High Country Club Part 3

[lostinjapan14]

An idea regarding joining HCC

For those of us who are tempted by Destination Club properties and value, but who still want to keep one foot in the timeshare industry or "try before you buy" I have a proposal.

Yes, the affiliate membership goes up 10k at the end of this month, but the group membership is staying fixed at $60k.

Affiliate Membership - $30k, 3 weeks of use, affiliate member MUST be present at the properties when using them.

Group Membership - $60k, 6 weeks of use, guests may be appointed by the group = YOU don't have to be there, you can gift the week or allow someone else to stay there.

I cannot use 6 weeks by myself, so I am interested in hearing from anyone who would like to get a group membership with me.

#mem / #wks each / $ each
2 / 3 / 30k
3 / 2 / 20k
6 / 1 / 10k

If one more person is interested, the buy in is 30k each and offers benifits above those of affiliate membership. If 5 people want in with me, we each buy in for 10k, and can use or gift one week a year to get our feet wet.

Simple rules would apply -
Consider the 6 member model -

If one member wants out, another member can buy their week of time from them by giving them the 80% of 10k (=8k). If we all want out one year after using, we have only lost 2k (20% lost) + 1.6k (yearly dues/6) = 3.6k each

And losing 3.6k seems like peanuts when you get to use a property for a week that would rent for more than 3.6k.

The main issues of course are that with more than 3 members, rotating who gets the holiday weeks would be hard, but I will be first to step up and give up my holiday week or long-term reservations this year. I can be flexible to get in for a price and number of weeks that makes sense for my family.

This is because the affiliate membership is a bit inconvenient for me as I am still young and working hard. I cannot use 3 weeks and I really can't use 3 weeks by myself. Although I believe that HCC is a great value, if I join as an affiliate and cannot give the week away, I will probably leave at least a week a year unused.

Comments, ideas and private messages are welcome.

 

[caribbeansun]

I have already done that with TS as well as a condo/hotel. So far so good. I'm also looking at HCC with my group to see if it makes sense to add to the portfolio so in answer to your question it can be done but you really need to know those that you are getting into "business" with.

I reviewed the HCC website and the printed materials they sent me. It looks like a good alternative to high end timeshares.

I've been wondering why someone couldn't do something similar with timeshare weeks instead of resort houses/condos? If you could create a pool of timeshare weeks, club members could pick from the available weeks instead of having to try and play the trading games.

Instead of a large initiation fee (like HCC) folks with existing timeshares could transfer their existing timeshare deeds to the club. You'd have to find a way to resolve the variations in value between weeks and find a way to rent out the unused weeks.

Lee

 

[Steamboat Bill]

Comments, ideas and private messages are welcome.

I like your idea, but think this may result in a disaster as you have proposed.

I think the better way to do this is to have "one boss" or "one owner" and then have splinter employees or friends. That way, there is only one person on the deed as the owner. Anything involving strangers on the Internet and with travel and money has too many risks for me to reccommend. I am also not aware if this is even allowed under HCC rules.

The schedule will be a challenge to work out as holiday weeks and long term reservations will be a challenge. I wouls also caution anyone that HCC does NOT allow rental of your reservations.

I still firmly reccomend joining HCC at the current Affiliate or Private membership before March 1, 2007.

 

[travelguy]

I'm with Bill on this!

I like your idea, but think this may result in a disaster as you have proposed.

I think the better way to do this is to have "one boss" or "one owner" and then have splinter employees or friends. That way, there is only one person on the deed as the owner. Anything involving strangers on the Internet and with travel and money has too many risks for me to reccommend. I am also not aware if this is even allowed under HCC rules.

The schedule will be a challenge to work out as holiday weeks and long term reservations will be a challenge. I wouls also caution anyone that HCC does NOT allow rental of your reservations.

I still firmly reccomend joining HCC at the current Affiliate or Private membership before March 1, 2007.

I agree with Bill that this arrangement will be tough to administer. Remember that one of the great things about High Country Club is the ability to manage your reservations with ease and the great availability of properties. You may be better to contact Heath Kirschner @ High Country Club (720) 221-0416 and ask him if he has any ideas to help you get to your vacation property planning goals for now and the future. HCC has been very flexible with their membership plans in the past. Otherwise, High country Club Affiliate membership before the price increase is the way to go.

 

[Bourne]

After doing my due diligence, I am in the process of signing up as an affiliate member.

Here is the reason why we are buying a HCC membership.

Both the wife and I are in our early 30s. For the longest time, we, as DINKS, were happy and contended with a hotel unit for our vacations. There was no need to cook and partying out was much more fun.

About 6 years back, we bought our first HGVC property because we knew our requirements will change to a minimum of a 1Br unit going forward. Again, we were booking studio units as much as possible to maximize out points/day usage till the baby was born about a year back.

Now, the minimum requirement is a 1Br unit with a kitchen. For the most part, we do not travel in off/shoulder season. As a result, the yearly outlay of 7000 points is not enough. We had to depend on SFX promotions to somehow get 2-4 weeks worth of 1Br units. Even though I have had great success with exchanges (Four Seasons Aviara, Westin Kierland, Grand Mayans, Manhattan Club, Windjammer St Lucia, etc...), the effort and flexibility required is not worth it at times. As a result, we bought the second 7000 platinum unit about six months back.

Now, with a year old toddler in place and another kid planned in the next few years, the requirement has gone up to a minimum of 2Br unit for travels 3-5 years from now. A minimum of three 2Br platinum weeks with HGVC/Starwood would cost me north of 40K and 3K in annual dues. And exchanging into a 2Br unit instead of 1Br is far more difficult.

Honestly, I don't want to 'seriously consider' buying a destination club membership 5 years from now when the minimum buy-in price is north of 150K-200K. I am willing to take the risk of buying into an industry that is still in its infancy and holds great promise and benefits for the future. Also, the rules are a lot more flexible now which is evident from the contract that I signed.

Glad I joined. Where is that second bedroom.