About Daytona Beach's Fountain Beach Resort

How Much Do You Spend On Your Car?

You did not have to do anything in 5 years? Didn't even change the oil? Great car. I am buying it.

Funny, isn't it?

But people spend way more money on a condo-hotel than on a 20 –year old car just because there were no oil change Special Assessments.

I got a call from the agent today and she was asking about Fountain Beach Resort, which is an oceanfront condo-hotel in the heart of Daytona's Beachside.

She wanted to know how many Special assessments and for how much were in the Fountain Beach Resort in the past 5 years.

I am getting these calls all the time. This is yet another guru, who will BS her client about the assessment. It is simple logic.

No assessments - good. Assessments - bad. Even in the past, because thinking about it ... donna wanna...

Let me clarify the concept of assessments for condo-hotels. Basically, Special Assessments happen when there is an expense, that was not budgeted and for which there either no or not enough insurance money.

Example: the city tells you to bring electric to code, and it will cost $150K, and this was not an item in the reserves (which may or may not even be in the resort), so the work is done and every owner is assessed his/her fair share.

That's how in general it works. Every reasonable person should understand that Special Assessments are part of condo ownership, and Special Assessment may happen and WILL happen at one point or another.

There are three instances (at a glance) when it happens. One, physical condition of the building. There is a problem, and it has to be taken care of. Unpleasant, but you usually at least know that it is coming. It is not a bolt from the blue.

Another instance is when a person in wheelchair got stuck in your restroom, which does not exactly conform to ADA requirements, and s/he is suing the association. Not conforming to ADA is not covered by the insurance, the Association needs to hire an attorney, and pay the Settlement or judgment, so they will have to assess everybody and make them pay their fair share.

Then, there may be a situation, when condo owners lose their jobs, and stop paying their Association dues (also called «assessment» but do not confuse it with Special Assessment). If the resort has more than just a couple of these guys/gals, you now don't have enough money to pay for the utilities and services, and have to assess those who pay, to cover the gap.

So, how about the assessments for the last 5 years? What is the value of this information?

None, zero, zilch, nada...

I could understand if the question was about what has been done to the property in the past 5 years.

Let's say, new roof, new 220 electric, and now the resort is up to code; balconies fixed (concrete work and then sealed), which will extend their useful life for another 15 years, etc.

At least this gives useful information. But knowing that there were 3 or 5 or 7 (just throwing the number) assessments, without knowing what has been done, is useless piece of information.

But my dear local agents derive something from nothing. For them if there were no assessments, means that it is a good buy. And if there were many assessments, it is a bad buy.

Well, it very well can be the opposite.

You haven't been sick for the last 5 years? Oh, this means that you are in great physical shape and you are not going to get sick ever...

Funny?

But this is the logic used by many real estate agents. Do they ever change oil in their cars?

If you are looking for an alternative to vacation condos, condo-hotels can be for you. To know whether they are just call me 386-405-4408.

Fountain Beach Resort in Daytona Beach. January 2012

2012 started and we already forgot all the holidays, and the feeling of it as new and fresh.

We are firmly in 2012....

Time to look back and see how things were back in 2011, and what lies ahead.

Fountain Beach Resort is a Daytona Beach condo-hotel. Older hotel built in 1973, converted to condo-hotel in 1998-1999. 149 room resort is not the most elegant and not the nicest, but its central location and Tiki Bar on site is attracting guests...

Units are either studios (343 sq. ft.) with 48 sq. ft. balcony, or suites (one bedroom) with two balconies, which consist of two rooms, and they come with double maintenance and double voting rights. Of course, you can easily forget about voting rights, but not so easy about the maintenance fee.

Maintenance fee in the resort is $350 for a studio, and it is $700 for a suite (one-bedroom unit). Maintenance is all-inclusive, except for property tax, which is about 2.5% of the value.

The building is perpendicular to the ocean, and there is view of the ocean from every balcony. Units are on the north or south side. The building next to Fountain Beach Resort on the south side was demolished after the Hurricanes of 2004, so it is a more open view of the ocean, but it is most probably will not stay this way for long.

There are 13 units for sale in Fountain Beach Resort at this time. I marked in blue the best studio unit (because it is direct oceanfront), and the best one-bedroom (Unit 302-304).

Now, let us look at what units were selling for in 2011. There were 10 units sold in Fountain Beach Resort.

Do you notice the difference in prices? Lowest asking today is $38,900, and it is a darn good price. The lowest sold in 2011 was $25K. Yeah, I know that you read that the prices are still soft and are going down... Do you want to bet $100 against me that you will not see $25K in 2012? And you will not see $29,000 for a one bedroom...

* You see unit 305 sold for $105K. It is a unique unit. It consists of 3 rooms, and is the largest unit in the resort. But its real beauty is in the fact that it has only one maintenance fee, so the lucky people, who bought it, will ave a good size full one bedroom unit withh 3 balconies, and will pay only $350 a month in maintenance fee.

** Disclaimer. You can't retire in condo-hotel Fountain Beach Resort, it can't be your primary residence, so you will not get the tax benefit, that you can receive if you live in a residnetial condo (or home). If you plan to retire in Daytona Beach now or in the future, then you need to look at residential properties.

Interested in condo-hotel units in Daytona Beach? Call me 386-405-4408.

Fountain Beach Resort in Daytona Beach is a condo-hotel. Built in 1973 and converted to condo-hotel in 1998-1999, this 149-room direct oceanfront condo-hotel is enviably located within waling distance from Main Street and all entertainment and dining in this area.

This and it’s own bar attracts event goers.

Converted on a shoestring budget, it is not a high end condo-hotel, so if you are looking for a la Trump Towers, this is not it. I do not know how many stars, if any, it has, but many bikers and racers feel here at home.

So, what does this home offer? 113 studios (343 sq. ft. + 49 sq. ft. balcony with the view of the ocean) and 18 suites (consisting of two rooms converted into a 1-bedr condo unit with 2 bathrooms and 2 balconies).

Maintenance fee for a studio is $344.50 a month. Double for suites (double the size, two voting rights, and double the maintenance).

The association is managed by a subcontracted company, however, they are running the Front Desk and the Bar. Contrary to popular belief that if you do it yourself, your get more money.

Professional hotel management companies usually beat self rented properties, but this turns to be a very difficult notion for the Board of Directors to accept. So, rental are not a bragging point. Consequently, rental income is not bragging point as well.

So, if you plan to live off that income, it won’t happen. It will result in condo-hotel anorexia (LOL). But then, condo-hotels are not income producing properties. They are vacation condos, where there is a rental program that helps you offset your expenses. Of course, you can make a few bucks, but you might as well have to bring a few bucks to be current on your obligations.

And, please, condo-hotels are not time shares, so to the question “how many weeks do I get if I buy?”, the answer is 52.

There are 9 units for sale in Fountain Beach Resort at this time. Please, do not ask me why so many. In a healthy market it usually 7% of units on the market. So, 9 is a bit under 7%.

Interestingly, the least expensive studio is at the same time the nicest unit in the resort. The Seller did an excellent extensive remodeling. Worth every penny of it.

Unit 302 is the least expensive suite. It has also been remodeled. Has a good view of the ocean. And at $58,900, it is a heck of a price. Highlighted are suites.

If condo-hotel units in Fountain Beach Resort or any other condo-hotel or condo in Daytona Beach area are of interest to you, call me 386-405-4408.

Fountain Beach Resort (FBR) is one of Daytona Beach area condo-hotels. Built in 1973 and converted to a condominium in 1998-1999, this 6-story 149-room hotel is located in the very heart of Daytona Beach. It is second building south of the intersection of Atlantic Ave and International Speedway Blvd., walking distance from Main St., Boardwalk, Ocean Walk Village, night clubs, bars and restaurants.

There are two types of units in FBR: studios and one-bedroom suites. Studios are 343 sq. ft. Hotel rooms with a tiny kitchenette with undercounter fridge, microwave, and toaster oven. Suites are 691 sq. ft.. They are two rooms put together by the developer. There is a door between them, however, one door is blocked from the hallway, and they have a Jacuzzi Tub there. Suites are one bedroom units with two baths.

Advantage – size (691 sq. ft.), two baths, two balconies, stove (no stoves in studios). Disadvantage – double maintenance ($344.50 for studio and $689 for a suite). In this economy with tourism in the area still slow, it means that suites may not cover all the expenses from the rental income.

Split is 50/50, no pets policy, no long term rentals by the owner, and you can't homestead it, and happily retire in this condo. Basically, you can't live here. Even though the units were sold to individual owners, it has Transient Facility License with the State. I do not think that anyone would want to live in a hotel, anyway.

There is no outside rental management company, the association hires Front desk personnel, and cleaning crew. It adds a lot to the pride, but hardly anything to the wallet. Of course, one can get a bad management company, and in this case there would be little benefit to the Association, so the comforting thought is that having their own operation they might be doing nearly as bad, as having a bad management company. Not sure how comforting this thought is, however.

In terms of investment, these units have never been great or even decent income producing properties, but this is the nature of the beast. None of the condo-hotels are really income producing properties, even the most expensive ones. However, if you look at resales, that's where they were making money, and quite good money. Prices at the peak of the market reached $120K for a studio and $200K for a suite. Today it is for the first time in a few years that the price for the lowest priced unit is over $40K. We had even under $30K recently, but this is history. Today's lowest price is $44K for a studio. The lowest price for a 1 bdr suite is $64,900 and this is still a terrific price, lower than prices were in 2003. For a sutfio they are higher than in 2003.

To those who listen to the media and «knows» that the prices keep falling, and will fall another 10-15%, here is a fact. Healthy inventory of units for sale should be around 7-8%. In Fountain Beach Resort today it is only half of that. 6 units for sale was last time at the peak of the market, when people were buying them without seeing.

If you see what I see and want to still walk away without paying too much, call me 386-405-4408.

The new year, the new Board of Directors of the Condo Owners Association in the Fountain Beach Resort, a condo-hotel in the heart of Daytona Beach. This time there is a shuffle. President of the Board sells her unit, and is off the Board. Then she buys another unit, but this year she misses for the Board.

Surprisingly, there were many candidates vying for position on the Board of Directors, and some popular people (in my opinion) did not make it to the Board. Why there is so much interest in getting elected to the Board of Directors in Fountain Beach Resort is surprising, considering that, for example, Oceanside Inn in Daytona Beach Shores did not even have the election meeting. There was one Director leaving, and only one wishing to get on Board, so there was no competition.

Not in the Fountain Beach Resort. Out of 5 Board members 3 remain from the last year, and there are 2 new members. The fight for the Board position wouldn’t be that funny if not for the fact that majority of previous Board members had their units for sale.

Why getting on the Board of Directors of the Association if you dream of selling your unit there? But logic has little to do with the Association and not only in the Fountain Beach Resort.

Even though our office is in the Fountain Beach Resort, we do not go to the Board meetings, and are trying to keep a low profile and are not asking for any information, which is not readily available to any other agent or broker in the area, should they ask… but they don’t.

However, being right there has its fun moments. Every time there is a board meeting, somebody would storm into our office and demand that we sell his/her unit immediately and for any amount. They can no longer stand this, and tolerate that… They are flaming and they are fuming… until we cool them down with the information about the prices in the building, and explain that at this particular point of time we are not talking about selling, but about dumping, and that a little patience can bring it in the category of selling. They cool off and go back to face their follies…

Life is never dull in the Fountain Beach Resort, a condo-hotel in the heart of Daytona's beachside

Looking for a very inexpensive small/tiny vacation condo in oceanfront resorts? Whether in the Fountain Beach Resort, where prices start from under $40K, or any others (there are 13 in Daytona Beach Area), call me on my mobile at 386-405-4408, or just drop me a line by e-mail.