A rude awakening

When construction first started on our cluster, George and I were surprised - and pleased - that our Casa Encantada looked to be on the fast track for completion. While our neighbors lamented the lack of progress on their homes, we watched in amazement as our home began to take shape.

But that was then and the this is now part isn't looking too good.

While our neighbors' homes shoot up, our home hasn't seen any significant progress since August. So little progress, in fact, that we didn't even receive a progress report from TCC this month. Bummer!

Of course, we're happy for our cluster neighbors and we share in their excitement as walls go up and ceilings go in. We're keeping our spirits up by telling ourselves there must be a method to the construction madness we're witnessing in Loreto Bay. Maybe work has stopped on our home so that the other homes in our cluster can catch up. That theory makes sense if the plan is to coordinate the cluster work so that crews are all working on the same phase of construction such as plastering, finishing, etc.

But, who knows? All we do know at this point is that there won't be much progress to see on our home when we get off the cruise ship in Loreto on December 17. But there has been real headway made on our cluster as a whole, the Paseo and amenities in Founder's, so it should be a good, albeit brief, visit.

Another recent setback experienced by some home owners - including us - was news that an offer to receive a discount from LB/Re:Play by paying off our homes early was rescinded shortly after being made.

An email was sent out to qualifying home owners (those who had made timely or early payments) on Nov. 19 detailing the terms of the offer. Although no guarantees of an early completion date were given, the deal would have saved us a good bit money and would have helped LB/Re:Play with their cash flow problems.

Unfortunately, just two days later news broke of Citigroup's financial problems and the offer was put on hold. And then yesterday the offer was officially rescinded in an email from Re:Play's Bill Green, who didn't offer any specifics as to why.

The end result of the non-offer is that we're left scratching our heads, wondering if our investment in Loreto Bay is secure. For the most part, we believe it is because the project is too far along now to simply abandon. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the next year of so.

And don't even get me started on the Marriott project next door! I'll save that for another blog.