K2Quick
TUG Member
I violated all sorts of your rules along the way:
1. Buy where you want to visit at least some of the time. I can say right now that I will never visit Phoenix for a vacation. I bought this one strictly for trading and, specifically, for Starwood preference within II.
2. Wait at least six months before pulling the trigger - I waited about three months, but I read pretty much everything there was to read on TUG including every sticky on this forum about ten times. I've got a really good idea what I got myself into. If I would have waited six months, I don't think my mind would have been changed.
3. Only buy from a seller who lets you choose the closing company. I ended up buying from eBay seller redweeks4less, a seller whose reputation is all over the board on TUG. I adjusted my bid downward to reflect what seemed like increased risk related to this seller and ended up getting a 2 Bed Unit that floats 1-52 annually for $1,375 plus closing costs of $424. I initially paid for 2009 maintenance fees at the close of the auction, but it turned out the week was banked with RCI and I wanted nothing to do with that. The closing company did refund the 2009 fees to me. That was actually a plus for me since I didn't really want the 2009 usage anyway. The closing company redweeks4less forces you to use (American Timeshare Closing) was very non-responsive to most of my e-mails without getting the seller involved but, at the end of the day, closed this transaction relatively fast. I sent a signed contract and payment to the seller on June 3 and got my Starwood account on July 20. In the TUG BBB ratings, I'll give the seller a "C". I'm not sure I'd buy something for $10k from this seller, but less than $2k was well within my risk tolerance.
I already got my II account (using the 2 years for $84 code mentioned in the sticky) and my account is in the process of being verified. Thanks to all the helpful advice, especially from DeniseM. Many of you gave me advice on this one without knowing it (by my reading your old threads).
1. Buy where you want to visit at least some of the time. I can say right now that I will never visit Phoenix for a vacation. I bought this one strictly for trading and, specifically, for Starwood preference within II.
2. Wait at least six months before pulling the trigger - I waited about three months, but I read pretty much everything there was to read on TUG including every sticky on this forum about ten times. I've got a really good idea what I got myself into. If I would have waited six months, I don't think my mind would have been changed.
3. Only buy from a seller who lets you choose the closing company. I ended up buying from eBay seller redweeks4less, a seller whose reputation is all over the board on TUG. I adjusted my bid downward to reflect what seemed like increased risk related to this seller and ended up getting a 2 Bed Unit that floats 1-52 annually for $1,375 plus closing costs of $424. I initially paid for 2009 maintenance fees at the close of the auction, but it turned out the week was banked with RCI and I wanted nothing to do with that. The closing company did refund the 2009 fees to me. That was actually a plus for me since I didn't really want the 2009 usage anyway. The closing company redweeks4less forces you to use (American Timeshare Closing) was very non-responsive to most of my e-mails without getting the seller involved but, at the end of the day, closed this transaction relatively fast. I sent a signed contract and payment to the seller on June 3 and got my Starwood account on July 20. In the TUG BBB ratings, I'll give the seller a "C". I'm not sure I'd buy something for $10k from this seller, but less than $2k was well within my risk tolerance.
I already got my II account (using the 2 years for $84 code mentioned in the sticky) and my account is in the process of being verified. Thanks to all the helpful advice, especially from DeniseM. Many of you gave me advice on this one without knowing it (by my reading your old threads).
