Response - Maxim / Sun Village

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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Below is an attachment of a PDF letter I received from Derek Elliott It's addresses to those that have an interest in what's going on with the Elliott Group.
 

abe

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Jan 2, 2002
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If anyone is inclined to feel sorry for the Elliotts, I can only remind you of the old adage: "You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas." or something like that.

In the same way that the Elliotts would say to an "owner" suffering buyers' remorse : "You agreed to the deal." they are now complaining about exorbitant commissions paid to their vaunted agents , etc. etc.

It's hysterical that the scammers got scammed and are now griping about it.

Hysterical--well except for the victims.
 

abe

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Conchman is exactly right--furthermore, it's very interesting that there has been so little response to this on this board. My guess is that those who have given these sharks money are still in shock at this "defense/explanation" of what went wrong. Oh, well--these poor people really fell for the glitz/glamour approach that made all "investors" out to be Hollywood mogul types. Invitations to Film Festivals, the spurious link with Maxim magazine (always a Bible for real estate investors (ha,ha), etc. Truly a classic example of building phony dreams.
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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Unbelievable! Talk about shifting or trying to shift the blame. Derek Elliot is ultimately responsible for the decisions made. It was all about greed! And I am sure it still is! He agreed to the 20% commissions up front. He always knew about them. Why is he now whining? And he claims Catledge made millions in commissions - well do the math - how many millions then did Elliott and company receive? How much of that was used as intended and how much was wasted?

I think you can look and see that mismanagement and greed caused most of their problems.
 
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kashbarker

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Feb 1, 2008
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Unbelievable! Talk about shifting or trying to shift the blame. Derek Elliot is ultimately responsible for the decisions made. It was all about greed! And I am sure it still is! He agreed to the 20% commissions up front. He always knew about them. Why is he now whining? And he claims Catledge made millions in commissions - well do the math - how many millions then did Elliott and company receive? How much of that was used as intended and how much was wasted?

I think you can look and see that mismanagement and greed caused most of their problems.

Your so very correct " mismanagement and greed" caused the problems. My questions is, Now What??? It's either work with the Elliott's on solutions or go to battle with the Elliott's. As far as Catledge is concerned, It sounds like he talked the Elliott's into a situation in which they became too dependant on Impact sales, and when things slowed down, that was the start of big problems. I'm hopeful that things will work out if all involved will be honest and work together, but if not we will all loose. Any ideas you or others have on SOLUTIONS, please present them. Thanks..
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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Elliott made the decision to "put all their eggs in one basket: with Catledge. He had a sales force on the ground that worked - not perfectly - but it worked. He got greedy and entered into the sole agreement with Catledge.

Catledge didn't have to "talk" him into it. He knows the score!
 

kashbarker

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Feb 1, 2008
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Elliott made the decision to "put all their eggs in one basket: with Catledge. He had a sales force on the ground that worked - not perfectly - but it worked. He got greedy and entered into the sole agreement with Catledge.

Catledge didn't have to "talk" him into it. He knows the score!

You are correct. What I would like at this point is ideas on how to correct the problems. Elliott's say that they are open to ideas on how to best correct the mistakes, so I'm asking everyone to help with ideas. Thanks...
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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Fire them - hire competant managers to run the place - audit the books to find out what really happened..........

The hotel and property are stunning! It is viable but not as a cash cow to supplement movies, yachts and lifestyles of the wannabe rich and famous!
 

Castellamonte

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Mar 3, 2005
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Fire them - hire competant managers to run the place - audit the books to find out what really happened..........

The hotel and property are stunning! It is viable but not as a cash cow to supplement movies, yachts and lifestyles of the wannabe rich and famous!

Amen. It is easy to fall into the "freebie" crowd who all want to come down to see and be seen. You can't make any money at that!

There are two avenues here I believe they should take:

Future - Forget the past. Bring in new managers with new bank accounts and clean books. Have them assess the property, identify how to promote it and initiate a whole new sales motion to move forward. Do not look back. Look forward and keep the focus on sustainable revenue and increasing asset appreciation. BTW, if anyone thinks they will make money on cash flow from this place they are crazy (at least for some years to come).

Past - Forget the future. Hire competent accountants and have them perform a forensic assessment of the project. If there were errors made, make recommendations to correct them. If it was just a bunch of stupidity and greed then those people are gone anyhow.

Suck it up. What happened has happened and crying about it won't fix it. :ermm:
 

Conchman

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Jul 3, 2002
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The problem was that investment income always paid the hotel deficits. Once the investment income dried up (it had to since you would always need new investors to keep going and you cant unless you do a Ponzi scheme) the hotel deficits started showing and the truth 'reared its ugly head.'
 

abe

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Jan 2, 2002
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Bulk sale to existing large, multi-site timeshare company from the US or Canada.

Sell as many of the qualifying condos as you can and let the company fill them with existing members who trade in. These members will buy from the restaurants, etc. But they won't bring any additional revenue--what they could do is provide good word of mouth if the experience is good. That could help new timeshare or fractional sales.

Get the Elliotts out--if they refuse to go, walk away from your investment because it ain't gonna get any better.

Then hire good attorneys and hold them up by their cheating ankles until the money falls out.

Good luck.
 

kashbarker

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Feb 1, 2008
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Thanks for all of your ideas. We have been looking at getting some large timeshare/vacation clubs to purchase many of the fractions. The price of the fractions have been dropped to be very competitive if not the best deal in Juan Dolio at the present. I feel that things will turn arround quickly. When you notice construction start again at the JD property, please let me know. Thanks...
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Thanks for all of your ideas. We have been looking at getting some large timeshare/vacation clubs to purchase many of the fractions. The price of the fractions have been dropped to be very competitive if not the best deal in Juan Dolio at the present. I feel that things will turn arround quickly. When you notice construction start again at the JD property, please let me know. Thanks...

Big new sign up in Juan Dolio, but me being a great photographer you can't read it! Just says the name Elliot and bunglows. I will try and take a better one!

2qxp99j.jpg
 

champ

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Dec 2, 2006
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so does the elliots have the legal property titles to show that they in fact own the beach at cofresi between sun village and ocean world property as they have the for sale signs up that its there property priced at $27,000,000.00,,,or are we seeing more hot air coming from the elliot group,,,can anyone post a picture of there sign at cofresi beach,,im sure conchman will know who is his neighbors are?????
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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That sign in Juan Dolio - looks to be recycled from the Cofresi property.

I was also told over the weekend that a new "timeshare" team has been set up in Cofresi and an acquaintance of mine is working there now as a liner.
 

kashbarker

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Feb 1, 2008
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That sign in Juan Dolio - looks to be recycled from the Cofresi property.

I was also told over the weekend that a new "timeshare" team has been set up in Cofresi and an acquaintance of mine is working there now as a liner.

Will you find out from your acquaintance if the "timeshare" is with Sun Village or with the Bungalows at Cofresi? I have been told that Elliott's are offering a vacation club tied to the new Bungalows at cofresi as that project is near completion. I would be interested in the prices there compared to Juan Dolio. Maybe your contact can get me that info, if they can please let me know. Thanks..