Good offering, great staff, and you certainly pay for it
I went for a tour (with a few other family members) on Saturday... here are my thoughts in no particular order
- It did feel fairly unfinished, with the tour guide having to explain what a few outdoor areas should look like, it seemed we were also only allowed in 1 apartment as well (I think we had another tour group or someone having to wait outside until we were finished as our group asked a fair few questions I felt, hence took longer... if they were all finished, why couldn't they have gone into another one I wonder...). We were also not able to see Level 2 - the care suites... despite the above, I feel the build was very well done (high quality) and had some well thought out features in it.
- The show apartment felt fairly cramped (in some places) if I am honest, not terribly cramped, but a little tight around the bedroom areas for my liking, but I suppose they have to do this to squeeze as many as possible in, and it is a small site at the end of the day. ARV's units down the road I toured a year and a bit ago felt a bit more roomy.
- I like how there will only be about 100 residents... this is a smaller offering I feel those will prefer to the hundreds and hundreds (perhaps thousand(s)) of residents filed into sum other villages (where walking to and from your apartment feels more like you are transiting through an airport terminal)... in return, these smaller more niche villages (alot of ARV's are also like this by the way) will be more costly (ie higher unit prices), but, in my view, it is worth the additional cost (and there are certainly enough people who can afford this offering)
- The care suites [all and only on level 2] of which there are 40 odd start at $290k (I think it was this, 2 something) and go to $650k, the apartments of which there are 64 I think start at $750k (well $850k if you exclude the one 1 bedroom unit [lol] and go to $2.5m)... the DMF (same for both care suites and apartments I think) was pretty much the most expensive possible - 3 years, 10% each year, 30% total (ARV down the road was 30% for their apartments as well, but 7.5% over 4 years)
- They have sold over 25% of the apartments, with the first residents moving in this week (two weeks later than previously announced "late may" move in date for the first residents). I didn't think this was terribly strong, but I felt interest was very strong so things will fairly swiftly take off from here. I doubt any settlements were in FY19. Of interest, ARV's village's apartments which were finished just over a year ago (25 or so I think) were sold for an average price of $997k, I would like to think OCA's average sell price will be more around the $1.3-$1.4m mark, helped by a few top end units priced at $2.5m. The lowest priced unit (1 bedroom - of which there is only 1 [lol] is $750k). All the rest are 2 bedroom or 2+ bedroom. I personal would have liked to see a few more 1 bedrooms, but this may have come at the cost of 2 bedrooms (which start at $850k - $100k more than the one 1 bedroom unit) and hence would have reduced the amount OCA receives.
- I was intrigued with the Oceania's '3 month guarantee' where if the resident doesn't like their unit/village within this period, they can leave and get the money they paid or their unit back (I can't remember the exact name at this moment they used for it but there was a little stick on each book)... is this an Oceania wide initiative? If so, I would have thought this was mentioned in the booklet, not just a small sticker I had to inquire about.
- Another person on our tour did point out (to the group) their is no pool... I nearly felt like interjecting and telling her she could consider the Arvida village down the road if one wanted a pool ;)
- Afterwards, we had a good chat to the village manager where we went down to see the underground carpark and further my understanding of the care suite side of things (although was not allowed to go see a show care suite on that day) ... their isn't a dementia part of this facility, but there is the other 2 levels: Rest home and hospital level, so this is pretty good... I nearly felt like mentioning that if one wanted Dementia level care, they [OCA] could recommend that person head 1km ish down the road to ARV's village [Aria Bay] which will soon have this (as well as rest home, hospital, serviced apartments, independent living units).
Overall, I was impressed by the village and the village staff and pleased by the interest supposedly expressed. I do not think it is cheap at all, given I live in a 2 story 5 bedroom house with a great sea view, less than 2km away from the village, and on one of the most desirable streets in browns bay (so they say), and it is 'only' worth $1.5m (in today's market), but given the villages niche offering and desirability it will likely still sell well.
Disclosure: Before I am accused of favoring ARV heavily, please note I own substantial amounts (for me anyway) of both ARV and OCA, although do have a higher holding in ARV... I have been a shareholder of both since day 1 of their respective listings.