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Bought Welk Resort 1.5m points from developer for $127,000. Today is the last day for cancellation

what should I do?

  • keep

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • other???

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    35
  • Poll closed .

RX8

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I heard the resale Broker said currently there are two sellers selling 1.5m points from Welk.

he said the seller bought the points from the developer at a price nearly $220,000

One of the first things you will learn now that you are in the resale arena is that it doesn’t matter what someone originally paid direct for the timeshare. Original retail prices are full of developer profit, full of salesperson commissions and usually full of lies. All that really matters is what the current resale value is, usually pennies on the dollar. Bad for original buyers, good for resale buyers but just the way it happens to be.

Now you can take your time (it took me a year after joining TUG before I made a timeshare purchase). As someone else suggested, rent a few different places to see what you like best. There are many options to rent from Tuggers. Check out the last minute rentals for bargains.
 

Marathoner

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More importantly, Northstar is not a very challenging or particularly interesting ski resort. Much better to buy at a resort which will challenge you as you improve skiing-wise - such as Squaw Valley or Kirkwood! :p
 
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JManteca

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Sunnnnie, we bought into the Welk system about 4 years ago on the resale market. We have 720K points per year and paid about $0.20 on the dollar from the retail cost. We stay at Northstar a couple times each winter (we live about 3 hours away). We are heading there in a couple weeks! The Northstar Lodge is Welk's best property, in my opinion. It was formerly a Hyatt fractional ownership resort, so it is a 5 star resort. We've been there at least 6 times and have enjoyed every visit. The staff are great. We have attended (2) sales presentations over the years and each ended with their best offer at $50,000 for 540K annual points. Their sales staff are very low pressure, I like those guys, but their price was always too high. I've been watching the websites and I have never seen a 1.5M point package. However, about once a year I see a 1.0M +/- package, so the large ones are out there, you just have to be patient and check regularly. My guess is that you'll find a large package for sale in the $15K to $20K range. I did try to buy a mid-range package and Welk exercised their ROFR so we lost it. But the second won we bought went through. And yes, the resale buyer gets the key benefits of Pinnacle like the extended booking window.
If you like Welk, www.calresale.com is a great resource. You can email them and be notified of large packages that come up for sale before they hit the open market. Lastly, read everything you can on this website.
 

Sunnnnie

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Thanks friend! I love Northstar and I always spend 4 to 6 weekends there in winter time each year.

From what I saw from the purchase agreement, benefits like extended booking windows for large points owners will not transfer to resale buyers.
 

JManteca

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If that is in fact the case, then you might have trouble booking One Village Place, but nothing else. I have gotten the weeks I have wanted every year at the Northstar Lodge when booking 12-15 months ahead.
 

Sunnnnie

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Thanks for sharing! I'll keep an eye on this. For 1.5m points, the annual VOA fee is around 6k
 

Guitarmom

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Hi Sunnnnie,

I think you did the right thing by rescinding. I'll tell you the story of how we became Platinum Select members, as it may be a way that you can back into both saving money AND getting Platinum Pinnacle benefits.

Over time, we bought three different Welk resale packages.
1. $3,500: The first was a Villas on the Green 2BR lock-off, floating week package. I actually think this is the sweet spot of resale at Welk, as you can use it as two weeks, or trade one week in to RCI and kind of self-upgrade to a 2BR. I frequently traded in each 1BR with RCI for two 2BR units. I would laugh my way through owner's updates because my package was so much better than what they offered us.
2. $3,500: An aunt and uncle basically aged out of using their 240,000 Welk Platinum Points, and they sold the points to us.
3. $3,000: I saw a 2BR fixed week for Thanksgiving week on www.calresorts.com. With lots of relatives in Southern California, we decided it was precisely the fixed week we wanted.

In November 2018, we went to an owner's update. My husband point blank told the "owner updater" that we were there for them to roll all three of our contracts into one ... at no cost. The sales guy laughed out loud in a good-natured sort of way. By the end of our owner's update, we had rolled all three contracts into 780,000 Platinum Points, and with the yearly savings in Maintenance Fees, we will break even in less than a decade. My husband shook our sales guy's hand and said, "You did it. You rolled all three contracts into one and this will actually save us money in the long run."

Adding it all up, we became Platinum Select members for $17,000 total, spread out over time so that we were able to pay cash for each transaction and have never paid a penny in interest on these transactions. We've secured the equivalent of six 1BR units each year that work out to about $550/week in MF. A comparable hotel would cost about $1,300/week; we know, because we've paid that in the past.

Becoming Platinum Select Owners has proven, in three short months, to be invaluable. Our extended family in San Diego needed some extra help, and we have been taking advantage of our Platinum Select benefits to secure rooms right and left, always at the reduced point values. We would be kicking ourselves if we'd turned them down, and we'd be saying, "Oh, if only we had taken that Platinum Select deal." I admit to extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances, but this really has made our lives easier at a difficult time.

Netting it all out, if you want the Platinum Premier/Select/Elite/Pinnacle benefits, you can pick up cheap resale contracts here and there, then eventually "succumb to the pressure" at an owner's update and roll your contracts into one.

As I said before, you did the right thing by rescinding.
 

Sunnnnie

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Thank you so much for all the info!!! You're the first one I spoke with as a Welk member with extra benefit. I was wondering if the benefit worth the money and u just guide me the way. Thank you so much again!!!
 

macmanrider

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Years ago around 1995 I was in a elevator in Waikiki Hawaii . Talking to my wife about going to the timeshare there. A older gentleman spoke and said how he went years ago and bought and someone at the resort told him he had one for sale. He told us he got his money back and now owns 8 weeks. In 2 different resorts. I keep that story with me and just bought my 2nd timeshare in tahoe for $20. And our 2 weeks in Mexico will be expired in 2030.
 

mjm1

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Hi Sunnnnie,

I think you did the right thing by rescinding. I'll tell you the story of how we became Platinum Select members, as it may be a way that you can back into both saving money AND getting Platinum Pinnacle benefits.

Over time, we bought three different Welk resale packages.
1. $3,500: The first was a Villas on the Green 2BR lock-off, floating week package. I actually think this is the sweet spot of resale at Welk, as you can use it as two weeks, or trade one week in to RCI and kind of self-upgrade to a 2BR. I frequently traded in each 1BR with RCI for two 2BR units. I would laugh my way through owner's updates because my package was so much better than what they offered us.
2. $3,500: An aunt and uncle basically aged out of using their 240,000 Welk Platinum Points, and they sold the points to us.
3. $3,000: I saw a 2BR fixed week for Thanksgiving week on www.calresorts.com. With lots of relatives in Southern California, we decided it was precisely the fixed week we wanted.

In November 2018, we went to an owner's update. My husband point blank told the "owner updater" that we were there for them to roll all three of our contracts into one ... at no cost. The sales guy laughed out loud in a good-natured sort of way. By the end of our owner's update, we had rolled all three contracts into 780,000 Platinum Points, and with the yearly savings in Maintenance Fees, we will break even in less than a decade. My husband shook our sales guy's hand and said, "You did it. You rolled all three contracts into one and this will actually save us money in the long run."

Adding it all up, we became Platinum Select members for $17,000 total, spread out over time so that we were able to pay cash for each transaction and have never paid a penny in interest on these transactions. We've secured the equivalent of six 1BR units each year that work out to about $550/week in MF. A comparable hotel would cost about $1,300/week; we know, because we've paid that in the past.

Becoming Platinum Select Owners has proven, in three short months, to be invaluable. Our extended family in San Diego needed some extra help, and we have been taking advantage of our Platinum Select benefits to secure rooms right and left, always at the reduced point values. We would be kicking ourselves if we'd turned them down, and we'd be saying, "Oh, if only we had taken that Platinum Select deal." I admit to extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances, but this really has made our lives easier at a difficult time.

Netting it all out, if you want the Platinum Premier/Select/Elite/Pinnacle benefits, you can pick up cheap resale contracts here and there, then eventually "succumb to the pressure" at an owner's update and roll your contracts into one.

As I said before, you did the right thing by rescinding.

Thanks for sharing your story. If I understand correctly, Welk charged you $7,000 ($17,000 less the $10,000 you spent to buy your weeks) to convert to 780,000 Platinum points. Is that correct?

Thanks.

Mike
 

Guitarmom

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Thanks for sharing your story. If I understand correctly, Welk charged you $7,000 ($17,000 less the $10,000 you spent to buy your weeks) to convert to 780,000 Platinum points. Is that correct?

Thanks.

Mike
Sort of. The conversion did cost $7,000, but one of our contracts was already 240,000 Platinum Points. If we'd had, say, three fixed week contracts or three Villas on the Greens, I'm not sure what they would have charged. Someone in another thread indicated he paid under $10,000 to convert three fixed weeks to PP. Also, in all fairness, the prices I mentioned do not include closing costs; I consider those just necessary overhead when dealing in real estate. Even with closing costs, we paid well under 20 cents per dollar compared to full developer prices.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 

Sunnnnie

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Sort of. The conversion did cost $7,000, but one of our contracts was already 240,000 Platinum Points. If we'd had, say, three fixed week contracts or three Villas on the Greens, I'm not sure what they would have charged. Someone in another thread indicated he paid under $10,000 to convert three fixed weeks to PP. Also, in all fairness, the prices I mentioned do not include closing costs; I consider those just necessary overhead when dealing in real estate. Even with closing costs, we paid well under 20 cents per dollar compared to full developer prices.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

That's a great deal in my opinion. Congrats
 

Oscar923

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Sunnnnie, we bought into the Welk system about 4 years ago on the resale market. We have 720K points per year and paid about $0.20 on the dollar from the retail cost. We stay at Northstar a couple times each winter (we live about 3 hours away). We are heading there in a couple weeks! The Northstar Lodge is Welk's best property, in my opinion. It was formerly a Hyatt fractional ownership resort, so it is a 5 star resort. We've been there at least 6 times and have enjoyed every visit. The staff are great. We have attended (2) sales presentations over the years and each ended with their best offer at $50,000 for 540K annual points. Their sales staff are very low pressure, I like those guys, but their price was always too high. I've been watching the websites and I have never seen a 1.5M point package. However, about once a year I see a 1.0M +/- package, so the large ones are out there, you just have to be patient and check regularly. My guess is that you'll find a large package for sale in the $15K to $20K range. I did try to buy a mid-range package and Welk exercised their ROFR so we lost it. But the second won we bought went through. And yes, the resale buyer gets the key benefits of Pinnacle like the extended booking window.
If you like Welk, www.calresale.com is a great resource. You can email them and be notified of large packages that come up for sale before they hit the open market. Lastly, read everything you can on this website.


We love NorthStar in the summer and that was exactly the reason why we bought resale 240,000 Platinum points (so that we can stay there for 5 weekdays in the summer). I have not followed the resale prices but the estimate by JManteca sounds about right. 1.5M points, assuming $0.01 - $0.015 per point, get you to a resale price of somewhere between $15,000 - $22,500. You would save >$100,000 compared to the developer's price.
 
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RunCat

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Two comments: Used to sell timeshares for SVO in Avon. During the short time that I worked there, before they shut down in 2007 (before the Westin opened), I had sold to two different people, that then showed up either later that day or the next day to buy more, only to rescind a few days later. Everyone was shocked to see that it happened to me twice. Does not happen often.
Everyone knows that the true cost of a purchased timeshare is about 50% of the retail price. Marketing, commissions, onsite perks cost 50% of the price.
Congrats on rescinding.
 
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