Smugglers Notch secures $10million loan

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

Liberty Bank, Wellington Financial, Lending $10 Million to Smugglers' Notch Resort

More good news regarding financing for the industry.. Keep it coming!

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

Lets use the economy to make changes needed

More good news regarding financing for the industry.. Keep it coming!

I find I have to take the totally contrarian viewpoint. Getting the existing screwed up and out of whack sales model used by developers - including their 90% markup over resale value and owner negative plans to hang on forever to management agreements and thus guarantee their income at owners expense - more funding is perpetrating the existing mess we are falling into. Cutting them off from funding unless they change the approach to a far more long term, sustainable model that includes reasonable annual fees and a defined resale market is maybe the one chance we have to get this thing corrected. Just getting them more money under the old rules will put us right back in the same situation a few years from now.

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

Your viewpoint makes sense for an owner controlled HOA, but I don't think a developer model can exist without the ability to acquire loans such as this..

We have to understand and accept that the goals of a developer controlled resort and a HOA controlled resort will probably never be similar..

The developer wants a compelling, high impact product that has one single goal, to be highly profitable! I don’t think the average developer even really considers sustainability as a factor.. They aren’t in it for the long haul in most instances. They simply need the sizzle factor to generate sales!

The HOA craves a sustainable product that provides a consistent quality and experience for the owners. It’s the steak that’s important to the HOA- not the sizzle!

However, I think both sides still need each other in this industry. Developers are the primary factor for future growth and expansion. And it’s the HOA’s that create the stability and viability of ownership for the consumer.

The main problem I see is the difficulty in transitioning from the developer stage to the HOA stage. If that single issue can be addressed and corrected in the near future, I think it will go a long way toward strengthening the industry.

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

Force changes. Money talks. Write it into the docs that they MUST turn it over

However, I think both sides still need each other in this industry. Developers are the primary factor for future growth and expansion. And it’s the HOA’s that create the stability and viability of ownership for the consumer.

The main problem I see is the difficulty in transitioning from the developer stage to the HOA stage. If that single issue can be addressed and corrected in the near future, I think it will go a long way toward strengthening the industry.

It is the convoluted plans that they use to not only maintain control of the management but the HOA that leads to HOA's that aren't really owner oriented. It is the worst of both worlds. Cut off the funding to plans that don't have clearly defined plans to transition to owner controlled HOA's - with or without future name branding, as name branding does not require name brand management only meeting the specifications as they do with hotel franchisee's - and then you will force the developers to deal with the future of the resorts they create. I agree they have very short term and profit oriented outlooks. The process needs to get the owners a voice as they were supposed to have all along but has been systematically stripped from them by developers hanging around far too long.

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

Thanks for posting this.....