Advice needed. Interested in purchasing HGVC property

[GoIrish1]

Hello -

I am brand new to this site and totally new also to the vacation ownership club world.

My wife and I attended a presentation at the Hilton Grand Vacations Las Palmeras last week. We were not interested or intending on buying anything (just there for the free gift ). However, we were VERY intrigued with the whole thought of becoming an owner. We have 3 kids ages 11-8 and try to take them on at least a 1-week trip somewhere each year.

So...questions.

1) Does it make more sense to purchase a property from a reseller vs direct from HGVC?
2) Are there any additional benefits (other than 1 time bonus incentives) from purchasing via HGVC?
3) What would be the minimum amount of points I should consider? If more info is needed to help determine this, please feel free to ask.
4) We were already planning on going to Hawaii over this coming New Years. If we pull the trigger on buying into HGVC...will we even have a property available to us on the Big Island for the week of Jan 1 - 8?? If so, how many points would we be looking at?
5) How does HGVC compare to Marriott's Vacation Club? What is important to me is: flexibility, availability and total cost of ownership.
6) What should I be concerned about? Hidden costs? Difficulty in booking when we want to go somewhere specific? Ability to resell if we "want out"? Etc?

Again, I am incredibly green to this whole thing so I truly would appreciate any and all advice and feedback you may have. I'm sure I'll have more questions, but will start here.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[presley]

1) Does it make more sense to purchase a property from a reseller vs direct from HGVC?

Yes and I recommend Judi Kozlowski

2) Are there any additional benefits (other than 1 time bonus incentives) from purchasing via HGVC?

No

3) What would be the minimum amount of points I should consider?

7,000 if you want one week in a 2 bedroom, more if you want a 3 bedroom.

) We were already planning on going to Hawaii over this coming New Years. If we pull the trigger on buying into HGVC...will we even have a property available to us on the Big Island for the week of Jan 1 - 8?? If so, how many points would we be looking at?

It probably won't be available. That is a high demand travel time. The cheapest 2 bedroom that I saw was 7,000points but they can go as high as 14,000 points.

6) What should I be concerned about? Hidden costs? Difficulty in booking when we want to go somewhere specific? Ability to resell if we "want out"? Etc?

Lots of extra fees. There are club dues every year. If you book anything other than your home week reservation you will pay additional fees. If you trade out for RCI exchanges or anything else, you will have additional fees.

Ability to resell varies, but most places will take a few months to over a year to sell. You will not get anywhere near what you paid for it, unless you buy a very cheap resale. You may recoup your purchase price for some of those.

If you click on the Advice link at the top of this page, you will find articles all about Hilton and how to use it.

I don't know how it compares to Marriott, so I didn't answer that. I do very highly recommend that you don't consider buying for a very long time. You can rent from other owners in the meantime to see if you like the properties.

 

[GoIrish1]

Thanks for the initial feedback presley. Regarding renting from other owners...can you recommend a site that is best for looking at available properties??

 

[Talent312]

1) Does it make more sense to purchase a property from a reseller vs direct from HGVC?

Presley said: "No."
---------------------
I'm pretty sure he meant: "Yes. Of course, you should purchase from a reseller instead of direct from HGVC.
You'll save at least 1/2 to 2/3 of HGVC's retail price by purchasing from a reseller. HGVC prices are off the wall."
The only thing you don't get by buying resale is eligibility for elite status at 14K points.

IMHO, you could get by with 5000 points, if a 1BR works, or if you're willing to go off-season or LT 1 week.

.

 

[SmithOp]

Booking for the first week of 2018 opens up next week for Club Season (276 days before check out). The best (cheapest point cost) will go first. There should be some left at 6 months, it could take up to 3 months to complete a resale purchase.

With three kids you may need a three bedroom, some properties do not have those. Kid may be sleeping in the same bed or on the couch with a two bedroom. Some two bedroom offer two double beds in the second bedroom.


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[Sandy VDH]

Christmas and New Years are event weeks in Hawaii. Which means those owners have bought those specific week and that get automatically booked for them every year. Now they could go and cancel that booking and go somewhere else in a given year, but you have no idea if and when those cancellation are going to happen. So getting a New Year eve week can be a bit tough, but not impossible.

 

[silentg]

First thing, Join TUG. Second look at Bargan Deals and TUG Marketplace. I have bought from other TUG members and have some pretty nice timeshares. You may want to rent first before buying. Three stay away from Sales presentations, they will offer you lots of perks, but really not worthwhile. Good Luck !
Silentg

 

[Sandy VDH]

Look at your inbox up at the top right. I started a conversion with you up there regarding New Years in Hawaii.

Cheers.

 

[2disneydads]

Thanks for the initial feedback presley. Regarding renting from other owners...can you recommend a site that is best for looking at available properties??

You also should look at RedWeek.com. There are more rental and sale listings on RedWeek. You will get a good idea of rental and resale prices and about resorts. The TUG resort reviews tend to be more recent and more comprehensive, but I think that RedWeek is better for rental and sale options.

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[rahulgopi]

Last (2016) Christmas / New years I was at Big Island ( KingsLand ). I booked it around Sept 2016 time frame. Here is my take on availability

1) Initially I got a 1 bedroom for 5 days on my stay. I made a second reservation when some other dates showed up. I keep modifying both the reservations until I have all the 15 days .
2) Around 30 day window, there were more availability as who ever wants to cancel do so to avoid loosing points. I was able to get the 2 Br + / 2 Br Pre units I wanted. There were few units that showed up during the time frame I was looking.

Bottom-line is, as others pointed out, these are event weeks and there are no guarantees. BI have a better chance of getting a unit between the 3 (soon to be 4 ) resorts, and one may have to keep checking the site often. You will need a backup plan ( I had an II unit at Paniola Greens as backup ) , for booking air line tickets etc.

 

[Afam Naper]

Hello -

I am brand new to this site and totally new also to the vacation ownership club world.

My wife and I attended a presentation at the Hilton Grand Vacations Las Palmeras last week. We were not interested or intending on buying anything (just there for the free gift ). However, we were VERY intrigued with the whole thought of becoming an owner. We have 3 kids ages 11-8 and try to take them on at least a 1-week trip somewhere each year.

So...questions.

1) Does it make more sense to purchase a property from a reseller vs direct from HGVC?
2) Are there any additional benefits (other than 1 time bonus incentives) from purchasing via HGVC?
3) What would be the minimum amount of points I should consider? If more info is needed to help determine this, please feel free to ask.
4) We were already planning on going to Hawaii over this coming New Years. If we pull the trigger on buying into HGVC...will we even have a property available to us on the Big Island for the week of Jan 1 - 8?? If so, how many points would we be looking at?
5) How does HGVC compare to Marriott's Vacation Club? What is important to me is: flexibility, availability and total cost of ownership.
6) What should I be concerned about? Hidden costs? Difficulty in booking when we want to go somewhere specific? Ability to resell if we "want out"? Etc?

Again, I am incredibly green to this whole thing so I truly would appreciate any and all advice and feedback you may have. I'm sure I'll have more questions, but will start here.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

I would not recommend buying. We have a 2 bedroom at Seaworld during platinum week. You can go on hotels.com/booking.com and get a 2 bedroom at a pretty cheap rate almost anytime you want.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I would not recommend buying. We have a 2 bedroom at Seaworld during platinum week. You can go on hotels.com/booking.com and get a 2 bedroom at a pretty cheap rate almost anytime you want.

Orlando is OK to buy as MFs are low, Vegas are lower. However, Orlando is one of the worst places to use your point unless it is a holiday. Because of the over supply and actual demand in Orlando, the only time there is ever a premium in demand is during Holiday weeks. Holiday weeks are the ONLY time I would use my points in Orlando, Now using that same 7K in Hawaii or CA, you get more value out of the points.

Buying at a location, vs using at a location are different decisions.

 

[Afam Naper]

Orlando is OK to buy as MFs are low, Vegas are lower. However, Orlando is one of the worst places to use your point unless it is a holiday. Because of the over supply and actual demand in Orlando, the only time there is ever a premium in demand is during Holiday weeks. Holiday weeks are the ONLY time I would use my points in Orlando, Now using that same 7K in Hawaii or CA, you get more value out of the points.

Buying at a location, vs using at a location are different decisions.

Good to know, I won't use my points in Orlando again.

 

[presley]

Presley said: "No."
---------------------
I'm pretty sure he meant: "Yes. Of course, you should purchase from a reseller instead of direct from HGVC.
You'll save at least 1/2 to 2/3 of HGVC's retail price by purchasing from a reseller. HGVC prices are off the wall."
The only thing you don't get by buying resale is eligibility for elite status at 14K points.

IMHO, you could get by with 5000 points, if a 1BR works, or if you're willing to go off-season or LT 1 week.

.

Talent is correct. I speed read the sentence and thought the question was asking if it makes more sense to buy from developer. I will fix my other post.

 

[DazedandConfused]

If you take out Orlando and Las Vegas, then only Hawaii is left?

Park City is limited for 14 weeks of skiing and will probably be hard to book during that time and it is super cheap to rent there in the summer.

Where does it make sense to use HGVC points and how hard are they to use during the 0-9 month window (ignoring Orlando and LV)

 

[Sandy VDH]

In addition to Hawaii, this is Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head during the summer, California anytime, Miami and Gulf Coast if you can find some inventory, during January to April timeframe.

 

[Afam Naper]

If you take out Orlando and Las Vegas, then only Hawaii is left?

Park City is limited for 14 weeks of skiing and will probably be hard to book during that time and it is super cheap to rent there in the summer.

Where does it make sense to use HGVC points and how hard are they to use during the 0-9 month window (ignoring Orlando and LV)

If you take out Orlando and Las Vegas, then only Hawaii is left?

Park City is limited for 14 weeks of skiing and will probably be hard to book during that time and it is super cheap to rent there in the summer.

Where does it make sense to use HGVC points and how hard are they to use during the 0-9 month window (ignoring Orlando and LV)

They are starting to have a huge listing of international resorts in Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Italy, and Thailand. In the US, there collection in California has grown around Carlsbad, CA.

 

[PigsDad]

Don't forget about Breckenridge!

 

[OMC]

We are finally reaching the point of purchasing (resale for sure) and I seem to be leaning more and more towards the higher point units in Hawaii. MF seem to be in the .13 or .14 mf/p range which I realize is higher than Vegas but does not seem that much higher. With all the extra fees on resale now, it seems to make more sense to go larger right out of the gate than to try and add an additional smaller unit in the future. We have three boys and often end up taking three weeks in a combination of early January and early March.

 

[2disneydads]

We are finally reaching the point of purchasing (resale for sure) and I seem to be leaning more and more towards the higher point units in Hawaii. MF seem to be in the .13 or .14 mf/p range which I realize is higher than Vegas but does not seem that much higher. With all the extra fees on resale now, it seems to make more sense to go larger right out of the gate than to try and add an additional smaller unit in the future. We have three boys and often end up taking three weeks in a combination of early January and early March.

You likely will find that initial cost in Hawaii is higher than the initial cost in Las Vegas, so I would be sure to confirm what is the best deal after 5 or 10 years. We have a combination of bigger contracts and smaller ones. I would focus on larger contacts if I were doing things over. We've never regretted our HGVC, MVCI or DVC purchases. I'm not liking VSE, though. Not as easy a system to use.

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[brp]

They are starting to have a huge listing of international resorts in Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Italy, and Thailand. In the US, there collection in California has grown around Carlsbad, CA.

True. For example, we are using Vegas points to stay on the Big Island for Thanksgiving (lots of availability - walked the reservation a bit, but didn't need to). But I looked to see if there was availability ion Scotland at that time - and I saw very affordable point rates.

Cheers.

 

[GT75]

We are finally reaching the point of purchasing (resale for sure) and I seem to be leaning more and more towards the higher point units in Hawaii. MF seem to be in the .13 or .14 mf/p range which I realize is higher than Vegas but does not seem that much higher. With all the extra fees on resale now, it seems to make more sense to go larger right out of the gate than to try and add an additional smaller unit in the future.

I was in exactly same position. I calculated that I needed to add more points to my portfolio. After studying what seemed to be available to purchase, I determined that KL phase I 2-bdr in platinum season for 14,400 points and MF/point ratio of 0.1133 was best for me. With only one purchase, I was able to save 1 set of closing costs from the two smaller point purchases. I made that purchase late last year so that I didn't have an issue with ROFR either.

 

[md8287]

[QUOTE="2disneydads, post: 1986209, member: 11283]
We've never regretted our HGVC, MVCI or DVC purchases. I'm not liking VSE, though. Not as easy a system to use.

I agree with VSE system. Just as I figured out the system under Starwood, VSE is changing things that weren't broken. Ugh. We are getting out of VSE other than Cancun, Atlantis and Hawaii.