Creating a Bluegreen Vacation Club knowledge thread

[Bill4728]

Boca, What you did here is exactly the kind of start needed for a bluegreen FAQ thread.

Why Bluegreen Vacation Club

1. The Bluegreen Vacation Club® (BVC) is a very well designed Point system with over 40 resorts in the Midwest, East Coast, Hawaii and the Caribbean. Bluegreen resorts have nice units of all sizes with low maintenance fees, which translates into a great vacation value for you. There are no fees for booking reservations and no additional housekeeping fees for partial week stays.** Many resorts with Oceanfront units have specific point values for such units so that you can be assured to receive a room with a view. These standard features of ownership are often times only available in VIP programs for other point systems.

2. BVC trades with all exchange companies including Resort Condominiums International (RCI), RCI Points through Points for Deposit, Interval International (II), San Francisco Exchange (SFX), Dial and Exchange (DAE), Hawaii Timeshare Exchange (HTSE) and many others. The relatively low maintenance fees make the Bluegreen Vacation Club a very effective ownership for timeshare exchange. Bluegreen allows owners to book the week of their choice for deposit into any exchange company.

3. There is no additional fee for allowing guests to use your booked reservations. Owners are allowed to rent those reservations, gift them to friends and family or make them available for the Bluegreen rental program, which all owners can access. By renting your excess points on your own or through Bluegreen, it is possible to have those rentals cover your annual maintenance fees with extra points to spare.

4. The Bluegreen Vacation Club® is growing rapidly to increase your vacation options. In addition to the over 40 resorts in the Midwest and East Coast, the Club now has access to over 18 resorts in the West Coast of the US through its new Select Connections feature. And, the Club adds or expands upon current resorts every year with plans for more 3, 4 and even 5 bedroom units for large traveling groups.

 

[icydog]

Boca (Jim), If we could start a similar forum to the one you run over on Timeshare Forums it would be a wonderful asset to those of us who only frequent Tug...Thanks

 

[TUGBrian]

if there are enough people, ill create another subforum like disney has. and if it reaches enough posts, it can join the main page with the rest of the resort forums. (disney isnt quite there yet, but its coming along)

 

[sdwrdt]

if there are enough people, ill create another subforum like disney has. and if it reaches enough posts, it can join the main page with the rest of the resort forums. (disney isnt quite there yet, but its coming along)

Count me in as wanting a Bluegreen subforum!

 

[iapetus79]

if there are enough people, ill create another subforum like disney has. and if it reaches enough posts, it can join the main page with the rest of the resort forums. (disney isnt quite there yet, but its coming along)

I just joined TUG - is there a bluegreen forum somewhere ? i can't seem to locate any bluegreen specific threads here.

thanks !

 

[DeniseM]

Welcome - Yes, it's this forum:

All Other Timeshare Systems
Discussion of other timeshare systems that do not have dedicated forums (e.g. Hyatt, VRI, Bluegreen, Westgate etc.)

 

[Plink]

BG Forum

I'm in. I have bought several off ebay. I love Bluegreen even if I don't have the "extras". We have oh I think 26k annual points and run out every year!

 

[Plink]

BG

I read where one of you talked about selling to current owners, and let me tell you. I don't care what they offer you, it's not worth attending. Those guys are worse than used car dealers that hide your car. I used to think, "oh, I'll listen to their "owner update" for $100 an hour". Um no, it's not worth it. Everything but the sales people are great! You can even sense the divide within the workers of the actual resort with the sales people. Bluegreen seems to treat their resort workers good which you can the pride.

 

[csxjohn]

I just joined TUG - is there a bluegreen forum somewhere ? i can't seem to locate any bluegreen specific threads here.

thanks !

Bluegreen doesn't get too much ink here but specific questions will be answered.

There are a couple face book groups dedicatied to BG but be careful. Many there feel that newbies should buy direct from BG to keep the corportion strong so you may not get unbiased info there. One of the groups is a head in the sand bunch that doesn't want anything posted except good things about BG so if you have an issue, that's not the place to express it.

 

[StuckInKS]

Is the account # the same as week/unit? They both consist of 6 numbers & 1 letter, but the account # are NNNNNNL and when I see unit/weeks on eBay resale listing they are always NNNNL/NN. I have 4 contracts in my account, 3 @ 4k and 1 @ 8k. Are these likely to be partial weeks? Resort is Innsbruck Aspen. Just trying to determine more about the underlying units.

Also, I know my Trust Fund is E, but I don't know the type. If I buy any Trust Fund E (usually Type A & Y are listed), will it still be just the one base fee per year?

 

[nuwermj]

Is the account # the same as week/unit? They both consist of 6 numbers & 1 letter, but the account # are NNNNNNL and when I see unit/weeks on eBay resale listing they are always NNNNL/NN. I have 4 contracts in my account, 3 @ 4k and 1 @ 8k. Are these likely to be partial weeks? Resort is Innsbruck Aspen. Just trying to determine more about the underlying units.

Yes, the account number included the week and the unit. However, each resort has a unique coding structure, and I don't think members have deciphered the whole thing.

Your accounts are surely partial weeks, as the lowest point total for a full week at Innsbruck is 19,000 points--the 4k accounts may be single days. (It's down right criminal the way Bluegreen is selling Innsbruck.)

Also, I know my Trust Fund is E, but I don't know the type. If I buy any Trust Fund E (usually Type A & Y are listed), will it still be just the one base fee per year?

Yes, only one base fee for all accounts in Trust Fund E. That trust fund has only the two sales types. Sales Type Y has the annual MF due in November; Sales Type A has them due on the unit's anniversary date.

I've read that, if one owns Sales Type Y and added a Sales Type A, the Type Y points are changed to Type A and you will be charged a pro-rated sum for MFs when the transfer is finalized. For example, say you have 10,000 points coded as Type Y and you acquire 5,000 Type A points with a July anniversary date. You will have paid annual MFs of $899 in Nov. 2016 on the 10,000 points. The new anniversary date for these points is changed to July 2017 and you will be billed for the eight months (Dec 2016 through July 2017) and in July you will get the annual bill for all 15,000 points. Needless to say many people are surprised when this unfolds.

 

[StuckInKS]

Yes, the account number included the week and the unit. However, each resort has a unique coding structure, and I don't think members have deciphered the whole thing.

Your accounts are surely partial weeks, as the lowest point total for a full week at Innsbruck is 19,000 points--the 4k accounts may be single days. (It's down right criminal the way Bluegreen is selling Innsbruck.)

Wow! Luckily I didn't buy it for Innsbruck and it was free resale, but that may hurt if I ever decide to sell.

Yes, only one base fee for all accounts in Trust Fund E. That trust fund has only the two sales types. Sales Type Y has the annual MF due in November; Sales Type A has them due on the unit's anniversary date.

I've read that, if one owns Sales Type Y and added a Sales Type A, the Type Y points are changed to Type A and you will be charged a pro-rated sum for MFs when the transfer is finalized. For example, say you have 10,000 points coded as Type Y and you acquire 5,000 Type A points with a July anniversary date. You will have paid annual MFs of $899 in Nov. 2016 on the 10,000 points. The new anniversary date for these points is changed to July 2017 and you will be billed for the eight months (Dec 2016 through July 2017) and in July you will get the annual bill for all 15,000 points. Needless to say many people are surprised when this unfolds.

So that means I must be Type A since my renewal is March. So, if I buy Type Y then all MFs will be due March?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Egret1986]

I'm a new BG resale owner. I just received my Vacation Club account number. I've been a timeshare owner (fixed deed weeks) for 30+ years. I jumped blindly in when I purchased this ownership like a newbie might do, knowing absolutely nothing about what I was buying. The location, size unit and week number all were favorable for me.

I own a biennial even year 2BR Wk 52 with 21,000 Pts at The Hammocks of Marathon. First usage is 2018. However, when I registered my account tonight, I found that there is a balance of 10,380 pts available for 2017, which expire at the end of the year. Does BG have anything that will allow me to extend these points or is there some other option for using these points other than vacation exchanges? These are basically a bonus that was not expected with the transaction, but if they can't be extended or utilized in some other way, then I guess they will just expire.

In trying to research BG tonight, I saw that there are "active forums where points are bought/sold." Would I have any luck in selling these points? Where can I find these active forums?

I attempted to go to RCI through the BG portal, and I got an error message that the System wasn't able to identify the Vacation Club in which I'm a Member. I am currently an RCI Weeks and Points Member. It was stated in another post that resale owners get RCI as part of the Club dues. Do I contact BG to get this worked out? How does it work? I reserve a week at my owned resort and deposit it into RCI? Is this deposit in Weeks or Points? I don't see myself ever depositing this prime week with RCI.

If I book a reservation and allow a Guest to use it, is there a fee to place a Guest on my reservation?

If I use my week 52 (which I understand must be booked 12 months from check-in), do I have to book the 2BR? Or if I only want to book a 1BR for week 52, then I assume that will change things and I would have to try to book availability at 11 months instead; correct? What would be my chances in getting a reservation in the Ultra Red timeframe for this resort if not booking my own week/unit?

Yes, only one base fee for all accounts in Trust Fund E. That trust fund has only the two sales types. Sales Type Y has the annual MF due in November; Sales Type A has them due on the unit's anniversary date.

My ownership is in Trust Fund E, Sales Type A. What determines my unit's anniversary date (when MF is due)? Since the ownership is biennial and the points are split for 2018/2019, are the dues split and paid each year vs. paying the full amount on the even year anniversary date? I bought having no idea what maintenance fees are at this resort. Should I contact the resort or BG to find out what the most recent MF was in order to prepare myself?

I'm curious where one might look to find realistic sales pricing on this ownership. I've looked around where I know to look, googled and found very few resales available for this particular resort and number of points. I found some outlandish prices on some reseller sites.

As I stated, I bought knowing nothing about BG or this ownership. It seemed reasonably priced for the resort, number of points, size of unit and time of year. I pulled the trigger.

I appreciate any input.

 

[youppi]

Home reservation is not 12 months as per somebody told me (11 months + 60 days = ~13 months)
You can find some infos (links, RCI exchange grid, BGV forum, ...) in the BGV section of my published spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q6Aor4xU89_QW7c6W_2Y5m0s4ektnyY3fymikyD0HBU/pubhtml#

 

[JohnPaul]

Where do I find the Shell knowledge page mentioned in the first post. Thanks!

 

[Egret1986]

Home reservation is not 12 months as per somebody told me (11 months + 60 days = ~13 months)
You can find some infos (links, RCI exchange grid, BGV forum, ...) in the BGV section of my published spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q6Aor4xU89_QW7c6W_2Y5m0s4ektnyY3fymikyD0HBU/pubhtml#

Thank you, Luc. I look forward to delving into it. Thanks for the heads up on the 13 months.

 

[Egret1986]

.... when I registered my account tonight, I found that there is a balance of 10,380 pts available for 2017, which expire at the end of the year. Does BG have anything that will allow me to extend these points or is there some other option for using these points other than vacation exchanges? These are basically a bonus that was not expected with the transaction, but if they can't be extended or utilized in some other way, then I guess they will just expire.

Found through some research BG site that Points can be "saved" for one year with a $60 (phone) fee and a $50 (online fee). There's supposed to be a "Save My Points" button, but I don't have one for these points expiring 12/31/2017. Would that be because these points are ineligible to save? I emailed BG regarding this.

In trying to research BG tonight, I saw that there are "active forums where points are bought/sold." Would I have any luck in selling these points? Where can I find these active forums?

By doing some research, I found links to a few of them; though, I haven't had time yet to go into any of them.

I attempted to go to RCI through the BG portal, and I got an error message that the System wasn't able to identify the Vacation Club in which I'm a Member. I am currently an RCI Weeks and Points Member. It was stated in another post that resale owners get RCI as part of the Club dues. Do I contact BG to get this worked out? How does it work? I reserve a week at my owned resort and deposit it into RCI? Is this deposit in Weeks or Points? I don't see myself ever depositing this prime week with RCI.

If I book a reservation and allow a Guest to use it, is there a fee to place a Guest on my reservation?

So far, I haven't found anything that states there is a fee to place a guest on the reservation.

If I use my week 52 (which I understand must be booked 12 months from check-in), do I have to book the 2BR? Or if I only want to book a 1BR for week 52, then I assume that will change things and I would have to try to book availability at 11 months instead; correct? What would be my chances in getting a reservation in the Ultra Red timeframe for this resort if not booking my own week/unit?

Informed that it is actually 13 months, not 12 months.

My ownership is in Trust Fund E, Sales Type A. What determines my unit's anniversary date (when MF is due)? Since the ownership is biennial and the points are split for 2018/2019, are the dues split and paid each year vs. paying the full amount on the even year anniversary date? I bought having no idea what maintenance fees are at this resort. Should I contact the resort or BG to find out what the most recent MF was in order to prepare myself?

From looking at the maintenance fee history, it looks like I will be billed 12/1/17, with the due date 1/15/18 for half the points (10,500). It looks like with Club dues, property taxes, and mf that it will be about $1060 per year.

I'm curious where one might look to find realistic sales pricing on this ownership. I've looked around where I know to look, googled and found very few resales available for this particular resort and number of points. I found some outlandish prices on some reseller sites.

No luck on this yet, though there's plenty more places to research now.

As I stated, I bought knowing nothing about BG or this ownership. It seemed reasonably priced for the resort, number of points, size of unit and time of year. I pulled the trigger.

I appreciate any input.

 

[nuwermj]

(1) Does BG have anything that will allow me to extend these points or is there some other option for using these points other than vacation exchanges?

(2) Would I have any luck in selling these points? Where can I find these active forums?

(3) Do I contact BG to get this worked out? How does it work? I reserve a week at my owned resort and deposit it into RCI? Is this deposit in Weeks or Points? I don't see myself ever depositing this prime week with RCI.

(4) If I book a reservation and allow a Guest to use it, is there a fee to place a Guest on my reservation?

(5) If I use my week 52 (which I understand must be booked 12 months from check-in), do I have to book the 2BR? Or if I only want to book a 1BR for week 52, then I assume that will change things and I would have to try to book availability at 11 months instead; correct? What would be my chances in getting a reservation in the Ultra Red timeframe for this resort if not booking my own week/unit?

Let me try to address the first batch of questions:

(1) Every-other-year points work a bit different than Annual points. Here is a general summary from the website:

As an owner who earns their Points every other year, or biennially, you receive your two-year allotment of Points separated into two buckets. One bucket (labeled as Biennial Points) contains half of the Points which will be valid for unrestricted use for the full two-year period. A second bucket (labeled as Annual Points) contains the remaining half of the Points. Annual Points are good for unrestricted use for the first year only. If you are unable to utilize all of your Annual Points within the year in which they were earned, you do have the opportunity to save the Points for an additional year. Saved Points can be used for reservations in regular Red, White, or Blue seasons only. An administrative fee of $60 will be charged to save your Points by phone or $50 if Points are saved online.
********************************************************
Also, in year one, you can borrow the Annual points and use all at once, in all seasons.

My guess is that the 10,380 points in your account are "Annual" points (year two points), which can be saved. But, in the BG Club, saved points can be used only in the lower three seasons.

(2) There is an active rental market. I have not rented, myself, but from what I read: Rent points to other members because they understand what points are; rent confirmed reservations to the public. If your 10,380 points are "year two points" they can be used for any season. It is possible that someone will be looking for a Fall reservation -- Maybe a Sunday-Thursday stay. Many people also rent saved points. The rental price is lower because they are restricted, but that is what the renter wants (very often less than a 7 day stay).

In addition to the Facebook sites that I think you have found, there is an active Yahoo group for rentals:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BGEx/info

This group can also answer your questions, probably better then I can.

(3) I've had my points since 2013 and still have not set up my RCI account. Here are some instructions from the "BG TS Secrets" Facebook group:

The first step is to see if your account is set up or not. Sign in to the Bg owner’s site here

https://sc.bluegreenowner.com/

At the very top, hover your cursor over “book” and click on “RCI exchanges.” Click “Get Started Now.”

If you get an error message your account is not set up. If you get “I accept terms and conditions” and the red and green boxes “cancel” and “ok” click accept and ok and you are in.

If you get the error message you need to get your account set up. When you got to the page that said get started now there was a RCI phone number to call. That number is currently 800.445.0088 Have the phone number on file with Bluegreen handy and that is all you will need for the RCI rep to see your details. They will ask a few questions for verification but they will handle the process for you. It took one week for me. I kept trying to log in until I could log in. A few days later I got an email welcoming me.

I suggest calling RCI and not Bg since many of the Bg reps are completely lost when it comes to setting up RCI especially if you own all resale pts and sometimes even if you have a mix of qualified and nonqualified pts.
********************************************************
I think resale points use RCI weeks (not RCI points), but I'm not sure about that point.

(4) No, there is no fee for a Guest Certificate. There is a $60 fee (online) [$75 (by phone)] for a cancellation after 24 hours.


(5) We do not actually own the deeded property. Bluegreen uses an elaborate accounting system that traces every deed in the trust and the owner of the points associated with that deed. Since this information is recorded, the Vacation Club offers "Priority Time." We can reserve the deeded time tied too, or backing, our points. We must call customer service to make this reservation; it must be made between 13 months in advance and 11 months + 1 day (but don't wait that long). At the 11 month mark all inventory goes into the Vacation Club pool. (Some claim it goes into the pool at 11 months and 5 days.) "Priority Time" applies only to the specific time on the deed. (In many cases Priority Time is a partial week, a day, a split week -- whatever combination of points are needed for the sale.)

Many members never use their Priority Time. You got a good week at a popular resort (there are a few such resorts in the BG system). So you may want to use it, and the resale value may be a bit higher than average points. Here is what the Public Offering Statement says:

Subject to the terms of the Club By-laws, each Owner Beneficiary (including each Converting Owner Beneficiary), shall have a priority reservation right to reserve use of their respective Accommodation(s) and Facilities (indicated as the “Property” in such Owner Beneficiary’s Bluegreen Owner Agreement), subject to the terms of the applicable Underlying Declaration, for sixty (60) days in advance of the right of each other Owner Beneficiary (including each Converting Owner Beneficiary) to reserve such Accommodation(s) and Facilities. Specifically, each Owner Beneficiary shall have the right to reserve use of their respective Accommodation(s) and Facilities up to thirteen (13) months in advance, while other Owner Beneficiaries may not reserve use of any other Owner Beneficiary’s respective Accommodation(s) and Facilities until eleven (11) months in advance.
*******************************

I have to go now, I'll address the remaining questions at a later time.

 

[Egret1986]

Thank you, Michael, for taking the time to respond. I had hoped that you would chime in.

 

[nuwermj]

My ownership is in Trust Fund E, Sales Type A. What determines my unit's anniversary date (when MF is due)? Since the ownership is biennial and the points are split for 2018/2019, are the dues split and paid each year vs. paying the full amount on the even year anniversary date? I bought having no idea what maintenance fees are at this resort. Should I contact the resort or BG to find out what the most recent MF was in order to prepare myself?

For Sales Type A, fees are billed 30 days before the points' "earn date," and due the first day of the next month. You should be able to find your "earn date" on the website. Follow the menu options:
my Bluegreen (upper right)
my dashboard
my points

2017 Biennial ownerships are billed at a flat rate of $350 per owner,
plus $0.02745 per Point ($0.02550 Maintenance Fee + $0.00195 Real Estate Tax).
(The per point part -- $0.02745 -- is half the rate of annual points.)
Biennial ownerships are billed each year, not every other year.
There is also a fee for Club Dues ($129) every year. (I got my bill for these dues yesterday, everyone is billed the same for this one.)

All the fees come through the Vacation Club. We have no contact with the resort or the HOA (other than using a reservation).

I'm curious where one might look to find realistic sales pricing on this ownership. I've looked around where I know to look, googled and found very few resales available for this particular resort and number of points. I found some outlandish prices on some reseller sites.

I don't know much about this market. Most often I see discussion of purchases made on eBay. Also, Pinnacle Vacations is Bluegreen's authorized reseller. Pinnacle lists two categories of Bluegreen points: 1) those that qualify for "charter benefits" (BG imposes a minimum price for these); and 2) those that do not qualify. All other resale points (those not sold by Pinnacle) do not qualify for the benefits.

http://www.pinnaclevacations.com/search-results.aspx?prevpage=index.aspx&location=MARATHON,+FL

 

[Egret1986]

Thank you, Michael and Luc, for responding. I appreciate all you've shared and it has enlightened me enough to get me going forward.

 

[TUGBrian]

let me know when you want to start the official one and ill stick it for you!

 

[Bill4728]

Where do I find the Shell knowledge page mentioned in the first post. Thanks!

Shell Vacations was bought out by Wyndham several years ago. So anything that was true several years ago may not be true now.

Sorry