6. What will things look like down the road?
"It's
important to look at a property and ask what this
investment and this
property are going to look like in five years, in 10 years,
in 20
years," says Peter Forsch, president of Spanish Peaks in Big Sky, Montana.
"We can tell prospective buyers exactly how many homesites there will
be and the
upper limit of golf members.
"I was playing
a course in California with someone
who had played it a
couple of years ago and at the beginning of the
round, he said how open and
beautiful it was. Then all of a sudden,
half the fairways were lined with homes.
So you need to understand
where the developer is going."
7. What is the membership like?
Colorado-based
golf-course designer Jim Engh recently moved
from Castle Pines to the
16th fairway at Pradera in Parker, Colorado, a community
with a course
he designed. "I look for how fun the membership is going to be and
what
the age of the members are, because kids are going to become an issue," he
says. "My kids are still young and I wouldn't want to join a place with
an older
membership that doesn't have many kids' facilities or
programs."
8. Is a brand new club the way to go?
"One thing about
new clubs is that you get to form your own
club and that's really a
cool thing," Engh says. "I was a member at a different
club and it
started to get just a little clique-y and stuffy. At Pradera I knew
we'd have at least five years of everybody getting to know each other
and
getting along with everybody."
9. What is the value of a membership?
Do members get
market value of their membership and do they
own the facilities? Buyers
might also want to consider whether their kids and
their parents are
attached to their membership. "Our memberships are structured
as
generational," says Meldman. "If I'm the member, my parents are members and
my kids are members. So if you're spending a lot of money on a second
home, you
feel like you're putting an investment in your family. If
your parents or your
kids can't use it without you, it seems kind of
silly to me."
10. What about the golf?
Does the club allow public or
resort play? These options may
trim dues, but they could also remove
the close-knit community feel of the
place. If you're set on a private
club, it's important to understand how it
works. Is it an equity club?
Who will run the club? The club's structure can be
a very good
indication on how fair the developer is. And make sure a test round
is
part of your due diligence. After all, golf is your primary activity, and you
will want to spend a lot of time on your playground after you buy. "You
should
be having a ball out on the course," says Engh.
