Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

As I write today’s blog I feel like a two tennis players that have played an epic 5 sets…the Isner / Mahut match finally ended when Isner hit a backhand up the line to win the last of the match’s 980 points by the way! In doing so the longest match, by some distance, ended as Isner defeated Mahut in the fifth set by an amazing 70 games to 68!

This first round marathon took 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days and lasted so long that play had to be suspended two nights in a row due to darkness. Play resumed yesterday at 59 games all and and took just over an hour to finish as the players battled out a further 20 games.

So here are the records that the match set:

Longest match, 11 hours, 5 minutes.

Longest set, 8 hours 11 minutes

Most games in a match, 183

Longest games in a set, 138

Most points in a match, 980

Most points in a set, 711

Most aces by both players, 215 (Isner 112, Mahut 103) and by one player, Isner

Most service games held by both players, 180 of 183

Most consecutive service games held by both players, 168 and by one player, 84 each.

And one final record…longest final set … 8 hours 11 minutes which was almost two hours longer than the previous longest match of 6 hours 33 minutes!

So why do I feel almost as tired as these two guys…simple…I’m doing College tours as my youngest daughter prepares for next year! Anyone who’s ever walked around campus after campus will tell you it’s exhausting and here in North Carolina where the heat is touching 95 degrees, it’s no exception.

Of course, thousands of students and parents are making these trips this Summer and it seems this is one area of the economy that seems recession proof. Yesterday I made three visit to colleges in the North Carolina area and it was an interesting study in how the college business attracts its customers.

An early morning flight from Orlando saw us touch down in Greensborough at around 8.30am and from there we drove straight to Elon. Elon University is an historic 575 acre campus which has been designated a botanical garden and features oak trees, brick sidewalks, fountains and lakes. It’s a hugely impressive place of study not to mention steeped in history.

In 1889, the North Carolina legislature issued a charter for Elon College. William S. Long was the founder and the first president. The original student body consisted of 76 students. In 1923, a fire destroyed most of the campus, including school records, classrooms, the library and the chapel. The Board of Trustees voted to rebuild immediately. Many of the buildings that were erected in the years following the disastrous fire still stand today and make up the bedrock of Elon’s campus.

Many prominent figures have visited and spoken at Elon, including Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with  former U.S. Secretaries of State General Colin L. Powell and Madeleine Albright.  British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak,  Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and astronaut John Glenn have also visited.

From there, we then went to the remarkable High Point University run by an even more remarkable man, Dr. Nido Qubein. Qubein came to the United States, with just $50 in his pocket, when he was just 18 years old and attended Mount Olive College and High Point University. At the time he spoke very little English and learned the language by writing down 50 words a day on a card and by memorizing those words.  Nido then went onto start a bank in 1986 and now serves on the board and executive committee of a Fortune 500 financial corporation with $135 billion in assets and 35,000 employees. He is chairman of the Great Harvest Bread Company with 218 stores in 42 states and serves on the board of BB&T and La-Z-Boy Corporation, one of the world’s most recognized furniture brands. He is also a superb speaker and if you ever get the chance to hear him, you should grasp it with both hands.

Nido Qubein & Nigel Worrall

The transformation at High Point since Qubein became its President has been amazing. From a respected but rather sleepy University town, High Point is now much talked about all over America. Since taking over as President in 2005, Qubein has largely been responsible for raising over $350 million that has been invested in the campus and facilities.

Several new residential and educational buildings have been added and these additions include the notable Norton Hall, the Blessing Residential Hall, The Village Residential Complex, the Slane Student Life and Wellness Center, and the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center. A large number of fountains have also been installed throughout the university commons with plans to add even more. In 2009 several new buildings opened that included the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, the Plato S. Wilson Family School of Commerce, and the crown jewel of student life, the $50 million University Center (formerly called the Multiplex). The University Center houses 600 students in 300 upscale apartment-like facilities, a virtual bowling alley, fully-functional movie theater, a steakhouse, a sandwich shop, and a two story gaming-and-restaurant concept. It’s simply amazing!

With the campus renovations at High Point University breaching $300 million in August 2009, President Nido Qubein wasn’t finished there. He then announced several other additions to the campus and these include a new dormitory parallel to the University Center, and a Greek Village. The Greek Village will consist of roughly 14 houses aimed at housing 200 total students. The $10 million Greek Village is scheduled for a fall 2011 completion.

Overall, it’s an amazing place and the student experience is pretty much unparalleled. More later…

My second book of the year is now out on Amazon.com and at other leading book stores. It’s called “Florida Vacation Home Owners – 5 Big Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Property Management Company” and it’s targeted at those folks who own a vacation home in Florida.

The vacation rental management business in Central Florida is a $4.1 Billion business that hardly anyone has heard of but once found, vacation rentals are THE only way to go when staying in Orlando. Unfortunately, as in all industries, there are a few bad eggs and the quickest way for a vacation to go wrong is when a home owner appoints the wrong property manager.

When that happens, guests are usually left to fend for themselves and that’s why I wrote this short book, so that owners have more information when selecting a new property manager. It’s full of hints and tips as a result of over 15 years of experience I have within this industry.

When you consider that most property managers leave or go out of business within three years, then it’s important for owners to know their property is being properly looked after and that their guests are enjoying the vacation of a lifetime.  The book is deliberately priced at a very affordable $9.95 because I wanted to ensure as many homeowners took advantage of it as possible.

My first book of the year was released in April and has been doing well. It’s called “What You Must Know About Buying Your Vacation Home” and is available at Amazon .com for $12.95.

I was on ESPN Orlando being interviewed about my new book “What You Must Know About Buying Your Vacation Home” yesterday. It’s always fun trying to work out what questions you’ll be asked and I’m always happy to let folks know my feelings on topics close to my heart. As you can see from the video I’m pretty candid about who should buy a vacation home and why…

If you’re thinking or have been thinking for a while about buying your own vacation home in Florida, make sure you read this book. It’s full of tips and hints and will help you make the right decision for you and your family. You can get a copy from Amazon.com

2011 promises to be a great year for Central Florida as we are about to add a new member to our theme-park club: Legoland.

Merlin Entertainments Group, the British amusement operator that bought Cypress Gardens for $22.3 million , has announced plans to convert the old Polk County attraction into a theme park based on Lego toy-building blocks.

Legoland is one of about a dozen brands owned by Merlin, whose other holdings include Madame Tussauds wax museums, Alton Towers Resort and the London Eye. The company is the second-busiest amusement-park operator in the world, behind the Walt Disney Co., with combined attendance of about 35 million people.

Merlin is owned by the Blackstone Group, the private-equity giant that bought Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment last fall for about $2.5 billion. Blackstone also co-owns Universal Orlando alongside NBC Universal.

The new park promises to be a full day, year round theme park experience geared towards families with children between the ages of 2 and 12. The focus at Legoland will be on engaging children in interactive things and will essentially mirror the concept at the four other successful Legoland Parks in Denmark, Germany, UK and California.

It’s going to be a welcome addition and if it mirrors the success of the California park in particular, recently voted the country’s best children’s theme park for the sixth consecutive time by “Amusement Today”, then we have a treat in store for all kids and their parents.

Legoland Florida will be the biggest Legoland Park ever opened and will offer a mix of more than 50 rides, shows and attractions, including large Lego models and other interactive elements. We’re not sure of an actual opening date just yet but we’re led to believe it will be towards the end of 2011. Check back regularly for updates… bring it on!

Under pressure from Congress and space boosters from across the country, President Barack Obama  is visiting Kennedy Space Center today and in a huge about turn he is expected to announce  that he plans to revive part of the Constellation moon program, start a new heavy-rocket development project and create a $40 million initiative to help Kennedy Space Center  workers find jobs after the space shuttle is retired later this year.

Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks at KSC’s Operations and Checkout Building and afterwards, a conference of space experts will discuss how to make the new plan work.

Up to 9,000 KSC workers are set to lose their jobs when the shuttle era ends. But the White House says Obama’s plans for KSC — including nearly $2 billion for a five-year modernization program that had been previously announced — would add 2,500 jobs “as compared to the prior path” that included the Constellation moon-rocket program.

Earlier this year the President stated that he intended to cancel the Ares rockets, Orion crew capsule and Altair  lunar lander that made up the Constellation program that was slated to replace the space shuttle and return astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Obama’s plan ran into fierce opposition from members of Congress with NASA districts, even though Constellation was over budget and years behind schedule. They complained that Obama has not laid out details of when — or how — NASA would return to the business of exploring the cosmos.

Now, according to administration officials, Obama is expected to say that he plans to revive Constellation’s Orion capsule, reconfiguring it to fly aboard a commercial rocket to the space station, where it would serve as an emergency lifeboat for the six-member crew. That would mean as many as 400 jobs at Kennedy Space Center to assemble and integrate the Apollo-like spacecraft before flight.

We’ll see… looks and sounds to me that no-one really has a plan and that it’s all political pressure driving this as the economy is in a mess and it’s not going to look good throwing more people out of work. I read a sign yesterday that said “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”… mmmmm.

Good news for all our British visitors as Virgin Atlantic has partnered with The Walt Disney Company to bring three Disney channels (Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney & Disney XD) to the airlines television channels.

So that now means the 8 to 9 hour journey over the pond will more pleasurable as the kids watch shows like Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Phineas & Ferb, Handy Manny and Zeke and Luther.

Over the last few days I’ve been following an interesting article about Napa County changing a ban on vacation rentals. The full article by Dan Verel is here but the basic gist is that the Board of Supervisors in Napa County are seriously considering over turning the restrictions that exist on renting out vacation homes.

For me, I’ve never understood the people who want to do this. Seems crazy to me that property owners are prevented from a basic right of ownership and that is to rent out their property. Sure, I understand some of the people who are concerned about noise, trash and the comings and goings of transient vacationers but having been involved in this business for a long time the evidence just doesn’t stack up for banning vacation rentals.

Having being President of the local vacation property manager’s association (CFVRMA) not so long ago, I know only too well what our industry contributes to the local economy. For a start there’s thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly supporting the industry and then there’s the small matter of the tax dollars collected by the local government that far outweighs any other argument as far as I can see.

In Central Florida, vacation rentals are a $4.1 Billion business. In Polk county alone we contribute over half of the sales tax revenue and we surely can’t be far away from that in Osceola county where the number of rental units is similar. So that’s the monetary side…what about the environment and the “feelgood” factor.

Well, in addressing that, I have to say that most owners are absentee owners and that means they have to choose a professional property management company to look after their property. From the evidence I have seen all over Central Florida, vacation rental property is indeed far better looked after than residential property on the whole. A quick ride around the neighborhood will show that lawns are being kept in good condition, that houses are painted regularly and general maintenance is being attended to. Compare that with the average residential unit and it’s not uncommon to see long grass, awful looking homes and maintenance on the deferred list.

Sure, the chances of getting a bad neighbor are there but usually that neighbor is only there for a week or so and then they are gone. Now, what can you do about the bad neighbor who is a full time resident?

In Napa they are saying there are around 300 illegal vacation rentals currently in operation. Well, in Central Florida our number is nearer 20,000 and frankly, we contribute more to the economy than most people in high up positions like to acknowledge. Napa say that by legalizing these rentals that hotel tax revenue could increase by up to $1.45 million… go figure… I guess some folks need time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Vacation rentals are a win-win-win scenario. First of all the guests renting them win because they love staying in this type of property, second the homeowner wins because he can offset some of the running costs and over time have a decent investment and then thirdly, the local economy wins by the collection of taxes and spin offs for local business.

To me it’s crazy that bans like this are in place. All this does is cause ill feeling and ultimately it keeps property values down as you restrict the market to whom you can sell. It’s time to move out of the dark ages Napa. People who own vacation properties are not your enemy… they are the people trying to spur interest in your area and to bring people there to enjoy a great vacation.

Napa is a great place and one day I’d love to rent a home there so I can enjoy the great food and wine. In fact, I tell you what… any of you who still have any lingering doubts about vacation rentals…why not pop over to Orlando and see how we do it… it would be my pleasure to show you around.

Recently the National Association of Realtors reported that “Vacation-home sales recovered in 2009 while investment sales fell sharply.” Interesting. So what does it all mean?

Well, NAR’s 2010 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, covering existing and new home transactions in 2009, revealed that vacation-home sales rose 7.9 percent to 553,000 last year from 513,000 in 2008, while investment-home sales fell 15.9 percent to 940,000 in 2009 from 1.12 million in 2008. Primary residence sales rose 7.1 percent to 4.04 million in 2009 from 3.77 million in 2008.

What this in effect means is that the typical vacation home buyer is making more of a lifestyle choice than they are an investment purchase.

That’s not really big news to me. One of the first questions I’ve always asked the folks who call me or who turn up at my office is “Why are you thinking of buying?”. Time and time again I hear similar answers along the lines of “because we want somewhere to vacation or somewhere to retire and we  figured that over time this would work out well for us.”

Just occasionally I hear from someone who is buying solely for investment reasons and when I do, I quickly inform them that there are better investments out there and that they would be better advised taking their hard earned and putting it somewhere where they can do better.

Make no mistake, even though this is a great time to buy, buying a vacation home is a LONG TERM hold if you want to see a return on your money. Gone are the days when you could flip a vacation home and make a quick ten grand or so.

The report goes on to say that nine out of 10 say they intend to use the property for vacations or as a family retreat and only one in four vacation-home buyers plan to rent their properties to others, while one in five investment buyers plan to use their homes for vacations or as a family retreat. What’s then interesting is that  26 percent of vacation-home buyers  claim they intend to use the property as a primary residence in the future.

The market share of homes purchased for investment was 17 percent in 2009, down from 21 percent in 2008, while the vacation-home share rose a percentage point to 10 percent. The total share of second homes declined from 30 percent of sales in 2008 to 27 percent last year.

Further, the median transaction price of a vacation home was $169,000 in 2009, compared with $150,000 in 2008.

From an geographic point of view, half of vacation homes purchased last year were in the South, 21 percent in the West, 17 percent in the Midwest and 12 percent in the Northeast. Seven out of 10 were detached single-family homes.

The median investment property sold for $105,000 last year, down 2.8 percent from $108,000 in 2008. There were more investment sales in the West in 2009, consistent with reports in California of a high share of all-cash purchases, notably in lower price ranges.

The distribution of investment sales was fairly close to the distribution of population: 35 percent in the South, 25 percent in the West, 24 percent in the Midwest and 16 percent in the Northeast. There was a higher share of condos in investment sales: 27 percent of investment homes were condos vs. 21 percent of vacation homes.

Similar to 2008, cash factored strongly in the second-home market: three out of 10 vacation-home buyers in 2009 paid cash for their properties, while half of investment buyers paid cash. Fairly similar ratios for each group indicated portfolio diversification or good investment opportunities were factors in the purchase decision.

The typical vacation-home buyer in 2009 was 46 years old, had a median household income of $87,500, and purchased a property that was a median distance of 348 miles from their primary residence; 34 percent were within 100 miles and 40 percent were more than 500 miles.

Investment-home buyers last year had a median age of 45, earned $87,200, and bought a home that was relatively close to their primary residence – a median distance of 24 miles. Roughly one in four investment buyers purchased more than one property in 2009.

Three out of four second-home buyers were married couples.

Demographically, the long-term demand for second homes looks favorable because large numbers of people are in the prime years for buying a second home. It’s reasonably well known that people become interested in buying a second home in their mid 40s and there is now a  large number of people who are now in their 30s and 40s will dominate the second-home market in the coming decade depending on the economy.

Unfortunately, one thing that will stifle demand is the fact that mortgage lending for second homes remains extraordinarily tight.

Currently, 40.1 million people in the U.S. are ages 50-59 – a group that dominated sales in the first part of the past decade and established records for second-home sales. An additional 44.4 million people are now in the primary buying demographic of 40-49 years old, and another 40.6 million are 30-39.

Buyers were more likely to purchase investment homes within a metropolitan area, while vacation homes were generally located in a rural area, small town or resort.

Vacation-home buyers plan to keep their property for a median of 16 years while investment buyers plan to hold their property for a median of 12 years.

NAR’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows there are 7.9 million vacation homes and 41.1 million investment units in the U.S., compared with 75.0 million owner-occupied homes.

Note: NAR’s 2010 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, conducted in March 2009, includes answers from 1,930 usable responses. The survey controlled for age and income, based on information from the larger 2009 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, to limit any biases in the characteristics of respondents.

To a degree, some of those buyers undoubtedly told a little white lie in my opinion. While they may have checked the lifestyle box to explain their purchase and give themselves some comfort, I don’t doubt that a high percentage also see the property as a good investment, too.

As I’ve always said, if you are thinking of buying a vacation home, now would be a great time to enter the market….providing you are in for the long haul.

For a more in depth look at in’s and out’s of the  vacation home market take a look at my FREE report at www.BuyAnOrlandoVacationHome.com

The Celebrity Apprentice this week was right up our street…literally. The contestants were involved in an interesting challenge that revolved around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and they were charged with creating a 3 dimensional interactive display that children could relate to in order to attract families to Universal Orlando this Summer.

By now, any version of the Apprentice follows a predictable path; big large sponsor company designs a task that guarantees them maximum exposure while the apprentices flounder around trying to create something of a masterpiece with which to impress their corporate bosses. Usually we see teams falling apart and then amazingly they usually kiss and make up just as Trump enters the Boardroom and they profess undying love for each other “as everyone did their best”.

Naturally this charade lasts about as long as it takes Harry Potter to mount his broomstick as Trump announces the winner and the loser. The losers then take turns to bash each other until Trump is left with what is usually an easy decision to fire someone.

This episode was different however. It had a different dynamic.

The two team managers were put on a corporate jet… nice plug for the jet leasing company as they walked over the mat to the door … and had no clue where they were headed until Trump popped up on the TV and informed them that Orlando was the destination and that they were heading to Universal Orlando to do the research for their task.

While in Orlando each team manager was given a chance to communicate with the team they had left behind about the extent of the task and to grab as many ideas, not to mention  freebies, as possible to take back with them to New York.

The team managers for the task were Rod Blagojevich and Selita Ebanks and it soon became clear that one of them had a very distinct advantage. Blagojevich, you will recall, is the twice elected former governor of Illinois now accused of corruption and trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Obama. Ebanks, on the other hand, is one of the most sought after and respected models of her generation and it quickly became clear that she held the upper hand as she was able to text and email her team instructions back in the Big Apple while Blagojevich was quickly found out to be technically incompetent.

With no idea how to text or email Blagojevich was at a massive disadvantage and his first phone call back to his team was to effectively put rock star Bret Michaels in charge of the creative aspect and pretty much the whole task. In the end both teams did a pretty good job of the main task and both created a decent looking display but it was the attention to detail that cost the mens team dearly as they failed to understand the Harry Potter script and some of its nuances…with the team leader being the worst of the lot by failing to even understand the basic fact that the exhibit was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter rather than his “Wizard World of Harry Potter”.

So, Blagojevich was “fired” by the Don and it has to be said there was much to admire about his loyalty to Michaels as he simply refused to throw him under the bus by bringing him back to the boardroom. Ebanks and the ladies emerged the winner and with it, a nice $20K check to her charity in Sierra Leone.

Nigel Worrall & George Ross

It was also nice to see George Ross back as one of Trump’s eyes and ears and I have to say I was impressed with the savvy business skills of Erin Burnett, who was the other, as she homed in on the fact that the real reason the men lost was because of their failure to pay attention to detail.

Overall, a very decent episode for a change and at long last it seems that Universal Orlando are finally getting their act together and doing some marketing. Good to see.