What should I buy?

[pikapp285]

I'm learning more about timeshare resales. I love this site and the TUG community. My wife and I are both in our late 20s, live in Seattle, and just welcomed a baby about a year ago. We both work in tech and I work for a travel tech company in Seattle, so we have very generous vacationing/travel policies that we take advantage of (even with the baby). We go to Hawaii every year for a week around the same time, early January (we have explored different islands but we like Oahu--outside of Waikiki--the best). We are fairly into "travel hacking" (e.g. airline points, VRBO, that sort of thing) so the idea of being able to have points to play with is appealing but with the baby our options have become more limited and we are interested in stability. We just got back from Disney in Orlando and the thought of being able to go to Aulani once a year with the kids is very appealing, however as I researched I have realized that may not the best bang of the buck for us (might be better to get Marriott Ko Olina next door, for instance). Ideally we would want something like a 2 bedroom so the kids would have their own rooms in the future and in the meantime we could perhaps bring some guests. We would like the option to trade but we definitely would not be buying a TS for the sole purpose of trading, but wouldn't want something that is difficult to trade with. We generally vacation at least 2 weeks a year, with one of those being in Hawaii so having a second week we could use elsewhere in the same program (or different program) is something I'm looking into. I have given my answers to the survey below but wanted to give an introduction in hopes that I will get more finely tuned help from you kind folks. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

1) Where do you want your home resort to be? Hawaii (preferably Oahu outside of Waikiki, or Maui)

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? Would probably visit home resort (Hawaii) 80%+ of the time

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Hawaii
California
Orlando
Utah
South Carolina

4) How many people do you usually travel with? My wife and baby (could be more babies to come)

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Extremely flexible at the moment but that will probably change in 5 - 6 years when children start school

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? We are used to low end (probably unlicensed) VRBO rentals in Hawaii so anything would be a bump for us from that. I don't know much about how the star ratings work but wouldn't want a dump but don't need the Ritz Carlton either. I am more interested in how crowded pools and beaches are rather than the types of spas that are available on site.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? 12-15k

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? 2500

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? Yes

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

 

[Joe33426]

We don't travel to Hawaii, but it seems like a very popular destination, so buying where you want to go every year would be a good strategy. Since you're on the west coast I'd look at Worldmark and get a small points contract along with a floating Platinum week at Marriott Ko Olina.

 

[K2Quick]

The answer from the prior poster was a good one. In your shoes, I'd probably get an every-other-year unit at Ko Olina for use there. And since you live in the heart of Worldmark country, it would make sense to pick up a 10K or 12K or so WM point membership. If you want to switch up islands in Hawaii, Marriott has some nice resorts on Maui and Kauai that you could easily trade into with preference via II. Alternatively, you could book Worldmark resorts on Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island although they won't be nearly as nice as the Marriott resorts. A Marriott / WM package would be well within your budget.

 

[pikapp285]

Thanks for the replies. We ended up getting a 20k WorldMark account with about 40k banked on eBay for a good price. Waiting to close now. Interested to find out how hard it is to trade into other resorts in Hawaii outside of preference (we aren't tied to Marriott properties). If it isn't too difficult we will probably just stick with Worldmark since we really like their property list and MFs. The 20k account puts us at the top of a MF bracket and allows us 2 housekeeping tokens annually, which works great for us. Happy so far.

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[K2Quick]

I think that's a solid decision (in fact it's the same exact set-up I've got so I'm probably biased). I've got memberships to both II and RCI, but I've found myself using the internal WM system more than the exchanges the more I'm tied to a school calendar. Since you're not tied down with that at the moment, I'd recommend joining one or both of the major exchanges as you can milk a ton of value out of trades. For Hawaii, RC1 will give you the Hilton resorts on Oahu and the Big Island and they are very easy to get into if you're willing to pull the trigger about 18 months out. They also have a lot of quality Wyndham and other units on most of the islands. II gives you Marriott/Westin/Hyatt but, in Hawaii, those trades have become increasingly difficult to get unless you have (and it appears even if you have) a unit with trading preference.

 

[SyS]

How hard was it to buy on eBay and what is the difference between resale worldmark and developer worldmark? I bought into WM almost 20 years ago- only 6k credits (in college then) and have used it over the years, we can go to Lake Tahoe last minute or a week every other year using the WM inventory. However, I am thinking about adding more credits, and don't know how resale works. Would it be added to what I already have? Or is it two different accounts? Any advice?

 

[pikapp285]

How hard was it to buy on eBay and what is the difference between resale worldmark and developer worldmark? I bought into WM almost 20 years ago- only 6k credits (in college then) and have used it over the years, we can go to Lake Tahoe last minute or a week every other year using the WM inventory. However, I am thinking about adding more credits, and don't know how resale works. Would it be added to what I already have? Or is it two different accounts? Any advice?

It just gets combined with your existing account. Your current anniversary month is the one you keep after combining. It was very easy to buy the WM credits. I got 20k annual with almost 40k banked for around 6k plus closing costs

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[SyS]

Thanks! That sounds perfect. We are at Coral Baja now and they tried to sell me 5000 credits for $13k!!

 

[SyS]

Okay, so then are you eligible for any other worldmark perks? The sales guy said to be at 20k points to have increased preferential access when booking, or that you'd have more options for reservations. I'm wondering how true this is...

 

[pikapp285]

The only thing that you aren't eligible for is booking at TravelShare / Wyndham resorts. You can only stay at WorldMark resorts, which is fine for us. I doubt there is much truth to the 20k preferential access thing, although I could be wrong. Good luck

 

[JohnPaul]

Developer credits give you a few things you can't get with resale. It's up to you to decide if the big cost difference is worth it.

First off, with either resale or developer credits you can stay in any WM (US program) resorts to the extent you have sufficient credits. They have very nice resorts and I think they are up to around 90 and includes some resorts in Canada, Mexico and Fiji. You will not be treated any different at these resorts based on where your credits came from.

There are however, some other things you can't do with resale credits.

You can't book Worldmark South Pacific or Brasil (Australia, New Zealand and Brazil). These are separate organizations that have reciprocal agreements that are set by the developer and are not something that you have a right to just by owning WM credits.

You can't use your resale credits to use the internal Wyndham Club Pass to stay in Club Wyndham resorts. The bulk (but not all) of these are in the MW and Eastern US while the bulk of WM are in the West.

And last but not least, you cannot participate in TravelShare which lets you use you credits for a variety of non timeshare things like airfare, rental cars, etc.

Frankly, I think resale is a great deal but there are a number of differences between resale and developer credits.

 

[JohnPaul]

Okay, so then are you eligible for any other worldmark perks? The sales guy said to be at 20k points to have increased preferential access when booking, or that you'd have more options for reservations. I'm wondering how true this is...

I think it's this part that is true "you'd have more options for reservations". Because the more points you own, the more options you are going to have.

Other than that, there is nothing magical about 20,000 points. Right now I have 19,000 which is a little annoying because at 20,000 my MF would be the same and I'd get an additional housekeeping token each year.

Hopefully I can find a good deal on 6000 credits which will get me to 25,000.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Well, I just read your post saying you bought WorldMark. I have it, and it's been difficult to get Maui for me as a resale buyer. I really haven't had much luck with WorldMark, and the resorts I want are higher points (like WM Anaheim).

My idea for the OP:

I bought Disney points and like the idea of using them to stay at Aulani sometime (never have been there), and then using them to stay at Villas at Grand Californian at Disneyland. In Orlando, I like staying at Old Key West with points for a few nights, so we can enjoy being on Disney property, then we stay at the Marriott for a full week or two in addition to that.

The great thing about Disney points is they are very rentable. So if I am not using my points this year, I can rent them and make 2.5X maintenance fees. That alone makes them worthy of consideration. You would have Oahu and Orlando covered with a DVC purchase (resale).

I would buy a Marriott's Lahaina and Napili Villas oceanfront. You can buy a 2 bedroom and lock it off into two units, renting one side and staying in the other until your family gets bigger. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Marriott, but I wouldn't ever deposit a Maui Marriott week and hope for a good exchange. II just cannot guarantee an equal exchange back into another Marriott in Hawaii.

I am big on renting what I cannot use. I would never leave a unit sitting vacant, nor would I use II for something valuable I can rent.

The "Buy where you want to go" TUG mantra was lost on me completely, I was so enamored with exchanging the weeks I had, and it worked well for us for a very long time. Then we had friends who owned at this ordinary place on Maui with an extraordinary view. It's an ordinary timeshare, absolutely, but it's clean and comfortable and 40 feet from the ocean's roar and has a huge lanai that is parallel to the water. No whirlpool tubs, no Westin Heavenly Beds, no spas, no huge pools, no exercise room, but it's only $1,650 per week for fees and taxes, and it's 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with a washer/dryer and a great kitchen.

We were thrilled that our master bedroom has a king bed, and it's very comfortable for us. We bought three weeks and cannot believe our luck in owning that view. We just got back from our 7th or 8th stay, we have owned a long time now.

We paid less than $2K per week to buy. It's in West Maui too, which is where most people want to be. I do love the location for whale watching from the lanai. But it's not for everyone because it's not fancy at all. I understand wanting fancy...