Thanks for all your thoughtful replies. We’re not interested it points - too costly for us. But do you think a trader would work if we’re constrained in time (school schedules), but not really place? We can travel thanksgiving, Xmas, spring break, certain summer weeks but don’t necessarily care we we go. Although east coast properties are driving distance. Thanks again!
A trader is a viable strategy and always was when tied to a school calendar. The key is being flexible. I look for the best place I know my family would like to go and use retrade if I find a better choice or life happens. We enjoy beach so this is why HHI and Aruba are picked often. For HHI we have never stayed anywhere other than the Monarch (where we own two units) or GO via trade when I need to sleep 8.
Between my kids growing up and my wife working in a school since returning back to work, I have been tied to a school calendar since 1993. I have always had at least one trader. My first one was purchased in 1995 for under 2,000 resale at Resort World of Orlando. It is now called Legacy Vacation Club Kissimmee. I gave it away in 2015 never having stayed there even once. The MF at give away time was maybe $750 but the diminishing trade value reflected it and the reason for the give away. In 2015 I added another Monarch week 31 for $5,000 as a trader (occasional use or rent) and a EOY 2 BR Grand Chateau at a pure trader (paid 1800). At the end of each final trade below I put an estimated DP value used from a 2019 chart just for a comparison. Overall, even with upgrade fees and trading fees trading offers great value.
Legacy Vacation Club Kissimmee 2 BR - Going further back in time the resulting trades were more on par getting 2 bedrooms for 2 bedrooms 90% of the time.
on 12/24/13 traded Surf (2 br) 9/2/13 (2900)
on 12/8/14 traded Canyon Villas (1 br) 12/21/14 (1450)
on 1/15/15 traded Surf (1 br) for 6/15/15
Retrade 2/1/15 for Ocean Club (for 1 br) 6/22/15
Retrade 3/15/15 for Ocean Club (1 br) for 8/22/15
Retraded 4/12/15 to Ocean Pointe (1 br) for 12/24/15 (2700)
Monarch - I purchased this for 5000 because of the need to sleep 8 required a bigger unit. This was inexpensive enough and I knew I could rent it like my other Monarch unit or trade it into the GO if I wanted when 8 was required.
on 10/04/18 traded to Grand Ocean for 7/6/19 (4500)
on 7/14/17 traded to Grand Ocean for 7/13/18 (4500)
on 8/22/16 traded to Grand Ocean for 7/16/17 (4500)
2 BR EOY Grand Chateau - I am sorry I didn't buy a 3 bedroom.
1 BR side on 9/17/2016 traded to Aruba Surf (2 br) for 7/10/17
Retrade 1/23/17 to Aruba Surf (2 br) for 8/21/17 (3500)
Studio side on 3/1/18 traded to Legends Edge for 12/22/2018
Retrade on 4/1/18 to Frenchman Cove (2 Br) for 7/13/18
Retrade on 4/15/18 to Hyatt Windwaed Point (2 br) for 7/13/18
Retrade on 5/15/18 to Desert Springs (1 br) for 12/23/18 (2175)
Studio side on 6/11/18 traded to Surfwatch 3 br for 8/19/18
Retrade on 7/2/18 to OceanWatch for 4/21/19 (2675)
1 BR side On 12/7/18 traded to Surfwatch for 8/17/19
Retrade on 1/4/2019 to Grand Ocean for 8/17/19 (4500)
In addition, we always traveled outside of timeshares with the kids when they were young but mostly now with just my wife and myself. My second Monarch unit is a high floor legacy enrolled Monarch summer oceanfront week that I rented out the last 6 years. it allows me to get on average 75 to 90 percent return on my MF to help fund trips outside of timeshares. My trader Monarch week is a few units down with a great partial ocean view. The once I rented it, it got me about 60% return on my MF. Again used to travel outside of timeshare. The year I rented both the total I got was about 5200 with a MF of about 3000 for both. I am thinking at some point when I retire am not tied to a school calendar I can turn the combined 5200 rental (or whatever rental I get) into renting DP giving me a good number of points to figure out if it can work for me.
I think the keys to success:
(1) There is no one size that fits all. Because of this,
(2) it is incumbent on you to take the time to figure out what works for you. It helps if
(3) buy a unit as low a cost as you can as long as the unit can make it work for you. My total purchase cost for all my timeshares add up to about 21,000. The smartest money I ever spent.