Owning a beachfront resort with a fixed week during spring break

[Leeyoo]

I'm still fairly new with timeshares but I'm much more educated now that I have joined Tugs and reading all your great inputs. (Thank you!)

I'm looking at some beachresorts around Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Miami and a few of them have Premium weeks (Week 10, 11 or 12). Some of the MF are around 1500. If I do end up purchasing this due to Premium weeks - a few questions to ask:

Will the MF being around $1500 be worth it?
Will it have greater trading power?

As always -

Thank you!

 

[DeniseM]

At the beach - a July week has the most demand/highest trading power.

 

[Leeyoo]

At the beach - a July week has the most demand/highest trading power.

I see - thank you for the information! I'll keep looking....

 

[tschwa2]

South Florida weeks are probably the most valuable in February. You never want to buy a high MF to exchange. If you are exchanging you want the lowest possible MF idealy in something that locks off into either 2 br and a 1 br or two 1 br units during high season in a popular location. If a resort has a high MF it should be something that you want and can't reasonably (easily) find something comparable to rent without paying quite a bit more. Also it should be something you can easily rent out to at least cover the MF during times when you won't be using it.

 

[dominidude]

I'm still fairly new with timeshares but I'm much more educated now that I have joined Tugs and reading all your great inputs. (Thank you!)

I'm looking at some beachresorts around Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Miami and a few of them have Premium weeks (Week 10, 11 or 12). Some of the MF are around 1500. If I do end up purchasing this due to Premium weeks - a few questions to ask:

Will the MF being around $1500 be worth it?
Will it have greater trading power?

As always -

Thank you!

Buy what you'll use, do not rely on trading to get the week you want.
If you're flexible with your travel times, there's plenty of low season availability to be had through what's variously called "last minute deals" or "getaways", and those can be had with little money and don't require exchanges.
If you do not have a flexible schedule, then even if you have a good week to "trade with" you're at least likely to feel stressed if the week you want doesn't come thru soon after you request it, and at worst you might lose your deposit.

 

[Panina]

If you are going to use the week and you can't rent an equivalent place for the price , it is worth it. For trading the maintenance is too much. If your buying at a beachfront resort, I suggest you get a beachfront view. Much easier to get rid of if you decide you don't want it.

 

[Leeyoo]

Great input everyone greatly appreciated and thank you!

Since we are talking about Florida, what about TS resorts in Orlando. Orlando resorts appears to have more supply than demand. Is this true? I was looking at the Sheraton Vistana Resort in Orlando (it has plenty of amenities) during Spring Break Week (Week 10, 11 or 12). By looking at the property online, it's beautiful and there are plenty of things to do for my kids (I have a 7 yr old son and 2 yr old daughter). If my family can't go during the premium week or as they get older, and we would like to be somewhere else (Mexico, Hawaii, etc.), would I have a good trading power? Sheraton Vistana Resort in Orlando is affiliated with RCI and they have it as a Gold Resort.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Orlando surrounds WDW ... the ocean is a good 60 mile drive .... pack everything into car, DRIVE, sit all day at a beach (with/without) bathrooms, drive back to condo, everyone DEAD TIRED and sunburn, and think then that over crowd pool is better .... and then realize those amusement parks cost at least $100 per person (except the kids DON'T and whine non-stop) ... add up 3 or 4 family trips to the different parks, etc.

Now Ft Lauderdale or Pompano ... no beach fees, walk 3 to 5 minutes to the ocean, no $100+ per person per day amusement parks, food back at unit, naps back at unit, and you drive the car (maybe) to find a place for the kids to see a movie or to go outlet mall shopping or take an Everglades Tour or snorkeling out on the ocean or take a fishing trip (like 10-15 down the road).

Winter Week ( like 9, 10, 11) area also Spring Break weeks ... renting to either the seniors or 21yo college students ... and with limited units CLOSE to the beach .. way better.

 

[Leeyoo]

Well said, Linda!

 

[bogey21]

If it is just you and one other adult, check out the Silver Seas in Fort Lauderdale. I used to own there. Not fancy but great location right across A1A from beach; decent pool; 100 yards North of Marriott's Beach Place; and free ground level parking behind Resort.

George

 

[DeniseM]

Leeyou - Have you taken this survey?

What to buy questions for newbies: http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-newbies.208742/

 

[Leeyoo]

If it is just you and one other adult, check out the Silver Seas in Fort Lauderdale. I used to own there. Not fancy but great location right across A1A from beach; decent pool; 100 yards North of Marriott's Beach Place; and free ground level parking behind Resort.

George

Ok will look into it. What about Mizner Place in Weston having a fixed week in July? Only a 20 minute drive to Ft. Lauderdale beach/area.

 

[Leeyoo]

Leeyou - Have you taken this survey?

What to buy questions for newbies: http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-newbies.208742/

Not yet - will do. Thank you!

 

[vacationhopeful]

20 minute drive to the intercoastal waterway ... then a paid lot to park your car and a 15 minute each way walk to the beach ... carrying all your stuff. You are way out there .... surrounded by LAND and EVERGLADES ... no cool ocean breezes.

The "easier to walk to beach" from the resorts are a WAY BETTER vacation option.

PS Ft Lauderdale Beach has lifeguards and NO beer or harder drinks allowed. And few parking options.

 

[Leeyoo]

20 minute drive to the intercoastal waterway ... then a paid lot to park your car and a 15 minute each way walk to the beach ... carrying all your stuff. You are way out there .... surrounded by LAND and EVERGLADES ... no cool ocean breezes.

The "easier to walk to beach" from the resorts are a WAY BETTER vacation option.

PS Ft Lauderdale Beach has lifeguards and NO beer or harder drinks allowed. And few parking options.

Ok another great point. I'm looking into Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort in Breakers Ave. only 1 block away and fixed week during 4th of July (perhaps great trading power). Although, the unit is a little outdated. Thanks again!

 

[tschwa2]

As mentioned Great trading power doesn't necasarily mean you will be able to travel when and where you would like. You need to be fairly flexible and can plan 12-18 months in advance if you want fairly high season/location/resorts exchanges. Or you have to be very flexible or want to travel during lower seasons if you can't plan that far in advance.

Where and when do you want to travel and what size unit would you need. Owning timeshares is more difficult than renting and won't necessarily save you money and won't necessarily get you where you want to go if you have to rely on exchanges.

 

[Leeyoo]

As mentioned Great trading power doesn't necasarily mean you will be able to travel when and where you would like. You need to be fairly flexible and can plan 12-18 months in advance if you want fairly high season/location/resorts exchanges. Or you have to be very flexible or want to travel during lower seasons if you can't plan that far in advance.

Where and when do you want to travel and what size unit would you need. Owning timeshares is more difficult than renting and won't necessarily save you money and won't necessarily get you where you want to go if you have to rely on exchanges.

I do plan my vacation 12-18 months in advance. As of a matter of fact I do that now since I do have an RCI account. My only concern about owning a deeded timeshare is I don't plan on going to the same place all the time. My though process is since I have a timeshare close to the beach during high demand season and I want to go to another location (Mexico, Hawaii, etc.), I'll be able to exchange it to other resorts.

 

[tschwa2]

If you have rci weeks you can look up the trading power of various resorts/ weeks/ unit size and then you just have to find availability at those resorts and find out the MF. Obviously a 45 tpu with a MF of $700 is going to be the more desirable unit over the 45 tpu with a MF of $1500. Also trading power can change over time. What might once have gotten 40+ tpus over a couple years may be down to 28 tpu's and the MF increased over those years. With exchanges you are always shooting at a moving target and there are no hard and fast answers.

 

[jhac007]

Ok will look into it. What about Mizner Place in Weston having a fixed week in July? Only a 20 minute drive to Ft. Lauderdale beach/area.

I am an owner at Mizner Place (fixed week #6) and find this very beneficial to me because it guarantees me a winter week. I use it as a base to work around my other weeks in So. FL every year, works good as a stopping place going or coming from Marco Island to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami/West Palm Beach. I had been fortunate to have the same Canadian folks rent the lock off portion (I use the main side) for the last several years in a row but have not heard from them for 2018 yet. Therefore I may have to put it up for rent. If I remember correctly it was not a killer rental even as a winter week but as far as I am concerned it is a good resort in a beautiful place. As mentioned going to the beach can be an issue and may get old after one trip! My take is a fixed summer week in July at Mizner would have less appeal than a winter week and trading it thru RCI can get expensive but the lock off feature as a one BR/full kitchen and a one BR/partial kitchen is an excellent feature.

 

[WinniWoman]

I do plan my vacation 12-18 months in advance. As of a matter of fact I do that now since I do have an RCI account. My only concern about owning a deeded timeshare is I don't plan on going to the same place all the time. My though process is since I have a timeshare close to the beach during high demand season and I want to go to another location (Mexico, Hawaii, etc.), I'll be able to exchange it to other resorts.

This is so true even with rentals. I just booked a cottage on Home Away for next June! The one we rented in the past was already booked for the entire summer of 2018!

 

[VegasBella]

I do have an RCI account. My only concern about owning a deeded timeshare is I don't plan on going to the same place all the time.

Since you already have an RCI account and your interest is in trading power then all you need to do is use the deposit calculator tool. Insert the resort and week you're considering purchasing and compare. Play around with it to see what you would need to get what you want. Trading power (like demand) does change so don't take it as the gold standard but it's a good overview. You can also use the II demand index to get an idea of which weeks have the most trading power. https://www.intervalworld.com/web/my/info/planning/demand?confirmed=true




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[DeniseM]

The II Travel Demand Index shows the demand for an entire region - not one resort, and not the trading power. Within that region, some resorts will have high TPU and some will have low TPU, because of resort quality, so it is not a true indicator of TPU. It is more accurate to use the RCI tool.