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help me buy a timeshare

jedimasterjem

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DVC SSR, AKL; Grandview Las Vegas; SVV - Bella; MGC
1) Where do you want your home resort to be? Anywhere, somewhere hot

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? More on the trade

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? Orlando, Hawaii, Asia, Europe anywhere

4) How many people do you usually travel with? 6

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Some flexibility but kids are in school

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Yes and no

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? I can but may prefer to do multiple 3-4 day trips

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? 3+

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? $10,000

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? $1,500MAX

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? yes

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


Ive been lurking around and I think RCI might be the best for us but I am not sure, We also own DVC.
 

vacationhopeful

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DVC is a fine TS system. But you must know by now the BEST use of DVC points is to stay onsite Disney.

Could buy more DVC points ... resale is a bit cheaper.

So, the next question is, WHERE else do you and your family want to travel? Beach, ocean, mountains, city destinations?

Travelling to far off destinations like Europe and Hawaii for a family of 6 gets expensive .. plus both of those locales are expensive in their own right PLUS the airfare.

With your yearly budget of $1500 for MFs and a family size of 6 person ... that would be a 2/2 unit during the Prime season. Your buy in budget is very good (way high enough) ... remember, buying resale will stretch your buy in dollars... just be wise, and REMEMBER to keep your MFs as a limit to how many TS you buy.
 
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jedimasterjem

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California
Resorts Owned
DVC SSR, AKL; Grandview Las Vegas; SVV - Bella; MGC
DVC is a fine TS system. But you must know by know the BEST use of DVC points is to stay onsite Disney.

Could buy more DVC points ... resale is a bit cheaper.

So, the next question is, WHERE else do you and your family want to travel? Beach, ocean, mountains, city destinations?

Travelling to far off destinations like Europe and Hawaii for a family of 6 gets expensive .. plus both of those locales are expensive in their own right PLUS the airfare.

With your yearly budget of $1500 for MFs and a family size of 6 person ... that would be a 2/2 unit during the Prime season. Your buy in budget is very good (way high enough) ... remember, buying resale will stretch your buy in dollars... just be wise, and REMEMBER to keep your MFs as a limit to how many TS you buy.

We are open to to beach, ocean, mountains and city. My family is very open, we ski, we love the ocean to snorkel, swim, and love to explore and sight see..YES 6 is expensive to travel and lodging is even more..

if i go to rci should i buy in reference to MF vs points?
 

vacationhopeful

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Don't know where your home is ... but skiing resorts out West would have airfare expenses but if you live from Virginia up and along the Atlantic Coast, your drive time would limited to your driving ... Poconos (PA) has skiing plus Elk in the northeast corner and further north is MA plus further north is NH and VT... all with small ski areas plus some older TS resorts.
 

vacationhopeful

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RCI is an exchange company with takes your TS ownership as deposit and charges an exchange fee IF you find and have the TPUs (trading points units) or the RCI Points needed to make the exchange. There is "no promise" to get an exchange when & where you WANT to go. Searches might take a year or two with fees paid in advance.

Mini-systems like Wyndham, Marriott, Starwood, etc use their points to trade internally. Say, you own Wyndham points ... you have booking windows (10-13 months in advance) ... 13 months if you are points are deed there. I usually get my reservations by booking early; but those reservations usually are for 7 night. Rules are different for each system.. and resorts managed by the mini-system.

Learning where your family's top 2 or 3 destinations are yearly, look up the resorts with which mini-system, maybe rent a vacation or two ... BUT definitely at least VISIT (day visit) the primary resort before buying. And realize, a top location/management company is NOT going to match on quality factors to a OVERBUILT area's unit, a 2 star resort to a 4+ star resort, a mud season to a PRIME week. And buying with the plan to always fly somewhere ... for 2 might work; family of 6 ... you could get 2 weeks of vacations by driving to the resorts .. no airfares, no rental cars, no luggage fees.
 

jedimasterjem

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DVC SSR, AKL; Grandview Las Vegas; SVV - Bella; MGC
We are from California, we haven't really gone to the EC to go skiing, But we try to go florida at least once a year. We try to drive, like this nov we are driving to AZ.

Ok I am understanding RCI is the exchange system, but I would need to purchase either from Wyndham, Marriott, or starwood then get an RCI account. Right?

Where do yo look for resale?
 

theo

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...I am understanding RCI is the exchange system, but I would need to purchase either from Wyndham, Marriott, or starwood then get an RCI account. Right?

Where do yo look for resale?

Not correct. For starters, RCI is only one of numerous exchange companies, although it is certainly the largest.
Others include Interval International (II), Trading Places International (TPI), Dial an Exchange (DAE) and assorted others.

You can purchase a RCI membership if you own (but only if you own) at any resort which is "affiliated" with RCI.
This includes many independent resorts which are not (...have never been and will never be) within any of the "chains" you have identified.
Bear in mind that many timeshares are not associated in any way with corporate "chains" like Marriott, Wyndham, Hyatt, Hilton, etc.

Wyndham owns RCI. If you buy within Wyndham, RCI membership is included (you still pay for that membership, but you pay within your annual fees instead of by direct payment to RCI). In any event, you must still pay exchange fees to RCI if / when you "trade"; when last I knew that cost was $229 per exchange (and reportedly increasing once again in a very few weeks (in June), but I don't track exchange fees (nor do I even belong to RCI at all anymore, for that matter).

You can find resales on this site (TUG) in the Marketplace, lower cost (or free) ones in the TUG Bargain Deals section. Resale timeshares can also be found advertised on eBay, RedWeek, MyResortNetwork, Craigslist. With a group of six, you will obviously always need 2-3 BR units.

I would respectfully suggest reading and learning lots more before buying anything on Planet Timeshare. Acquisition is always very easy; ownership termination later usually much less so --- and annual maintenance fees are forever (or for as long as you are the owner, anyhow).
You indicate perhaps preferring multiple 3-4 day trips over full weeks. If that's the case, you should perhaps only consider a "points" package (like Wyndham offers) that allows that option (if / where / when space is available); no deeded fixed week ownership can ever provide that.
 
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vacationhopeful

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Theo is right.

There are SO MANY options for trading (exchanging), resorts which stand alone or are part of a mini-system or part of a major change of resorts. It should MATCH what you want in a vacation experience. If you own a resort where you exchange thru RCI/II-type (your week deposited and TIME before checkin SETs the value you get), depositing a YEAR in advance generally works well ... but planning might be in the 2 years time frame from depositing to vacationing.

Wyndham points system (newer resorts are all points vacations or older resorts where a fixed, deeded weeks exists for SOME owners & points usage for other owners). Marriott is similar ... points (DC points) for some, fixed/floating weeks for others. Most Wyndham owners are RCI exchange systems users; some of the older owners (fewer every year) use II.

I own Wyndham points and fixed deeded Wyndham weeks plus a South Florida independent resort where I own some RCI (converted to RCI) points weeks plus some weeks I can exchanged thru II or RCI weeks systems.

Fees go up every year. My independent resort's fees have modest increases ... the owners are older (some having brought in the early 1970s), has a great location and multiple PRIME seasons during the year. It is close to the largest cruise port in the US and attracts many short stay guests who primary reason to come to the area is for cruising. My favorite line is "I can see and count the cruise ships in the port each AM" ...okay, Florida is FLAT and cruise ships are TALL ... but I do see them from the higher floors (and on the intercoastal side) of the resort.

Example: The small 40 unit 1bdr garden-style condo unit (4 buildings. 5 units per floor. 2 floors) has been offered $1,000,000 PER CONDO by a developer (this is the high recent offer). The owners LIKE what & where they own and are NOT interested in selling... and this creates a strong vetting issue for owners who might have to sell.

My timeshare building was originally a condo/co-op building that went bankrupt. Timeshare sales started in early 1970s ... 2 fixed weeks (one a PRIME week and off season) per deed. Over the various years and management companies, the ownership is held mainly by individual owners and recently, by a vacation club holding weeks. There have been special assessments (last was over 10 years ago) and changes in resort managers (some a bit more dramatic with other staff gone & locks changed).
 

jedimasterjem

TUG Member
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
67
Reaction score
13
Points
118
Location
California
Resorts Owned
DVC SSR, AKL; Grandview Las Vegas; SVV - Bella; MGC
Thank you for all the responses I'm going to be watching some eBay auctions hopefully I'll get a good one


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