advice on buying first timeshare

[hotwired]

Hi Maryh -- no we haven't done much in the way of reasearch buecause I just started researching monday. Before monday, I knew literally nothing, other than the basics. This is why I'm asking as many questions as possible to expose the "holes" in my understanding so you wonderful folks will help me fill them. Here's where my opinions are forming though, and please bump me left or right if I'm off base.

1. First, we would probably NEVER go ANYWHERE specific even 50% of the time. I cannot imagine in a million years picking the same place, even 2 out of 5 years, although we DO want to "finish off" Orlando, we will maybe go there 2 out of the next 5 years, but then that's it. Once 7 year old daughter is out of nest, wife and I would possibly hit Key West a few times, but even then that's not definite as we have a list of global goals, so to speak. We want to do a couple of train vacations too (Machu Pichu, Canadian Rockys, California coast) - so we also have some travel planned that we might not be able to use our points / weeks for.

2. Because of #1, there really is no TS location that would be perfect, because there is no geographic location that would be perfect.

3. Because of #1 and #2, my thought is to get either points or weeks attached to coastal, summer Maine -- weeks 25-35 would be ideal - mid June through end of august, though up to week 39 would be nice too. BEFORE I thought of this, I'd found hundreds of decent Florida weeks for 0-$3,000 - coastal, summer Maine (Ogunquit / Wells) are mostly 5-7K, but good MF ($300-$400). This way, if we take a vacation and don't use our points for it, we then have a quick summer getaway that requires only gasoline and food. And if we did not use it, it would be quite easy to rent to friends or people locally.

4. Now my BIGGEST confusion is between points and weeks. I understand the basics, but it just occured to me ... aren't points points?? In other words, if I decide to go with points based TS, does it even matter where I buy?? In other words, can't I just buy 100k points which will get me 100k points worht of TS anywhere ? Or does location STILL come into play with points?

Thanks again -- I hope I'm not wearing you all out!!

[tchr54]

Hi folks,
I am a newbie here and I hope you will forgive me if this isn't the proper place for this question. I have heard a lot about buying resale, unfortunately a couple of years too late for us, but when you buy resale do you also get the housekeeping credits?
Thanks,
Ed and Kay from
the Slow-Me state
of Missouri

[rikkis_playpen]

I'll assume you are referring to a Worldmark ownership..

Housekeeping credits with that program do transfer to the resale buyer. There were some grandfathered contracts that get free housekeeping- but those have become very hard to find...

Other programs may also charge housekeeping fees. You'll want to research the specific programs for details on each one.

[Lisa P]

Originally Posted by hotwired

1. First, we would probably NEVER go ANYWHERE specific even 50% of the time.

Then a points-based ownership would probably work out better for you than a straight weeks-based ownership, although a Marriott may be an option with its many locations. Take a look around at the various (points-based?) programs and see if any of them include most of your desired timeshare destinations. You've mentioned Orlando, Washington DC, Grand Canyon, NYC, London, Paris in the next 10 years. Wyndham, RHC and Marriott would be good starts when looking at their website listings of resorts, maybe Sunterra/DRI?

I understand your idea about possibly using your local, drive-to, home resort in some years but if it's been converted to RCI points, you'd still need to plan ahead, to use your home resort.

Originally Posted by hotwired

... aren't points points?? In other words, if I decide to go with points based TS, does it even matter where I buy??

Yes, RCI Points are RCI Points and yes, where you buy matters... because of the maint fees associated with the ownership. You could purchase something for a high price, with high maint fees (perhaps due to insurance or amenities costs) and only get a small number of RCI points. Or you could purchase something at a much lower cost with low annual maint fees and get more points. Regarding RCI Points, most people seem to aim for 1 cent annual maint fees per RCI Point. Some like the idea of getting into a short term lease on RCI Points (just three years) to try it out. Look for the ads for Club Trinidad Resort and you may find those. Twin Rivers in Colorado is also putting together a lease program for adding PFD (Points-For-Deposit) to increase the total RCI Points at a very reasonable price per point. So if RCI Points appeals to you, consider starting with something like that, to get your feet wet with minimal start-up costs and a limited term of commitment.

If you decided that you wanted to own a regular week or points within a large, independent, mini-system (not an exchange company like RCI) where you reserve directly at various resorts within that system (no exchange fees), that's quite different from RCI Points. That'd be more like Wyndham, RHC, etc. The "best one" will depend on how you'd use it and where you want to go with it. So take your time and look around some more. Also, the exchange fees charged by II (Interval Int'l) and RCI Points are ~$139 domestic. With RCI Weeks, it's $164 domestic, more for international exchanges. With internal exchanges, inside of mini-systems, the reservation fees vary, anywhere from $0 (like Wyndham, WorldMark, and HGVC, I think) to ~$99, generally always less than the big exchange companies charge. II and RCI also change an annual membership fee, ~$80/year, regardless of the number of timeshares you own. A few of the smaller external exchange companies don't charge a membership fee, only an exchange fee. All these fees can add up but you only pay for what you use and the fees are normally lowest with internal systems.

Also, I don't know what price you were offered at the sales pitch but a good resale with one of the companies mentioned in this thread will likely run ~$100-$3,000 for annual ownership purchase. I'm guessing that the difference you'd save would more than cover a higher maint fee than what you've mentioned (which sounded, btw, like an offseason week to me, or EOY Every-Other-Year ownership with half the dues paid annually). But even if it has low maint fees and you like the place, only buy a resale there, probably for 75-90% less than the developer asks. If you want it in RCI Points, verify whether you'd have to convert the ownership to Points and find out the cost of doing so before you make an offer to buy. Conversion to RCI Points can cost a few thousand at some resorts, a real ripoff.

Since you mentioned DVC, you'd want to note that the people who are most satisfied with their DVC memberships are those who use them for DVC vacations every year. It's really way too expensive to use as a trader. Since you don't plan to go back to Disney but once, it's definitely not a good option for you. HTH.

[BocaBum99]

Originally Posted by hotwired

Hi Maryh -- no we haven't done much in the way of reasearch buecause I just started researching monday. Before monday, I knew literally nothing, other than the basics. This is why I'm asking as many questions as possible to expose the "holes" in my understanding so you wonderful folks will help me fill them. Here's where my opinions are forming though, and please bump me left or right if I'm off base.

1. First, we would probably NEVER go ANYWHERE specific even 50% of the time. I cannot imagine in a million years picking the same place, even 2 out of 5 years, although we DO want to "finish off" Orlando, we will maybe go there 2 out of the next 5 years, but then that's it. Once 7 year old daughter is out of nest, wife and I would possibly hit Key West a few times, but even then that's not definite as we have a list of global goals, so to speak. We want to do a couple of train vacations too (Machu Pichu, Canadian Rockys, California coast) - so we also have some travel planned that we might not be able to use our points / weeks for.

2. Because of #1, there really is no TS location that would be perfect, because there is no geographic location that would be perfect.

3. Because of #1 and #2, my thought is to get either points or weeks attached to coastal, summer Maine -- weeks 25-35 would be ideal - mid June through end of august, though up to week 39 would be nice too. BEFORE I thought of this, I'd found hundreds of decent Florida weeks for 0-$3,000 - coastal, summer Maine (Ogunquit / Wells) are mostly 5-7K, but good MF ($300-$400). This way, if we take a vacation and don't use our points for it, we then have a quick summer getaway that requires only gasoline and food. And if we did not use it, it would be quite easy to rent to friends or people locally.

4. Now my BIGGEST confusion is between points and weeks. I understand the basics, but it just occured to me ... aren't points points?? In other words, if I decide to go with points based TS, does it even matter where I buy?? In other words, can't I just buy 100k points which will get me 100k points worht of TS anywhere ? Or does location STILL come into play with points?

Thanks again -- I hope I'm not wearing you all out!!

I would recommend a points system with lots of resorts you would like to stay that is also an effective exchanger.

To pick a point system, you need to first decide the quality class you care about. If you are a high end person, then look into HGVC, Starwood, Hyatt, even Marriott if you travel a week at a time since it isn't points yet.

If you don't need the higher end resorts with the much higher maintenance fees, then look at the mid tier resort groups like Bluegreen, WorldMark, Wyndham, VI, Shell, Diamond, RCI Points, etc.

Find resorts you like first, then evaluate the maintenance fees and total cost of ownership and total cost of exchanging. What will happen is a picture will form in your mind's eye and one or more of the above will stand out. That is the one you should drill down on.

Once you've got a resort group, you can ask us questions about the best way to buy such a timeshare and how to use it most effectively.

[BocaBum99]

Originally Posted by rmitchell

Remember that you may be stuck with only going to the place you buy and it's forever. Buy where you want to go to every year. Your children may also be stuck going there forever after you die by rules of the contract. Timeshares are a lot like nail fungus. They're hard to get rid of.

If this is your experience, then you need to hang around this board and learn the techniques required to sell your timeshare quickly.

I never buy a timeshare expecting to keep it longer than one year. Once you learn how to sell a timeshare, you can buy and sell and adjust your portfolio as often as you like. If you do it right, you can travel for free this way. The key is learning how to sell a timeshare quickly. You do that by learning which timeshares are marketable and where they are sold. Then, just learning how to write an agreement, verify an ownership and work with a closing company is all you really need to flip timeshares like pancakes.

[Jya-Ning]

Originally Posted by tchr54

Hi folks,
I am a newbie here and I hope you will forgive me if this isn't the proper place for this question. I have heard a lot about buying resale, unfortunately a couple of years too late for us, but when you buy resale do you also get the housekeeping credits?
Thanks,
Ed and Kay from
the Slow-Me state
of Missouri

For Wyndham, yes, you do get the corresponding HK credits. And you also get free transactions if you pass next 77k (each 77k gives you one free transaction)

Jya-Ning