Where there is smoke there is a fire sale!

A friend recently sent me this email that Boyne Realty sent out via their e-news service. I am glad to see Boyne is capable of putting out e-newsletters. As an association we have asked for e-newsletter to help keep owners informed but have been ignored for over a year. Boyne has been INCAPABLE of providing electronic communication in a relevant and effective manner to the owners and their associations but the minute they want to have a fire sale or a press release they seem to find the send button.

BOYNE Celebrates 60 Years with Limited Time Real Estate Offers

Sixty years ago, ski pioneer Everett Kircher founded Boyne Resorts. To celebrate, from now until December 31st, Boyne is offering the following unprecedented real estate promotions!

50% Off Homesites

Choose from any of our breathtaking waterfront, water view, golf course or ski-in/ski-out homesites; we will sell the first 2 properties for 50% off! More Details *

25% Off Condos with Ski or Golf Privileges
You can own a place on the slopes, on the water or on the golf course; the first two condos will go for 25% off and we'll throw in ski passes for three years or Country Club of Boyne Membership! More Details *

25% Off Condo-Hotel Properties with Cost Recovery The Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa, The Inn at Bay Harbor and Heather Highlands Inn will sell two properties at 25% off and the new owners can take advantage of our Cost Recovery Program for five years! More Details *

Now I know there are owners who never got the cost recovery program when they invested in the construction phase. Back then it was hit or miss as to whether it was 3 year or 5 year program.

So how does Boyne pay you back for supporting this losing investment. They lower the value of your property by 25% underselling units in an already devastated market. Create a highly competitive sales market with their distinct On-Site advantage, should you wish to sell your unit independently. Finally they offer to support the losing investment to the new buyer through the cost recovery program.

For the new buyer or first time buyer the Cost Recovery Program (CRP) is a hard sale tactic that needs to be seen for what it is “A hook”. It is more of a gotcha program.

Few investors buy a unit outright. 95% or higher finance the sale of a condo, condo-tel cabin etc. many purchasers finance for years beyond the CRP. Boyne sells the unit then manages it for you. Good management or bad they still get 50% off the top. The bottom line is that even if you buy your unit outright your yearly return under their management might be 2% if you’re having a good year. 2.50% is the average savings APY and you will not have to pay the bank 50%.

If you’re looking for a guarantee make them show you profits and actual occupancy of the unit run the numbers yourself, get everything in writing.

But in the end a hook is a hook and all you get from it is hung.

As many of you may remember the discussion Ed Grice and I had about the appointment of Boyne employees to the Board of Directors before the election. I guess the whole “we do not want to list our units because it would negatively affect those owners that want to sell their units”.

I have to ask you fellow owners and readers are you tired of the lies yet?

Earn BoyneRewards Points for Every Dollar of the Purchase Price
For example, if you spend $200,000 on a property, you get 200,000 BoyneRewards Points, which is enough to get you $10,000 in BOYNE Gift Cards. That should take care of your holiday shopping! Sign-up and learn more at www.BoyneRewards.com.

The Perks of Ownership with BOYNE

Really there are PERKS ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Can I get some?

Rental Management Provides Lower Cost of Ownership
One of the great advantages of owning property at a world class resort is your option to rent your property through an experienced and successful rental management program to help offset expenses while providing virtually maintenance-free ownership.

Lower Cost of ownership?

Lower than what. They charge 50% off the top when property rental management nationwide is 15% on average. Once you add your association dues taxes and utilities in some cases and what you get is FUBAR.

Experienced and Successful??? Really? By whose standard Boynes? I am sure our investment banks thought they were experienced and successful too.

Ask any owner in the Mountain Grand Lodge How they feel about that statement.

Successful is not a word you will hear from owners in the MGL

Maintenance-free = do not ask us any questions or pay attention to the financial statements we provide.

Country Club of Boyne
With your real estate purchase through Boyne Realty, you receive complimentary Social Membership with the Country Club of Boyne. This $5,200 value provides your family with discounts on season ski passes, golfing, dining, waterpark passes, spa services and in our retail shops. The Country Club of Boyne is your ticket to all things BOYNE!

Do not forget the $400.00 a year Food and Beverage minimum or the numerous extra accounts they create in your name. Then instead of using the 400.00 food and beverage minimum they will just bill your owner account so they keep can keep your 400.00 and still bill you NICE!

Boyne Vacation Club

The Boyne Vacation Club lets BOYNE property owners exchange weeks in their property for vacations around the world. You are limited only by your imagination; simply choose your destination from over 2,300 resorts in 75 different countries and we will make all the arrangements.

As far as the Vacation club goes well you get better deals as a guest than an owner with Boyne and the bottom line is your better just paying for it out of pocket. No restriction blackout dates etc. its just another Hook

The Bad Economy (a bnet blog post)

http://blogs.bnet.com/pr/?p=360&tag=nl.rSINGLE

Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse

By Jon Greer

November 11th, 2008 @ 4:49 am1

Categories: Public Relations, Spin, Management

Tags: Economy, Public Relations, Litigation, Marketing, Corporate Communications, Business Operations, Jon Greer

Here’s your PR tip of the week: write yourself a page of new messages that include the phrase “because of the bad economy…”

As in, “Our revenues are flat because of the bad economy.” Or, “We have to lay off people because of the bad economy…”

Now, I’m not making fun of companies that are really having serious economic problems as a result of the increasingly perilous economy. But I’m skeptical of companies that are starting to roll out “bad economy” as an all-purpose excuse for whatever goes wrong.

Take Circuit City, for example, which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. It has been a far less well-managed chain than its main competitors, mainly Best Buy and Wal-Mart, for years, during the good times and now the bad. So it was far than just the “bad economy” that felled Circuit City. But I didn’t hear anything about “poor management” in the post mortem about the chain.

Of course, it’s convenient and easy to blame the economy rather than taking a look in the mirror.

But I caution you to use the all-purpose excuse sparingly.

Why?

Because it’s a credibility killer.

Sure, it’s a tough economy right now. But the economy isn’t to blame for everything. So if you use ‘the excuse’ and it turns out not to be true, it will make you look foolish. And less believable.

A SIMPLE THANK YOU

To all those who have served

To all those who have sacrificed

To all those that still do


Thank You!

New Management?

Investors in the Mountain Grand Lodge & Spa seek to remove Boyne USA as the property manager!

On November 1^st 2008, investors in the Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa a condo-tel development, located at Boyne Falls, MI, (Boyne Mountain) had their 4^th Annual meeting. Owners once again expressed great displeasure with the current management, Boyne USA, of the Hotel operations and the investment as a whole. Steve Kircher is the president of The Mountain Grand Lodge& Spa LLC, the project developer and largest single investor. Steve Kircher is also the Vice President in charge of Boyne USA Eastern Operations and is responsible for the management of the Mountain Grand Lodge & Spa Hotel. Mr. Kircher did not attend the meeting

It was speculated that Mr. Kircher did not attend the meeting due to the lashing he received during and after last year’s annual owners meeting.Further, his absence spoke volumes reflecting the apparent disregard he has for the investors who have carried this failed investment. It was duly noted that the employees Mr. Kircher sent in his place took the brunt of the investors anger.

Investors made a motion to have the board find a new rental management company. The motioned was carried unanimously and the Board of Directors is now tasked to with seeking an alternative to Boyne USA as the hotel management. A second motion was proposed and carried that the Owners Association hold a bi-annual meeting in May so that the Board of Directors can report their findings.

One of the larger catalyst for the removal of Boyne USA is due to the in ability of owners to even support the initial investment they made. Many investors attribute this financial drain to the excessive management fees, association fees and rental fees charged by Boyne USA and the inability of Boyne to fill the Hotel. Several owners have gone into bankruptcy or foreclosure proceeding and many other are on the brink of foreclosure. It was clear that some of investor made a conscious choice to do this as the alternative was to hemorrhage money with no guarantee of ever seeing a return.

Other contributing factors have been the lack of follow through on the project sold to investors, the continuing over development of real estate projects at the mountain that have been deflating property values and rental income combined with the excessively high property taxes.

It is was unclear whether removing Boyne USA as the hotel management company is a viable option, however, it was very clear that Boyne USA is no longer the choice of investors in the Mountain Grand Lodge & Spa Hotel.

Below is the Big Sky sale article for those who were blindsided by it at the MGL Annual Meeting.

Enjoy!

Robert



Big Sky Investment
Big Sky Resort to Sell for $74 Million

BIG SKY – A Florida real-estate investment trust, CNL Lifestyle Properties, has agreed to buy the Big Sky Resort for $74 million within the next two years.

As part of the purchase agreement, CNL has agreed to advance $68 million toward the purchase price as a loan to Boyne Resorts, owner of the Montana property.

Big Sky Resort spokesman Dax Schieffer confirmed details of the agreement Friday.

Schieffer says the transaction is not expected to result in any changes in Big Sky's management team or staff.

The Michigan-based Boyne Resorts is expected to serve as "operating tenant" of Big Sky, as it does at six CNL properties elsewhere in the country: Brighton Ski Resort in Utah; The Summit at Snoqualmie in Washington state; Loon Mountain Resort in New Hampshire; Sugarloaf and Sunday River Resort in Maine; and Gatlinburg Sky Lift in Tennessee

The ski season at Big Sky is scheduled to open on Thursday, Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day.