My Survey

[Spartans]

Where do you want your home resort to be?
Florida
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?
Trade
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Florida,Hawaii,Mexico,California,South Carolina
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
2-5
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Yes
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yez
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3+
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
2000.00
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?
Twenty years from now don't want MF to be over 2600.00
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. We have been wanting to buy a timeshare for a couple of years. Have been taking my daughter to her national volleyball tournament in Florida for the past few years at the end of June. Hotels around 4th of July have cost our Family 3 to 4 thousand dollars for two weeks . To fit 5 of us. We stayed at Mystic Dunes. We bought the sampler package there for 2700. Since we will be in Florida again for the tournament. We usually, that week pay more. We will be at Grand Beach the first week and the Cove in Ormond Beach the second. We love the concept of DRI but read way too much here to trust them. We are hoping you can help us with deciding which Vacation Club is for us. We love Beach locations and would one day love to go to Israel with a good church group. DRI had a place through interval, but don't trust this company at all. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[taterhed]

Florida and Mexico are easy to get. July 4th Florida is a little tougher, but still.... Your buy-in price seems low, MF's of $2600 is high. More like $2k

You had me very much convinced on Marriott right up to the part about Purchase price of $2000. For Platinum (July 4th is I'm sure) I'm thinking it's more like $4-6k for a 1or2 br.
Great resort brand, great quality, great exchange, great locations. Buy lock-off unit, split into 2 deposits (or 1 deposit and 1 reservation) and get 2 units per year or buy EOY unit and occupy 1/2 and deposit for next year.
Of course, you would pay upgrade and exchange fees to do this.....

Same on the HGVC idea; great everything, but uses RCI (more resorts, but lower quality in general?) Use exactly what you need (points)
But, at $1 a point (need 7-8K points) you're not in the ballpark at $2k.

Worldmark: great trader, II or RCI, affordable (to buy and MF's) and easy to buy, easy to sell.
But, WM is not generally 3*+ The exchanges are, but that's more money with exchange fees and, frankly, there's a reason why Florida July 4th exchanges are $2700 and hard to get--everybody wants one.
I would feel uncomfortable recommending a WM unit on the east coast with the desire to exchange for peak weeks

Wyndham: This would work...access to RCI for lots of resorts (including world-wide destinations)access to east coast (and the places directly or via exchange). Home resort would probably be needed to secure peak weeks.....I'm no Wyndham expert. Generally not considered 3*+.

Avoid DRI. IMHO

 

[Spartans]

Thank you for responding so quickly. We only have two more years of needing Florida the end of June, beginning of July. My Daughter will be graduating high school in 2018. Her volleyball will be over. Thats why we thought DRI sampler was a blessing. We were paying a lot for hotels that week anyways. Kids have loved our two weeks in Florida. We would do one week in orlando and one week on the ocean. Ones in College ones still in highschool. I'm really upset about DRI lying to us. We thought with giving them around 3000.00 each year for two years we would have enough. Since we have to pay that much anyways. I don't want to pay 2600.00 in MF, just I've heard DRI has very high fees that go up very fast. Don't want them ever to reach 2600. My husband and I were hoping to have lots of vacations with our kids and posible future grandchildren. You can see why we are upset by DRI's lies. So we thought if we gave them another 3000.00 in June. We would finally have the timeshare we have always wanted. Where we can go anywhere. We have been seriously considering HICV. Then Marriott because of interval. I don't know a lot about Wyndham yet.

 

[taterhed]

So...just to be clear: I'm a huge fan of Marriott. Ditto for Hilton, just less value/locations/ and no Interval Intl. I own Worldmark (a good corollary for Wyndham), but choosing Wyndham--resale only of course--has a lot of questions and consideration when making you decision. Specific locations and 'tough to book peak weeks' is one of those questions.

Others will chime in with lots of thoughts, suggestions etc... My point was simple: $2000 up front will get a Marriott lock-off unit with MF's below $2000. But, not platinum Grande Vista. You would be trading from some other owned location--with Marriott preference. But this is a real reach for peak summer beach weeks at any beach or Theme park resort. Same for HGVC. Off-season--no problem. Tons of availability and at reasonable shoulder times. But, trading is not for the meek and mild. IMHO

 

[Spartans]

Thank you, you gave me a lot to think about. I still have six months to a year to decide. As we have our DRI sampler to use this year. Im glad I found this site. Their is lots of good information here.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Rent for at least 6-10 vacation stays. Think of it as research.

WHY? Your kids will be mostly out on their own ... worry about grandkids if and when that happens (as the grandkids with have 2 sets of grandparents).

Look at either points systems or deeded lockoff units. Why? Most flexible... lockoffs will be getting 2 vacations for one Maintenance fee or use the full unit for your vacation SOME of the time. Points systems should still be considered as WEEKLY stays ... there are extra costs for less than 7 night stays.

 

[Spartans]

Thank you. I talked to my husband and we really like the idea of buying resale. Especially the idea of buying a two bedroom lockoff. We love Florida by the ocean. I'm so grateful for this site. Its a blessing to keep gathering information before jumping in with the sharks and dealing with the dealers that wont let you think about anything. HICV offered us 29000.00 for orange lake. We wont talk about DRI, they were bad as well. I don't want to pay anything like that. Would rather buy something closer to the ocean anyways. The biggest questions now for us is which resale would give us the best way to get in their club eventually for a small fee. No more than 3000.00. Like Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton ect.

 

[theo]

I talked to my husband and we really like the idea of buying resale. Especially the idea of buying a two bedroom lockoff. We love Florida by the ocean. I'm so grateful for this site. Its a blessing to keep gathering information before jumping in with the sharks and dealing with the dealers that wont let you think about anything. HICV offered us 29000.00 for orange lake. We wont talk about DRI, they were bad as well. I don't want to pay anything like that. Would rather buy something closer to the ocean anyways. The biggest questions now for us is which resale would give us the best way to get in their club eventually for a small fee. No more than 3000.00. Like Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton ect.

It is unrealistic to expect to get into any FL oceanfront or Gulf front timeshare property with Marriott, Hyatt, or Hilton for "no more than $3,000"; not likely.

That being said however, you don't necessarily have to buy into any of the big corporate "chains" at all in the first place. There are many oceanfront and Gulf front timeshare properties in FL that are not in any way "chain" associated and are entirely independent, with actual owner (i.e., not company) based HOA's.
They will invariably be somewhat older properties that do not have the "brand cachet" of Marriott or Hyatt or Hilton, but they are much less costly and will have lower annual maintenance fees as well. Ask yourself --- do you really need and want that "brand cachet" or is location really your top priority? I would respectfully suggest keeping an open mind and (...after some experimental timeshare renting) look at all resales, not just at the big "corporate chains".

 

[vacationhopeful]

Yes, I agree with Theo above. The big name chains have an IMAGE ... and images cost dollars (and that means, YOUR MFs) more to establish and maintain. I have stayed (via exchanges) at Marriott Beachplace in Ft Lauderdale ... just across Ocean Blvd and the beach. Several times. Marriott exchanges via International Interval. Trading my studio for Marriott's studio.

I used a VRI associated resort ... with MFs for a 2/2 lockoff under $900 for 2017. And while that VRI Resort is not oceanfront .. it is ocean block with FREE PARKING (Marriott charges for parking) and just about a mile further north in Ft Lauderdale from Marriott Beachplace... between the intercoastal waterway and the beach.

And yes, the Beachplace studio is nicer ... it has a balcony, a sofabed and a washer & dryer. But the lesser MFs for the non-Marriott resort, allows me to eat out for dinner most of the week.

 

[VacationForever]

Plus you cannot get into an internal system like Marriott for 3K. You can find a Marriott trader which goes though an external trading company like Interval International to trade. You pay a membership fee, exchange fee for every trade and hope you will trade into something that you want, usually in the off season.

 

[silentg]

Join TUG for $15.00 then you will have access to Marketplace. FYI there is a week for sale that you might want. I'm not the seller just giving you a heads up. PM me and I will try to help.
Silentg

 

[Spartans]

Thanks, I did join Tug a few weeks ago. Bummer, I'm back to learning. I thought I could maybe by a resale timeshare. For example like Holiday Inn Panama City. A 2bedroom lockoff. Find a resale like that by the ocean. But looking for a resale that I can trade too. Luckily I still have time. We have our vacations planned for 2017. We were looking to maybe buy resale for 2018. Thanks everyone. You gave me a lot to think about.

 

[theo]

Bummer, I'm back to learning. I thought I could maybe by a resale timeshare. For example like Holiday Inn Panama City. A 2bedroom lockoff. Find a resale like that by the ocean. But looking for a resale that I can trade too. Luckily I still have time. We have our vacations planned for 2017. We were looking to maybe buy resale for 2018. Thanks everyone. You gave me a lot to think about.

Take your time. Read and learn. Resale timeshare acquistion is relatively easy. Selling later may not be so easy --- and annual maintenance fees are forever.

 

[VacationForever]

If you are willing to go with a Wyndham or Worldmark, buying into an internal trade/club system within 3K is fully doable. You may find a non-loaded 10K Worldmark contract for $3K. It has more than 80 resorts in its system, but primarily on the West Coast. Whatever you cannot find in the internal system, you can then go to II or RCI and make an internal exchange. Internal exchanges is absolutely free and its maintenance fee for a 10K contract is under $800 per year. A 10K contract will get you a week in a 2BR at most resorts. You can borrow/bank the points at no additional cost. I am not familiar with Wyndham but for most part, acquisition cost is much lower but it has higher maintenance fees. Wyndham has a wide network of resorts and its strength is in the East Coast.