Newbie... looking to buy

[dmcone]

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Preferably Florida... looking for a place to golf in the offseason for one or two weeks
2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Yes
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Florida (all), Myrtle Beach, North Carolina
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
One
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Anytime, but prefer winter for golfing in the cold months
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
No
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3-5
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$2500
10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$1500
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes, I plan everything myself
12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?Absolutely

 

[theo]

Since it seems from your above responses that your objective is essentially a week or two of off season golfing within a specific three state area, I personally am inclined to believe that you would be better served by simply renting a timeshare week (or two) exactly where and exactly when you want to travel each year.

You can forego the eternal contractual obligations (and costs) of ownership and the geographic constraint of owning at a single place, which would necessarily require playing the (time consuming and increasingly expensive, with uncertain results) "exchange game" if / when you want to go somewhere else instead.
In view of your identified criteria, renting would likely cost very little more (and quite possibly less) overall, compared to buying and paying maintenance fees.

Just my own personal opinion of course. YMMV.

 

[Mary Rodriguez]

Hello friends. I am new to this forum. Nice to see you all.

 

[Jan M.]

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Preferably Florida... looking for a place to golf in the offseason for one or two weeks
2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Yes
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Florida (all), Myrtle Beach, North Carolina
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
One
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Anytime, but prefer winter for golfing in the cold months
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
No
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3-5
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$2500
10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$1500
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes, I plan everything myself
12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?Absolutely

These are some resorts with RCI points that you might want to take a look at. I wouldn't consider anything that wasn't annual points and I also wouldn't buy anything under 74,000 annual points. You can use the points to book any of the thousands of resorts in the RCI exchange system. Sometimes the seller pays the closing costs so pay attention to what is included and what isn't that you would have to pay in addition to the asking price. Once in a great while I've seen listings where the seller even paid the $224 RCI enrollment fee for a new RCI account or $99 for an existing account. However this isn't typically paid by the seller. The maintenance fees at these resorts for the listings I've looked at are $765-$838 a year.

There is an annual fee to keep your week/points in RCI and it is currently $107-$124 depending on how many years you pay at once. Then there is a $230 exchange/booking fee for every week you book. RCI often has sales where you could book a one bedroom unit for $199-$229 plus tax for a week with no points needed. I often find weeks for 7500 points plus the $230 fee. With my RCI points I get weeks at Wyndham and Hilton Grand Vacation Club resorts. I think you could easily find weeks in Orlando, Pompano Beach, and Weston, Florida in the winter. In the Spring and Fall in Myrtle Beach. Las Vegas pretty much anytime. There are lots of other places a golfer might like too.

Vacation Village Weston, FL There is a currently a listing on eBay for 86,500 points and the seller is paying all the closing costs on this one except the RCI enrollment fee. The bid is at $1
Vacation Village at Parkway in Orlando, FL
Grandview Las Vegas Keep an eye out for any 98,000 point weeks as the yearly maintenance fees are reasonable and they usually go for a decent price.
Cliffs at Peace Canyon also in Las Vegas

 

[ljmiii]

I'm not sure I'd recommend time sharing for you. It doesn't sound like you need the 'extras' of a time share villa (e.g. 1-3BRs, in-room laundry) nor are you able to make firm plans 12 months in advance. And Florida in winter is definitely peak season.

That said, perhaps a fixed week near golf courses you like in Florida? Or if you are happy with warm-ish weather good for golf, the shoulder seasons in spring and fall in Myrtle beach are less expense and more forgiving of 'last minute' (read 6-11 months out) planning.

 

[theo]

I'm not sure I'd recommend time sharing for you. It doesn't sound like you need the 'extras' of a time share villa (e.g. 1-3BRs, in-room laundry) nor are you able to make firm plans 12 months in advance. And Florida in winter is definitely peak season.

That said, perhaps a fixed week near golf courses you like in Florida? Or if you are happy with warm-ish weather good for golf, the shoulder seasons in spring and fall in Myrtle beach are less expense and more forgiving of 'last minute' (read 6-11 months out) planning.

Fwiw, there is a timeshare property in SW Florida called Lehigh Resort & Club, in Lehigh Ares --- not too far from Fort Myers area but more inland. The property directly abuts a small golf course (in fact, I think the course might now even be owned by the resort). Since it's not that convenient to the Gulf beaches (and there is frankly little or nothing else around its' immediate surrounding area), I'd be inclined to bet that you could acquire virtually any week you wanted there at a very low price for annual use.

Lehigh Resort & Club used to be managed by VRI until a few years ago (a good thing, IMO) but is now managed by Defender Resorts.
Have never stayed there, having no interest in golf or in being that far inland. No idea how it "trades". Just mentioning its' existence, fwiw.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Rent. And golf course golfing in the winter is NOT FREE or particularly cheap.

OR ... a Cheap week ... is studio unit at Wyndham Palm Aire Golf resort. If you buy/are given this unit... be sure it is a Jan-Feb-Mar week .. so as to unload it in the future. About 7 miles from the beach(resort shuttle), Casino nearby. Walking distance to decent strip shopping center (across the busy street). Off of Atlantic Ave in Broward County.

A studio is not in BIG demand ... as couples like more space. A fixed week allows you to buy airfare in advance and arrange your vacation dates off from work.

PS Anything around Orlando and north is not really warm enough for most of us. Plus you got to have a rental car... which I know as a single person really increases my vacation costs. Ft Lauderdale airport has a great shared ride shuttle system to resort/hotels/destinations in the area. Plus during the week, there is a good public bus running from 6AM to 11PM by this resort to the beach and south along the beach (A1A) to downtown Ft Lauderdale & the airport.... $5 all day/unlimited rides.

 

[Ty1on]

OP might do well exchanging into Mexican non-AI resorts rather than trying to do Florida golfing on the cheap during snowbird season.