A recent Timeshare Board Members Association (TBMA) Conversations Series Webinar – Resort Manager Workshop hosted timeshare resort manager panelists (pictured above, from left) Sheila Chittum, resort manager of the The Windrifter Resort, Wolfeboro, NH; Michael DiPaola, multi-site general manager of Sea Club IV, Daytona Beach Shores, FL, and Magic Tree Resort, Kissimmee, FL; Cindy Thomas, general manager, Stoneridge Resort, Blanchard, ID; and Robert Townsend, general manager, Beachcomber Inn, South Lake Tahoe, CA, for an interactive discussion of priorities and policies at their resorts.
During the live webinar session, attendees (a mix of timeshare resort managers, board members, and industry professionals) were asked to submit their questions and comments. An edited version of the conversation follows below:
Long-term leases?
William Robinson, committee member, Las Brisas de Sante Fe, Englewood, CO:
Do any of your resorts offer long-term leases (e.g., 2-5 years)? If so, what has been your experience with this option?
Chittum: While we don’t have leases at this time, we have begun to explore that option, once again. When the property was owned/run by VacationTime in the 1970s, they were only offering 40-year term leases. When the Windrifter Resort Association was formed in the early 1980s, it opted to have purchases made in perpetuity.
As time goes on, we find that people are beginning to balk at the long-term commitment for a timeshare. As a right-to-use property (no titles or property-tax bills, liens etc.; it’s all included in the annual maintenance fee dues), our Termination Program has become a more stress-free option for members to consider when they are ready to get out from under their membership. We are discussing if shorter-term leases with a renewal option would reduce the “sticker shock” of being a member in perpetuity and help to increase our member base.
DiPaola: Although we have had many discussions on lease programs at both Sea Club IV and Magic Tree Resort, neither resort has implemented such a program yet. However, Magic Tree has created an LLC for such a program, but we are still some time away before we offer short-term leases.
Thomas: Stoneridge Resort does not offer leases.
Townsend: Beachcomber Inn does not offer leases.
Owner attrition and delinquency
Ron Harrington, board president, St. Tropez, Ocean City, MD:
Besides rentals how are you dealing with owner attrition; are you forecasting owner delinquencies?
Chittum: Rentals have definitely helped counterbalance some of the delinquency amount. However, we don’t specifically forecast for our rentals to cover it. During our budgeting sessions, we tend to look at the history of our owner attrition and budget accordingly for maintenance-fee income changes as needed.
Thomas: We are forecasting based on trending or the best information available to us.
Townsend: At this time, we are not seeing many more delinquencies than normal. I fear this will change somewhat as we approach the end of the year. If you want further details please contact me at the Beachcomber Inn.
Resort info, sales, leasing, pets, and more
Kathy Kieffer, operations manager, Indian Peaks Resort, Fraser, CO:
How many timeshare units and what type (fixed term or right-to-use) do each of the panelists manage?
Chittum: The Windrifter Resort has 42 units (2,184 possible intervals, currently 900 members with 1,152 intervals in use.) and is a right-to-use property.
DiPaola: Sea Club IV Resort in Daytona Beach Shores, FL, is a 40-unit fixed-week, oceanfront property. Magic Tree Resort in Kissimmee, FL, Is a 92-unit fixed and float property just outside Disney World.
Thomas: At Stoneridge Resort, I manage 150 units, of which 143 are timeshare, three are wholly owned, and four are association owned as ADA condo replacements.
Townsend: We are a 20-unit fixed, deeded property in South Lake Tahoe.
Cindy, what outside vendors have you used successfully for sales?
Thomas: We have used Hello Vacay and had moderate success with them. At this time, however, since two salespeople now work for us, we are meeting and exceeding the results we achieved with Hello Vacay and actually have revenue to pass back to the resort. I have found companies that want to help you sell association inventory but want to pass almost nothing back to the resort. That’s better than no owner, but since we found someone to handle sales for us, that is the better option for us.
Have any fixed-week legacy properties had success transitioning to float weeks or lease agreements? If so, how?
DiPaola: At Magic Tree, we offer fixed-week owners the ability to convert to a permanent floating week for a low cost by signing an addendum.
Thomas: We are fixed. We would find moving to a floating calendar difficult, but I have two thoughts there:
If an owner becomes part of Interval International’s Club Interval Gold or RCI Points, in effect, they are using a floating design. Our owners can do that.
We also have an internal exchange program where we allow our owners to come back another time. I have just spent some time in critical thinking about what does and does not work with our SITE (Stoneridge Internal Time Exchange) Program. I can go on and on but if you are interested in hearing more, send me an email. I’ll share our SITE Program info with you and tell you what I am going to do to change it and make it better to manage and better for the owners we serve.
Townsend: We have no plans on transitioning; not sure how that would work for us.
Do any of the panelists have a pet-friendly resort? If so, how do they manage it (additional cleaning fees, higher costs for all, etc.?).
Chittum: We are not pet-friendly. We have a disclaimer that is signed upon registration that any non-authorized ADA animals will result in a $200 per day charge.
DiPaola: Although we love pets, neither Sea Club IV nor Magic Tree Resort is pet-friendly. We allow only service animals on property.
Thomas: Stoneridge Resort is not pet-friendly.
Townsend: We are not pet-friendly. This applies to owners, exchangers, and public rentals.
“Not receiving the bill” seems like an issue we face a lot, too… Is the issue endemic to legacy resorts?
Chittum: I believe it is an issue throughout the industry, not just legacy resorts.
DiPaola: Usually, the owners who do not receive the annual bill call us when they receive their lockout notice. Very strange! Due to staffing challenges Sea Club IV recently experienced, we plan to get back to the basics, be more proactive, and make follow-up calls after they become late.
Townsend: We do not get many “not received the bill” replies. More owners say they misplaced the bill.
Does the pre-arrival email go through Resort Data Processing (RDP) or Constant Contact?
Townsend: We just started using RDP, so we have not set up that feature yet. We are sending pre-arrival emails directly from our office email. We only have 20 units, so it’s not that time-consuming. We will in the future use RDP to send the pre-arrival emails.
Chittum: Using RDP as well, our pre-arrival emails are generated from RDP and processed through our regular email account server.
What Property Management System do Sea Club IV and Magic Tree Resort use?
DiPaola: We are using SPI at both properties.
New resort projects
What’s new at your resort?
Karen Williams, at The Owners Club at The Homestead, Hot Springs, VA: We are set up much differently here. The developer interests are fully sold out and no resales are on the market. Just before COVID-19 hit, we implemented a member exchange. Due to the pandemic, many members could not travel and were able to sell or trade their dates online. It has been very effective. Our occupancy was so high that we were having a hard time getting vacancy for work such as roof replacements, painting, etc.
Michael DiPaola: At Sea Club IV Resort, we implemented an internal exchange program that was very effective, more so when the pandemic started. We offered the program to owners who were not comfortable with vacationing at that time or were restricted due to the pandemic. We charged them $99 to swap their week for a week in the fall of 2020, which is typically our slow time, and collected more than $14,000.00 in revenue. However, for 2021, we only offered the internal exchange program on a case-by-case basis due to a couple of major projects we are planning in the off-season this year, since we will have to shut down our elevator for up to five weeks.
Please email comments to staff@tbmassoc.org