- Orlando?
- Florida Beaches? (please specify)
- Gatlinburg?
- Branson?
- Sandusky?
- other?
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Where to?
So we'd like to hear from vacationers? Where should 1st Choice Condos spring up next?
Who we are
1st Choice Condos is a family owned business that fcuses on the Vacation Rental industry. We did not set out to create a business, it simply eveolved. You see in 2002, while vacationing in Myrtle Beach, I picked up a real estate magazine at the grocery store for my wife. She noticed a listing in the resort next door to where we were staying. We had always dreamed of staying there, but it was a little out of our price range. The real estate listing was for less than what I expected. I knew what the resort charged its guest to rent and quickly realized there might be an opportunity to own a property and to break even on it through rentals.
We brought the idea to our family members, who became excited about the idea. We all liked the idea of owning property at the beach, and the idea of sharing the risk of ownership.
Shortly thereafter we learned of some additional costs that we had not considered, such as Home Owners Association dues, and rental commissions. Much to our surprise, the HOA fees were going to be another 30-40% on top of our mortgage payment. And an even bigger surprise was that the on-site rental company charged a 46% commission on all rentals.
We almost reconsidered, but then we decided to take a leap of faith and try our hand at managing the rental business ourselves. We developed a strategy to lower prices for our guests, while at the same time improving our bottom line and building customer loyalty.
Our next lesson was that our advertising costs would eat us alive if we continued to manage a single unit on our own. It was then that we decided to buy more condos to spread out our advertising costs.
It hasn't been easy, but somehow we've managed to keep our head above water.
We don't intend to ever become a giant company, but we will continue to look for opportunities to build on our success in the vacation real estate business, both in and around Myrtle Beach, as well as other popular tourist destinations.
In another message I'll ask you to tell us where you'd like to see us grow.
Dave Fletcher
1st Choice Condos
http://www.myrtlecondosforless.com/
Sands Ocean Club Resort by owner
We brought the idea to our family members, who became excited about the idea. We all liked the idea of owning property at the beach, and the idea of sharing the risk of ownership.
Shortly thereafter we learned of some additional costs that we had not considered, such as Home Owners Association dues, and rental commissions. Much to our surprise, the HOA fees were going to be another 30-40% on top of our mortgage payment. And an even bigger surprise was that the on-site rental company charged a 46% commission on all rentals.
We almost reconsidered, but then we decided to take a leap of faith and try our hand at managing the rental business ourselves. We developed a strategy to lower prices for our guests, while at the same time improving our bottom line and building customer loyalty.
Our next lesson was that our advertising costs would eat us alive if we continued to manage a single unit on our own. It was then that we decided to buy more condos to spread out our advertising costs.
It hasn't been easy, but somehow we've managed to keep our head above water.
We don't intend to ever become a giant company, but we will continue to look for opportunities to build on our success in the vacation real estate business, both in and around Myrtle Beach, as well as other popular tourist destinations.
In another message I'll ask you to tell us where you'd like to see us grow.
Dave Fletcher
1st Choice Condos
http://www.myrtlecondosforless.com/
Sands Ocean Club Resort by owner
Sands Ocean Club Resort owner BLOG
Welcome, and thanks for visiting. I have created this blog for 4 reasons...
1) To give my peers (other homeowners at the Sands Ocean Club Resort) a forum to actively discuss issues realated to home ownership at the resort.
2) To give my customers a public forum to document their experience with us at the Sands
3) To give other Sands customers a forum to document their experience as guest of the Sands Ocean Club
4) To further communicate the mission of 1st Choice Condos to reduce our customers' vacation cost, while providing the same or better quality accomodations at the Sands Ocean Club Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC.
I look forward to interacting with you all in the days to come.
Sincerely,
Dave Fletcher
1st Choice Condoshttp://www.myrtlecondosforless.com
Sands Ocean Club Resort by owner
1) To give my peers (other homeowners at the Sands Ocean Club Resort) a forum to actively discuss issues realated to home ownership at the resort.
2) To give my customers a public forum to document their experience with us at the Sands
3) To give other Sands customers a forum to document their experience as guest of the Sands Ocean Club
4) To further communicate the mission of 1st Choice Condos to reduce our customers' vacation cost, while providing the same or better quality accomodations at the Sands Ocean Club Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC.
I look forward to interacting with you all in the days to come.
Sincerely,
Dave Fletcher
1st Choice Condoshttp://www.myrtlecondosforless.com
Sands Ocean Club Resort by owner
Sands Ocean Club Resort BLOG Test post #2
As a bloggin newbie, I'm expirimenting with publishing the blog on our main site at http://www.myrtlecondosforless.com/
Obviously it' snot going well so far....
Obviously it' snot going well so far....
Friday, February 11, 2005
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