inflation Tag

11 Aug Revenge Travel

Posted at 15:38h in Equity Estates by Equity Estates

A record number of eager travelers are finally getting back to long awaited getaways. We’ve witnessed this travel trend with our own investors at Equity Estates. The travel media has dubbed this “revenge travel.” The revenge being directed at the pandemic and its subsequent travel restrictions that brought international travel, group vacations, and epic celebrations to a screeching halt.

Now that travel constraints are being lifted, eager tourists are sparing no expense to plan long-awaited, much-needed vacations. This includes family reunions, milestone celebrations and return visits to favorite destinations with family and friends as travel-starved Americans have triggered a surge in tourism.

See a few articles I’ve recently read about this trend:

Having just returned from an unforgettable milestone birthday celebration with my beautiful wife, I can say I’m fully on board with this concept. The trip was a poignant reminder of why it’s important to invest in the assets that matter most – family. It’s also why we’re experiencing such success at Equity Estates. Recent times put a spotlight on the importance of vacationing together in quality homes. It also placed Equity Estates at the forefront as a savvy investment opportunity allowing our investors to build memories that last a lifetime.

As we sailed through the first half of 2022, I proudly look back on the last year and consider just how far Equity Estates has come since its inception in 2006. Thanks to our straightforward investment model, our dedicated and growing team, and incredibly loyal and astute investors, we’ve not only survived but flourished through an economic recession, a global pandemic, and a series of natural disasters. After fifteen years of successfully refining our model to best serve our investors, we are now veterans in the luxury travel space.

As our funds have grown over the last two decades, so have the travel options we offer.

Three Ways to Travel with Equity Estates

Let me suggest three ways to exact the most epic travel possible through Equity Estates.

KOKO Yacht– open to non-investors, click here to learn more.
Expeditions & Excursions– exclusive to investors and reciprocity partners
Equity Estates Residences– exclusive to investors, their friends and family, and reciprocity partners

KOKO Yacht

Our affiliated company, Equity Estates Marine Management, LLC is delighted to announce KOKO, a 72-foot, Italian-built luxury motor yacht sailing out of St. Martin to St. Barts and Anguilla with the BVI and other Caribbean islands available upon request.

I am excited to share KOKO Yacht is open to non-investors of Equity Estates.

Click here to learn more about chartering KOKO.

I had the privilege to travel aboard KOKO earlier this spring. It is absolutely an adventure of a lifetime to witness the endless million-dollar views from this luxury yacht. Aboard KOKO, the five-star Equity Estates experience is delivered by a skilled and personable captain, dedicated head steward, and a talented private chef who whips up snacks and fresh meals from locally sourced goodies all day, every day, at your beck and call.

Life aboard a private yacht is unparalleled to any Caribbean experience. Having three devoted crew taking care of fun, food, and drinks from the moment you wake to the second you retire for the night is nothing short of divine.

We spent an afternoon navigating the calm aqua waters on paddleboards as the stew taught slalom skiing off the yacht’s tender. Our front row seats to amazing marine life while snorkeling in the Captain’s secret spots were unbeatable. I brought hand selected wine from my cellar and the chef skillfully paired them with creations reminiscent of a day in wine country… while afloat of course.

To experience a day in the life aboard KOKO, I invite you to click here to explore.

Expeditions & Excursions

After a decade of studying our investors’ travel habits and preferences, we expanded our bucket-list travel options by offering Equity Estates Expeditions – once-in-a-lifetime trips in the company of fellow Equity Estates investors.

Our investors indulge their wildest vacation dreams with incomparable trips including:

South African Safari, Victoria Falls and Cape Town
Danube River Cruise/Oktoberfest
Family Glamping in Yellowstone
Tour of Tuscany
The Galapagos on a Private Yacht
Botswana Safari

In July, we welcomed over 30 of our investors to Johannesburg where they kicked off a world-class expedition and safari in South Africa. By private charter we flew investors to two renowned game reserves where they spent six unforgettable days in luxury accommodations in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and witnessed “The Big Five” of Africa (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo).

In addition to the bespoke safari, an optional trip allowed investors to marvel at the sights of Victoria Falls and fly by private charter to Cape Town to experience the stunning cliffs of the Cape of Good Hope and hand-picked activities specific to each family’s activity level and preferences.

We’re pleased to announce survey results are in, and investors ranked this once-in-a-lifetime experience a 9.6/10 all around. We’re currently mapping out 2023 and 2024 expeditions with several exciting bucket list adventures in the running.

It’s been a huge success executing unforgettable trips for our investors where they earn bragging rights to adventures few ever experience while forging new friendships with fellow investors. We invite you to click here to peek at these magnificent trips.

Equity Estates Residences

No matter what Equity Estates residence you travel to, you will absolutely delight in the comfort of a luxury private home, outfitted like your own so you can spend every minute of your vacation, on vacation.

Our residence portfolio includes access to homes in over 25 global destinations, and we continue to add new luxury residences. Every detail of our investors’ 20,000+ trips are planned from door to door by our devoted Personal Travel Concierges.

Speaking of doors, when investors arrive at Equity Estates homes, the local host greets them at the front door (or upon request conducts a FaceTime tour) with a fully stocked fridge and tour of the residence which is provisioned with over 85 consumables. The Local Host is on-call throughout each trip to accommodate or amend your itinerary and answer any questions.

Every home is outfitted with luxurious linens, towels, bathrobes, and upscale toiletries. Our kitchens are equipped for a chef (which we also arrange for investors) with top-of-the-line appliances and cookware. Quality furnishings, WiFi mesh systems, Sonos sound speakers and outdoor living amenities enhance each home. Every vacation in an Equity Estates residence is a five-star experience. To see how and where our investors travel with a vengeance in their luxury residences, visit our destinations page.

Introducing Fund VI

In summary, it’s been a busy sixteen years at Equity Estates, with 2022 being a milestone year of record growth both through the rapid sell-out of Fund V, the addition of many new team members, the launch of Fund VI, exclusive safaris and expeditions, and what could be the most epic travel benefit we offer to both investors and non-investors, KOKO Yacht.

We would welcome an opportunity to discuss why now is a great time to invest in Equity Estates. If you are ready to learn more about Fund VI, now’s the perfect time to speak with a member of our Investor Relations team before our Phase I pricing sells out this summer. We’d love to share with you all the delightful benefits of becoming an investor.

Call us at 404.445.8501 or click here to schedule an appointment with one of our Investor Relations Team members.

Until next time, safe travels!

Philip Mekelburg
CEO, Equity Estates

05 Dec The Best Hedge Against Inflation

Posted at 15:09h in Equity Estates by Equity Estates

Thanksgiving is a time for family, gratitude, and reflection.

To start with, I feel incredibly grateful to have just returned from a week at the Equity Estates residence in Hilton Head Island. It was amazing to have my 79-year-old mother join my wife and children for this trip. She heavily influenced my love for the beach. Boogie boards and picnic baskets were daily summer activities growing up near the south shore of Long Island. Just hearing the ocean brings back great feelings for me.

Additionally, I feel also grateful for the many successes our business has experienced over the past 18 months, including:

Fund IV selling out in record time
Fund V launching and breaking escrow in record time
Higher than expected results for Fund I’s initial liquidations (38% higher so far)

For better or worse, the global pandemic has put an economic and lifestyle spotlight on what we’ve been doing at Equity Estates for fifteen years. It’s both humbling and rewarding to see this type of investment resonating with so many people.

Recently, we’ve been asked questions about inflation. It’s a topic dominating conversation pretty much everywhere. Industry experts can’t seem to stop talking about it. Prospective investors want to understand the impact of inflation on our business model. In what ways does it influence our residence acquisition strategy? Do we foresee it affecting potential future returns?

Real Estate is a Good Hedge Against Inflation

The bottom line is that inflation is surprisingly good news for Equity Estates investors.

Let’s start with the reality of inflation. It’s here and it seems to be growing. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged a few weeks ago that inflation pressures “are likely to last longer than previously expected,” noting that they could run “well into next year.”

See below for a few articles that I found in a quick search:

People are continuing to look for ways to diversify their holdings to ride out a possible downturn in the financial markets. Real estate has always been viewed as a good hedge against inflation. Luxury real estate, however, is proving to be a particularly attractive vehicle for those who can afford it. According to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, the median list price for a single-family luxury home was $1,812,500 in October 2021 – a 7.5% increase over the same time last year. Compare that figure to the 6.2% increase in U.S. consumer prices over the past year as recently reported by the U.S. Labor Department. This would suggest that luxury real estate appreciation is outpacing consumer price inflation.

We honestly believe both are being under reported based on anecdotal observations.

What will happen to Fund V? Well, we won’t know for sure for another 10+ years. It is very exciting, however, to see the impact inflation is having on appreciation – it is pushing double digits in desirable luxury markets. We believe this will continue for a while thanks to both continued inflation and sustained, high demand.

Even so, I sometimes scratch my head at the astronomical prices we see for some luxury residences. Our buying strategy has had to morph to meet the new market dynamics — we know how to win competitive bids for the right homes. By the way, if you are interested in learning about our three keys to successful acquisitions in any macroeconomic climate, including this one, feel free to read my blog from March 2021 on Finding Good Buys in a Seller’s Market.

Market timing is extremely difficult when it comes to real estate. We will never be able to predict exactly what may happen. Which is precisely why our private offering’s strategy is a long-term hold of carefully selected assets. Collective asset ownership (which is what our Luxury Residence Fund model is essentially) offers diversification, a hedge against inflation, and an outstanding way to enjoy a large and expanding portfolio of $2 to $5 million homes for a fraction of buying just one of them.

Fund V is the Best Selfish Hedge Against Inflation

Hopefully, you agree with my statements that (1) inflation is here, and (2) real estate is a good hedge against it. Now let’s go one step further. I’d argue that Equity Estates Fund V is the best “selfish” hedge against inflation. Selfish in that you’ll get a ton of personal enjoyment out of this investment. Fund V investors will experience 10+ years of amazing vacations. I’m proud to be an investor in multiple funds, including Fund V. It’s been the best investment of my life thanks to the dozens and dozens of memories I’ve created with my family and friends.

For me, Thanksgiving and the holidays are a time for family, gratitude, and reflection. Join us at Equity Estates, and we’ll promise you extra helpings of memories. Then, when you reflect on your decision to become an investor, you’ll be grateful for making a deservedly selfish choice, too.

When was the last time one of your financial investments planned a luxury vacation for you?