What to buy survey

[timesharejer]

I've been researching on this site for the past week after I attended a Sapphire (Jockey Club) TS presentation while on vacation. Very glad I didn't purchase - although they tried their best. We supposedly get a 3days/2nights stay with Airfare to The Cosmopolitan just for attending as well as some discounted show tickets and promotional slot play. Time will tell if The Cosmopolitan stay with airfare comes through when we send in our voucher. As for the TS - I was almost ready to pull the trigger on their deal until they ended up knocking the original price down 60%, and throwing in two vacations to Hawaii with airfare. At that point I knew it had to be too good to be true; however, I think they successfully sold my wife and I on the potential benefits of a TS or a TS/points purchase.




1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

I tend to enjoy visiting Vegas more than anything else. I have been 3 times in the last 5 years with two trips on the books for next year. I also like Florida (taking the kiddos to Disney/Universal), as well as Carribbean (Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and Jamaica were all great trips). So maybe 50% give or take to Vegas but would like the ability to mix in some Carribbean etc...

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?

I could see myself using a home resort in Vegas half the time but probably not much more than 50-60% and trading off the rest.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

Carribbean
Orlando
Hawaii
Austrailia
Africa

4) How many people do you usually travel with?

I'd say it's a fair mix. Romantic trips with my wife, taking the kids somewhere fun, and big groups getting together.

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

Anytime - there will be a few year block where spring break trips are a must but I could always pay cash for those and save the TS for a getaway with the wife after dealing with a spring break trip?

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

Very flexible with planning I've gone as far out as 12 mos and as close as 1 week prior to departure.

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

I would like the option to use a full week possibly longer on some trips as well as the option for weekend getaways.

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

Again flexible, I don't mind paying more if I'm getting a better experience. To date my most expensive but best resort stay was at a Sandals. Planet Hollywood, the Aria, and MGM are where I've chosen to stay in Vegas if that helps?

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

Resale market value of the TS/Pts System that is the best fit.

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?

I'd like to stay close to $1000 while I'm getting my feet wet in the TS game.

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

I can be very detail oriented when I need to be or I can wing it with the best. My last vegas trip was planned out almost to the hour which was a little too much for me, but I've been out there for a week with no concrete plans before arrival before.

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.


I will admit to this point a lot of my research on the site has gravitated towards HGVC and Wyndhym - am I on the right track based on my vacationing habits? Part of the TS research is to force myself to take more vacations than stay-cations. Any and all advice or recommendations welcome - Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

Las Vegas and Orlando are 2 of the easiest and cheapest places to rent/exchange, because there is more supply than demand - which means that they have poor trading power. That means that you probably don't want a home resort in one of those 2 areas, unless you buy one that has a strong internal points system, like Hilton.

Buying outside the US, unless it is a US based timeshare system can also have issues, and often they have a mandatory all inclusive fee, which is a negative. So you probably don't want to buy a home resort in Jamaica, and I wouldn't buy in Puerto Rico, because of the hurricane damage.

Wyndham has a lot of issues right now - big changes that are unfriendly to owners, and a disfuntional reservation system - personally, I wouldn't buy Wyndham right now.

Please be aware that trading is never guaranteed - it's more like gambling and hoping to hit a jack pot. With exchanging, you are competing with everyone else for the prime destinations - it's not like making a hotel reservation where you just look at a list, choose what you want, and get it. You have to put in a request far in advance, and hope you get lucky.

You have a really broad list of areas that you want to travel to, which makes it difficult to narrow down the best resort system for you. Besides Las Vegas and Orlando, and being realistic, which of these areas do you think you will actually visit more than once? For example, the airfare to Australia and Africa are going to be super expensive.

Carribbean
Orlando
Hawaii
Austrailia
Africa

What state do you live in? A drive to location that is a good trader might be a good choice for you.

 

[VegasBella]

Las Vegas and Orlando are 2 of the easiest and cheapest places to rent/exchange, because there is more supply than demand - which means that they have poor trading power. That means that you probably don't want a home resort in one of those 2 areas, unless you buy one that has a strong internal points system, like Hilton.

Buying outside the US, unless it is a US based timeshare system can also have issues, and often they have a mandatory all inclusive fee, which is a negative. So you probably don't want to buy a home resort in Puerto Rico or Jamaica - especially after the hurricanes.

I generally agree although if you got a fixed week in Orlando over Christmas then that might trade well. Or Vegas over New Years. Or If you buy Disney points in Orlando.

Point is there are exceptions to every rule - just research research research. Read TONS before you buy so you fully understand it all.

The main rule about what you buy as a home resort is that you won’t mind using it exactly as it is if exchanging doesn’t work out. You want to buy something you like.

Caribbean definitely has hurricane problems. And all inclusive may be over priced. And non US countries may have worrisome laws about timeshares.

BUT just FYI Puerto Rico is “in the US.” Puerto Rico is part of the USA.




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[Panina]

Hgvc is a great system for your destinations of Florida and Vegas but as others said never a guaranteed for trades. I prefer II for trading over RCI thus my last Hgvc purchase was for an affiliate at eagles Nest Marco Island , thus the best of all worlds, a great place to go, a high demand area that trades well in II, and a week that can be used within the Hgvc system.

 

[timesharejer]

I live in Indiana - Gatlinburg and Nashville are both driving distance as well as northern MI for ski and snowmobile trips I'll start looking at some properties in those areas. If you wouldn't want to buy wyndham with their changes would you be at all interested in free points from the bargain bin or is their system that messed up right now? Thanks for all the great input so far!

 

[DeniseM]

The Wyndham system is messed up right now, regardless of the price of the timeshare. Browse through the posts in the Wyndham forum for many, many examples.

 

[Passepartout]

One difficulty with timeshares in general- and a major reason there are so many resales on the market for tiny prices- is that many years ago really NICE timeshare condos came on the market and the annual MF was just a couple of hundred bucks a year, but it was written in to contracts that they had the right to increase MF to keep up with inflation- or a certain percentage, and NOW those MF bills are $1000ish for modest independent TSs and $3,000 a week in places like Hawaii. It has become relatively easy to rent luxurious vacation digs for often less than the cost of owning, and no initial buy-in or inflationary spiral. AND you can rent- as you said- for next week, instead of planning a year ahead.

It's because of this that I no longer advocate buying ANY timeshares.

My customary $.02 worth.

Jim

 

[aarce]

Hi Jim. I will be attending

One difficulty with timeshares in general- and a major reason there are so many resales on the market for tiny prices- is that many years ago really NICE timeshare condos came on the market and the annual MF was just a couple of hundred bucks a year, but it was written in to contracts that they had the right to increase MF to keep up with inflation- or a certain percentage, and NOW those MF bills are $1000ish for modest independent TSs and $3,000 a week in places like Hawaii. It has become relatively easy to rent luxurious vacation digs for often less than the cost of owning, and no initial buy-in or inflationary spiral. AND you can rent- as you said- for next week, instead of planning a year ahead.

It's because of this that I no longer advocate buying ANY timeshares.

My customary $.02 worth.

Jim

I am new to TUG. After reading your post I have to say that it did resonate with me as I had the same thoughts when I began researching about TS. I have to admit that your logic makes sense. My only question is can you really find some high end resorts (4-5) and rent them when you want (cost effectively) instead of committing to a TS. I know how I am and as much as I like the free agent approach you suggest I know that I would probably not pay more than $350-400/night for a great resort. So I am still trying to evaluate if a TS week at a nice resort (HGVC,HYATT,Marriott) at resale around $7k and $1300 MF would be worth the investment. Is it safe to assume that a night at one of these resort is around $300-$400?. Lets say $350 that would be around $2500/week. Once the upfront costs are paid, resale TS appears to make sense if you want to stay at high end resorts since the costs to stay at these resorts is typically more than the MF. Any thoughts?

s

 

[Passepartout]

Is it safe to assume that a night at one of these resort is around $300-$400?. Lets say $350 that would be around $2500/week. Once the upfront costs are paid, resale TS appears to make sense if you want to stay at high end resorts since the costs to stay at these resorts is typically more than the MF. Any thoughts?

Well, to answer this question, simply click on 'Marketplace' in the dark blue stripe at the top of this (or any TUG) page, and browse the rentals that are available there. Now, they are not listed by availability date (wouldn't that be handy), but rather more-or-less in the order they were posted. But you can get a feel for the cost of a higher end TS. Remember you are renting from a private party, so a certain level of trust is needed- on both sides- the person renting their timeshare doesn't know you either. Most TUGgers are honorable people, and if someone gets hosed, the rest of the community will come down on them pretty hard, but it is caveat emptor. For even greater bargains look in the Last Minute Rentals Forum where move-in is within 45 days and the cost is under $100/night.

And unless you are really into places with concierge desks and 24 hour bellmen and onsite restaurants, consider other-than hotel brand name TSs. Places where I own are without exception clean, well located, well equipped, controlled by the owners, not some anonymous board of developers. And as a bonus, independent TSs can be bought into for a few bucks and average nightly cost is well under $125.

Jim