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Bought Developer So You Don't Have To

Growmason

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Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but now I know. I made the mistake of buying a timeshare at a presentation. Didn't do much research before hand but it was something my wife and I found interesting since we want to travel with our children.

After buying I found TUG and realized you can buy resale and get a way better deal than what we got.

Bought Las Vegas Elara Studio Platinum 2200pts every even year with $880 MF and received 8,000 bonus points to use for the next two years for $10k.

So...I bought developer so you can buy resale (one day)....you're welcome.

The good news is, when I'm ready to buy more points I know where to go.
 

tompalm

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Welcome to TUG. There is not much of a market for selling 2200 points. You will probably give that away someday. If you get a cost per point, that is 40 cents a point and most people try to get more points for a low maintenance fee and get their ratio to .15 cents per point. If you think that you might vacation once per year, the smart thing to do is buy 7000 points on the resale market and get your cost per point lower. I don’t think 2200 points will get a room that a family can stay in. Maybe you can get a one bedroom for 3-4 days, but it is not going provide more than a studio for a week and most of them have a two person limit. Maybe Elara is different from HGVC, but I don’t think so. Just look for a deal on 7000 points and combine the two properties to lower your cost ratio and sell the 2200 point unit later. Good luck.
 

terces

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Many of us on TUG made our first purchase through a developer. We did and have made our original non-HGVC purchase pay off despite the high price. It helped us make the decision to holiday in a 1 bdrm unit with a kitchen (except when we go to our original all inclusive resort) and would probably not holiday at all if we could not easily find that kind of accommodation that was clean, reliable and consistent. We have tried Airbnb but have had very mixed success. We also travelled in a motor home for a number of years, but it is a very expensive way to travel and has lots of moving parts and risk. So if you are like us and find that timesharing might fit the bill I would do a LOT more research before you stick your head in the noose any further. Your original purchase is more of a liability than it is an asset, except you are also entitled to book Open Season - which is a relatively short notice booking at the HGVC resorts for a cash price that is much lower than rack rate. This option may give you the opportunity to try some of the other HGVC resorts to see if they are a fit for your family. Also HGVC is faced with an acquisition or merger in the very near future that may or may not impact it, so it would be good to sit back and read TUG daily while this scenario plays out. I would say that most people are unhappy to very unhappy with their time shares, but those of us who take the time to educate ourselves find them to be almost a "pinch me" kind of deal when bought correctly on the resale markets. There are many options out there but in order to find what works a person needs to dig in and do the research. For us we were able to buy a monster number of RCI points for a really low price (we used our Mexican RCI timeshare account) and through that avenue tried at least 12 different resorts including some HGVC before making a decision. We also willingly went to a number of presentations along the way. Have fun with it!
 

escanoe

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Also HGVC is faced with an acquisition or merger in the very near future that may or may not impact it, so it would be good to sit back and read TUG daily while this scenario plays out.

Reading TUG daily is certainly a good online correspondence course to learning about timeshares. But to know how the potential merger may impact HGV, I’d deprioritize reading those threads until something more is announced. Much is still up in the air. Those who know what is happening aren’t talking, and those who are talking (theorizing) about what will happen don’t know.

If I was making a major, long term decision to go with HGV or not (especially if the points system was a big factor in the decision), I would probably hold off until more is known.
 

RX8

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Need to ask.... when did you buy? You didn’t say exactly how long after you bought that you found TUG. Each developer contract has a rescission period. Hoping just maybe you might still have an opportunity to rescind. If not, welcome to HGVC. You have lots of options once you decide you need more points.
 

Growmason

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Need to ask.... when did you buy? You didn’t say exactly how long after you bought that you found TUG. Each developer contract has a rescission period. Hoping just maybe you might still have an opportunity to rescind. If not, welcome to HGVC. You have lots of options once you decide you need more points.

We bought it a couple weeks ago, so we are past our rescission period. Thing is we are excited to start using our timeshare (and HGVC points) and feel like we can easily travel this way. I was just snooping around online to find answers to questions we were curious about, like how exactly we convert our HGVC points to RCI and if we needed to create our RCI membership or if it was automatically done.

Well I saw this site and was reading through some threads and saw posts about resales. After looking at some resales I was like crap resale is a much better deal haha. Oh well, lesson learned. Just glad we didn't go big. But we knew 2200 would get us about week in studio rooms. I've also seen we can rent points as well.

Once I pay this off I can see us buying more points, glad I know where to go.
 

Growmason

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Welcome to TUG. There is not much of a market for selling 2200 points. You will probably give that away someday. If you get a cost per point, that is 40 cents a point and most people try to get more points for a low maintenance fee and get their ratio to .15 cents per point. If you think that you might vacation once per year, the smart thing to do is buy 7000 points on the resale market and get your cost per point lower. I don’t think 2200 points will get a room that a family can stay in. Maybe you can get a one bedroom for 3-4 days, but it is not going provide more than a studio for a week and most of them have a two person limit. Maybe Elara is different from HGVC, but I don’t think so. Just look for a deal on 7000 points and combine the two properties to lower your cost ratio and sell the 2200 point unit later. Good luck.

What do you mean give that away someday? Are there other people giving away their points and is that a good option to try and add more points now? Is it just basically taking over MFs?
 

Gypsy65

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I wouldn’t worry

First. $10,000 isn’t life changing money

Second. Many people only research what they bought. TS. Watch. Car etc after the purchase to see if they got a good deal

Third. You now have a TS. Not a bad thing
Can you make it better? Absolutely and by doing so you will bring your overall price per point way down

Can you make it worse?
Absolutely by not learning how to use it and make that purchase work for you

My MF are around $5500 per year. A friend damn near passed out until I explained to him what we actually get for that fee and how we use it
By the end of our conversation he was wanting to buy

Just learn all you can in your particular system and enjoy vacations like no other
 

Denise L

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We bought retail timeshares more than once, and on purpose, too! Soon you will learn how to enjoy your investment in vacations, and you will definitely be buying more. We started with one Vistana (Starwood) week (retail), then bought Disney points, then Hyatt points, more Disney points (retail), and HGVC points, twice! It's a wonderful addiction and we don't regret our retail purchases since we have gotten so much use out of our timeshares. Enjoy your purchase!
 

RX8

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What do you mean give that away someday? Are there other people giving away their points and is that a good option to try and add more points now? Is it just basically taking over MFs?

2200 points unfortunately doesn’t have any resale value. You could go out and pile on a bunch of free 2200 points but you will have a maintenance fee for each one you add (not to mention closing costs). Assume you find two more 2200 points. You will have a total of 6600 points but 3 maintenance fees. A better solution down the road would be to give away your 2200 point contract and purchase a 7000 point resale leaving you with one maintenance fee. Yes, there is a larger upfront cost but it won’t take long for you to recoup that upfront cost in maintenance fee savings.
 

presley

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I'll say that 2200 points wouldn't have worked for me, but if you are able to find studios where you want to stay at that rate, that is good to hear.

You just bought, so be happy with your purchase and make sure that you schedule some great stays with your bonus points before they expire. Educated yourself as much as you can before you do another stay as they will try to upsell you every time that you stay in a Hilton timeshare.

Your purchase has a low # of points for a high MF ratio. Because of that, after you educate yourself with resales and long term costs, you might want to look at upgrading what you own. Basically, anytime you stay at a HGVC property, they will ask you to attend an owner update. The owner update is an upsell, which I always avoided, but if after you've figured out the long term costs of resale vs. trading in what you have for something with a better point to MF ratio, you may want to look at the numbers. Before you do that, really spend time figuring out what you'd pay out of pocket for what you have (purchase price + all the years of MFs that you'll pay until it's paid off) and compare giving away what you have or paying someone to take it and then buying resale vs. trading in what you have for a lower priced MF property.
 

tompalm

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2200 points unfortunately doesn’t have any resale value. You could go out and pile on a bunch of free 2200 points but you will have a maintenance fee for each one you add (not to mention closing costs). Assume you find two more 2200 points. You will have a total of 6600 points but 3 maintenance fees. A better solution down the road would be to give away your 2200 point contract and purchase a 7000 point resale leaving you with one maintenance fee. Yes, there is a larger upfront cost but it won’t take long for you to recoup that upfront cost in maintenance fee savings.

Exactly what I wanted to say. But I didn’t want to start the thread with too much disappointing news.
 

tompalm

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With kids, I think you have to forget the studios and just go for a one bedroom and use your points for less days. You can use open season or book inside 30 days to get more use out of your membership.
 

pedro47

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Can the OP, exchange into any HGV Orlando Resort with 2200 points for a 2 bedrooms villa or a 1 bedroom villa? I do not own with HGV.

I’m asking because the OP has children.
 

brp

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Can the OP, exchange into any HGV Orlando Resort with 2200 points for a 2 bedrooms villa or a 1 bedroom villa? I do not own with HGV.

I’m asking because the OP has children.

Yes. HGVC are very flexible in this regard. But 2200 points will mean a shorter stay in a 2- or 1-bd villa versus a studio.

Cheers.
 

Growmason

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Yes. HGVC are very flexible in this regard. But 2200 points will mean a shorter stay in a 2- or 1-bd villa versus a studio.

Cheers.

Interesting. How do I go about doing something like this? And i would be more interested in Orlando than Vegas.
 

pedro47

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To do the OP, please check RCI for getaways exchanges to Orlando .
This may help you with exchanges into Orlando and other timeshare resorts. Good luck.
 

GT75

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Gypsy65

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Interesting. How do I go about doing something like this? And i would be more interested in Orlando than Vegas.

If you haven’t been to Vegas in the past 4-5 years a lot has changed

Way more restaurants and kid friendly places and shows to see

Depending on their age

We brought our youngest son when he was maybe 3rd grade and apparently he is a little spoiled (15 now )
As his requests are NYC. Vegas. Just did Alaska etc
 

GT75

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If you haven’t been to Vegas in the past 4-5 years a lot has changed
Interesting because we have never been to Vegas. Someday, we will need to try it out.
 

PigsDad

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We brought our youngest son (to Vegas) when he was maybe 3rd grade and apparently he is a little spoiled (15 now )
As his requests are NYC. Vegas. Just did Alaska etc
Your post reminded me of when we were in Vegas for the first time with our 9 y.o. daughter several years ago. We were walking on the strip in the daytime and there were "interesting" little cards littered on the sidewalk. She was being unusually quiet and pensive as she was walking and eyeing some of the cards. I swear we could literally hear the gears turning in her head. Finally, she turned to my wife and asked, "Who are those girls on the cards?".

Without missing a beat, my wife replied, "Those are girls who didn't go to college." I had to struggle to not break out laughing! My daughter seemed perfectly satisfied with that answer and went on her merry way for the rest of the day, paying no more attention to the cards. I guess it was a good lesson, as my daughter started college a month ago. :D

Kurt
 

Gypsy65

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Your post reminded me of when we were in Vegas for the first time with our 9 y.o. daughter several years ago. We were walking on the strip in the daytime and there were "interesting" little cards littered on the sidewalk. She was being unusually quiet and pensive as she was walking and eyeing some of the cards. I swear we could literally hear the gears turning in her head. Finally, she turned to my wife and asked, "Who are those girls on the cards?".

Without missing a beat, my wife replied, "Those are girls who didn't go to college." I had to struggle to not break out laughing! My daughter seemed perfectly satisfied with that answer and went on her merry way for the rest of the day, paying no more attention to the cards. I guess it was a good lesson, as my daughter started college a month ago. :D

Kurt

That’s great!!

Although I didn’t see much of that when I was there a few weeks ago

Had almost the exact same experience with my son when he was 6 or 7

He was trying not to look and I said. You better not be grabbing those

Then later I go. I think you’re getting taller, do you have sticky stuff on your shoes to get these?

I better not get called in to your principals office for you playing go fish with your friends at school using girlie cards

You have a blonde ddd? Go fish
 

dayooper

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Interesting because we have never been to Vegas. Someday, we will need to try it out.

We love Vegas. We aren’t big gamblers, but we do gamble a bit (set aside $75 a night). The gambling isn’t what we went for, though. We loved to 2 shows we saw (Blue Man Group and Cirque de Solei Ka). We went to Valley of Fire and did a night just watching the Bellagio Fountains. The Vegas Flea Market was fun too. Would have loved to have gone to the Neon Sign Boneyard and the Mob Museum, but didn’t have time. We still didn’t scratch the surface of the activities there. With the NHL there now and the NFL coming there soon, there will be even more to do.

It’s a bit over the top, but just walking through the casino resorts, checking out their shops (Bellagio and Venetian were my favorites) and what the offer inside (the indoor flower sculptures in The Bellagio are incredible and they change them every quarter)are worth seeing too.
 

brp

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We love Vegas. We aren’t big gamblers, but we do gamble a bit (set aside $75 a night).

In maybe a dozen trips to Vegas I've lost about $0.75 on my own initiative plus $10 that my brother asked me to bet.

Shows and happy hour food. Plus, having a car and going to nearby areas. We've also run several races in Vegas, and will again.

Cheers.
 

jabberwocky

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Without missing a beat, my wife replied, "Those are girls who didn't go to college."

...or perhaps some use it as a way to pay for college. :rolleyes:
 
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