rblack44

Absolutely! Your comment and another on this thread inspired us to explore extending our product offering to include people who already have their co-owners in mind and are just looking for help with a property search and setting up of the investment trust. We'll likely move into greater LATAM in the next year. Feel free to drop me a note if you ever have any questions about the search or process, we'd be happy to help (ryan@ancana.co)

Agree, this is our biggest hurdle on the buyer side. But thanks for the feedback and support!

Yes, the trust remains in place and the legal rights of all the owners are unaffected. The co-owners can simply find another property management company. Even in the event Ancana is still in business but the co-owners are unhappy with our service for whatever reason, they can vote to drop Ancana and hire another company of their choosing

Yes! We have started focusing on areas that appeal the most to US buyers (Cabo, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, etc). Most of our marketing to date has been geared towards the Mexico market but we are starting to reach out to US buyers as well!

I'd say we are streamlining the decades-old co-ownership model more than we are reinventing timeshares :)

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!

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!

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!

haha love it

Love some of these ideas! We are getting a lot of interest from digital nomads looking at this not just as an investment in a vacation home, but as a remote office for a few months a year. We are looking at how we can better serve that market, would love to chat as it seems like you've been thinking about this for a bit. Shoot me an email (ryan@ancana.co).

Many of the homes are big enough spaces to use for coworking, but not always ideally furnished as such. It could be interesting to tailor some homes for this exact use case. Interesting.

The rental rules depend on the property. Some of our homes are in communities with rules governing short term rentals. For the others, we leave it up to the owners to decide as a group whether to allow renting the home when not in use.

We definitely see an opportunity for people to trade time in different homes. With the affordability of many of our properties, we think some people will buy shares in a few homes and bounce around. Anyway, would love to get in touch and pick your brain

One area we differ from a timeshare is an Ancana home is an investment in real estate. If the property increases in value, you capture the appreciation and if you decide to sell you make a profit.

demand for this model of ownership is exploding. From a buyer's perspective there is no functional difference between the primary and secondary market. It is certainly more liquid than a timeshare and in most cases easier to sell than an entire home given the lower upfront and maintenance costs

Ancana steps in and takes over the share and finds another buyer. Other co-owners are protected in this case.

We want people to use the home! Our goal in founding Ancana was to open up the vacation home market to more people. We see these homes as places to make lifelong memories with friends & family. A net benefit of our model is that your home is an investment - if you decide to sell and the property has increased in value, you capture that appreciation. There are other companies that make it possible to invest in a REIT-like vehicle, but that's not our focus :)

The fractional ownership model is taking off, look at Pacaso's success in the US. Just as there is strong demand for the primary sale, the secondary market will also likely see a a big uptick.

An owner is free to sell anytime after owning the property for a year. You can list this like any other real estate holding. We can also assist in the sale if you'd like to tap into our growing network of interested buyers

Hmmm, is the dropdown in the upper right showing "EN"? We realize there is some bugginess on the site, we are non-technical founders haha. We have a new site launching in a week or 2 that will resolve all of these little issues. Thanks for taking a look!

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.

This is a top focus for us from a product perspective. What's interesting through our research is the overlap is probably not as big as we assumed. Some people want to use the home for special occasions (bdays, anniversaries), which can be spread out throughout the year. Some want it for holidays, others have their own holiday traditions. The demand is more evenly distributed than we anticipated.

But there will be conflicts no doubt. Our approach is to make access to the home as equitable as possible. Each co-owner can select their priority dates before the general booking window opens. This ensures each owner has access during high-demand times. Outside of the priority booking window owners are free to book anywhere from 2 days to 1 year out and can see which dates are available. We also limit the length of a stay so that even during high-demand times, multiple owners can enjoy the property.

this is really great feedback, thanks!

We actually think we'll have the opposite effect! Single-owner vacation homes are used less than 60 days a year and often sit vacant. With Ancana each owner purchases the number of shares that corresponds to how much they'll use the home. With multiple co-owners the home will be in use far more frequently

A majority of owners need to agree before moving forward (so 3-1 or 5-3 in the examples you gave). The threshold increases for more costly expenses

Thanks for the feedback, this is an embarrassing oversight and was not meant to mislead. The testimonials are from actual Ancana buyers but we did use the Wix stock photos. Andres and I are non-technical founders and tried our best to stand up this Wix site as quickly as possible while we worked to develop a new website. Getting customer photos is a challenge, but we should not have made it look like these were our actual buyers. I've removed them while we fix this and apologize for the misrepresentation. And it won't happen again.

oh nice! I grew up in El Dorado Hills, off of Highway 50

Right, the fractional ownership model has been around for decades. We are making it more accessible and streamlining an otherwise complicated process.

As you can see from this thread, the assumption by many is that we are a new take on a timeshare. But like your linked article demonstrates, there are many important differences between fractional ownership and timeshares. So while it rolls off the tongue easier, we want to distance ourselves as much as possible from a timeshare. Appreciate the feedback, we'll continue to refine how we talk about our model!

This is great feedback, perhaps our explanation wasn't clear. The scheduling system isn't automatic, each owner has the flexibility to book stays whenever they'd like (the booking window is 2 days to 1 year out). What we try to do is make sure that each co-owner gets access to the property on the dates that matter most to them. To accomplish this we give each owner the ability to select their priority dates before the general booking window opens

Friends and family have been entering into these type of agreements for years. If you have a group that agrees on the same property we think that's awesome. Our solution isn't for everyone. But we are trying to make this co-ownership opportunity available to everyone. Especially those who want to invest in a property but don't have a group to go in with them.

In terms of disputes, we agree that most can be handled through simple communication. Our platform allows for this. Many of our owners like the idea of having Ancana there to act as a go-between for issues that do arise and to set rules that everyone can agree to.

Good luck with your home buying adventure! What areas are you looking at?

Thanks for the feedback. One of our biggest challenges is in overcoming the gimmicks timeshares use to hook customers. My parents have had a few different timeshares, some of which were great, others complete scams. They've been incredibly successful in building huge businesses with these tactics. It really comes down to what you are purchasing, when you can use the property, and how you resell.

With timeshares you are purchasing a block of time in a condo/resort with dozens or potentially hundreds of people. With Ancana, you are purchasing a share of an actual home with a small group of people. You own a piece of the home you are staying in, not a deed to a piece of a resort. Co-ownership is a concept that has been around for a while (a couple people in the comments have shared their experiences), but this has typically been limited to friends/family. We aim to make this accessible to everyone.

With timeshares you get access to the property for fixed weeks. With Ancana you have ongoing access to the home. you can plan a vacation 8 months from now, or a last minute getaway this weekend. Timeshares do not offer this flexibility.

Selling your timeshare is typically a nightmare. There are entire industries built around helping people get out of their timeshare contracts. Resorts have a vested interest in keeping you hooked, because the more buyers they get the more money they make. With Ancana, you are free to sell your share whenever and however you'd like. Since there are a limited number of co-owners, Ancana has no vested interest in making it hard to sell. We'll assist in helping you find a buyer if you'd like.

We appreciate your feedback as a timeshare owner. It really is helpful for us to understand these different perspectives and to try and differentiate ourselves more from a standard timeshare

Your name implies otherwise :)

We started this company with a mission of making the vacation home market more accessible to people who are typically priced out. We're excited to see where Ancana goes, but pivoting into a timeshare company is not a direction we'll ever go.

Thanks for sharing! The co-ownership model has been around for a while, but usually has been limited to friends & family. Really great feedback on some of the challenges you've faced.

- Rentals: this is property dependent. Some of our homes are located in communities that have explicit rules regarding short term rentals. For homes not governed by these rules, the owners are free to vote on whether they'd like to allow renting the home when it is not used. We leave it up to the owners for the exact reason you highlighted above - renting can lead to higher maintenance costs and other issues. Proceeds from the rental go to the owner putting their time up for rent. The income is first used to defray an owner's monthly costs, and the rest is given directly to them.

- Costs: Property costs are split amongst co-owners based on their ownership stake in the home with no markup. This tends to keep costs fairly low for each owner, but in the event an owner does not pay their portion they are in violation of the contract and subject to forfeiture of their share. Again, the fees for these homes in mexico are reasonable compared to the US and the costs are made clear and transparent to the buyer at the time of purchase.

- investments: routine maintenance is handled by Ancana using the reserve fund. For other upgrades, the owners put it up to a vote. Depending on the size of investment, there are different vote thresholds that need to be met to move forward.

- buying/trading: currently we make it easy for co-owners of the same property to trade scheduled visits. We do have plans on opening this up for all Ancana properties, but it is not something we have built out yet. Stay tuned!

- selling: An owner is free to sell at any point after owning the home for 1 year. We are happy to assist in this process and list the fraction for sale to our network of qualified leads. But if an owner prefers to use their own agent or sell it through their own network, that is great too. Once a buyer is found, we take care of the vetting and legal process for transferring ownership.

- Similar to other real estate, your ownership of an Ancana property can be passed on to beneficiaries. In this case the new owner(s) are still bound by the original investment trust and responsible for payments. We don't limit ownership in a fraction to a single person, so it is up to the new parties to decide how they want to handle ownership and using the property

Ya financing in Mexico is a big challenge. We do offer a financing option, but not for the entire amount unfortunately. We are actively looking to partner with banks and funds to be able to offer longer financing options. Stay tuned!