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

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

#51

Post by anonymousiam »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #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.

Don't forget there there's a whole industry associated with getting unhappy timeshare owners out of the deal. It's almost always a losing prospect, it's just a question of how much one has to pay to get out.

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/debt/how-to-get-rid-of-a-tim...

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

#52

Post by santaskeptic »

rblack44 wrote: post #49
slumdev wrote: 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.

Nice, I believe in Santa. Never let small minds tell you that your dream is a fantasy.

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

#53

Post by rblack44 »

smoldesu wrote: post #36

Woof, that was a lot of marketing speak to wade through to basically say "Timeshare-as-a-Service". I know you're 'different' (every startup is), but maybe honesty is really the best policy here. I feel like if you said this was a digital timeshare outright, it would feel less scam-like to the average person who doesn't know/care about this in the slightest. If you establish an honest basis of communication, then you…

One of our biggest challenges we face is in communicating how we are different from a timeshare. We focus on the 2 main differentiators we hear most from our customers: 1. ownership in actual real estate, and 2. the flexibility to schedule visits throughout the year. I think resale is another big point. One of the goals of posting on HN is to refine how we effectively communicate these differences, because the underlying model is very very different from a timeshare, regardless of how timeshares pitch themselves. Looking at the contract you sign with Ancana vs. a timeshare makes it pretty clear what you are actually buying. Appreciate the feedback, we'll continue to try and improve!

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

#54

Post by DonHopkins »

rblack44 wrote: post #46
outside1234 wrote: post #10

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.

What is unique and refreshing about your pitch is that you're using contracts, but you don't use the blockchain! The environment thanks you, and you don't automatically sound like a charlatan shilling a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme. And you used a nice word like "bananas" to aptly describe the US housing market instead of cussing.

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

#55

Post by renewiltord »

A question to you for something you surely must have considered: why as vacation homes and not as investment properties? Is it a mortgage thing? I’d be happy to consider investing in a small bucket of houses, in some sort of tranche sense to diversify my portfolio but REITs are too large in general for me to understand the bucket and single homes are too illiquid.

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

#56

Post by rblack44 »

kiddz wrote: post #20

I've looked into getting a place in Mexico and one thing is financing. The only option is 50% down -- which is a big bummer. Are you offering any financing that's more similar to a 15 yr or 30 yr mortgage?

Ya financing in Mexico is a big challenge. We do offer a financing option, but not for the entire amount unfortunately. We are actively looking to partner with banks and funds to be able to offer longer financing options. Stay tuned!

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

#58

Post by aparsons »

nicklo wrote: post #25

Your testimonial section of "happy customers" are just the stock headshot photos from this wix template. It's probably safe to assume that the testimonials themselves are fake as well? I'd suggest removing this section entirely as it comes off as dishonest and misleading.

Very dishonest indeed. Does YC not do any due diligence anymore? They seem like they’ve become a quantity-over-quality investment firm now, casting the widest net possible based on the strength of their reputation.

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

#59

Post by mbesto »

I'm your target market as I'm currently investigating this with 3 other friends. Honestly, I wouldn't trust a commoditized service for this. It requires honest discussions with friends, a trusted lawyer and a trusted accountant. I want to personally know the parties I'm dealing with because often times disputes can be handled with gentlemen agreements or through those trusted contacts.

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

#60

Post by rblack44 »

hifriends wrote: post #17

My family owns 1/4 of a vacation house through an LLC. Some issues that come to mind are: - Can an owner rent out their time? Who gets the rent money? How much is reserved for maintenance because renting will incur higher maintenance costs. - What happens if one owner can’t carry their weight on taxes or insurance? Our house is beach house so insurance is ridiculous — we rent it out during the summer to cover it and…

Thanks for sharing! The co-ownership model has been around for a while, but usually has been limited to friends & family. Really great feedback on some of the challenges you've faced.

- Rentals: this is property dependent. Some of our homes are located in communities that have explicit rules regarding short term rentals. For homes not governed by these rules, the owners are free to vote on whether they'd like to allow renting the home when it is not used. We leave it up to the owners for the exact reason you highlighted above - renting can lead to higher maintenance costs and other issues. Proceeds from the rental go to the owner putting their time up for rent. The income is first used to defray an owner's monthly costs, and the rest is given directly to them.

- Costs: Property costs are split amongst co-owners based on their ownership stake in the home with no markup. This tends to keep costs fairly low for each owner, but in the event an owner does not pay their portion they are in violation of the contract and subject to forfeiture of their share. Again, the fees for these homes in mexico are reasonable compared to the US and the costs are made clear and transparent to the buyer at the time of purchase.

- investments: routine maintenance is handled by Ancana using the reserve fund. For other upgrades, the owners put it up to a vote. Depending on the size of investment, there are different vote thresholds that need to be met to move forward.

- buying/trading: currently we make it easy for co-owners of the same property to trade scheduled visits. We do have plans on opening this up for all Ancana properties, but it is not something we have built out yet. Stay tuned!

- selling: An owner is free to sell at any point after owning the home for 1 year. We are happy to assist in this process and list the fraction for sale to our network of qualified leads. But if an owner prefers to use their own agent or sell it through their own network, that is great too. Once a buyer is found, we take care of the vetting and legal process for transferring ownership.

- Similar to other real estate, your ownership of an Ancana property can be passed on to beneficiaries. In this case the new owner(s) are still bound by the original investment trust and responsible for payments. We don't limit ownership in a fraction to a single person, so it is up to the new parties to decide how they want to handle ownership and using the property

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