the HOA's.

Personally I've been E-mailing our HOA/BOD the last couple of years concerned about the amount of $$ going into the cash reserve's. Basically my complaint is that I doubted that they were collecting enough for future needs. We own four properties in Vegas and Polo Towers was putting away about half what Marriott and HGVC collected. On the other hand, Polo Towers doesn't have NEAR the amenities of the other two so, I suppose one could make the arguement that additional funding of cash reserves isn't required. Of course, Polo Towers hit Suite's owners with a >$1,000 special assessment a few years back to refurbish the units. That's something I fealt should have been handled by a properly funded cash reserve account and it's something I don't want to see come up every 15 years.

[DRIvaDiva Banned Find all posts View Profile Close DRIvaDiva]

YES.

The Phase I Association Board is very pleased to announce that a new 3YR contract was just renegotiated with DRI as Property Manager.

and the Phase I board has 3 out of 5 members who are DRI employees??

[DRIvaDiva Banned Find all posts View Profile Close DRIvaDiva]

Well then that's a good sign as it doesn't appear the DRI wants MF's even across the board. Perhaps there is light at the end of this tunnel once finances are on an even keal with some of the HOA's.

Personally I've been E-mailing our HOA/BOD the last couple of years concerned about the amount of $$ going into the cash reserve's. Basically my complaint is that I doubted that they were collecting enough for future needs. We own four properties in Vegas and Polo Towers was putting away about half what Marriott and HGVC collected. On the other hand, Polo Towers doesn't have NEAR the amenities of the other two so, I suppose one could make the arguement that additional funding of cash reserves isn't required. Of course, Polo Towers hit Suite's owners with a >$1,000 special assessment a few years back to refurbish the units. That's something I fealt should have been handled by a properly funded cash reserve account and it's something I don't want to see come up every 15 years.

The developer controlled BOD should all be keelhauled, they will always need to do those special assessments because they will always underestimate as they don't show new prospects special assessments, they only show new prospects the maintenance fee. That's what I've always felt.

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

We recieved our mailed invoices today for our units. Hopefully more DRI owners will be able to post what's going on with their timeshare MF's soon.

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

DRI Owners MF thread 2010

Diamond Resorts - Greensprings Vacation Resort
Williamsburg Virginia - Four Bedroom Timeshare

2010 Maintenance Fee $1012.74
2010 Replacement Reserve $226.88
ARDA-Roc Voluntary Contribution $5.00
Total: $1244.62 - Due Jan 1, 2010


back of the envelope, that's an 18% increase '09-'10 following a ~25% increase '08-'09.
Wowsers! CPI hasn't done that nor the rates on my CDs or money markets.

In reality, that's not to bad for a 4 bedroom unit. Especially one that locks out into two 2 bedroom units.

Consider this. I own two 2 bedroom units at Polo Towers. My MF's for both units this year, without THE Club dues, is right at $2,200. MF's for our Polo Towers units are up over 9% this year.

I would expect that the relatively low density development at Greensprings should be easier and less expensive to maintain than Las Vegas Strip high rises.

I would expect that the relatively low density development at Greensprings should be easier and less expensive to maintain than Las Vegas Strip high rises.

I don't know about that. Polo Towers has a small pool, a children splash area, one hot tub, no indoor tub, one (maybe two) gas grill, a few cabana's and almost no landscaping.

Greensprings is spread out, has several buildings with roof and exteriors that need to be maintained, tons of landscaping and lawn maintenance, an indoor pool, an indoor hot tub et......

Where am I going with this? I forsee more double digit increases in the future.