TradeToTravel

Hi, DCTraveler, the 30% is tied up in bankruptcy court and I have no idea what's to become of it.

Kagehitokiri

are you saying that 30% stake could be seized/liquidated?

TradeToTravel

Hi, Kage, I don't know. I've contacted their lawyers over and over, but no one can tell me what's to become of it. I'd been told they'd have an answer by June, but it's now June and I still can't get an answer :0(

TradeToTravel

Btw, does anyone happen to have (or know of someone who has) any great b-roll footage of uber-luxurious properties which they might like to have featured on CNBC's "High Net Worth" as part of a story we're working on with them called "House Swapping for the Rich"?

If you're not familiar with the show, here's its web address: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838305

"High Net Worth" has the highest net worth audience of any show in the States. Stephen Colbert did a spoof on it that'll crack you up: http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/...?videoId=88550

Jetmikey

Sounds to me like that is already happening.

TradeToTravel

Hi, JetMikey, if that's so, that's a bummer, but I'll always have controlling interest and the truth is that we needed the money back when they bought in, so if we lose that slice of the pie, I won't be too upset about it.

Kagehitokiri

are you saying you have information beyond what is posted?

Jetmikey

No Kage...just reading the signs.

TradeToTravel

Hi, Neil (NeilGoBlue), now that you've had a chance to get to know me and my business model a little, what would you say I'm missing? Whatever it is, I shall do my utmost to provide it.

GregGH

Hello TTT

I just skimmed the 3 pages on this post (so forgive me if I missed the key point) ... if you are a trading company for Fractionals .... how do you compare to others in the same market place ... ?

Here is a link that Steamboat Bill posted a while back on II starting a division for hi-end ...
II + Preferred Hotel Group = New Exchanges - Timeshare Users Group Online Community Forums

Any my question on same thread )(post 13) asking how many more are there ..
Timeshare Users Group Online Community Forums - View Single Post - II + Preferred Hotel Group = New Exchanges

How does a company get to 'critical mass' so it survives? How many are there out there (in trading companies)??

Regards
Greg

caribbeansun

Any input on this TTT?

TarheelTraveler

TTT - Glad that you're on the forum. I really like the TTT concept, particularly for people who already own a vacation house. Or perhaps you already own a fractional based on loving a particular location but then have decided you want more variety and have discovered just how difficult it is to trade within the fractional's network (assuming they even have a network). Based on your site and the interesting stories you posted, to me, TTT has can add the very substantial benefit of variety and flexibility. However, I don't think it makes sense to buy a fractional and put it into TTT versus a DC. With a fractional, that 1/10 ownership of a $2,500,000 house is really going to cost $300,000-$350,000, with the commissions, marketing and costs of setting up the structure. DCs also have a similar built in cost, but I avoid all of those potential issues that are discussed by me and others above. No matter what property I go to in my DC, I know the place will be amazing, I know the resort amenities will be great, I know what the house will be stocked with, I know the on-site and office assistance will be awesome, I know the property will be maintained, I know that the other members are also part owners of each property so people are more likely to respect the property, I know that I can just go online to book a trip in minutes, etc.

Again, I think that TTT has some real value, but I'm not sure that it's best to tout it as the superior alternative to a DC, particularly without recognizing any of the cons of TTT or the pros of DCs. Whole ownership on the other hand - I can give you that one.

TradeToTravel

Hi, Greg, nope, TTT isn't a trading company for fractionals. It's a company which enables owners of luxury leisure assets of all sorts to enjoy one another's properties worldwide at 80% savings and, to date, most are wholly owned.

Only recently have I become interested in fractionals because they've turned out to be one of the key pieces in a cosmic puzzle which has somehow come together like a hologram in me (ya'll aren't going to believe where all of this is going, I have so many revolutionary ideas lined up awaiting implementation that it's only a matter of time before the whole world is talking about what's going on in this thread and in TTT). I'm a nature-lover and a "save the world" kinda' gal (can't endure the sight of a polar bear swimming 60 miles out) and as soon as I realized that SHARING is "green," I wanted to (without diminishing our focus on "luxury") remove as many obstacles as possible to membership in TTT (making it possible to become a member with as little as 1/10 ownership in a luxury property, thereby greatly increasing the number of people able to "play" within TTT and DECREASING THE NUMBER OF PROPERTIES WHICH NEED TO BE BUILT. Making optimum use of the properties which are already in existence, and the properties which will need to be built in the future, sounds like a simple, smart idea to me. And maximally leveraging the properties one already owns (as well as those one will purchase in the future) seems to me to be one of the easiest possible ways to increase one's wealth.

Even home insurance companies favor exchanges because it's safer to have someone in your property than it is to have it sit empty. There's really just no reason NOT to "trade to travel." I seriously doubt that anyone will come up with a better model than ours for awhile (though if they do, more power to them, because a plan better than mine can only be great news for people and the environment).

I usually try not to mix spirituality with business, but since I'm making awfully bold statements and want to give credit for them where credit is due, I have to tell you that I'm not the one making all of this stuff up. God is. He/She/It is using me to "channel" not merely a company, but an ECONOMY. A virtual economy. Laugh or disbelieve if you want, but I'm just not smart enough to invent an economy (dont' have a college degree, much less an MBA...was on the UGA gymnastics team (GO DAWGS!), but that doesn't count for much in the business world). The only kind of "point" I understand is a TTT point. The kind of "points" used in buying and selling real estate are a complete mystery to me and I've never even tried to learn about them because I'm still living in the same house I bought 20 years ago (lol, and I thought it was gonna' be my "starter" home). The answers, revelations, and visions are being "given" to me. They're just as surprising to me as they are to everyone else and they just keep coming...it's been a wild ride and is getting wilder by the moment.

According to Wikipedia, an economy is a realized system of human activities related to the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area. That's what we're in the process of creating. I can't tell you how yet, because I can't let the "big boys" swoop in and steal my ideas, but I can tell you that people of every economic class will eventually benefit from what is to come and I predict that Harvard Business School will relatively soon be teaching our principles and strategies because they're a perfect marriage of democratic socialism to pure capitalism (as envisioned by Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, if you haven't read that book, I could NOT suggest it more strongly...one of the humongous book companies did a survey asking readers which book has most influenced their lives and the #2 answer, after "The Bible," was Atlas Shrugged).

Another book I'd like to recommend while I'm thinking about it, is "Blue Ocean Strategy - How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant."

TTT is a "Blue Ocean."

Regarding your reference to the partnering of Interval International and Preferred Hotel Group, I know all about it. When they made that move, RCI came to me and wanted to partner. Our two companies spent about a year hammering out a 14 page contract detailing how their members and ours would be able to use the properties of both companies, but as we neared deal-signing time, I began to strongly suspect that they were luring me in to steal my concept, so I walked away from the table. If someone is going to steal my ideas (and the ideas of my friends and partners), I'm not going to SHOW them how to do it. I can honestly say that I'm not the LEAST bit concerned about II and PHG as competitors because TTT is ALREADY way better than they are (at least in my opinion) and "you ain't seen nuthin' yet!!"

OK, this post has gotten pretty long and I have other questions to answer, so I'll sign off for now and post again as soon as I can. I REALLY appreciate this opportunity to tell our story/stories in such a rigorous venue in the company of such highly knowledgeable individuals as yourselves and THANK YOU (each of you) very much for your input.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leah

Steamboat Bill

TTT -

How many properties do you have access to?
How many trades has your company been involved with?

TradeToTravel

Hi, All, it just occurred to me that I should tell you that it was "The Registry Collection" (RCI's luxury division) which approached us. We weren't talking about RCI's "timeshares," we were talking about their luxury properties. A couple of people have mentioned throughout this thread that we have "timeshares' on our site. If that's true, I'm not aware of it (maybe one is still listed on our site from "the old days," but certainly none have been accepted since I've been running the company...which doesn't make me a "snob," merely a good businessperson who knows that you can't be all things to all people and we've chosen to focus on the luxury sector).

NeilGoBlue

Leah,

You wrote

"It's awfully nice of dc members to give dc's large sums of money to build gigantic real estate portfolios in which they have NO ownership and NO legacy (and awfully nice of the dc's to let dc members USE the dc's properties). The annual dues alone for many dc's are enough to RENT properties equivalent to dc properties (so what are the exhorbitant membership fees for except to make the dc's wealthier). So, even if Trade to Travel didn't exist, I STILL wouldn't understand why people buy into dc's."

My response was in response to the above paragraph...

You have a great business model.. One that I might be interested in if I owned a 2nd home. But to say you 'still wouldn't understand why people buy into DCs' just shows that you don't understand the DC model and how it might be great for some people.

I have equity in my club. I have legacy. I paid a low price (comparatively). I have onsite destination host/concierge. I have awesome properties in awesome locations. It really works for me and I wouldn't do it any different.

TradeToTravel