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Yes, Ave Maria
...There really is a Santa Claus!
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,
and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy.
~ by Francis P. Church in 1897 (Senior Editorial Writer for the Sun Newspaper)
Golf Board Delivers early Christmas Present to beleagured
Investor/Owners & Rental Residents
Since, this is the month of Thanksgiving, let me begin by giving some thanks. I, for one, am deeply grateful for this current Golf Board. At their most recent meeting, over ONE HUNDRED Golf Owners submitted a signed "Open Letter" pleading for relief from the previous Golf Board's decisions which has caused rental and sale prices for condos to plummet. There was so much groundswell for this request, that signers were still pouring in well after owner/investor Brian Kavalsky easily reached the 10% membership mark required to ensure that the topic was put on the Golf Agenda for open discussion.
If you missed this Golf Board Meeting, I urge you to watch the video recording posted here:
October 15th Golf Board Meeting Recording
For those of you who didn't get a chance to see or sign this "Open Letter" to the Golf Board (due to the time constraints of compiling it in time for the Golf meeting), here's a summary of the contents. It discussed:
- The Impact on Owner-Investors and Tenant-Residents from the burdensome changes from the previous Golf Board's Decisions
- How higher transfer fees and disparate golf fees negatively impact the bottom line on golf revenue and restaurant revenue @ The National
- How "elitism" creates a divisive and fractured community of "us" vs. "them" instead of "we"
- The failure to recognize that tenants (both seasonal and annual) are an integral part of any community and they should not be treated like second class citizens.
What happens when rental and sales prices crash?
This affects all of us whether you rent your property or have no intention of selling. Lennar should have been long gone by now but, once these changes were made, condo prices immediately nosedived. Then, we had to contend with the developer selling off Coach Homes in the $260's range instead of the high $300's range (where they typically should be).
Furthermore, the return on investment (ROI) gets to a point where Investors begin to unload their properties. That creates additional inventory oversupply, causing prices to be depressed even further. People who must sell are unable to do so, and rates of delinquencies and foreclosures go up. With increased delinquencies and foreclosures, our legal costs rise and this sets off a new round of hikes. When our legal costs rise, we all must pay more in dues and special assessments. So, these decisions are not made in a vacuum and, therefore, they must be made with extreme caution.
Unfortunately, "price elasticity" was never addressed by the first Golf Board who conveniently tossed their own Finance Committee recommendations into the trash bin. It wasn't addressed either by the recent member comments (watch the link up above) who wanted even more burdensome price increases to transfer fees and playing fees.
What is "price elasticity?" Here's a basic economics lesson for these short-sighted people: It's downright woefully ignorant to think that if you sell 1200 Golf Rounds at $75.00 that you will continue to sell 1200 Golf Rounds if you raise the price to $100 or $150. Anyone who has either run a business or taken Economics 101 knows this is "pie in the sky" type thinking. You will simply have less and less people purchasing the higher the price goes. But, that's their REAL agenda, isn't it?
This new Golf Board has righted a wrong that seems to be the strange “norm” in bundled Golf communities throughout Florida. I liken it to a semi-legalized Ponzi scheme which goes like this:
- First, sell lots of bundled golf units by heavily promoting them to investors with promises that they will be able to rent them out either annually and/or seasonally with the ability to transfer their inexpensive bundled golf rights.
- Bury deep in the covenants some sloppy and esoteric language that no one (including seasoned attorneys) can possibly fully interpret or agree upon.
- Use that slippery footing to slowly and methodically chip away at the investors rights to utilize their golf membership in the manner in which it was described and sold to them.
- Once you have all the golf units sold out, pull the rug out from under them by an abrupt and unexpected move so that an “elitist” group of members can have a professionally designed, gorgeous Golf course, pretty much to themselves, at the ridiculously low rate of $30 to play golf along with just a few thousand dollars a year in dues.
- Finally, let the hapless investors pay the price to carry it.
That, my friends, is a classic Ponzi-scheme no matter how much they may try to whitewash it.
To put this into a clearer perspective, this type of Gordon Lewis designed golf course, if located in the typical golf community in Naples would normally cost club members a non-refundable $150,000 “buy-in” fee with annual dues ranging around $25,000 - $50,000 per year. As one of the Golf Board members wryly pointed out...where did all the money for the recent golf course beautifications come from? The answer: PUBLIC PLAY. This is the same public play the previous Golf Board cut out of our revenue to the tune of $800,000! So, make no mistake, SOMEONE is going to pay for the expensive Golf maintenance. Unfortunately, that "someone" was foisted upon the hapless investor/owner disproportionately.
The real "sweet spot" of this meeting was the Board's acknowledgement and legal explanation that we are walking on shaky legal grounds by stripping the golf rights from the Investor homeowner's. We are also creating an atmosphere of tension and divisiveness as only one segment of the community benefited from the previous Golf Board rulings while others were punitively damaged.
I also hope the entire community finally understands that Ave Maria is NOT similar to the coastline. Our main "draw" for visitors is the quaintness of this lovely town and our bundled golf program. We do NOT (at this present time) have the amenities of other bundled Golf communities such as an abundance of fine dining, shopping, attractions, and, of course, we ill never be able to offer close proximity to Naples highly-rated beaches.
Therefore, the objective should not simply be to collect higher transfer and higher golf cart fees. The greater opportunity is to increase participation in the golf program and drive additional economic activity throughout the entire community. If homogenous cart fees and simplified transfer fees result in more residents choosing to play golf, the Golf Board would benefit from an increased revenue from cart fees, tournament participation, and more food and beverage purchases.
A transfer-member who does not have the same member golf privileges is less likely to spend time at the golf course and clubhouse. A transfer-member resident who regularly plays golf has more opportunities to visit the restaurant, meet friends, participate in tournaments, and spend money within the community. In other words, the golf program should be viewed not only as a source of fees, but as a driver of broader community revenue.
As this Golf Board rightly discussed, the liability level on this type of quasi-legal sleazy behavior was just too much for them to chance. It is a clear abrogation of property rights along with an unfair financial windfall to those at the top of the Ponzi scheme. Utilizing the wisdom of their years of experience in finance, accounting, law and golf course operations, The National Golf and Country Club in Ave Maria Golf Board now stands as a sterling example of what can be done when the community comes together and promotes a restorative justice.
Probably the highlight of the entire meeting was the impassioned speech by one of the Golf Board members on what it takes to create a harmonious community. Excluding tenants and seasonal renters from joyful participation in the community through tournaments and special events, just creates divisiveness, strife and tension as we have all seen from this past year.
If I may be so bold as to make a prediction, I think we will see rental and sales prices begin to firm back up as this community once again becomes a desirable place in which to live AND invest. I further predict that somewhere down the road, this blatant abuse of the public trust, along with its obvious “bait and switch” marketing will eventually reach the eyes of a public official such as the State Attorney General’s office. When that happens (and no backroom deals remain hidden forever, just read Matthew 10:26), we, at The National in Ave Maria, can thankfully be safe from this litigation.
What’s ahead? Hopefully, a return of sanity and a return of property values which have taken a bad beating from the previous Golf Board’s rash decisions. We’d like to see that go out with the New Year of 2027 along with a squashing of “elitist” attitudes which have no place here in Ave Maria.
So, I’m extremely thankful but still hoping and wishing for an additional Holiday Gift. If the Golf Board wants to put a sugar plum in all of our stockings, it still needs to get the Golf community FaceBook page back from the grinches who have stolen it, and return it to ALL in the community who rightfully own it.
Then, it will be a very merry season indeed.
and that's my two cents...maybe three
Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.
~Jeremiah 29:7 (CSB)
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