Hello all and thanks for reading. I’m in mid-30s working in SF bay area, with a wife and child. Both parents have busy jobs making scheduling the biggest issue with holidays. We’ve been through some Hilton presentations, one at Elara and one at King’s Land. We loved King’s Land but didn’t buy from developer as we’d looked at some resale postings before going in and knew we could get ~50% off in resale. I stay in Hyatt hotels when I travel for work, so am partial to them, but don’t want to cloud a decision by some misplaced sense of brand loyalty.
1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Northern California or Hawaii.
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?
Home resort at least half the time, probably much more than than (see #3)
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
we’d like to go to European cities on holiday, but having read TUG we’re already concluded that it’s unlikely that timeshares will work well for that. So we’re thinking of an every-other-year plan on timeshare with little to no trading.
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
3 - Two adults, one child. Child is very young but we want to plan ahead and get a 2bdm.
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Child is too young for that now, but that may become an issue in 10 years or so. However my job (and wife’s) are both also seasonal so we can generally only take holidays in high holiday seasons (ie Jul-Aug, Christmas, etc)
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
only if it’s a holiday week (Jul 4th, Tksgvg, etc) or maybe Jul-Aug high holiday season.
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
only if it’s a holiday week (Jul 4th, Tksgvg, etc). But we really do want to take a full week at at least one, ideally 2x of these holiday weeks each year.
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
4-5.
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
30k
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?
2k but my wife _really_ doesn’t like maintenance fees, we want these to be low
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
yes
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?
yes
1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Northern California or Hawaii.
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?
Home resort at least half the time, probably much more than than (see #3)
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
we’d like to go to European cities on holiday, but having read TUG we’re already concluded that it’s unlikely that timeshares will work well for that. So we’re thinking of an every-other-year plan on timeshare with little to no trading.
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
3 - Two adults, one child. Child is very young but we want to plan ahead and get a 2bdm.
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Child is too young for that now, but that may become an issue in 10 years or so. However my job (and wife’s) are both also seasonal so we can generally only take holidays in high holiday seasons (ie Jul-Aug, Christmas, etc)
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
only if it’s a holiday week (Jul 4th, Tksgvg, etc) or maybe Jul-Aug high holiday season.
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
only if it’s a holiday week (Jul 4th, Tksgvg, etc). But we really do want to take a full week at at least one, ideally 2x of these holiday weeks each year.
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
4-5.
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
30k
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?
2k but my wife _really_ doesn’t like maintenance fees, we want these to be low
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
yes
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?
yes