Planning the divorce before the wedding...

[kshell18]

I've been looking at a Wyndham contract for a converted week (39) at Flagstaff. My main attraction to this was the lower MFs. I've been doing a lot of reading and have a good idea of what I'm getting into, including how hard it can be to get rid of a TS if needed. In fact, that is my only concern with purchasing, as one never knows what will happen in the future - sickness or loss of employment could necessitate the getting rid of a TS. I understand that it is not a financial investment and I should expect to not make any money off of selling it in the future (and in fact may need to spend some money in the form of closing costs, transfer fees, or MFs to unload it) but I was wondering if there was any opinion as to how hard it would be to either give this back to Wyndham through Ovation or give it away to another owner if needed. I also understand that these are just opinions and there is no way to know for sure what will happen, but several of you seem to be able to identify how valuable a contract is and whether it may be more desirable than another. Thanks.

 

[spackler]

I think the MF rate on that is around $4.80 per thousand; it's certainly lower than average, but there are better deeds out there if your main goal is cheap MFs.

 

[kshell18]

I think the MF rate on that is around $4.80 per thousand; it's certainly lower than average, but there are better deeds out there if your main goal is cheap MFs.

I know national harbor gets brought up a a lot, though I haven't seen one yet. I've seen a couple of Bali Hai that were EOY, but it seemed like that would make things more complicated if the goal was to take a yearly family vacation.

 

[paxsarah]

I don't know about Ovation, but I would think a converted week with that MF could be given away easily, and probably could fetch a few $$.

 

[cayman01]

Flagstaff is an in demand property. Low MF's. Close to Grand Canyon and other National parks and monuments. You wouls have ZERO problem giving it away to Ovation and might be able to sell it for a few bucks.

 

[kshell18]

Flagstaff is an in demand property. Low MF's. Close to Grand Canyon and other National parks and monuments. You wouls have ZERO problem giving it away to Ovation and might be able to sell it for a few bucks.

Thank you for the information. Ideally, I'd like to use it year after year for family vacations, but you never know what life will hand you so I just wanted to check.

 

[chapjim]

It is just one more of thousands of existential risks.

 

[BellaWyn]

Flagstaff is an in demand property. Low MF's. Close to Grand Canyon and other National parks and monuments. You wouls have ZERO problem giving it away to Ovation and might be able to sell it for a few bucks.

if its a Week 39 Loft unit then it will hold it's value (depending on how much you are paying for it now). Week 39 is mid-late September -- a beautiful time of year in Flag.

The HOA, both Ridgewood and Tanglewood, are stable and the Board is very innovative and methodical about upgrades and repairs. Owners are fairly active in the voting and the HOA's keep owners regularly informed. We get quarterly newsletters on updates and Board happenings.

When it's time to get rid of it, don't give it away or hand off to Ovation. Put a little effort into listing it first on Redweek, MyResortNetwork or TUG. There are also Arizona R.E. brokers familiar with the timeshare industry in AZ that you can work with to list it.

Flag has been an RCI Gold Crown location on a continuum for over 13 years. Given the age of the resort that's not easy to obtain. Nor is keeping the MF's as low as they are currently with an aging resort. Speaks to the efficencies of the HOA's.

If WYN ever cut the Flag location loose from their portfolio Flag would be fine. Doubt they will because there are a lot of CWA block sales that have also happened.

 

[kshell18]

if its a Week 39 Loft unit then it will hold it's value (depending on how much you are paying for it now). Week 39 is mid-late September -- a beautiful time of year in Flag.

The HOA, both Ridgewood and Tanglewood, are stable and the Board is very innovative and methodical about upgrades and repairs. Owners are fairly active in the voting and the HOA's keep owners regularly informed. We get quarterly newsletters on updates and Board happenings.

When it's time to get rid of it, don't give it away or hand off to Ovation. Put a little effort into listing it first on Redweek, MyResortNetwork or TUG. There are also Arizona R.E. brokers familiar with the timeshare industry in AZ that you can work with to list it.

Flag has been an RCI Gold Crown location on a continuum for over 13 years. Given the age of the resort that's not easy to obtain. Nor is keeping the MF's as low as they are currently with an aging resort. Speaks to the efficencies of the HOA's.

If WYN ever cut the Flag location loose from their portfolio Flag would be fine. Doubt they will because there are a lot of CWA block sales that have also happened.

I'm not sure if it's a loft but it is 182k points so it's a 2 bedroom in prime season.

 

[BellaWyn]

The 182K is usually a Loft unit. What's the unit number on the underlying deed and HOA? Will be able to tell from that. A converted FW will have an underlyung deed that will tell you that information.

 

[kshell18]

The 182K is usually a Loft unit. What's the unit number on the underlying deed and HOA? Will be able to tell from that. A converted FW will have an underlyung deed that will tell you that information.

The deeded unit is 0104. Since it's been converted to points, what is the significance of this in terms of the value of the contract?

 

[BellaWyn]

The deeded unit is 0104. Since it's been converted to points, what is the significance of this in terms of the value of the contract?

Value will be in:
1) Lower than other converted contracts MF's
2) ARP if you want to employ that option. It's a good week to travel to that location.

If you are only going for low MF's as the purchase goal, then, as Spackler has already indicated, there are other locations with lower MF. Not sure you will see a low point volume contract come up at those however. Most are 300K points or higher.

Unit 0104 is a Loft unit. It shows up on the resort map as 3104 but the deed will say 0104. If you ever dump it into RCI it's likely it will never make it to the exchange. RCI will put it in their rental pool.

 

[kshell18]

Value will be in:
1) Lower than other converted contracts MF's
2) ARP if you want to employ that option. It's a good week to travel to that location.

If you are only going for low MF's as the purchase goal, then, as Spackler has already indicated, there are other locations with lower MF. Not sure you will see a low point volume contract come up at those however. Most are 300K points or higher.

Unit 0104 is a Loft unit. It shows up on the resort map as 3104 but the deed will say 0104. If you ever dump it into RCI it's likely it will never make it to the exchange. RCI will put it in their rental pool.

Is it a good thing that RCI would put it in their rental pool rather than letting it go to exchange?

 

[BellaWyn]

Is it a good thing that RCI would put it in their rental pool rather than letting it go to exchange?

Only in the respect that it means RCI wants it and you would get better than average TPU's. Don't know the TPU value in RCI these days because we never put ours into RCI. I can get the same rental price for the week that RCI can when we are not using our FW units. Don't need any more RCI TPU's than we already get every year from our non-WYN contracts. You can figure it out using the RCI TPU calculator.

 

[kshell18]

Only in the respect that it means RCI wants it and you would get better than average TPU's. Don't know the TPU value in RCI these days because we never put ours into RCI. I can get the same rental price fore the week that RCI can when we are not using our FW units. Don't need any more RCI TOU's than we alreday get every year from our non-WYN contracts.. You can figure it out using the RCI TPU calculator.

If I wanted to trade through RCI, would I need to deposit the points before the 13 month ARP window opens up in order to ensure that RCI would get that particular unit at that particular time?

 

[paxsarah]

With converted weeks, don't the points deposit to RCI through the portal just like any other points contract?

 

[kshell18]

With converted weeks, don't the points deposit to RCI through the portal just like any other points contract?

That's what I'm not sure about. How does ARP work with a converted week contract and does it influence how exchanges through RCI work?

 

[paxsarah]

I am fairly certain that weeks converted to points deposit like all other points in Wyndham, but I don't have first-hand experience. Someone who's done it would need to confirm.

 

[cayman01]

if its a Week 39 Loft unit then it will hold it's value (depending on how much you are paying for it now). Week 39 is mid-late September -- a beautiful time of year in Flag.

The HOA, both Ridgewood and Tanglewood, are stable and the Board is very innovative and methodical about upgrades and repairs. Owners are fairly active in the voting and the HOA's keep owners regularly informed. We get quarterly newsletters on updates and Board happenings.

When it's time to get rid of it, don't give it away or hand off to Ovation. Put a little effort into listing it first on Redweek, MyResortNetwork or TUG. There are also Arizona R.E. brokers familiar with the timeshare industry in AZ that you can work with to list it.

Flag has been an RCI Gold Crown location on a continuum for over 13 years. Given the age of the resort that's not easy to obtain. Nor is keeping the MF's as low as they are currently with an aging resort. Speaks to the efficencies of the HOA's.

If WYN ever cut the Flag location loose from their portfolio Flag would be fine. Doubt they will because there are a lot of CWA block sales that have also happened.

Family and I going there in early September. Have a 2BR reserved. Where should /can we request for accommodations.

 

[cayman01]

That's what I'm not sure about. How does ARP work with a converted week contract and does it influence how exchanges through RCI work?

You get ARP for the underlying week only. So, in this case, week 39.

 

[kshell18]

You get ARP for the underlying week only. So, in this case, week 39.

How does that influence exchanging it through RCI then? Is it just points are points or if it gets deposited within the ARP window, would it be as that particular week in that particular unit?

 

[cayman01]

How does that influence exchanging it through RCI then? Is it just points are points or if it gets deposited within the ARP window, would it be as that particular week in that particular unit?

I believe that with Wyndham points we are only allowed to exchange for weeks inventory. If you look in the directory there is an RCI exchange chart that shows you what amount of points are required for each size room in each season.

 

[BellaWyn]

Family and I going there in early September. Have a 2BR reserved. Where should /can we request for accommodations.

A 2BR Dlx, 2BR LO or 2BR Loft? Is it a Wyn points unit out of the Wyn reservation system or an RCI exchange?

Flag is a 2,200 ACRE property. The units are spread out all over that land mass. Lockoff units will be in the Ridgewood area. Loft units are mostly all in the Tanglewood HOA area clustered near the Bear Paw Activities Center. The 2BR Dlx units are a combination of Tri-Level units and single level units located all over the rest of the property.

So, if you want to be fairly close to the pool and Activities Center then ask for something in those areas. Early September the resort will still be busy but not summer-slammed as long as it is post-Labor Day. Usually if you call in advance and make a request they try to accommodate. But if they are slammed they have some limitation because there are still quite a few Fixed Week owners that they will not move under any circumstance (sans a critical maintenance issue).

ALL loft units have a private hot tub on the exterior deck. Only a small handful of the 2BR Dlx units will have one. Lockoffs do not.

 

[spackler]

We have a 2BR Loft reserved in October...any particular area/unit we should be requesting? Or are they all pretty much the same?

(Thanks for the info, btw)

 

[BellaWyn]

We have a 2BR Loft reserved in October...any particular area/unit we should be requesting? Or are they all pretty much the same?
(Thanks for the info, btw)

For the most part they are all they same. Ridgewood has 6 Loft units directly across from Bear Paw (R1-R6). The rest belong to the Tanglewood HOA. There are at least 4 "oddball" loft units that have slightly different layout with the Guest bedroom and bathroom upstairs vs downstairs near the main living area. Still nice units, just different in the layout.

Lofts are all roughly 1,400sqft with a King Master w/en suite bath, King or Queen Guest (usually King) with a jack&Jill bath#2 and double twins in the upstairs loft area. Kitchens are huge and well stocked. Flat screen TV's that have HDMI ports if you want to carry your Firestick along. Free wifi. Guests all have full access to the amenities on site and at the Country Club, including discounted green fees if you feel like a round of golf.

The Flag location sits smack in the middle of surrounding residential homes (as does the Sedona location). You will see a lot of locals walking their pets in the area. These are almost always residents, not transient guests. About 10% of the units are loft units.

In October expect temps in the 60's. If you have minimal experience with higher altitudes some people experience challenges with the thinner air (which will pass quickly). Similar to the Colorado and Park City locations. Flag is about 7,000ft. SF Peak is 12,000ft. compared to Phoenix, which is around 1,000ft. If you fly into Phoenix and drive to Flag (about 2hrs) you go from the warm arid desert to the cooler high desert forest passing through redrock on the way.