As I have always said I want to be in touch with owners and want their thoughts and ideas. Well this Blog lets you do just that. All you must do is to go to the end of this or any subject on this page, look for the word "comments" place your mouse over it and click. This will open a page where you can respond to, or make comments about, the subject.
You may be asked to open a blog account with google first but do it...its free and you can then respond anytime under this account.
Please feel free to use this section to speak about anything that is on your mind.
Jim Barnett, President
Foxhunt POA
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23 comments:
This is the second year in a row that we owners have been sent what I consider a huge bill for "refurbishment assessment." By my simple calculations, the assessments for the two years amount to over $60,000 per unit. That is an incredible amount of money to spend on each unit, especially considering the "economies of scale" that should be realized in such a project. Our maintenance fees are supposed to include setbacks for refurbishments, and I cannot understand why we are being asked (or rather forced) to pay such an exorbitant special assessment two years in a row.
I learned that Wyndham resorts has purchased the Fairfield Sapphire Valley resort (I learned this only after researching on the net... no one had notified me of this fact). Is Wyndham forcing the interval owners to involuntarily increase the value of Wyndham's property? Does Wyndham have undue influence on the Foxhunt POA? Are you affiliated in any way with Wyndham?
I would very much like to divest myself of my intervals at Foxhunt, rather than to keep pouring money into them, but have learned that this is a very difficult, if not impossible, thing to do. Do you know of any options I have?
I agree completely with your comments. I also had questions regarding the verbiage used that they did not receive all collections for 2007 and that we needed to make up for it in 2008. I think that each unit could be rebuilt from the ground up for $60,000 a whack!!!!!!!!!!!
signed, equally frustrated
good evening;
In response to the 2 blogs recently left here I woould like to make a couple of comments.
First, with respect to our relationship with Wyndham, Foxhunt has none. Back in 1990 the then board separated from Fairfield and has no direct relationship with them since.
As to the remark that "maintenance fees are suppose to include setbacks for refurbishments" this is partially true. You see while it is a prudent thing to do the Sate of North Carolina does not mandate it and the boards that ran the association for the past 15- 20 years never saw fit to set up a reserve account.
When I got on the board in 2003 I proposed many progressive things that would have immediately benefited the owners but was voted down 4-1. Items I tried for years to get down included the creation of this website which you are now using. Only thru the actions of the newer members of the board and myself has this website been made possible.
The old board also rejected, for two years, my proposal to allow Interval International access to our members for trading.
I knew if they rejected such simple items they would never go for reserves.
I really did not understand their rational for their decisions except that maybe they were against progress.
Anyway the newer members had to make bold decisions. Had we not made the renovations Foxhunt would have totally deteriorated. As it is we lost RCI designations several years ago and thus trading power. We also lost most of the value in the units. However, with the new renovations I am hoping that all these things will come back to us.... both designations and value.
What should have been done was the past boards should have had a $30-$50.00 reserve 20 plus years ago and this assessment would have never been necessary.
Please do not blame the newer members of the board,
Jim Barnett, Dan Myers or Aden Sowell for the mess we are in. We are just trying to fix what has been in disrepair for many, many years. We are trying to make Foxhunt the place it use to be... and better.
Jim
I would LOVE to comment on these recent developments (increase of maintenance fees, assessments), but I am MUCH too upset/angry, and I dare not say what I'm thinking! I'll return after I gather my composure. We did not receive our yearly maintenance fee statement/letter until mid December, so we were unaware of the increase, much less the details of YET ANOTHER LARGE ASSESSMENT.
I come to the table much too late after years and years of trusting the board to make reasonable decisions. Like most, my husband and I are much too busy to scrutinize the issues that come to the board, much less their decisions. Shame on us for that. Silly me, I thought we were buying in to a vacation week, not adding to the reasons (stress) that cause us to need a vacation to begin with!
I will say this...we have owned our unit outright for well over 20 years, and always paid our fees "on time". I now find myself distrustful of all the boards (past and present) in regards to how our fees ($$$) have been spent. If this offends anyone on the board (past or present), too bad. We will be contacting you tomorrow, assuming you will be open for business 2 January.
The refurbished units look very good and will certainly improve the vacation experience for owners and guests alike. The price for the project was not outrageous, given the remote location, however the nature of timeshare usage is such that wear and tear over time is greater than in one's home. As Jim indicated, proper management could have reduced the impact of the special assessments somewhat, but paying $50-75 per year for reserves was never a popular vote so it never was implemented. I have owned for more than 20 years myself and had I paid a true reserve fee over all those years, it would have easily been about what the Board had to generate in special assessments. I encourage folks to just hang on and then take a trip to Foxhunt and experience the units.
To respond to the comments of Anonymous dated 1/1/08 I am truly sorry that you feel that you cannot trust the current board.
We have tried very hard to do what is right for the owners. I have in my possession many, many letters and emails from owners complaining about the conditions at Foxhunt. These refer to both the maintenance, houskeeping and general upkeep of the units. Some owners stated that they were embarassed to bring friends there because of the conditions.
Up until the past year very little was done to improve the conditions. In many cases even necessary maintenance items were posponed because of lack of funds. Why was there a lack of funds? Could it be a lack of cost analysis during the budget meetings?
At our recent budget meeting the board spent 2 solid days of analysis to be sure that we addressed every possible future cost.
In the past, previous boards spent an hour or two on the budget.
These improvements needed to be done before the whole community was shut down and this board had the insight to do something.
If you amortize the assessment over the past
20+ years it amounts to approx. $50.00 per year. As stated in other blog messages previous boards never saw into the future and never prepared for it. If they did you would have paid this fee over the past 20+ years and the assessment would have never been necessary.
Something had to be done and this board had to do it.
Now that some units are complete most of those who complained about the fees are now encouraging us to "put the petal to the metal" in the words of one owner. They really like what we have done.
So please look at the positive side of the this project and know that when we are done you will have a great unit, probably the finest in the valley, and one that should increase in value and trading power.
If you, or anyone, would like to talk with me personally about our work or want to express your feelings directly to me please feel free to contact me at jim@jimbarnett.com, send me a contact phone number and I will be happy to call you. Or you can call Foxhunt and they will be happy to give you my phone number.
I am always ready to talk to you about anything you want to discuss. So far, since the announcement came out in December I spoken to or emailed over 100 owners and am willing to speak with anyone else who wants to speak with me.
I feel I was elected to represent you, the owners, and will always be available for you.
Hope everyone has a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
Jim Barnett, President
Foxhunt POA
I have always paid me fees on time since the early 80's and will do so again. My unit had been refurbished when I vacationed this past August. However, some things seemed excessive and some things were not done or replaced, such as the sink in the kitchen. That was disappointing. Overall there seemed to be much done in the way of "artsy" decorations that may have made someone some money. Question: Do any of the Board members, there families, or friends have any financial interest in any of the companies that did any of the renovation work? Also were bids from several contractors taken on the work?
I agree that reserves should have been included in our fees over the past the past 20 years. Now the priority should be spending those reserves and special assessments funds efficiently. Trust of the Board is not high right now. But, this blog effort to communicate is a good sign and so is the new WEB page.
Chet,
Thank you for your blog. Please be assured that no board memebr has any financial interest in the renovations. All the work supervision and purchases are being handled by an outside decorator from Greenville, SC.
Also thank you for the nice words about the blog and website. I have tried very hard to keep the owners involved and informed and to make all decisions with the owners best interests in mind.
Jim Barnett, President
Foxhunt POA
This is a blindside no matter how you want to sugar coat it,
Who here would have bought any weeks if we had a clue that mismanagement and lack of business sense would lead to these kinds of bills.
Ridiculous.
At the amount being spent per unit you could build new ones.
Where is the unit by unit ciost breakdown? Open up and let us all see. It is easy to blame this all on past management but for all any of us know, the current board is just as bad!!
If we are not associated with Fairfirld or Wyndham, why do I get bills from them?
AND, how much will fees go up to "reserve" for the next twenty years and why should any of us believe that these funds are safe?
Gary
I'd like to know when there will be a "blog" - or space for unit owners to exchange their units among themselves.
In order to use a unit at a time other than our normal week, we have to pay $164 to RCI for the exchange. That along with the new maint. amount ($585) comes to $749 a week. That's a hefty amount.
We need to be able to exchange our weeks among ourselves. Any possibility of that in the near future?
In November, 2007, I "sold" my unit to my son-in-law & daughter. The deed, recorded in Jackson County, was sent as directed by person via telephone...twice! I just received the ballot from Master Association, one of many mailings I've continued to receive. The real owners of Foxhunt Bldg 15, #1452, week 32, have received no communication. I found this blog while tediously searching for a web site or e-mail address for the SVMA and/or Foxhunt, buried among hundreds of Real Estate ads. Why is there no address for e-mail on the newsletters, ballots, etc.? Will someone please contact me?
Bob McEwen
Mr. Barnett,
I hate to be a pest but today I received a letter from a collection agency in California informing me that Foxhunt Association had turned my account over to them for collection of maintenance fees for unit # 1402-11.This is the unit I "supposedly won" at a drawing by the assoc. at their annual meeting. Immediately after receiving the deed I received a letter of special assesments for this unit and my other unit I own. I paid one half of the amount assesed and informed the assoc. that could no longer afford to pay for both units and told them I was giving the unit back to tha association. I have written three letters to the association regarding this an have yet to receive a reply of any kind regarding this matter. This is a heck of a way to run the association. To say I am ticked off is an understatement. I have never felt that I was hoodwinked an association that is supposed to be looking out for the interest of the owners. I own timeshares at two other resorts and have never been treated like this. As for as collecting the fees for this unit in question,"When hell freezes over". I have called the association on three occasions and left messages to return my call and I have yet to receive that call. If my credit is in any way damaged by this action of the association I have no recourse but to hire a lawyer.
Yours truly,
Robert McGuinty
Rochelle, GA
Robert,
No one at Foxhunt reads these anymore and they do not give a crap about what any of us think.
I have been getting the same run around for months.
Gary
I would like to hear from any Foxhunt owner who received a letter with their proxy about a drawing and awarding of 12 timeshare units and "won" a unit at the annual Meeting in 2007.
Thanks!
Robert McGuinty
mcapple1@alltel.net
I see it has been since last January (10 months ago) since anyone from Foxhunt has responded to these blogs. Jim Barnett has stepped into an impossible situation. Jim, I appreciate your candor and effort, but the fact remains that we are being assessed in one year MORE than we can purchase a deed for in the secondary market.
Sure, it was total lack of integrity and management skill by past boards, but it is also the inability of the current board to finance the improvements and spread the impact over future years. The net result is what appears to many to be a scam.
Your report from only six weeks ago says that NINE buildings have been renovated after nearly two years of sky-high maintenance fees. Are we supposed to be happy with that progress? At this rate how many more years of excessive fees will we be paying?
After over 20 years of ownership, you can have my week... but I'm guessing that, like the contest "winners", Foxhunt realizes that even a free week is not worth it.
HOW ABOUT YOU POST ON THIS BLOG THE PROCEDURE FOR DEEDING OUR WEEK BACK TO FOXHUNT?
I also emailed my blog to Jim. Here is his response:
Dean,
Just read your email and wanted to respond ASAP. First would you please clarify the first statement about 10 months ago because if you had sent an email that was not answered I want to find out why. So please let me know if you would not mind.
Next we will be completely fininshed with the renovations this year (plan for 1st quarter) and there will be no additional assessments. The current years maintenance fee will increase approx 3% to 650.00. This is 595.00 for maintenance and 55.00 for reserves. This was set on 11/17/08.
The reason for the renovation process to take this long is because we had a two year collection process and Wyndham (formally Fairfield) was slow in paying us for the points people. As a matter of fact there is still 75 weeks still in despute and our new management company is trying to reslove a problem that was handed to them by our formenr company.
Lastly, we do not have a process for taking deeds back anymore. This was part of the problem from past boards as they would let an owner trun a deed back in lieu of foreclosure. This created a glut of units owned by Foxhunt Assoc thus creating a void in our income flow. Therefore it was a prudent move for us to stop this process or the association would be financial paralized.
At present we are selling our excessive inventory and have sold many of these units. However, we still have many more to go.
I want you to have my phone number so if you would like to speak with me please feel fre to call.
*I deleted this from the general blog* cell
Regards,
Jim Barnett, VP
Foxhunt POA
Good evening,
First I would like to apologize to those that have comented on this blog but were not responded to. Because after January it seemed that no one blogged I stopped looking at it. Plus I have received more that 500 e-mails and phone calls over the past 18 months and felt everyone was just going gthat route. And these I did respond to, each and everyone.
Anyway, Thanks to Dean I was alerted that there was some activity on this blog and therefore checked it out. Again, please accept my sincere apology and always feel free to contact me at Jim@foxhuntsv.com if you have concerns or questions..I promise to always answer.
The board does care about the owners and will do our best to be respectful of your needs.
Jim barnett,
VP
Foxhunt POA
To Rucy,
As you know we now have a new management Association and they are handling rentals PLease call them at828-743-7667 and ask for Lance.
I will also try and get the board to allow me to put up a page here for that purpose and also a For sale Page.
In the meantime go ahead and post the information on the blog to see if that would not help.
Jim
VP Foxhunt POA
To Robert McGuinty,
PLease correct me if i have you mixed up ith someone else but I believe I also got a direct email from you on this and emailed you back telling you I passed your concerns on to our new President, Dan Myers.
Please advise because if not then I need to speak with you about this,
Please emai me directly at barnettjim@aol.com
Thanks you,
Jim Barnett, VP
Foxhunt POA
To Everone,
I would like to make one statement about the email I sent to Dean. I stated that there would be no more assessments but I probably should clarify that by stating that the current renovations call for no more assessments as is witnessed by the new maintenance fees/reserves for 2009. However, while there are no plans for future assessments now with the reserve accounts established no one can predict what the future holds.
With this in mind I want to be clear with everyone that no cost analysis is forever. However, again there are no plans for any assesments in the foreseeabe future and I for one will vote against any except in a dire emergency and I personally do not see that happening.
Lastly, please do not read anything into this blog that can be interpreted incorrectly. It is just to clarify what I meant by "no additonal assessments" in my email to Dean.
Good Morning,
Just a note to ask you to excuse the poor typing/spelling in the last few posts. You see, these were written from 12:30AM to after 1:30 AM last night and I must have been more tired that I thought. So please forgive the mistakes.
Jim Barnett
FYI
One last comment, I stated that I wrote the past few emails late at night but the timeframe shows mid-evening. Reason, the emails go thru a mail service on the west coast thus the time difference.
Fourdad,
If you have read this blog recently please contact me as I would like to discuss your concerns from previous blogs you left.
Thank you,
Jim Barnett, VP
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