New to timeshare ownership- help please!

[mshatty]

Originally Posted by lnelson

Thanks for pointing this auction out. I have been watching a number of them on EBay trying and get a feel for pricing. There was a 1,000,000 point MB Wyndham package that went for $9,000 last night. I still don't have a good feel for pricing yet so I will continue to monitor.

It also becomes a question of how deep do I want to jump in on this. The 1,000,000 point program carried with it about $4,800 in annual maintenance fees. I need to make sure that I really understand what our family needs and how we would use it before we take on something like that.

A few related questions: It seems like there are two approaches that can be taken; one is to buy a big (1,000,000) package and hope that this is really what you want, or the other is to test the water with a 300,000 package (which of course brings with it much smaller maintenance fees) and make sure that the points timeshare strategy works for the family. The question is, are there advantages/disadvantages to owning one 1,000,000 point deed vs. owning 3 or 4 smaller packages that total the 1,000,000 points? It depends on your needs. If you have a large family that wants to be able to reserve a large presidential unit at a specific resort at a particularity hot week during the ARP period, then maybe you want a 1,000,000 points at that resort. On the other hand, if you are going to use your points at lots of resorts at the 10 months to check in period, then your home resort may not make as much difference. One thing about having 3 or 4 resorts, you spread your MF liability among 3 or 4 HOAs. One of the HOA may have a special assessment and the others don't. There are some resorts that have better MFs than others. Part of your Wyn education may be to learn about those.I understand that the closing, title, and transfer costs will be duplicated for each deed but other than that, is there any difference when it comes to using points or any other consideration?Buying a Wyn timeshare is buying real estate. Therefore, there has to be a deed, recording of that deed and then having the ownership/contract/deed transfer from Owner A to you in Wyn's records. All of these steps involve fees. Wyn's fee to transfer ownership from A to you is $100. The other closing fees are normally paid to a closing company who handles the deeds and recording them. Also, the closing company may act as escrow agent to hold the deed and your money until all things are completed. The closing company charges from $300 to $500 for this service.

One other question: I can't figure out what "fairshare" means. "fairshare" is actually the name of the Wyndham points program. The official name is Fairshare Plus or FSP.I understand the Wyndam and Fairfield (all one now) but is fairshare a specific program within these companies or is it something different?Fairfield changed its name to Wyndham Vacation Resorts. Again, FSP is the name it gave its timeshare point program.

Thanks again for helping us navigate this new world of timeshares. Those of you who have recommended that we eduate ourselves before jumping in have offered good advice that we are trying to follow.

See my comments in red.

[Carolinian]

If you are buying in MB, use a SC attorney to prepare deeds, not a closing company located elsewhere. These out of state closing companies regularly screw up NC timeshare deeds, and SC is probably not very different. If I remember correctly, SC is like NC in that it is a violation of criminal law for someone not the buyer or seller and not a licensed SC attorney to prepare a deed.

[rikkis_playpen]

Generally, when I have a resale buyer new to the Wyndham system looking to acquire a large allotment, I recommend making a few purchases of reasonable sized deeds.. Your risks may be less..

As stated earlier, your m. fee risk will be spread out over a few resorts. Plus, if you later find the program is not for you or you over purchased- you'll have the ability to sell some of your points and reduce your ownership. Finally, large point deeds can be more difficult to sell than say a 154k or a 203k. With the bigger point totals, you will be limited to buyers that want that amount (and the m. fees that go with it)..

Good luck!

[lnelson]

OK, a few more question for everyone- With the Wyndham points program, how long do you have to use the points until they expire? Are their options or strategies for if you have points nearing expiration?

Thanks to the good advice from everyone thusfar, I bought a 294 point package on EBay the other night for Wyndham Ocean Blvd. It was bought for 5% (95% discount) of the "discounted" rate that the developer offered us during their sales presentation. I guess there might be some valid reasons to consider resales! I am not sure if this is the best Myrtle Beach property to own but if I understand it correctly this gives me advance booking advantage for any of the Wyndham properties. Is this correct?

I live in central NC and would like to look at adding maybe 100,000-200,000 points to one of the western NC properties. The Wyndham options seem to be Sapphire, or Lake Lure. Smoky Mountains in TN does not seem to be to much further. Any thoughts on which is the best of these to own/nicest to stay at?

Thanks,

Larry

[Jya-Ning]

Originally Posted by lnelson

OK, a few more question for everyone- With the Wyndham points program, how long do you have to use the points until they expire? Are their options or strategies for if you have points nearing expiration?

Thanks to the good advice from everyone thusfar, I bought a 294 point package on EBay the other night for Wyndham Ocean Blvd. It was bought for 5% (95% discount) of the "discounted" rate that the developer offered us during their sales presentation. I guess there might be some valid reasons to consider resales! I am not sure if this is the best Myrtle Beach property to own but if I understand it correctly this gives me advance booking advantage for any of the Wyndham properties. Is this correct?

I live in central NC and would like to look at adding maybe 100,000-200,000 points to one of the western NC properties. The Wyndham options seem to be Sapphire, or Lake Lure. Smoky Mountains in TN does not seem to be to much further. Any thoughts on which is the best of these to own/nicest to stay at?

Thanks,

Larry

I like Smoky Mountain. But each person has his (her) own taste. You do able to get home resort advantage on Myrtel Beach at 13 month. At 10 month, it is everone's game.

Point is good for 1 year. There are ways to extend its life. One (put into credit pool) has to take action before the use year starts, so you will not be able to do that this time, maybe for next year's point. The other is to rent it out. The 3rd one is to deposit them to exchange company(ies).

Jya-Ning