Holiday Property Bond

Seronera

budgetflyer wrote: »

I paid £700 for my timeshare, sold it for £800

Must have been a belter then. Rather puts the HPB in the shade..;)

Seronera

Ihatelyers

So let me get this straight

I invest £15,000 and I imediately lose 25% so my cash is now worth
£11,250 (I have lost £3,750) And not only that but it remains worth about the same for ever so inflation actually de-values my money as well

For this privalige I now pay £100 in management fees every year

I do get the benefit of choosing maybe 2 holidays and for the points I have I can get 1 holiday in peak season abroad which costs me about £450 for the accomodation plus there is still the flights to pay for which would be a grand for me the wife and 2 kids. And it is self catering so for my £450 plus £1000 I get no food and drinks.

Why would I do this when I can book an all inclusive for the whole family for £2000 which includes flights, meals and drinks in a similar location at the same time of year.

For my second holiday I probably have enough for a shack in the middle of knowhere out of season in the freezing cold in England. But for this privelige I will be charged £350 at least and even out of season

And i have to book these holidays at least 12 month in advance ? Or else i get the stuff that is from the bottom of the pile that no-one else wants.

No bla bla bla thank you

budgetflyer

For £2000 you are not getting the same hotel, service with your All inclusive. Thats why there are 5 star hotel and there are 1 star hostels.
Some people just want a bed and to use as a base, others want a complete luxury experience and are happy to pay.

If people who have "invested ?" in HPB think its value then thats good enough for me.
I was perfectly happy with my resale timeshare.

Must have been a belter then. Rather puts the HPB in the shade..

Seronera

Its "new" price from developer was over £7K per week btw and the choice of exchanges into 5* resorts through RCI , and Dial an Exchange was incredible . However needs must- it had to go

ChrisM_2

If all you are concerned about is a financial investment that is going to bring you a high return, and are not interested in quality accommodation in a wide range of locations at home and abroad, plus the fantastic service of the on-site staff, then HPB is certainly not for you! I cannot imagine why anyone would look at it that way. HPB is all about the holidays, not making a quick buck.

Glad to hear you were successful with your timeshare sale, though Budgetflyer! But how long had you had it, and how much have you made on it in real terms when you consider what that money was worth when you bought it compared to now?

budgetflyer

That was exactly my point ChrisM , I was responding to Ihatelyers post regarding "investment".You need to look beyond the initial ££s. You are buying into a "lifestyle".
My only issue is when people are "hard sold" these products. Instead of paying "retail" if you buy "resale" then you have the EXACT same product but possibly at 10% of the price.
Regarding my timeshare, we had it 5 years and always got excellent value from it. We could not stay in the quality of accom we stayed in at the price of our management fees.

ChrisM_2

Thankfully HPB don't do 'hard sell'! They advertise only in appropriate media, and I can confirm that there is absolutely no pressure once you have expressed an interest. We were left entirely to ourselves once we had been to an open day, and it was up to us to get in contact if we decided to go ahead, having been given all the appropriate information. This was 5 years ago, and I don't know whether things have changed, of course. But HPB have not so far suffered in the recession, so I don't imagine they have had to change their tactics.

dzug1

budgetflyer wrote: »

I paid £700 for my timeshare, sold it for £800

Well yes - you did well. But how do you account for the frequent stories of people who paid 5 or 10 times what you paid and struggle to get out of it even paying someone to take it off their hands?

Not all timeshare is bad - but enough of it is to make people wary of it.

budgetflyer

I cant account for that. After all these years, all the publicity and horror stories, people still fall for the "ooh you've won" scratch card sales ploy

Its a bit like walking into a car showroom and buying the top model at the full retail price, complete with their "gold protection and service package" at a high APR to finish off.

A more savvy buyer would maybe buy a year old "nearly new" one and save 40/50%.

However the "new" buyer may like buying new, so really they should maybe haggle down the cost a bit. ie 10/15%

After 10 years and lots of costly maintainance, the car might be only worth 10% of its original cost. We accept that but are horrified when the same happens in the "timeshare" market.

The HPB seems to keep its price quite well compared to other holiday ownership schemes, but really its just a dressed up timeshare scheme imo

Lower_North

Another way to look at HPB is that it provides discounted holidays. We had a week in a apartment in Spain with HPB, cost c£250. Then had a week at same site but private apartment (not enough HPB points). This cost £400. So in effect for every week you use you get £150 discount.

I also agree that the quality of the sites and support is very good.

Seronera

Ihatelyers wrote: »

So let me get this straight

I invest £15,000 and I imediately lose 25% so my cash is now worth
£11,250 (I have lost £3,750) And not only that but it remains worth about the same for ever so inflation actually de-values my money as well

For this privalige I now pay £100 in management fees every year

I do get the benefit of choosing maybe 2 holidays and for the points I have I can get 1 holiday in peak season abroad which costs me about £450 for the accomodation plus there is still the flights to pay for which would be a grand for me the wife and 2 kids. And it is self catering so for my £450 plus £1000 I get no food and drinks.

Why would I do this when I can book an all inclusive for the whole family for £2000 which includes flights, meals and drinks in a similar location at the same time of year.

For my second holiday I probably have enough for a shack in the middle of knowhere out of season in the freezing cold in England. But for this privelige I will be charged £350 at least and even out of season

And i have to book these holidays at least 12 month in advance ? Or else i get the stuff that is from the bottom of the pile that no-one else wants.

No bla bla bla thank you

I think thats a legitimate comment, if not strictly accurate, and the short answer is we have done done both..but always self catering..we don't like full board. I've never booked an HPB holiday 12 months in advance. My employer for the previous ten years would never allow it, so I don't know where you get that from. We average about a 4 to 6 month lead time. There is no 'bottom of the pile' with HPB, I just don't understand what you mean. Even the small properties are nice. If you choose to go out of season then there are bargains, but that applies to any holiday.

If its that bad a deal how come the sell back rate is tiny, and the satisfaction levels from bondholders stays incredibly high, and the high proportion of bonds that are passed on to children and grandchildren. The whole point is never to sell, so the loss is never realised, so it never happens, and the bond retains the investment. win win really, but not if you sell obviously.

Personally I can't stand the thought of an 'all inclusive' holiday at any price. I'd rather go camping, and still do now and again.

If its not for you, then fine, nobody will twist your arm, and if you are the 'all inclusive' type of holiday maker, then its whatever floats your boat, but please don't try and pretend that HPB is anything other than a great success. If it were anything else it would not have survived and thrived this long, and I would not still be a happy bond holder after 24 years or so.

We do meet and talk to other Bond holders you know, and if there were any disatisfaction with it, we'd soon get to hear, and so would the management of HPB as some bondholders come from very prestigious business backgrounds, and would not be backward in coming forward if something was up.

It isn't 'cheap' as its not meant to be cheap, and this is a concept some on here have difficulty with. Not everybody wants 'cheap'. I love the locations, the overall quality and the superb friendliness of the service and staff I have encountered wherever I have been.

That is what I want from holidays. I'm not going to accept being told its all an expensive con when it patently isn't.

Seronera