For Some, It Starts With a Friend

For Michele and David, recommending August was never a sales pitch. It came from something simpler.

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"It feels very natural to recommend something that has brought us so much enjoyment," they say. What made the difference, they explain, was honesty. "We've always tried to give a balanced and honest overview of both the benefits and considerations, so that our friends can make an informed decision for themselves."

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Mark remembers those early conversations clearly. "We had some in depth conversations with them about their experience, and they were incredibly open and generous in sharing their perspective. Hearing first hand about their experience, I would definitely say this swayed our decision making, or at least made it simpler to take the plunge."

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For Jan and Simon, it worked in much the same way. Asked whether hearing about August from someone they knew shaped their decision to join, their answer was immediate. "Yes, very much so. Having been able to see how well August worked for David and Michele gave us the confidence to buy ourselves."

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Mark has noticed the same pattern extended beyond this circle. "Friends of ours who have stayed at the properties absolutely love the concept." It is a small line, but a telling one: the trust that brought Mark to August has not stopped with him. It keeps travelling, one honest conversation at a time.

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What connects all three stories is not August itself, at least not at first. It is Michele and David: their honesty, their openness, their willingness to say what August is really like. That trust, once given, extended naturally to August too.

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Trust opened the door. What kept people interested was the model itself.

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Michele and David point first to the years of holidays it has given them. "I think our friends were first attracted by the fact that we've had so many wonderful holidays since we retired, almost all of which have been spent at our August properties."

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But it went beyond the holidays themselves. "The concept of a professionally managed shared property portfolio was particularly appealing. It offered all the benefits of owning beautiful holiday homes without the stress and responsibility that can come with managing a property independently."

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Jan and Simon describe the same relief in fewer words. "Having August look after everything makes ownership so easy."

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For Mark, the appeal was also about scale and choice. "The model appealed to us because of the range of locations, all of which are first class, and because it offered the opportunity to enjoy so much more home for our money than we could have achieved by purchasing alone."

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Three different households, three different reasons for saying yes. What ties them together is what August takes off their hands: the searching, the managing, the worry, so that what is left is to enjoy the homes, the experiences and the memories they create. 

However, ask any of the households what has mattered most since joining, and the conversation moves quickly past the practical.

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"Looking beyond the financial investment, which has been very positive for us so far, the greatest value has been the experiences and memories we've created through August," say Michele and David. "We also love being part of a sharing economy and the sense of community that comes with it."

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Jan and Simon describe what that community looks like in practice. "It is great having friends with a shared interest in the August community, there is always something to talk about and some great shared experiences. We have also met up with seven of the other members in our collection, usually over dinner in London or lunch in the South of France, which really enhances the ownership experience."

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Among friends, the sense of community strengthens already existing bonds. Jan and Simon shared, “we have stayed with David and Michele in their Valbonne villa and have also enjoyed using their Cotswolds home while they have stayed in our Barcelona apartment. It has been another great benefit of buying into a different type of collection to David and Michele, as it has allowed us to experience some of their homes while they have enjoyed ours”.

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It is one thing to talk about community. It is another to experience it, which is exactly what happened for Michele and David last summer.