Help - Considering buying a time share - previously bought Diamond and rescinded.

1) Where do you want your home resort to be? Is this important? We live in Phoenix. We have family in MN/IA/WI. We love the Caribbean and Maui.


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? We have never traded - and would be interested in having points available to use all over with the resort chain. Best value for points? We like new places and to explore. We liked the idea of Diamond's program with last minute bookings for very low fees at their resorts in Sedona since that is only a 2 hour drive for us.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? not sure - we do like the idea of sometimes vacationing, and sometimes having the flexibility/ability to use our points for hotel rooms for travel to see friends for weekends or weekdays when we have a week off (to see friends and family throughout the USA)

4) How many people do you usually travel with? Usually just us as a married couple We have adult children in college. Doubtful their careers will allow them to travel with us, but perhaps in the future one of them can join us with our without a significant other.


5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? One of us is a teacher in AZ so we are tied to the school schedule unless it is for a weekend get away.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Sometimes - not always.

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? Yes, if it works with the school schedule.

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? We certainly don't mind staying at a Fairfield Inn or Holiday Inn, yet when we vacation we certainly prefer a nicer resort if possible, or an all-inclusive.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? We would be able to spend at least $25,000 up front - could go to $30,000 if needed.

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? Variable....we could afford $2,500 annually. Would prefer to keep it to that, yet would consider more if it was the right thing.

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? We have done both.....sometimes we plan down to the 1/2 day for vacations, and other ones we let go and just relax.

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

I won't answer your request, step-by-step. It looks like your have the where-with-all to do whatever you want to.

Stick around TUG. Read about the various systems. Any that seem interesting, use the search function. I can't imagine any timeshare- related questions that haven't been asked. If that seems too daunting, ask away.

I think I'd look at a resale of perhaps a 2 bedroom annual use unit in a system that has enough resorts that you can trade internally. I happen to have such a unit in Sedona for a home resort that has been converted to RCI Points. If you only need a 1 bedroom unit, to can get 2 weeks to stay longer or use elsewhere. There are some 70ish resorts for internal exchanges and the ability to book ahead of the exchanging public. It has worked well for us for decades. They are not 5 star resorts with concierge desks and valet parking, but are well located and owner controlled, clean resorts. www.vriresorts.com/

Looking at your budget, you'd have a large wad of money left in your pocket after buying in and annually thereafter.

Jim

Based on your answers to Q's 1, 2, 3 and 6, I'd suggest not being in a hurry to buy anything. You will find out the answers to all those questions by reading here and traveling for a while. Then, you'll have specific answers and probably won't even need to ask anyone else what you should buy. You'll know for certain what will work best for you.

Q's 9 & 10: You probably won't need to spend anywhere near that. Once you figure out exactly what system works best for you, buy resale and depending on the market at the time, you'll probably pay less than half of that for the timeshare and your annual fees will likely be lower than $2500. if you are happy with casual places.

The points systems in addition to Diamond are: Marriott; Hilton; Wyndham; Worldmark; Shell; RCI points affiliated timeshares; Bluegreen... I can't think of more, but there are more. Check all of those out. Figure out which ones have the locations that you would visit the most. Then, read everything you can about them here and visit as many as you can. It's easy to rent from owners if you give enough notice. On the school schedule, you pretty much have to plan a year in advance, maybe even longer if the system allows booking further out.

This isn't my idea, I have seen other TUG veterans recommend this idea...

Before you buy into any Points system, why not try a deeded week first? And buy a deeded week with some relatively stable resale value that allows you to get rid of it without losing a lot of money if you decide you don't like it.

If you buy a Platinum Marriott Newport Coast for between $9K-$10K, you have a nice high end resort within driving distance, and also a very good trader in Interval International with Marriott preference for Caribbean (Aruba, St. Thomas, St Kitts) or multiple Hawaii options. You also would have access to the best resorts on Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach SC. And of course many options elsewhere in AR, CO, VA, MO, FL, etc.

Or some people buy into Westin Kierland Villas Platinum 2BR/2BA in Scottsdale and get 148,100 Star Options that can be used for anywhere in the Starwood / Vistana network (AZ, CA, HI, FL, CO, SC, St John, Bahamas, Mexico, etc.). I am guessing it would also be a good trader in II for cross network trading (into Marriott's or whatever).

http://www.tug2.net/advice/svn_valuechart.pdf

JMO but I personally would not buy points with DRI. They are worthless on the resale market. If you want some DRI points for Sedona, buy them on the resale market for $1 and just pay the maintenance fees. I am guessing Sedona is in the US Collection, but could be wrong. Either way, if you want DRI points don't pay DRI $15K-$35K for what you can get for $1 on the resale market.

For now, if you buy a Newport Coast Marriott (Platinum) or a Westin Kierland Villas (Platinum) you are investing in a deeded week where you have a chance of actually getting back close to what you paid for it if you decide to divest yourself of it.

Whatever you do, I strongly encourage you to invest in something that is (or offers) a resort within driving distance of your home that you would enjoy going to every year. And if one of you is a teacher, another reason to pay the extra money for Platinum (summer weeks) so you know you can use it and don't have to trade it if you don't want to.