What to Buy?

[jrvaught406]

Hi all,
I am new here and new to timesharing. I recently stayed at the Villa del Palmar in Cabo, and went through the 90 minute presentation (really 3 hours), which started at 27k for a 1000 points and a week stay yearly, but as I was leaving had gone down to 13k for the same thing. I did know of the resale market, so I thought I would look there and found this site, so I joined.
As I was doing my due diligence, I found that the Villa resorts on the resale market reduce the benefits to the new owner down to the lowest level, as per the contract with the original owner down to the standard. Where the owner is selling the RTU of a 2 bedroom, the new owner only gets a studio and no points.
I have been looking at the Hacienda Del Mar and was wondering if that resort or all the resorts have the same type of clause in the contract. I know about the FROR, and that some resorts pick up their contracts for pennies on the dollar and then sell them for full price during the sales pitch.

Any suggestions of what resort to buy on the resale market and what the benefits would be, such as other properties are in the mix to stay at with that purchase.

thanks in advance,

Jim

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Mexican RTUs are generally worthless. Mexico is the easiest exchange out there and getaways are extremely cheap. Buy somewhere else that you might use and when you want Mexico exchange or buy a getaway.

 

[jrvaught406]

So, when you say "buy somewhere else", what would you suggest. Like somewhere in the US, or somewhere else in Mexico or in Europe?

thanks,

Jim

 

[Saintsfanfl]

My personal recommendation is to buy at a place that is easy to use. Driving distance is ideal so if things get tight you can still vacation. You also want a good trader so you can go to other places. "Good" means cheap or powerful or maybe both. I would spend a good deal of time browsing options. Lock-offs are generally the way to go for a trader in II. With RCI it probably doesn't matter but I don't have experience with them.

Whatever you buy you want to make sure you won't have any trouble getting rid of it if you decide you no longer want it. There are so many timeshares out there for $1 but it is much better to pay a fair amount up front and be able to rent out for the fees or higher and resell later if need be.

 

[jrvaught406]

Thanks for that good information

 

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[Tokapeba]

It depends on where you live, but I live on the west coast and I would advise any first time timeshare buyer to buy Worldmark if you live in the west. They have a lot of resorts, they trade well and bonus time is easy and inexpensive.

I have traded into Marriott ko Olina, The Grand Lodge at Peak 7 and several more.

If you find you like timesharing you can checkout other options. I just bought a Marriott Mountainside. I think it's the best place to stay and one of the best places to ski, but that is after doing many years of homework.

I like Worldmark for beginners. It doesn't cost a lot to get in, there is many options and bonus time is amazing. I am going to Lake Tahoe tomorrow in a 2 bedroom for $60.WOW!!! Buy it on eBay. Make an offer, there are so many.

 

[jrvaught406]

It depends on where you live, but I live on the west coast and I would advise any first time timeshare buyer to buy Worldmark if you live in the west. They have a lot of resorts, they trade well and bonus time is easy and inexpensive.

I have traded into Marriott ko Olina, The Grand Lodge at Peak 7 and several more.

If you find you like timesharing you can checkout other options. I just bought a Marriott Mountainside. I think it's the best place to stay and one of the best places to ski, but that is after doing many years of homework.

I like Worldmark for beginners. It doesn't cost a lot to get in, there is many options and bonus time is amazing. I am going to Lake Tahoe tomorrow in a 2 bedroom for $60.WOW!!! Buy it on eBay. Make an offer, there are so many.

I live in the San Francisco area (30 miles south), so are you saying I should buy or look into worldmark? Or maybe buy a timeshare in Napa, Lake Tahoe, and use that as a spring board to go where I want?

 

[sue1947]

Answer the questions in this thread first:
http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-newbies.208742/
There are lots of different timeshare options and what is best for you will depend on your specifics. Point systems work for some, fixed weeks for others. It all depends on where you want to go and when.

Mexico is generally an easy trade so if you own elsewhere you can trade into it via one of the exchange companies. Or if you own in a points system it may have a resort there for you to choose from. There is a vast variety and can get very complicated. The best idea is to fill out the questionnaire so we can offer some options that fit what you want.

Sue

 

[jrvaught406]

1) Where do you want your home resort to be? MEXICO

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? VISIT HOME RESORT HALF TIME

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? SPAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, BELGIUM, GERMANY

4) How many people do you usually travel with? MYSELF AND WIFE

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? RETIRED AND WIFE HAS 5 WEEKS A YEAR VACATION

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? YES

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? 4 TO 5 STARS

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? 4 OR 5 FIGURES

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? WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT UNDER 1K TO START

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? WIFE IS, I JUST GO ALONG WITH THE PLAN

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 die? Sure, or pass off to my children.

Jim

 

[GT75]

Jim,
I see no one has responded to the answers of your questionnaire. I am glad that you were able to get out of the Mexico TS presentation without signing. I have read real horror stories.

Anyway, I think that you have been given some good advice previously. I would recommend that you purchase something

My personal recommendation is to buy at a place that is easy to use. Driving distance is ideal so if things get tight you can still vacation.

Anyway, I am only familiar with HGVC. I don't know anything about any of the other TS. I do feel that it will be very difficult for you to meet item #3 in any of the TS system. I think that I have seen postings that TS generally don't work in Europe. (Hopefully others will correct this if I am mistaken). Anyway, I will say that with HGVC we have gone to Cabo the last three years via Fiesta Americana-Los Cabo. HGVC and FA have an affiliation to share inventory. (now this of course can be terminated at any time). This is also is located very near Hacienda Del Mar. In addition, HGVC also has a resort in Italy which we have been to. There is also some resorts in Scotland but nothing in Spain, Germany nor Belgium.

If you have any interest, I could give you some more information.
Gary

 

[vacationhopeful]

Jim,
Listen to the PROs here ... buying a Mexican timeshare is NOT recommended. You can TRADE into or rent cheaper. Plus, your top travel to destinations in Europe are VERY hard to get. And European timeshares are usually NOT in city locales... more rural, non urban places.

4 to 5 star resort in the US would be mostly those name Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood but their 1 week options would be $1400 or more per week in MFs. Wyndham has 3-4 star or lower resorts (I own their points). And your 1 week of points in a 1bdr would be pretty close at this date at Wyndham, to your yearly MF budget. Hawaii and city resorts naturally cost more in MFs across all systems ... just costs MORE ... COLA.

So balance, your family wanting European vacations or stays in Mexico with owning a timeshare unit or two. Trading costs more money for the exchange fees and might be iffy as to locking in a place YOU want to go to (except perhaps the Mexican resorts). If you want US city stays, research the BIGGER resort names as to HOW many & WHERE their city locales are. And google the street address for these resorts ... the Wyndham Palm Aire is NOT near the beach or nor the Ft Lauderdale city's resturant row .. it is closer to the Everglades & gators.

 

[jrvaught406]

Jim,
I see no one has responded to the answers of your questionnaire. I am glad that you were able to get out of the Mexico TS presentation without signing. I have read real horror stories.

Anyway, I think that you have been given some good advice previously. I would recommend that you purchase something


Anyway, I am only familiar with HGVC. I don't know anything about any of the other TS. I do feel that it will be very difficult for you to meet item #3 in any of the TS system. I think that I have seen postings that TS generally don't work in Europe. (Hopefully others will correct this if I am mistaken). Anyway, I will say that with HGVC we have gone to Cabo the last three years via Fiesta Americana-Los Cabo. HGVC and FA have an affiliation to share inventory. (now this of course can be terminated at any time). This is also is located very near Hacienda Del Mar. In addition, HGVC also has a resort in Italy which we have been to. There is also some resorts in Scotland but nothing in Spain, Germany nor Belgium.

If you have any interest, I could give you some more information.
Gary

Gary, thanks for the information and guidance, but being new to this, please spell out what HGVC means, a lot of people use the acronym, but for us newbies, we sometimes don't know or can't figure out what some things mean. I know TS means timeshare, and MF for maintenance fees, but a few I have not figured out.

thanks,

Jim

 

[jrvaught406]

Gary,
disregard my last post, I got it,

Jim

 

[GT75]

please spell out what HGVC means

.

I apologize. I actually have the same problem when/if I look at the other forums, like what is MVC (Marriott Vacation Club). Anyway, of course you must have figured out that HGVC stands for Hilton Grand Vacation Club.

 

[hotellier]

Hey Jim,

My personal recommendation would be to get a cheap or free RCI connected timeshare. You can get a Grandview timeshare for free in many places with very low maintenance fees ($300-500 a year).

Through RCI's Last Calls and Extra Vacations, you can easily get Mexico weeks for $200-300 per week at many Gold Crown rated resorts. Mexico has huge availability (date wise), never lacking.

I've also done many Europe stays through the same RCI LC and EV programs. You do have to be flexible sometimes (often in offseason) but you can get some real killer deals.

 

[jrvaught406]

Hey Jim,

My personal recommendation would be to get a cheap or free RCI connected timeshare. You can get a Grandview timeshare for free in many places with very low maintenance fees ($300-500 a year).

Through RCI's Last Calls and Extra Vacations, you can easily get Mexico weeks for $200-300 per week at many Gold Crown rated resorts. Mexico has huge availability (date wise), never lacking.

I've also done many Europe stays through the same RCI LC and EV programs. You do have to be flexible sometimes (often in offseason) but you can get some real killer deals.

Thanks for the reply and info

Jim

 

[easyrider]

Hi all,
I am new here and new to timesharing. I recently stayed at the Villa del Palmar in Cabo, and went through the 90 minute presentation (really 3 hours), which started at 27k for a 1000 points and a week stay yearly, but as I was leaving had gone down to 13k for the same thing. I did know of the resale market, so I thought I would look there and found this site, so I joined.
As I was doing my due diligence, I found that the Villa resorts on the resale market reduce the benefits to the new owner down to the lowest level, as per the contract with the original owner down to the standard. Where the owner is selling the RTU of a 2 bedroom, the new owner only gets a studio and no points.
I have been looking at the Hacienda Del Mar and was wondering if that resort or all the resorts have the same type of clause in the contract. I know about the FROR, and that some resorts pick up their contracts for pennies on the dollar and then sell them for full price during the sales pitch.

Any suggestions of what resort to buy on the resale market and what the benefits would be, such as other properties are in the mix to stay at with that purchase.

thanks in advance,

Jim

There are many different membership types at the Villa del Palmar. The newest type of membership are points. Points contracts revert to a Premiere Membership with a home resort of Puerto Vallarta when sold resale. Resales for older premiere and gold memberships for the Villa Group or UVCI has really dried up. Gold Memberships are what most resale buyers are looking for. I like UVCI because of the multiple destinations in Mexico. We would get bored showing up to the same place every year.

What you should or shouldn't purchase for a time share depends on what your goal is. My goal is to snow bird so I purchased four resale Villa del Palmar premiere contracts with a RTU that expires by the time I am 68. I bought Vacation International for some Hawaii trips in the winter with a RTU that expires by the time I am 64. We use these.

I also purchased a few Worldmark contracts. These are the the memberships I will keep. Worldmark is my trader and it does trade very strong in RCI and II. Worldmark also allows us to travel to many resorts within the Worldmark system.

All of my timeshares have an exit plan. I do not plan on renewing any of the Mexico RTU's or the Vacation International RTU. When these expire I will rent. My kids will eventually acquire our Worldmark memberships or we could easily sell them. Worldmark holds a decent resale value.

As far as I am concerned, the best approach would be to buy a multi destination membership contract like Worldmark and stay away from all deeded single destination time shares. The majority of regular deeded timeshares are problematic when trying to divest.

Bill

 

[jrvaught406]

Thanks Bill,

I like your approach, and have been looking at Worldmark contracts.

Jim