This Place is Going to Explode
It began with breakfast. The word value was used four times. My ability to afford it questioned three times and whether I could make decisions questioned twice – as in:
Value: “Leave a luxury not a liability”
Affordability: “50% of the people I show this to can’t afford it.” and the best of all,
Decision making: “Liberal arts majors can make decisions but people like you – engineers – are analytical and find it hard to make decisions.”
Disclaimer: I failed geometry and was Journalism major.
Like Sun Tzu I went into this “battle” knowing my enemy but also knowing myself. Since I knew myself I had my wife Terry for back up. We were talking real estate – timeshares in Mexico. The presenters had a formula and a goal – sell the sand, sky, sun and the excitement.
The presentation started with, “Cabo’s going to explode in the next three years.” When I asked why and who buys the response was, Boomers. Remember this.
Translation: You better buy today or you are going to miss out.
It was casually mentioned that only a few could afford what we were about to see noting that athletes and celebrities owned in the development.
Translation: Don’t be a loser, prove you can afford it and become a friend of George Clooney.
With the tours of the units complete, it was on to the closing room where drinks were available (“Ah we’re drinking and we’re dancing and the band is really happening and the Johnny Walker wisdom is running high.”) Johnny Walker wisdom as Leonard Cohen puts it.
We entered a room of 12 tables with the music of Sheryl Crow, Elvis, the Beatles, Kool and the Gang and Beach Boys playing. Each table seated a salesperson and one set of potential buyers. The pitch began, frequently interrupted by a ringing bell, hand clapping and the popping of a champagne cork. Yup, someone just bought. The subliminal message, join the excitement.
Our salesperson suggested a one bedroom, one week timeshare for $24,000 with annual maintenance fees of $494. Terry, proving that even she reads my newsletters asked, “How much goes towards the reserve fund?” Did we want to buy? No.
Let me get my manager out here. Manager 1: You came down here because you were interested, how about if we make the deal $19,000? No.
Curious, I asked the manager who buys timeshares? “Most often young families with kids as it represents good value for them. Some Boomers can’t see past the horizon.” Wait, I thought the place was exploding because boomers were buying. The manager left saying someone would come to show us out.
Manager 2 and Pitch 3 arrived: Why not look at a studio instead of the one bedroom? We can get you into that for $13,000 and annual maintenance of $464. Interested? No.
We were taken down a hallway to the “exit manager.” This guy sat us down one last (4th) time. His offer: Purchase the option to use timeshares for $9,000. The exit manager thought I was an engineer type because “If you were liberal arts major, you would have made a decision.” I wanted to say, I have been making decisions, they just haven’t been the decisions you want.
Maybe Homebuyer Associates is the anti-broker. We inform. We advocate. We don’t sell. The timeshare experience was a sell. Whether buying a home or buying a timeshare take the time not to be sold. Said another way, take the time to get the information you need. Then make a decision – this, whether an engineer or journalism major.
Having nothing to do with real estate, if you like to bicycle give some thought to joining the Bike Federation. The Bike Fed advocates for a healthy method of transportation. My pitch as we get ready for spring. Their link is: http://bit.ly/1j84IH0
Thanks for reading.