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Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

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41–50 of 161 posts

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#41
post #9

If it looks like a timeshare and smells like a timeshare, it’s a timeshare. If there’s no secondary free market to sell these “fractional ownerships” it’s just forced rent I can’t resell.

You should have read the post before commenting. > Unlike a timeshare, Ancana owners own a real asset (the property) versus a block of time. If you decide you want to sell your share, you are free to do so at any time, either through us or on the open market, and capture any appreciation the property has accrued.

That doesn't mean there is someone willing to buy it on the other end.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#42

If it looks like a timeshare and smells like a timeshare, it’s a timeshare. If there’s no secondary free market to sell these “fractional ownerships” it’s just forced rent I can’t resell.

One way to look at this is unlike a timeshare, Ancana has no ownership interest in the property. Resorts own the property and sell you access to that property. At the point all of the shares are sold, we become property managers. You don't have to sell the share back to us like you do with timeshares - in fact, we don't purchase shares back. You are free to list your fraction with an agent of your choosing or sell to…

Who becomes owner of a person's share if he stops paying maintenance fees?

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#43
post #37

Thanks for sharing. FYI, the meta tags on your English site ( , , etc.) are still in Spanish. For SEO and usability, you might want to update those to English as well. Good luck with the venture!

Thank you for the feedback! We are in the process of launching a new site in the next week or 2 and will make sure this is fixed.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#44
If you ever relinquish majority ownership of this company in exchange for funding, it will eventually become "Timeshares But As An App".

Your approach might be more principled than the way timeshare companies operate. But it also sounds like you're leaving a lot of money on the table, compared to the way timeshare companies operate. And investors won't let that continue if you can't convince them that your approach will somehow make more money than timeshare companies.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#45
Timeshares have a weird mix of goals:

- Investment opportunity

- Potential rental income

- Personal enjoyment

and as a result seem like they don't really achieve any of those cleanly and this just seems like it kinda swirls those three around in a slightly different manner.

I was really hoping for something that was more of a larger scale investment business or something.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#46

How do you handle the situation where one owner refuses to make any investment in the property or doesn't pay for investments / costs?

My bad, I think I misinterpreted your question! Each home has a reserve fund that is paid into by all co-owners. For standard fixes/improvements, Ancana will handle the work and pay for it out of the reserve fund.

If a co-owner stops paying their monthly fees, they are in violation of the real estate contract and liable to forfeit their ownership in the home. Similar to someone defaulting on their mortgage.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#47

If it looks like a timeshare and smells like a timeshare, it’s a timeshare. If there’s no secondary free market to sell these “fractional ownerships” it’s just forced rent I can’t resell.

At least the Incompatible Timesharing System offered free tourist accounts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incompatible_Timesharing_Syste...

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#49
post #44

If you ever relinquish majority ownership of this company in exchange for funding, it will eventually become "Timeshares But As An App". Your approach might be more principled than the way timeshare companies operate. But it also sounds like you're leaving a lot of money on the table, compared to the way timeshare companies operate. And investors won't let that continue if you can't convince them that your approach w…

We believe the market for fractional ownership will soon be much larger than the timeshare market. People want to own a real asset and with the trend towards remote work, demand for homes in desirable places is only going to increase. Our differentiation from timeshares is one of our biggest assets, so while I agree some may push us more towards this model, it is not in line with our goals or vision for Ancana.

Re: Launch HN: Ancana (YC S21) – Fractional ownership of vacation homes

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how you sell timeshares, by describing your particular implementation as innovation, often by explicit misrepresentation of the existing ones or implicit misrepresentation of yours (describing others maintenance/management fees as expensive and/or hidden while you have and do not highlight your own fees of the same kind being a common example of the latter.)

My parents have been timeshare owners for years so I'm very familiar with the sales tactics resorts use. Regardless of how they spin it, all you really own is a block of time. With Ancana your purchase is a deeded right to the property. You are an actual home owner. Where the difference becomes clear is when you can use the property (fixed weeks vs. on-demand) and what happens when you want to sell the property. Reso…

> My parents have been timeshare owners for years so I'm very familiar with the sales tactics resorts use. Regardless of how they spin it, all you really own is a block of time. With Ancana your purchase is a deeded right to the property.

Most modern “timeshares” (the word remains current in common use though the technicalities have changed and the industry has mostly moved to “vacation ownership”) are deeded straight to the property and use this as a differentiating sales tactic to people's image of timeshares not being that way. I also have been a timeshare owner for years, and that's been the case with each except on in Mexico sold in blocks of weeks per year for a limited term of years because the market was largely international and Mexican law limits foreign ownership of coastal property.

> Resorts force you to sell your time back to them and they dictate the prices

No, they mostly don’t; that what is sold is freely marketable fee simple ownership is a heavily marketed feature of most. There are even real estate brokers that specialize in this market.

Though differentiating on the perception that most other vacation ownership options do this is very common in the industry.

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