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Not sure what to do!!

Snidely4u2

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My wife and I just recently sat through a presentation at Casa Dorada in Cabo San Lucas. It was put on by a company called Globequest International. They are selling RTU's with a 2 bedroom/ 2 bath with 2 weeks in house and 2 weeks International with unlimited "Hot Weeks". We did not buy as we had not researched enough to really understand what we were buying. After reading some negative postings on Trip Advisor about people with cold feet trying to get their money back. My question is has anyone dealt with Globequest and if so what is your opinion about this type of purchase. Thanks in advance for your response.:whoopie:
 

DeniseM

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Hi and welcome to TUG!

Right now the market is flooded with cheap and free timeshares in Mexico. There really is no good reason to buy one from the developer and pay thousands.

There are 20 listed in the TUG Classifieds for $1 - $499.

There are more than 50 on ebay for 97¢ - $400.

It is really easy to trade into Mexico with a timeshare located in the US, so if I was you, I would consider that option as well.

If you want to go to Mexico every single year, then buying there may make sense, but there is a downside to owning in Mexico:

-There is far more supply than demand, so it's hard to rent-out or trade a TS in Mexico. (You were probably told that renting is a big money-maker - this is one of the biggest fibs that Mexican TS sales people tell.)

-It may be difficult or impossible to get rid of if you ever need to.

My best advice to you is to take your time and really do some research before you think about buying anything.
 
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falmouth3

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Denise speaks the truth.

Good for you, not buying before you have completed your research. Welcome to TUG. Get an excellent education here before you buy. Feel free to ask questions. We love to give advice. :D
 

Snidely4u2

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Denise, thanks for your response. I notice you own in the Hawaii market. Has this been a good place to own? Where else would you recommend buying to have the most leverage for trading? I have been told that a 2 bed/ 2 bath is the most desirable. We live in Arizona so water is a must. Thanks and Happy Holidays.
 

BevL

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Denise, thanks for your response. I notice you own in the Hawaii market. Has this been a good place to own? Where else would you recommend buying to have the most leverage for trading? I have been told that a 2 bed/ 2 bath is the most desirable. We live in Arizona so water is a must. Thanks and Happy Holidays.

I'm not Denise but will take a stab. I think you will find that the response you will get from most here is that, based on your questions, you really should try to learn a bit more before you commit to buying.

An example is your question of whether Hawaii is a good place to own. The answer is -- depends. If you like to go to Hawaii every year or two out of three, yeah, it's a great place to own. However, maintenance fees are high and that makes it perhaps not as desirable as other areas to own for trading purposes.

Please don't take my suggestion to slow down and learn more as a put down. It's just that in this market, although you can buy a timeshare for literally nothing, they can be hard to get rid of if you find that you've purchased something that doesn't really work for you. So there are so many factors to take into consideration. Do you have school age children so that you have to vacation during popular vacation times? Do you like to plan ahead or go last minute? Do you tend to go to the same places or do you like the thrill of new vistas? Would a points program - and there are several different ones - be a better fit for your famly?

So it would probably be good if you took at least a few weeks, if not months, to read the advice sections here at TUG, keep track of the board and post lots of questions. We are a friendly bunch here and will do our best to assist in your search for a timeshare that will hopefully give you many years of enjoyment.

Welcome to TUG

Bev
 

Passepartout

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Add my welcome to the pile! For low cost and good 'tradeability', living where you do, I'd suggest a 2BR in Sedona. Inexpensive. Easy to use if you don't trade it. I know there's no water nearby, but plenty of other benefits. I'd get one that's already in RCI Points for additional flexibility of use. I have one of these and regularly get 3-5 weeks' vacations from one ownership week.

Jim Ricks
 

DeniseM

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Denise, thanks for your response. I notice you own in the Hawaii market. Has this been a good place to own? Where else would you recommend buying to have the most leverage for trading? I have been told that a 2 bed/ 2 bath is the most desirable. We live in Arizona so water is a must. Thanks and Happy Holidays.

We go to Hawaii every year for 2 weeks - next year for 4 week, so owning in Hawaii works for us. Our units are all ocean front or ocean view, and that's important to us, so that's why we bought. Also, I'm a teacher, so we have to travel during school holidays, so we needed to have the owner's priority to make reservations during high season. I would not buy Hawaii for a renter or a trader, because the maintenance fees are too high - I'd only buy if I wanted to go there 3 out of 4 years and I needed to be able reserve high season weeks.

If you are flexible about when you travel, and can travel off-season, then there are some very reasonable traders that you can use to trade into Hawaii. For instance, if you buy a resale at Sheraton Desert Oasis in Scottsdale, you'd have a resort you can use yourself, with a really nice pool, and a trader that will get you into the 3 Starwood Hawaii resorts, off-season. You can buy a 2 Bdm. at SDO on the resale market for less than $1,000 total, it has a maintenance fee of about $900 a year, and it will trade into the 3 Starwood resorts in Hawaii, where the MF's start at $2,200 a year. You can do this through an exchange company, Interval International, because Starwood owners have priority for trades into other Starwood resorts.

Sheraton Desert Oasis
Westin Ka'anapali (South)
Westin Ka'anapali (North)
Westin Princeville

And you can also easily trade into the new Starwood resort in Cancun - Lagunamar - without owning in Mexico.

With an entry level Starwood trader, you would be able to trade into all the Starwood resorts, except for holiday week, and Westin St. John and Harborside - which are nearly impossible trades.

Here are some questions for you to answer to narrow things down a bit:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
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?
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
8) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
9) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
10) Are you a detail oriented planner?
11) 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?
 
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bellesgirl

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Great advise here so far. Let me say one thing about buying in Mexico. If you like to travel there you could consider buying a resale contract. Most, if not all, Mexico timeshares are RTU which means there is a limit to the number of years you are committed. We bought a 5 year contract at Villa del Mar for only the $100 transfer fee. We like to go to PV but we also can use our week in other VDP Mexico properties for a nominal upgrade fee.
 

Snidely4u2

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Denise, thanks again for the valuable info. We do have school age children so peak holidays are when we would be traveling. One of the questions I had was if anyone had heard of Globequest International. The program they were trying to sell us involved floating weeks, but only having to pay maintenance fees when you use your weeks. I'm not sure how Globequest trades with other groupls such as Interval and RCI. As you can see we are a long way from purchasing.
 

DeniseM

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As I posted above, because of supply and demand, TS's in Mexico have low trading power. There is no good reason to pay full retail in this economy - none.
 

siesta

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I have posted on this site about globequest travel club, use the search feature to pull up those posts.
 
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