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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

#81

Post by sgustard »

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…

Personally, describing it as "own a quarter of a house" is a lot more meaningful to me than comparing it in any way to a timeshare. First of all, I'm not very familiar with timeshares except as a way to get roped into a two-hour sales pitch. Is Uber just a taxi-as-a-service? Well, yes and no. I've a big Pacaso fan and look forward to more innovation and transparency in this space.

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

#82

Post by rblack44 »

fuzzer37 wrote: post #74
rblack44 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 allo…

> For other upgrades, the owners put it up to a vote 2 vote for, 2 vote against. What now? All of the examples you listed are even splits (2 vs. 2 or 4 vs 4). Who resolves a dispute in the case of a tie?

A majority of owners need to agree before moving forward (so 3-1 or 5-3 in the examples you gave). The threshold increases for more costly expenses

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

#83

Post by buu700 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #50
rblack44 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 straigh…

Would it be accurate to say that Ancana is to timeshares as Airbnb is to hotels (a technical distinction without major practical differences to the end user), or would it be more accurate to say that Ancana is literally just a specific type of timeshare?

If the latter, does the elevator pitch of Ancana make it at least seem like a uniquely good/interesting timeshare implementation, or could the same description be applied verbatim to other major timeshare services already on the market?

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

#84

Post by [deleted] »

rblack44 wrote: post #76
benatkin wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's already a thing, though. "Fractional ownership" is a mouthful. I would probably call it a "timeshare" unless I needed to be specific, when I'd call it a "fractional ownership timeshare". https://luxuryfractionalguide.com/fractional-ownership-vs-ti...

Right, the fractional ownership model has been around for decades. We are making it more accessible and streamlining an otherwise complicated process. As you can see from this thread, the assumption by many is that we are a new take on a timeshare. But like your linked article demonstrates, there are many important differences between fractional ownership and timeshares. So while it rolls off the tongue easier, we wa…

[deleted]

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

#85

Post by rblack44 »

jsdwarf wrote: post #61

Oh no, another company that creates ghost houses full of vacation Appartments that nobody uses because they are "investments". Has it come to your mind that an increasing number of European municipalities issues punitive taxes if the Appartment stays empty for n days per year?

We actually think we'll have the opposite effect! Single-owner vacation homes are used less than 60 days a year and often sit vacant. With Ancana each owner purchases the number of shares that corresponds to how much they'll use the home. With multiple co-owners the home will be in use far more frequently

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

#87

Post by [deleted] »

rblack44 wrote: post #73
benatkin wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also using an automatic scheduling system like the one described to set up the dates when there's only a handful of fractional owners doesn't make sense to me either. Information about individual preferences should be gathered.

This is great feedback, perhaps our explanation wasn't clear. The scheduling system isn't automatic, each owner has the flexibility to book stays whenever they'd like (the booking window is 2 days to 1 year out). What we try to do is make sure that each co-owner gets access to the property on the dates that matter most to them. To accomplish this we give each owner the ability to select their priority dates before th…

[deleted]

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

#88

Post by rblack44 »

sgustard wrote: post #81
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…

Personally, describing it as "own a quarter of a house" is a lot more meaningful to me than comparing it in any way to a timeshare. First of all, I'm not very familiar with timeshares except as a way to get roped into a two-hour sales pitch. Is Uber just a taxi-as-a-service? Well, yes and no. I've a big Pacaso fan and look forward to more innovation and transparency in this space.

this is really great feedback, thanks!

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

#89

Post by azinman2 »

rblack44 wrote: post #76
benatkin wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's already a thing, though. "Fractional ownership" is a mouthful. I would probably call it a "timeshare" unless I needed to be specific, when I'd call it a "fractional ownership timeshare". https://luxuryfractionalguide.com/fractional-ownership-vs-ti...

Right, the fractional ownership model has been around for decades. We are making it more accessible and streamlining an otherwise complicated process. As you can see from this thread, the assumption by many is that we are a new take on a timeshare. But like your linked article demonstrates, there are many important differences between fractional ownership and timeshares. So while it rolls off the tongue easier, we wa…

To me it just sounds like you’re trying to avoid a 4 letter word. Even if your model is completely different, it’s so on the periphery of timeshares that I think you really need to find a different term. Maybe one that’s less “accurate” and one that’s a brand all its own. Might be worthwhile to learn how AirBNB has described themselves over time. Their name at least plays on something familiar but makes it different. Ancana means nothing to me. Maybe there’s something in between? Or another metaphor you could pick?

I propose: CloudHomes.

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

#90

Post by asah »

rblack44 wrote: post #70
dragonwriter wrote: post #12

As someone who has sat through several of them (and has bought a few), this is exactly, almost word-for-word (right down to the references to the complaints about the rest of the industry) the elevator pitch for every timeshare/vacation ownership scheme ever. > Unlike a timeshare, Ancana owners own a real asset (the property) versus a block of time. Like literally every timeshare/vacation ownership scheme I’ve seen o…

Thanks for the feedback. One of our biggest challenges is in overcoming the gimmicks timeshares use to hook customers. My parents have had a few different timeshares, some of which were great, others complete scams. They've been incredibly successful in building huge businesses with these tactics. It really comes down to what you are purchasing, when you can use the property, and how you resell. With timeshares you a…

Sigh... Every timeshare starts this way and ends up in the same place once they need to get profitable...

Even then they're not all bad: I had friends who owned a $$$ place on the California coast but liked to travel so they bought a Wyndham timeshare and used it all over the world and loved it.

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