Newbie trying to do due diligence/buy resale cheap for points

[Diana in FL]

My husband and I are considering purchasing a resale timeshare in FL, Atlantic Ocean-front, for $1 for the RCI points value. We are comfortable with the maintenance fee of ~$1400/yr for 106,000 points if we are able to get two or three vacations each year from the points. We’re not really interested in the place itself; we live in Florida so beach access is not an issue for us. I’m trying to do my due diligence, but I am having difficulty finding accurate and current info on RCI points without becoming a member. This is all new to me, so I’d appreciate some guidance, resources, etc. Thank you!

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

What's the hurry? Do your research and take your time. You'll eventually find what you want.

It "could" be cheaper to rent than to buy, and not have the commitment headaches.....






.

 

[Shankilicious]

It depends what resort as to whether or not it will be an RCI points account or RCI weeks account. What resort/system?

 

[RX8]

My husband and I are considering purchasing a resale timeshare in FL, Atlantic Ocean-front, for $1 for the RCI points value. We are comfortable with the maintenance fee of ~$1400/yr for 106,000 points if we are able to get two or three vacations each year from the points. We’re not really interested in the place itself; we live in Florida so beach access is not an issue for us. I’m trying to do my due diligence, but I am having difficulty finding accurate and current info on RCI points without becoming a member. This is all new to me, so I’d appreciate some guidance, resources, etc. Thank you!

A couple of thoughts.

Take your time and do more research.

For your proposed 106,000 RCI points it looks like you will have two deeds as one (Sheraton Vistana Beach Club). This may be more difficult to get rid of when you are done with it. I would consider this only if I had planned on using the two assigned Sheraton weeks half the time.

Did you know? In addition to the $1400 MF you will have exchange fees. So, for 3 vacations your $1400 MF is now closer to $2000. Expect that to rise each year too.

Since you are using for points only, my suggestion is to look for the most points on one deed. They can be found for close to free. One example is Grandview. Ebay has a recent completed sale that had 98,000 annual points for about $800 in maintenance fees. Cost was $106 all in. Even if you paid $600 for it you recoup that in the first year of MF savings. That is a much better deal in my opinion.

https://www.rci.com/pre-rci-en_US/help/index.page

 

[chapjim]

<snip>

Take your time and do more research.

<snip>

This is the best possible advice for all the "newbie wanting to purchase a timeshare" posters.

 

[RNCollins]

Hi Diana in FL,

Welcome to TUG.

This is a link to a post that has more information about RCI Points:

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/rci-points-guide.288347/

 

[JustAddVodka]

Grandview, mentioned is the best points vs maintenance fees deal out there, but the Vacation Village at Parkway is good too. You can get 92,500 pts for a $926 MF, and you can pick them up on ebay very close to free. The larger Grandview contracts usually sell for $2,000+ plus closing fees. I did the math once and it worked out to 10+ years before the savings in MF would make it worth the initial outlay and decided to concentrate on Vacation Village instead.

If you were to pick up one contract, you can pretty easily do 2 weeks a year somewhere, maybe 3 if you do some last minute deals where you only pay a fraction of the points for the week. Two contracts would get you 3 weeks in nice 2 bedroom condos in prime seasons. More if you can use studios and 1 bedrooms, travel off-peak, etc.