Comments on: Caribbean Fractional Ownership Is Greatly Impacting Resales Of Homes!

By: Jim Walberg

Jim Walberg — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:14:28 +0000

Hey Rob,
Thanks so much for your feedback on Fractional Ownership properties. Each of our customers have opinions as to what type of second home property works for them. Some buy a home, a townhome, a condo, and fractionals. It is one of the choices, and it is a choice many people are making in the Caribbean at this time. Again, thanks for logging on and expressing your experience with fractionals.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:57:35 +0000

FO’s are useless..basically nothing more than a timeshare on steroids.
sure you get to go to a nicer timeshare than most others ( Ritz), but in the end you’re still stuck with having to select weeks you want to go to your unit, and that almost always means that your first choice at a time slot is already taken.Guaranteed..
so yeah its great to own a ‘piece’ of the Ritz in say St Thomas, but going there for a week in August or late November, and maybe a week in July is not very appealing..chances are,you’ll ahve to reserve the ‘high-season’ time slots years in advance.
and everything you want to do to the place has to be agreed upon by 12 different people. And what if you decide to live in St Thomas, you can’t live there, as opposed to buying a condo or a home whewre you own 100% of the property and you don’t have to share anything with anyone else..
and if the property increases in value ( appreciation) you’ll get 100% of that profit and you can take equity loans against it, as opposed to an FO deal..
FO is really nothing more than a glorifed timeshare.

By: Jim Walberg

Jim Walberg — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:07:23 +0000

You are correct about where Fractionals began. It has been an amazing experience to watch them take hold with the buyers who are following the sun. I have no doubt they will continue to expand in many spots of the world. Thanks for your comments.
Jim

By: Sherpa

Sherpa — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:34:33 +0000

Interesting to hear about all the fractionals taking off in the Caribbean. Fractionals have been around in the US since the early 90s. They started in the ski resorts, where people didn’t want to buy a whole home which they would only use for a few weeks a year. Now they are in about 25 states all over the country.