My survey - what should I buy? Thanks :)

[KShaw]

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where? Beach - We live in Chattanooga, TN and wish to drive no more than 8 hours due to health reasons. We will fly to farther destinations. LOVE Cancun, quieter the better. Disneyworld at least EOY.

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? Good resort less than 8 hr drive and we will visit at least 2x yr. We are fortunate to be able to travel 4-6wks per year without being constrained by school schedule.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? SF Bay - Monterey Bay (family nearby); Seattle; Mexico (beach); Caribbean; Europe?

4) How many people do you usually travel with? Just the 2 of us

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Anytime. Prefer to go to beach when it is cold in Tennessee; When it is hot here, the last thing we care about is spending $ to go somewhere else hot.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? CLEAN is most important; 3+

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? As little as possible; looking to get started for less than $1000 (I know... this may take some good timing)

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? $1200 - $1500

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? I can be extremely detailed when it's important

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

 

[vacationtime1]

You should give some thought to purchasing a 2 bedroom prime season at Sheraton Vistana Villages (Bella or Key West phases ONLY). Start here: https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...-to-timesharing-or-starwood-start-here.63224/ -- it will take a bit of time to comprehend but the system works well.

For about $1,000, you can purchase this unit; it comes with 81000 StarOptions that will allow you easy exchanges into multiple 4-5* resorts in Florida and Cancun. Maintenance fees are about $1,300 including club fees.

 

[RNCollins]

Bump

 

[bizaro86]

I agree Vistana is a good fit for much of your requirements. They just opened their second property in Cancun, and studios in January are a relative bargain. They also have Orlando and a beach resort in FL.

Another one to consider would be Worldmark. It would probably be a tough to get a WM account for 1,000 but the maintenance fees are relatively inexpensive, and so you'd probably be underbudget on that.

Worldmark has properties in Monterey Bay and SF, as well as Seattle, Mexico, and the US Virgin Islands. There is one on the Isla Mujeres, a quiet island a short ferry from Cancun which fits your needs I suspect.