After using my unit this week-end, it will be managed by Cobbly Nob Rentals.

I have had several resort rental units in Florida. The rental company has always been on site, but never owned and operated by the home owners association.

It is my considered opinion that the Home Owners at Deer Ridge do Not need to be in the rental business since it causes too many problems, and liabilities, for the owners.

I strongly believe that any board of directors that tries to oversee 3 separate entities, all at the same time: A Home Owners Association,
Rental Management Co. and a Real Estate Brokerage. would have too much to manage. Then, add in the fact that the same one person that manages our Home Owners Assoc. ALSO Manages the rental company and ALSO runs the real estate brokerage company. Then, consider that same person is also PAID to run all 3 and juggle the best interests of all 3…

Any Manager and Board Would Have a VERY hard time keeping the best interests of all 3 entities in focus. I have seen and heard our board go back and forth on matters of great concern regarding one or the other entity, while doing the best they can, it is very hard for them to make the hard decisions with the homeowners’ best interests solely in mind.

I truly believe we need to have our board FOCUS on keeping the property at Deer Ridge their ONLY Concern.

Let anyone you wish manage your rentals, but we need to get back to the real business at hand here of strictly managing our HOA and that, in my opinion, should be the SOLE focus of our board.

Neil Blair C-208

I spoke to Doug Sharp on the 13th of October. He was very accommodating and graceful in answering all 17 of my questions. Doug said he would have 3 quotes on new carpet, which we think our condo needs, available for us when we come down on November 11th for a weekend stay.

In addition, he will take care of the installation and hookup for a flat screen TV as well as the carpet that we want. He even has an arrangement with an electronics business where the products are cheaper than we could get elsewhere.

The breaks he gave us for coming over were just great! His goal is to assist us in making the move as easy as possible. I am very pleased with our conversation and we are really looking forward to working with Cobbly Nob. Thank you Robert for making this possible!

Wanda and Jim Goebel

If you are not happy for any reason with the rental company you are using, it would be so worth your time to contact Cobbly Nob Rentals’ General Manager Doug Sharp.

Robert Goodman did us the favor of choosing them, but after speaking with them just a few times, so much more has come out about their goals for us, their attitude towards owners (they feel it is our place and do not penalize us for using it) and their way of marketing our units.

Cobbly Nob is located on 321 near Deer Ridge and has always had walk-in traffic because of their location and restaurant. What I didn’t know, is that they have had requests about Deer Ridge rentals because people can see the units on the side of the hill as they are driving by and are wondering about rentals. It is an impressive sight and that is how I found it.

The major difference you have heard about is the percentage, but there is so much more to it.

Never have I spoken to anyone or any company in the rental business in that area that has had such an accommodating attitude towards the owners, as well as having the satisfaction of the guests so important to them. When I explained that there are some times during the winter season when our road is not navigable and what would they do in that situation, Mr.Sharp said they have 4 wheel drive vehicles there at their office and drive the guests up safely and also bring them down when needed. Would that be noticeable to a guest, or would they rather have a sign saying “road closed” and no way to get thru.If this service was ever offered by RML, I never heard of it.

Also, as with other rentals companies, Deer Ridge was always difficult to put into their rental company because of various reasons. It is the perfect time to try a company who has other units for rent and doesn’t depend on gouging only us for every little thing. Also the location is perfect for our guests and they get walk-in traffic as well and are earnest in building repeat customers. They are as happy about having the chance to work for us, as we are to have them. Have you ever heard that before?

Quite a different attitude than with the previous company. So yes, the percentage is better, but it is worth your time to contact Doug at Cobbly Nob and see what else they have to offer. Rentals and rental companies are changing in the Gatlinburg and area and it is time to go with a more updated company and their system. Deer Ridge is such a beautiful place it will be nice to get what it deserves traffic-wise.

Thank you again to Robert Goodman for qualifying this company for us all.

It makes no sense to me, to pay a 50% split, Plus the other fees levied, When ALL OVER THE GATLINBURG AREA, 90% of the other management companies do a very good job managing Cabins that are spread out over MILES and MILES for just 40%, Yet OUR OWN Management Co. NEEDS a 50% Split when all their units are within approx. 1000 FEET of each other….

I am Looking Forward to better Results and much Less Confusion, Much Less Chance for Mis-Understandings, Especially with those Differences Costing ALL OF US, not only LOTS $$$$ Of Needless Money Spent, But also much less Personal Friction…..

Thanks to Both Robert Goodman And Doug Sharp for giving all of us a Better Way to Handle our Business..

If the Assoc. Fess do Drop 35-40% It will also save most of us approx. 1,200.00 a Yr. and make these units sell better, creating a Demand for them, and Hopefully / Higher Market Prices ….

Signing Up Today, FINALLY a Choice, Finally Competition, And that is what Has Made This Country GREAT……..

Thanks for the note…I’m familiar with Themelis but haven’t met him…we get about 8,000 to 10,000 visitors a month to this small niche blog…so maybe he uses it as an example of what to do or what not to do!

Thanks for your interest and your comments. The main reason for the PowerPoint slide shows and the videos is to make our mission fit the requirements of YouTube. We now have 20 videos on our Deer Ridge Owners YouTube Channel.

As of now, we are already up to more than 4,600 uploaded views and 1,700 channel views.

You can check out the videos by clicking YouTube Channel For Deer Ridge Owners.

P.s. New Wifi/Remote Access thermostat from Trane/Schlage.
Control the AC/Locks/Lights from your office.

http://elitepublishings.hubpages.com/hub/ComfortLink

On the other hand, we have heard nothing but GREAT things about Jeff’s unit and his management style. He genuinely bends over backwards to ensure that his guests have a spectacular time – including no surprise “cleaning charges” like Ridge Management charges. I wholeheartedly recommend you rent from Jeff if you want to stay at Deer Ridge. His website is https://aboveparcondo.com – check it out and make your reservations at Jeff’s site.

The only issue I have with Jeff’s comments is with Trip Advisor. In an MSNBC article titled, “TripAdvisor warns of fake reviews” they had this to say:

Trip Advisor, the influential travel Web site, “has been quietly posting disclaimers to warn customers of hotels writing fake reviews to improve their popularity rankings or hurt competitors.” This is according to the AP and MSNBC. The article goes on to say that,

“The problem of policing online reviews is not limited to TripAdvisor…People early on were not playing games with it. Now there are lots of games. Tucker said travel industry insiders — but often not casual travelers — understand the financial incentives hotels have to artificially inflate their rankings on the site. Some offer discounts or freebies to patrons who write positive reviews or hire public relations companies who say they can improve the reviews.”

You can read the whole article by clicking http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31928795/ns/travel-news/.

Other articles cite how marketing and ad agencies are creating whole new departments on generating bogus reviews for travel related companies like hotels and motels. The bogus review business has apparently gotten so competitive that many marketing companies are outsourcing their bogus review writing and posting to cheaper, overseas locations so they can better price match all of their competition. There are even videos on YouTube on how to do this stuff.

It is my personal belief that many of these “good” reviews you will find for Deer Ridge are bogus.

For example, as mentioned above, Trip Advisor used to allow anyone to leave a review anonymously. Now, you have to set up an account…but as one of the YouTube videos shows, all you need is one of the free proxy sites, one of the free email sites like Google or Yahoo…and you can, in one day, create hundreds if not thousands of fake user accounts on Trip Advisor. Then, you can post whatever glowing report you want to have the World see.

It is my personal belief that many of these “outstanding” reviews may be done by the RML marketing and PR companies and Ridge Management personnel as a way of overwhelming the more honest and negative reviews. Again, I have no direct proof of this. But one thing that I wanted to accomplish with our special Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Review Page was to unbury the negative that have been obscured with these “good” reviews and accurately reflect what my wife and I hear in the parking lot and office on a monthly basis for the past two years.

Decide for yourself – or better yet – just rent Jeff’s unit for an outstanding experience by going to https://aboveparcondo.com

Based on the negative review posted here, the Owner of this unit is the problem, not Deer Ridge Management. Deer Ridge does have to own the linens and towels problem. However, the guest states that “Overall the unit needed to be refurbished”, this falls to the owner, not Deer Ridge. The guest states that the cleanliness was satisfactory.

I would attribute the majority of the overall small number of negative reviews of Deer Ridge to be the fault of the hand full of Deer Ridge owners that seem to think that you can neglect your condo and still have satisfied guests. These owners should not own investment property.

Deer Ridge is a beautiful facility in a superior location. The drive into Deer Ridge is beautiful and not littered with unsightly surroundings like many of the other area resorts. Deer Ridge is a great destination and it is unfortunate that a few of the owners don’t wish to take their investments seriously. Hopefully these owners have their units up for sale and we will get more responsible owners that care about their units.

Credit where credit is due.

See the following posting that was just made TODAY at the Condo Association blog at http://www.condoassociation.com/blog:

I got displaced from my condo unit due to a very bad house fire, which occurred on May 10th 2011 in Fairfield, CT. The fire caused major structural damage in and outside of my unit. This is a 4-unit condo where the builder is the principal of the condo. The damage is primarily to my unit and some to my neighbor’s unit. The builder owns the other 2 units that he has rented out (no fire damage to those units). The builder has not returned any phone call and can not be found at his house/business address since the fire. I called the insurance agent holding the master condo property insurance and they tell me that the policy was cancelled on Jan 31st 2009 due to lack of payment. The builder has been collecting common charges meanwhile which include condo master policy insurance premium. Clearly, the builder has misappropriated used those funds. Now, my family and I’ve a burned down house, we’re living in an apartment and paying a mortgage and a rent. The building is uninsured as of now. I’d like to understand the process of taking over the condo board so I can at least get insurance on the building. My neighbor and I combined have 50% ownership of the condo. My neighbor is also shocked due to this but is unable to help much because of poor health.

As an owner, Robert is entitled to view these documents even without a law suit. But because these bandits continue breaking the law, Robert apparently had no choice but to sue Joe etc. just to force them to abide by the rules. The court will force these folks to finally show us what they have been hiding for so long.

Has any owner ever had a look at the “Administrator’s Book” with supporting vouchers for this property?

If you are an owner and have had a chance to see the Book with the supporting vouchers, in the chronological format required by Tennessee state law, please reply here. We would all love to hear about your viewing.

BUT We, as “GGRC”, should not be in the Motel Business.

Any one that wishes to rent their unit has that freedom, BUT AGAIN, “GGRC HOA, We as a Group” have NO Business in the Rental Motel Management Business. We, as a Group, should not be in the Motel Management Business.

It cannot help but cloud the Board’s decisions that the board makes on HOME OWNER HOA BUSINESS, It is easy to see…

Since it is unfairly costing Non-Rental Owners lots of extra money every month, it is not going to stand up to the vote of a jury in lawsuit, so the Board is wasting all of our money fighting this. There are many management companies out there, and we are not required to subsidize them in any way… as we seem to be FORCED to do with RML.

Thanks, Neil C-208

Each and every Dollar of the Monthly Assoc. Fee should be for ONLY GGRC expenses, Any Spent on anything else is WRONG.

Show us the Money, an Itemized listing of ALL Monthly Funds..

When these records are seen in discovery, we will get to the bottom of all this..

Thanks, Neil C-208

A lawyer is really screwing us.

Fran in Florida

Great info Nonetheless…

I am not in favor of someone using my electricity either.

Doesn’t Each Walk Way have it’s own Common Area Outlet?

Did anyone ever put bolts in the E-walkway railing on the right side at the beginning of the walkway? I looked each day for 6 Days the last visit up there, I believe it was the very first one, the Test Railing….

Thanks again for the update, Neil C-208

I found this site by accident. Google gave it to me as #4 after I used just 3 words; mail tampering complaint, and there was something about a guy named Joe Thomas – doubt me? Go check

http://www.google.com/search?q=mail+tampering+complaint

I am guessing it is also your handwriting on those letters. Random people know about you. Do you know how hard it is to get ranked that high in search results? It is not easy, drop the lawsuit dude.

Your tomfoolery is amazing. Makes me glad I am in California, we have laws here that stop small minds from trying to create hassles for others. You are part of a *board* not a dictator. Maybe asking you to behave rationally is too much. Aim for acting human, it would be a good start