Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 161 posts

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

#91

Post by garciasn »

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…

How do you deal with potential scheduling conflicts if timeframes are not dedicated and known across the owners?

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

#92

Post by tmp_anon_22 »

benatkin wrote: post #68
everybodyknows wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> free to list your fraction with an agent of your choosing or sell to your own network at whatever price you desire. What if one co-owner chooses to sell to someone whose intention is to sub-let as a party house?

That's what Ancana takes care of, and what you entrust them to take care of. Some would involve lawyers instead. I certainly would.

You can't lean on a start-up to provide prudent legal advice and protection. Its not what start-ups are good at.

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

#93

Post by mrb »

I wonder if there is a way to game your system. For example instead of buying a 1/4 fraction, someone could set up two LLCs each owning two 1/8 shares. With the way you rotate the priority order from year to year, the person would get "first choice" two times within one cycle. Getting first choice two times for 1/8 each is superior to first choice one time for 1/4. For example the weeks around very popular vacation dates (Christmas) would get picked out twice each cycle by the same person.

That aside, I wonder if this model would open up some interesting rental opportunities: instead of occupying the property, co-owners could rent out their blocks of time, and get a return on their investment in the fully-managed property.

Unrelated: you say: «Ancana owners own a real asset (the property) versus a block of time» But I wouldn't emphasize this too much. After all, on the surface co-owners get the same utility as a time share: they have to reserve their "block of time".

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

#94

Post by rblack44 »

garciasn wrote: post #91
rblack44 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

How do you deal with potential scheduling conflicts if timeframes are not dedicated and known across the owners?

This is a top focus for us from a product perspective. What's interesting through our research is the overlap is probably not as big as we assumed. Some people want to use the home for special occasions (bdays, anniversaries), which can be spread out throughout the year. Some want it for holidays, others have their own holiday traditions. The demand is more evenly distributed than we anticipated.

But there will be conflicts no doubt. Our approach is to make access to the home as equitable as possible. Each co-owner can select their priority dates before the general booking window opens. This ensures each owner has access during high-demand times. Outside of the priority booking window owners are free to book anywhere from 2 days to 1 year out and can see which dates are available. We also limit the length of a stay so that even during high-demand times, multiple owners can enjoy the property.

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

#95

Post by rblack44 »

tmp_anon_22 wrote: post #92
benatkin wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what Ancana takes care of, and what you entrust them to take care of. Some would involve lawyers instead. I certainly would.

You can't lean on a start-up to provide prudent legal advice and protection. Its not what start-ups are good at.

Our investment trusts are legally binding and created by attorneys. Each prospective buyer is more than welcome to have these agreements looked at by their own lawyer if they'd like.

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

#96

Post by rblack44 »

lastofthemojito wrote: post #86

Just a small note: When I visit the URL provided ( https://en.ancana.co/ ) the website content is in English as expected, but the title of the page is in Spanish ("La mejor manera de comprar tu casa de vacaciones").

Hmmm, is the dropdown in the upper right showing "EN"? We realize there is some bugginess on the site, we are non-technical founders haha. We have a new site launching in a week or 2 that will resolve all of these little issues. Thanks for taking a look!

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

#97

Post by rblack44 »

tchen wrote: post #57

How does Ancana mitigate the low liquidity that is traditionally associated with fractional ownership models? How does an owner get out of a deal?

The fractional ownership model is taking off, look at Pacaso's success in the US. Just as there is strong demand for the primary sale, the secondary market will also likely see a a big uptick.

An owner is free to sell anytime after owning the property for a year. You can list this like any other real estate holding. We can also assist in the sale if you'd like to tap into our growing network of interested buyers

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

#98

Post by fuzzer37 »

rblack44 wrote: post #82
fuzzer37 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

So 2 people in agreement can just gridlock everything in a 4 person unit forever? That seems broken.

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

#99

Post by rblack44 »

renewiltord wrote: post #55

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.

We want people to use the home! Our goal in founding Ancana was to open up the vacation home market to more people. We see these homes as places to make lifelong memories with friends & family. A net benefit of our model is that your home is an investment - if you decide to sell and the property has increased in value, you capture that appreciation. There are other companies that make it possible to invest in a REIT-like vehicle, but that's not our focus :)

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

#100

Post by ezconnect »

rblack44 wrote: post #82
fuzzer37 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

What if they don't put out the money for the cost of upgrade because they didn't vote for it?
Post reply on HN