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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

#121

Post by rblack44 »

mrb wrote: post #93

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 d…

Love the creativity! Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately from your perspective), Ancana creates the LLC for each home so people can't game the system. We do allow people to buy more than 1 share of any home, so that would get you access to additional dates.

In terms of rentals, we 100% agree. Some of our rentals are in communities that have their own short-term rental rules. But in other properties we let the co-owners decide if they'd like to allow rental of the property when it's not in use. In this case the rental income could defray the monthly costs or go straight to the owners.

There is a sublte but important difference between how you can book time in an Ancana home vs. a timeshare. With Ancana you have the flexibility to book stays throughout the year, anywhere from 2 days to 1 year in advance. With timeshares you are typically locked into a block of time and oftentimes the same dates year after year. But this is great feedback on how we can further differentiate ourselves, thanks!

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

#122

Post by koolba »

rblack44 wrote: post #95
tmp_anon_22 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are the agreements standardized and publicly viewable now?

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

#124

Post by rblack44 »

rbobby wrote: post #108

> Priority order is determined by the owner's purchase date (1st buyer gets 1st choice, 2nd buyer gets 2nd choice, etc), with the order rotating each year (2nd buyer gets 1st selection in year 2, 3rd buyer gets 1st selection in year 3, etc.). That's pretty awful. Do early buyers pay a premium? Do late buyers get a discount? Why not do a lottery? Or an actual cash based auction (proceeds go to maintenance fees... whic…

Curious why you think this is awful. The order rotates each year so for a home sold in 1/4 fractions, every owner would get 1st choice once in a 4 year period. Then it starts over again. All buyers pay the same rate, the priority selection rewards people who buy first, it's a benefit for moving fast.

We are contemplating a snake draft system if we decide to allow people to schedule more than 1 priority date each year. So if you go last on your 1st choice, you'd get 1st pick on your 2nd choice. Does that seem more fair from your perspective?

A lottery is an interesting concept, but it's only really equitable over a long time horizon. What if I got a bad luck fo the draw 3 years in a row? Scheduling is hard, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve so we really appreciate the feedback!

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

#125

Post by rblack44 »

mimifriends wrote: post #103

I would suggest looking closely at making shared ownership easier for friends and family, rather than a complex partnership of strangers. We know of people that would buy a vacation home together, but the purchase, management, maintenance and use scheduling is complicated enough to shelve the idea.

Really love this idea. We started Ancana to make this opportunity available to everyone, even if they didn't have a group of people they knew who wanted to co-own a home. But there is absolutely room to tailor a product for people who already have a group and just don't want to deal with the overhead of setting up the fractional model and ongoing maintenance. We're going to look into this, thank you for the feedback!

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

#126

Post by benatkin »

koolba wrote: post #122
rblack44 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are the agreements standardized and publicly viewable now?

I'm not sure they should be. As a customer, I wouldn't want everyone poking holes in it. Also, seeing a new version of it, could cause unnecessary headaches (it also could let me know of stuff that's really important, but they should communicate that another way).

That said, I do like standardized agreements in a lot of situations. I just am not sure it's best for these.

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

#128

Post by rglullis »

ytdytvhxgydvhh wrote: post #120
rglullis wrote: post #113

Make it for digital nomads who are willing to pay a monthly fee to build equity on the properties. Offer not just vacation homes but homes that are big enough to have 6-10 people co-working and co-living. Instead of having 4 families splitting a house for 3 months, every participant has the right to live in the house or to rent it out. Create a market for them so that they can trade their shares. Make it easy for peo…

I wonder if something like this could help with residency through investment visas, etc. I mean, I know nomads are nomadic by definition so maybe some wouldn’t care much about long-term residency but I’d imagine a lot of American digital nomads would be happy if they could get a foot in the door for EU residency for example.

Not even needed. After the pandemic, many countries (e.g Costa Rica, Croatia, Malta) are interested in attracting remote workers and are offering year-long, renewable visas, some of them waiving any kind of tax-residency requirement. It is a smart move for them, because it basically treats nomads as perennial tourists with high spending power.

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

#130

Post by koolba »

benatkin wrote: post #126
koolba wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the agreements standardized and publicly viewable now?

I'm not sure they should be. As a customer, I wouldn't want everyone poking holes in it. Also, seeing a new version of it, could cause unnecessary headaches (it also could let me know of stuff that's really important, but they should communicate that another way). That said, I do like standardized agreements in a lot of situations. I just am not sure it's best for these.

Why wouldn’t the agreement be standardized at least per country or jurisdiction?

For clarity, I’m not asking to see contracts with peoples names or addresses. I’m asking to see what I would assume to be the actual terms one would be entering regardless of which specific property or others involved.

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