Interested in a timeshare-questions answered

Hi,
Now that we have 3 kids we are thinking of time shares as a way to do a yearly vacation and keep costs down. Some additional info and questions:
1. I travel moderately for my job and generally stay at Marriott but could switch if it's worthwhile to Hilton or sheraton. Not a platinum traveler but solid gold.
2. I do generally like Marriott so was thinking of the points system for me.
3. We would generally travel just our family but may want to occasionally add a room or two. If other members or friends may want to come.
4. As mentioned we have kids so school.times would affect us. We usually go away around new years and spring break and summer though summer we usually stay near home just close to the beach.
5. We like to ski as well

Another question- am I just better off renying weeks form owners. Besides maybe some risk what are some of the other benefits of owning?

Thanks for helping me out!


1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
I'm open to any place with a good trade value. Florida or somewhere on the east coast would be best since Iive in New Jersey but definitely not Orlando! Maybe Miami area or something southern Florida. Mexico or Caribbean would be second

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?
I'd say half to more than half. Would maybe trade for a ski trip when the boys are older.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Carribean
Mexico
Colorado
Europe
Hawaii


4) How many people do you usually travel with?
5

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Schools schedule

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Not 12 but more like 8 or 9. I think we would use it spring break most years

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 Marriott or Hilton like places

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
Open but it's not an issue

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—2000

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes I do some research and look up reviews and such
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

would absolutely suggest renting to start out, you may find it fits all of your needs!

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I saw that Mexico was high on your list of places you'd like to visit.

SFX Resorts is an exchange company. You can join for no fee and you don't even need a timeshare to rent off of their resort-escapes list. Right now they have an assortment of places from studio to 2 BR available n Mexico. These units are generally of high quality because SFX considers itself a boutique exchange company. These units are for the exact check in days described. They are excess inventory that no one has requested. Check it out. Units get updated at least weekly and once someone claims them, they are gone. With the free membership you would pay the "Gold Member" price.

http://www.sfxresorts.com/resort-escapes/?sort=&count_page=10&&cpage=0

falmouth3 said:

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I saw that Mexico was high on your list of places you'd like to visit.

SFX Resorts is an exchange company. You can join for no fee and you don't even need a timeshare to rent off of their resort-escapes list. Right now they have an assortment of places from studio to 2 BR available n Mexico. These units are generally of high quality because SFX considers itself a boutique exchange company. These units are for the exact check in days described. They are excess inventory that no one has requested. Check it out. Units get updated at least weekly and once someone claims them, they are gone. With the free membership you would pay the "Gold Member" price.

http://www.sfxresorts.com/resort-escapes/?sort=&count_page=10&&cpage=0

Click to expand...

Your right on, SFX is a great way to kick the tires. If you're interested in Mexico, rent a couple different ones. Just remember not to forget to not buy! Come back and ask questions.

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Thanks for the info


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Watch the Rentals Offered section of the forum, and rent for a couple vacations. As for finding resorts you like or want to try...

...here's how we did it. We ended up with an RCI affiliated resort since the resorts accessible to us in that network are more numerous (maybe not better quality, but you can find some good ones, and there is some Hilton access which we love), and the RCI Resort Directory is open to non-members. Pick a location, e.g. Cabo or Caribbean using the map, and then you can filter resorts from there in a lot of ways. Good for families, access to beach, All Inclusive mandatory or not, Gold or Silver crown awards (RCI awards for better resorts), access to golfing, etc. We used this to look at resorts that interested us, then would read the RCi reviews and use Tripadvisor to compare and get more realistic feedback. Takes time, but it's a semi-permanent commitment so is worth it.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club and Marriott also have public listings of resorts. I don't know II or SFX or DRI, but if they have public resort directories, you can do the same thing and check out their resorts.

Until you buy one, you may or may not be able to find out how many points or the trading power easily, but if you watch the sightings/distressed forum to get an idea of deals, watch the for-sale forum, or ask here when you find something, you can get a good sense.

Good luck and happy Tripadvisoring!

mgnyc11 said:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
I'm open to any place with a good trade value. Florida or somewhere on the east coast would be best since Iive in New Jersey but definitely not Orlando! Maybe Miami area or something southern Florida. Mexico or Caribbean would be second

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?
I'd say half to more than half. Would maybe trade for a ski trip when the boys are older.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Carribean
Mexico
Colorado
Europe
Hawaii

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Schools schedule

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Not 12 but more like 8 or 9. I think we would use it spring break most years

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
4 Marriott or Hilton like places

Click to expand...

Considering that you consider the Caribbean the top trade destination, why don't you consider buying in the gold season (e.g. summer) at the Marriott Surf Club in Aruba? The Surf Club is a fantastic resort for kids with their lazy river and Aruba is a really pleasant vacation spot.

The Surf Club will trade well in II and will give you Marriott trading preference to the Marriott resorts in Colorado (Breckenridge, Vail), Park City, Hawaii, and other Caribbean islands (St Thomas, St Kitts). The Surf Club can be locked off so that you can get 2 exchanges out of a single 2BR villa. As you can guess, trading into Orlando Marriotts will be easy with the Surf Club.

Finally, I think that buying a Marriott week rather than Marriott points is better value for money.

I would strongly recommend buying weeks vs points. That's assuming you're talking Marriott. I would recommend Marriott, because they have resorts at your destinations, more resorts and (IMHO) better locations.

An Orlando 3br l/o (Grande Vista) might be a start or Aruba (as mentioned above). Marriott preference is fantastic.... the lock-off can be traded for a second week, second unit or locked off for the the other 'couple.'

I'm a much bigger fan of II than RCI. I find RCI a bit of a 'needle in a haystack' approach for the better resorts. Not all mind you, but some.

So, if you read down this far........ You must rent for a while to figure out the pricing, the resorts, the knowledge required to own/trade/exchange etc.... Try renting an Orlando, Aruba or ???? and see what resorts you like. Just know that the commitment and MF's are real and don't go away. So, make sure you know what you're getting into before you leap.

cheers.!

Hi Rob - I'm fairly new and a member. How do I find the forum's you talk about?