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
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