Check out this post on The Palms blog, The Howler...
We have to admit that Costa Rica has no shortage of fantastic beaches to enjoy. With more than 300 different beaches along two different coastlines and a choice of white, black or brown coloration, we dare anyone to say that they can't find their perfect beach vacation in our country.
Read the full article on The Howler!
By: Randy H. Burgess, EVP, Peter Kempf International
The Vacation Home Purchase
Traditionally, frequent vacationers to a particular destination bought whole ownership homes to enjoy 3-5 weeks per year and rationalized that expensive purchase with the expectation of continued appreciation in the belief that the purchase would be a good investment. Well, those days of double digit appreciation are over and may be gone for many years to come. Thus, the purchase of an entire vacation home or condo which is used only 3-5 weeks a year has suddenly become a very imprudent financial decision.
Many whole ownership buyers offered their vacation property for rent in an attempt to generate income 
to cover the year round utilities, maintenance costs, real estate taxes, insurance and all the other customary expenses of maintaining a second home. Unfortunately, the renters didn’t have the same “pride of ownership” of the owners and the home was often abused and quickly became worn by rental traffic. Even then the nicer, more expensive vacation properties seldom if ever generated an actual positive cash flow.
Let’s Just Rent Rather Than Buy
More recently, vacationers who realized that it doesn’t make financial sense to purchase a whole ownership vacation home have chosen to simply rent. This isn’t the ideal solution either, since families and extended families often vacation together, thus requiring the rental of multiple hotel rooms or a larger vacation rental home. Repeated rentals don’t leave the renter with any tangible residual value other than the photos of time with family and friends. Renting over the years also becomes expensive and the costs are unrecoverable.
Why Are We Doing This?
Well, perhaps more than ever, families need a break – they need quality time together away from the stress and strains of work, daily routines, and the nightly news. Many families also enjoy different types of vacations during different seasons of the year. They may enjoy the beach and golf in summer and skiing in winter; touring Tuscany or other areas of Europe.
All this begs the question “Why would someone purchase a whole ownership vacation home (or continue renting one) if they could obtain the same degree of flexible usage or more, with more amenities and services, without having the maintenance and renter hassles – all for less than the down payment on the whole ownership purchase (or the accumulated expense of repeated rentals) and with a fraction of the ongoing maintenance costs?”
The Palms Private Residence ClubEnter the Private Residence Club...
Private Residence Clubs were specifically created for those desiring to own a luxurious vacation home, with all the amenities and hospitality services of a fine hotel, and; have flexible and frequent usage by family and friends – without having to invest millions, maintain a second home or pay rent. Just imagine the ideal vacation home purchase . ..
Voila! A Private Residence Club offers all these benefits and is absolutely the best value you can find in a vacation home! Now, by joining a Private Residence Club, you can own the best, use it as much as you like, avoid the hassles of maintenance or the repeated costs of vacation rentals; enjoy a myriad of vacation experiences worldwide; and, provide a vacation legacy for your children and grandchildren.
The Private Residence Club . . . sensible vacation ownership today and for generations to come.
_____________________________________________________
Randy Burgess is the Private Residence Club industry's most experienced sales executive having personally trained and directed sales teams generating over $600,000,000 in sales at some of the most successful residence clubs in the world. Randy has also provided consulting services in the areas of Club feasibility, structure, operations and marketing for dozens of Club developers throughout North America, Mexico and Europe.
Candy is falling for fractional. First her bio, then her latest blog entry.
Candy Evans is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters, bloggers and consultants. She contributes daily to AOL Real Estate, Joel Kotkin’s The New Geography, and is a guest blogger for Inman Real Estate News FORUM: The Future of Real Estate Marketing. She also writes for Move.com. Candy was a longtime contributing editor to Dallas’ D Magazine and sister pubs, and in 2007 founded the wildly successful Dallas real estate blog, DallasDirt, where she broke the news on where former president George W. Bush bought his Dallas home. She is the founder and creator of SecondShelters.com.
Second Home Trends - Affordable & Amenities: Calistoga Ranch in Napa Beckons
Here’s the deal. The economy is not cooperating, but we still want to enjoy life. I know so many families who want a second home to “create family memories.” Most families, like mine, are spread out all over tarnation. A second home is a great way for everyone to combine a vacation with a family visit. Our family did this for years at Drake’s Island, Maine, and we are trying to do it for our kids with a shared-ownership ranch in the Hill Country. As hard hit as the second home market is right now, buying and maintaining a home outright is still costly. According to the Wall Street Journal, sales are really soft in the Hamptons, which Wall Street usually flushes with money. And no one in their right mind thinks they’ll be flipping it for a profit. Read more
PKI client, Calistoga Ranch, is leading the upscale Residence Club pack with a sales resurgence. Read more here:
Good News At Calistoga Ranch: Sales Volume Greater Than In Past Two Years Combined.
International Private Residence Club Consultancy Brings
Sales & Marketing Expertise to Exclusive Costa Rica Property
Leading Private Residence Club consultancy, Peter Kempf International (PKI), announced it has been awarded the exclusive sales and marketing contract for The Palms Private Residence Club, located on renowned Flamingo Beach on Costa Rica’s coveted Gold Coast.
Steps from the sand and with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, The Palms is a luxury getaway and the only beachfront private residence club in all of Costa Rica. PKI President & CEO Peter Kempf noted, "We have earned a reputation for being highly selective, and our portfolio includes some of the most iconic clubs ever created,” said Kempf. “As soon as we arrived at The Palms, we looked at each other and knew that this was the equal of any club anywhere in the world.”
Kempf is experienced with exotic resort properties – PKI is the exclusive representative of the Private Residence Club Industry on The Board of Regents, the governing body of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, the worldwide network of elite luxury real estate brokerage firms.
Kempf said the project – a collection of 32 two-story ocean side residences - represents a great opportunity for both PKI and buyers. “There is no finer beach in Costa Rica, the grounds are lushly landscaped, the villas are beautiful, the construction is the epitome of attention to detail and the hypnotic views run to the horizon, “ he said. “The fortunate few who will become Club members are in for one heck of a treat."
For The Palms development, PKI has partnered with fellow Board of Regents Executive Committee member Todd Cutter of the highly respected San Jose brokerage 2Costa Rica Real Estate.
“For years developers have been flirting with the idea of residence clubs, but have lacked the right location, the right product, and the right team to bring it to the forefront,” said Cutter “With successful residence clubs in the world’s finest destinations, PKI brings to The Palms an unprecedented track record, which combined with the unmatched beauty of this property, is a recipe for success.”
The Palms was developed by Spence Enterprises, and according to partner and CFO Robert Reddy, PKI was the right fit for the project. “We had a goal of being the finest beach front resort development in Costa Rica. We also sought out the best sales organization to market our private residence club. We surveyed the entire market, attended trade shows, and interviewed several sales and marketing organizations. Peter Kempf International clearly has the most experience, highest sales results, finest reputation, and best personnel in the industry for premier private residence clubs. That made selecting them as our partner easy.”
PKI will be responsible for the Club’s overall structure, sales, marketing and global reciprocal-use alliances, and will be installing their Clearview Express™ Lead Response Management Program, a proprietary system Kempf said is designed to improve fractional sales organizations’ lead generation and conversion rates while reducing marketing expenses.
The Palms project represents what Kempf said is a true, proven private residence club concept, meeting certain key criteria: Club members receive deeded ownership of real estate; high-end residence architecture and interior design; and unlimited, flexible usage in accordance with reservation privileges that have been tailored to the seasonality of the market and the typical usage patterns of the intended buyers.
Sales are underway at The Palms Private Residence Club, which is less than an hour’s drive from Liberia’s international airport, making the Flamingo beach area popular with divers, game fisherman and golfers.
For more information, visit:
http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/about
Eric Pierce