Monday, September 10, 2007

Want rumors? Here are some GREAT ones!

Rumor 1: All the rumors about Red Frog being financially unsound are being started by several people who already own property on the island and have villas built. They want to be sure they have the island to themselves, so they are spreading rumors so the project will fail. I know of one person who has made contingency plans to become self sufficient for about $50K, so that's why I know this is what's going on. Once Red Frog files bankruptcy and moves out, the property can be picked up for a song and the current residents can have their own sprawling estates at our expense!

Rumor 2: Wait! No, that 's not the story. Red Frog is spreading the rumors themselves so we all bail out, and then when the strike is over, they will be able to sell the lots and villas back at much higher market rates thus making even more money!

Those are pretty good, but how about this? NONE OF THEM ARE TRUE!

Scott is getting tired (as am I) of going over the same issues again and again. Here are his responses below one last time. Questions are from Jake's Red Frog Beach Forum. His responses are in CAPS below:

"...reports that there were 3 investor-types on the grounds with some of the RFB principals the other day. So they're working on it!" TRUE BUT NO MYSTERY HERE, JUST AS EXPLAINED IN THE NEWSLETTER, WE HAVE MANY VERY INTERESTED PARTIES AND WE ARE WORKING WITH THEM ALL TO DECIDE WHO WE ULTIMATELY WANT TO USE...

"...one of the posters says they have significant debt, unlike what we've been told. He used the term "severe cash crisis." WE HAVE LESS THAN 10% DEBT TO EQUITY SO THIS INFORMATION IS FALSE...

"Scott says they're not out of money; maybe he's just answering the question literally. I've also heard stories that they're not maintaining the villas that are under construction and vines are growing all over them and the mold is a real problem and isn't being taken care of because of the cost cutting." NOT TRUE ONCE AGAIN, WE HAVE PEOPLE ON THE GROUND WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF MAINTAINING THE VILLAS. ANY MOLD ISSUES THAT COME UP WILL BE REPLACED AS EVERYONE HAS A WARRANTY...

So what does this tell you? Either Red Frog is lying... If so, then why even ask them what's going on? If Red Frog isn't lying, then others are. And if anyone wants to believe either of the other 2 rumors I posted above, feel free to use them as your own. As for me, I want them to get back to work and finish my villa so I can spend some quality time on the Caribbean!

5 comments:

Chris3404 said...

Well that certainly hits the nail on the head!

Great examples showing how a ridiculous assertions can be made to appear quite beleivable. (Only 50K will make you self sufficient? - wow!)

Seems we have enough to worry about without making the situation worse by passing along erroneous information. Maybe this will calm things down a bit.

Mick @ Lot 83 said...

Chris,

I looked back through my e-mail from Ron and could not find the one referring to the "self-sufficiency" plan he had as a contingency. So the $50K is my best memory!

I am not sure what that includes. But it was his response to my assertion that he would be up a creek if Red Frog went under with its infrastructure.

Anyway, I'm back!

Eric@Lot 14 said...

I would like the strike to end and everybody to get back to work, but...
I would like new buyer's deposits to go into escrows. It is hard to justify big time prices without escrows. I want every villa or condo to sell for big bucks.
I would like there to be no more strikes and obtain a date when my villa will be completed that is real. If it is 5 years or six months from now, I don't care. I just want to be able to be ready or not sit on my hands if it is far into the future.
I would like a management company that is linked to many others so that we have rental customers driven to our site. I understand Red Frog is good at this, but having 1000's of ready customers would be even better.
I would like to have all the bugs worked out of the construction. For instance no outside sheetrock and no leaky roofs.

I could go on and on, but we have little choice, but to believe Red Frog has a lot more to lose if they go bankrupt than we do. Thus I will wait this out, knowing my loss will much less than their loss will be, if they fail.

Mick @ Lot 83 said...

Eric,

Your wish to put money into escrow might happen (as Red Frog alluded to in the previous conference call) but as Paul McBride pointed out in his Prima Panama Sympoisium, all we really have is a contract for an "option" to buy a property, not an actual purchase. Does this make sense?

Eric@Lot 14 said...

I don't know if it is an option. Can we exercise the option after the three years just for the lot if nothing else is there? If Red Frog does not build within the timeframe they guaranteed, I should be able to just buy the lot if it is an option. I think it is something less than an option.