First things first, I think it's a 50/50 shot that the final sales event will happen by the planned end of July date. With everything up in the air, I don't see how the sale could happen by then. I could be wrong, but that's my thought. If it were me, I would be using frequent flier miles for those tickets so that you could change them at a moments notice. I'll update here if anything changes.
Secondly, if things turn out the way I think they may, those of you who have made a reservation and are in line to purchase are going to get a bargain and a good one at that. If you do not have a reservation and are inclined to do so after reading my blog entries, please email me or give me a call. I'll explain what I mean.
The situation:
As you know from past blog entries, the current disagreement pertains to who will own the common areas of our property including the pools, grounds, parking lots, beach bar, fitness center, etc. once the final sale is completed and Centex is no longer invoved with the project.
The homeowners believe that they should own the common areas via their homeowners association (Centex is not offering all of the areas, but some is better than none) as they paid good money to purchase their property, Mr. Stone believes that he should own the common areas at the Beach Villas as the master developer overseeing the entire Ko Olina Resort where the Beach Villas reside. So Centex is stuck in the middle.
As another homeowner put it "Centex is the meat in the sandwich with the homeowners and Mr. Stone being the bread on opposite sides."
This uncertanty to who will own and control the majority of our land assets at the property along with the economic down turn combined have chased away buyers and depressed property values to below what they are worth even in todays economy.
Reading through the documents, you'll notice that the master developer was in line to purchase around 35 units or all of the remaining villas that he could pick up for around $700,000.00 - $800,000.00 and below. So at some price point, even the master developer was ready with a rather large check book to make a sizable purchase here. This is how he picked up the original Ko Olina Resort for cents on the dollar.
If your sales person told you in the past that all of the lower priced units were gone, I read between the lines that Mr. Stone had them locked up from the get go with no chance for the rest of us. If your sales person came back later and said buyers were moving up to higher priced units and that lower priced units would possibly become available once again, I read between the lines that it wasn't other single buyers that were moving up but simply that Mr. Stone lost his right to purchase those units.
The good news is that through the homeowner's attorneys efforts, Centex has decided to turn over some of the common areas to the homeowners through what they believe is their legal right. They have asked the homeowners to put it to a vote and are looking for a 75% approval rating by the homeowners to make sure that all homeowners feel that this is in their best interest.
So if things don't go Mr. Stone's way, the opportunity to purchase a bargain priced villa becomes ours, our gain for those who can step up and not be afraid to swim in the opposite direction of everyone else. That's how fortunes are made folks.
In the interim, Mr. Stone has filed a lawsuit against Centex and has also threatened the homeowners with a lawsuit if they proceed with and approve the vote. Some of the homeowners have expressed that this bullying is what they feared would happen once Centex completed the final sale and were no longer the balance of power.
Centex as per their attached letter has agreed to protect the homeowners from Mr. Stone regarding this specific vote issue and has also agreed to pay any damages that resulted from a lawsuit regarding the vote. This will keep the voting process as pure as possible by eliminating the fear and intimidation factor.
I believe we will have a positive outcome and that this will improve our property values for current owners. Future owners will have a greater discount and with ownership of the grounds, you should see a good return on your investment.
In addition, if things do not work out and Mr. Stone receives our common areas at a future date, I believe that we have some additional legal remedies that will give us some additional options.
The players:
Jeff Stone - Master Developer of the Ko Olina Resort - Click here to view the June 20th letter sent to Beach Villa Homeowners from Mr. Jeff Stone of Ko Olina Development. (pdf file format)
Centex Destination Properties - Developer of the Beach Villas at Ko Olina, a residential property located within the Ko Olina Resort - Click here to view the June 24th letter sent to Beach Villa Homeowners from Mr. Bruce Sloan of Centex Destination Properties, Hawaii. (pdf file format)
Homeowners - People who have purchased a condominium at the Beach Villas at Ko Olina - Click here to view the June 23rd letter sent to Beach Villa Homeowners from Mr. Sidney Kanazawa of McGuireWoods, attorney representing the homeowners. (pdf file format)
Feel free to give me a call if you wish to explore the minutia that are our legal documents. Remember, I'm not an attorney.
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Alfred Harding is a licensed Hawaii real estate professional providing clients with insight and knowledge as it relates to the Beach Villas at Ko Olina on Oahu, Hawaii. He is also a homeowner at the project and operates an active rental program.
You can also find him blogging about the resort at: Beach Villa Resort Blog and on Facebook Beach Villas at Ko Olina Blog. Vacation Villa Reservations available at: Beach Villa Resort Reservations.
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I can assist you in evaluating the risk at hand. Is this is a viable opportunity?
If you are thinking about purchasing at the Final Sales Event at the Beach Villas, please allow me to represent you as your buyers agent on selection day. There is no cost to you and your purchase price is exactly the same. We can discuss your goals to see if this is a good fit as a retirement or vacation home, as a primary residence or if it meets your investment and cash flow goals or any combination of the three.
With all of my above statements, please look at the enclosed documents to get the information straight from the horses mouth. Any errors or omissions are completely accidental. I am enclosing the source documents for reference. As always, these are my own opinions.
