I need purchasing advice!

[eal]

Take your time, do some research here and on tugbbs.com. There is no need to rush into any purchase until you are more clear about what you want your vacations to look like.

You should be able to rent from RCI's military site with no purchase or deposit for a very good price if your husband is with the merchant marines.

[wandering gnome]

Since you are traveling offeseason, you might want to check out skyauction, which is RCI means of disposing of their last minute rentals.

[hotwired]

Would this advice include getting "points" based TSs as well? Or do the nicer places, like Wyndham, Marriott, etc. do only "weeks" based programs? Also, does the free RCI membership come when you buy wyndham resale or only retail? (I'm very new, just started researching yesterday, so forgive my Xtreme Newbie questions) --

I also am from Maine - Hi MaineMamma -- Central Maine, Winslow. I was also thinking that it would be a good strategy to own something local, like Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, etc. so that if we wanted to go some place where points or weeks didn't work well ( a cruise, for instance), then at least we could take a quick, fairly cheap summer vacay by the ocean. However, someone on the forum told me that coastal Maine might not hold much trading power, and to focus on trading power FIRST. I thought Orlando would fit that description, but I'm hearing htat becuase of over built conditions, Orlando no longer has quite the trading power becuase it's easy to trade into now.

All that being said, what are the "hot" areas now, that might be good traders. (I have zero interest in skiing or golf, but love the ocean, Orlando and NYC)

[tonyg]

First thing is to rule out overbuilt or soon to be overbuilt areas- Orlando, Williamsburg, Branson and Las Vegas. Maine coast is great for trading- if it's a June thru September week, but if all you want is Orlando, Lake Placid and inland Northeast- a powerful trader is not required. There is always Cape Cod for good trade power.

[pgtime2]

Also, wherever you buy, consider buying prime time (red) only. Although the up front cost is higher, the ongoing cost (i.e. maintenance fees) are identical to blue or white time. Even though it sounds like you have the ultimate in flexibility in your schedule, there may be times in the future when you really want to travel during prime time, and want to schedule it in advance. JMHO, though.

BTW, I for one, enjoy the hunt of finding a great place to go and making an awesome trade; I don't think I'm alone in that.

Enjoy,

Paul

[dbwill]

A home time share within driving distance has worked well for us. We have older children living within 1oo miles of us and having a timeshare close at hand allows us all to get together on a periodic basis. We have enjoyed having a week with both children and grandchildren together.