TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #159 May/Jun 2018 | Page 17

TimeSharing Today
Page 17
May/Jun, 2018
Ground checkerboard.
in 2002. Their children, now grown, still
use the resort as a stop-off point for oth-
er travels. “Their names are already on
the deeds,” he says.
Access through exchange
While many resorts have increased
maintenance fees annually and made up
budget shortfalls through special assess-
ments, Magic Tree’s costs of ownership
remain stable and predictable.
The resort has a $2 million reserve
fund from which renovations and im-
provements are funded.
The only special assessment in its
history was a quarter-century ago: $125
per unit-week, payable at $25 a quarter
for fi ve quarters, to repave the parking
Demand for inbound exchange to
Magic Tree is usually high, but assum-
ing available space, Magic Tree has mul-
tiple pathways to exchange. The resort
holds RCI Gold Crown status, and also
participates in Dial an Exchange, Inter-
val International, RTX (Resort Travel &
Xchange), SFX (The San Francisco Ex-
change Company), and WIVC (World
International Vacation Club).
Among exchange guests who have
bought at Magic Tree after experienc-
ing its vibe are Jeff Beckman and Greg
Stevenson of Dugald, MB, Canada.
They initially exchanged into the resort
through WIVC, and then became Magic
Tree owners in 2016.
“We came with friends whom we’ve
known for years and years,” Stevenson
says. “Magic Tree is far more intimate
and encompassing,” Beckman adds.
“It’s the way we want to travel.”
Fiscal responsibility
Some of Beckman and Stevenson’s
friends with fi nancial acumen have bought
at Magic Tree. “First they looked at the re-
sort’s fi nancials, and they said ‘This place
is very well run,’” Stevenson reports.
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