Quote:
Originally Posted by eweissenbach
What Is deceptive is the way the homes are marketed. I have heard more than one Villages salesperson attempt to minimize or dismiss the impact of the bond. The developer made a decision long ago to charge the homebuyers a separate fee to pay for the infrastructure, rather than wrapping those costs in the price of the home as is done almost everywhere else in the world. The cost of the bond is actually more than if it were in the overall price of the house - it is charged a higher rate of interest, the interest is not income tax deductible, and paying off the bond does not theoretically, increase ones equity in the home. (I say theoretically because the seller can try to recoup that outlay, but they may or may not get a buyer to agree. The price can then be advertised as lower than the true cost by not including the bond. Good marketing strategy, but unless fully disclosed prior to a buying decision, it is dishonest and deceptive. I have wondered if the salespeople are being devious about the bond on their own, or if that is the way they are trained (I have worked with Tony Trussler and he is very open about the bond and how it works) BTW I don't hate the developers and admire what has been built here, but this is concerning to me.
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Agree. However, since the bond can be immediately prepaid, it would not be "actually more than if it were part of the house"-- IF IT WERE DISCLOSED BY THE DEVELOPER IN HIS ADVERTISING. As you correctly point out and as I indicated in my earlier post, the Developer's not disclosing the existence and amount of the bond is deceptive advertising and puts Villagers who pay off the bond at a competitive disadvantage when they resell their homes.
Do I think that the Developer will voluntarily disclose the bonds? Not a snowball's chance in hell.