jclaybrooks
newbie
Hi everyone I'm new here. My family and I just got back from Panama City Beach this week. My best friend and I have birthdays two days apart so our wives decided that a nice trip to the beach would be a great birthday surprise.
Our wives have a mutual friend who is a Wyndahm Platinum VIP and gave them the points so we were able to stay the weekend for free. She actually warned them going in that they would try to sell us and that it would be hard to say no.
When we arrived for check-in on Friday my we were "invited" to breakfast Saturday morning and just had to leave a $20 "deposit" to secure our spot. I was aware that we would be pitched but I had never been in a time share sales presentation before. We all agreed (my friend, his wife, my wife and myself) that under no circumstances were we going to purchase ANYTHING! We had our minds made up (little did we know how persuasive our salesman would be).
Long story short Matt (our salesman) began writing down numbers and dates and before I knew it my wife was giving me the look. I have to be completely honest Matt was EXCEPTIONAL he was upfront and honest and he built awesome rapport with all four of us. We had actually met him the night before in the pool area and he told us he lived at the property but we had no idea he worked there. I got the sense that we were about to collectively change our minds.
During the tour he took us to the 22nd floor and showed us a beautiful 2 bed 2 bath unit. The view was incredible I have never seen water that shade of blue. On the way back to the presentation area we actually ran into a VIP Platinum member we asked her point blank her thoughts on the program and she was very forthcoming with Matt standing right there. She said that it was an awesome benefit and that she and her family vacation 6-8 weeks out of the year. She also said that she would advise to start slow don't rush into anything we weren't 110% comfortable with. She said points could always be added later but to try things out get our "feet wet" and if we really liked it then we could work our way up to whatever level we felt was appropriate for our travel/vacation needs.
She actually helped Matt and gave him a lot of credibility. We were back at the table and he excused himself so we could talk amongst ourselves. I have to admit it was my friends wife that brought us all back to reality. She said that we had made the commitment to not buy anything and even though we were all wavering in that decision we needed to stand by it. Her words strengthened our resolve and we had the pleasure of trying to shut the door that Matt could see his excellent skills had opened. He had an answer for every single rebuttal, he was GOOD! He was like a pit-bull but never in a rude or pushy way just laying out the facts and reminding us of the numbers and our love of travel. (We had made the mistake of telling him about all the previous trips we had taken together and apart in the last 3 years. Bahamas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami etc.)
We were passed on to the "move heaven and earth to change your mind team" and finally got out of the sales room without purchasing anything. It was hard because the deal seemed almost too good to be true. The one thing that bothered me was the thought in the back of my mind. I had seen late night commercials about companies that assist in selling unwanted time shares. A part of me wanted to know how much the package we were presented would cost on the secondary market.
We all enjoyed the rest of our time there and talked about how great an opportunity it was. As soon as I got back home I began a Google rampage to find all the information I could on Wyndham and purchasing time shares on the secondary market. I found several websites that had listings and when I did the math I couldn't believe the numbers.
I should probably lay out what Matt was offering us. To be clear we had stressed to him that we wanted the bare minimum package especially after he had shown us the benefits of using RCI and meeting the woman who was a Platinum VIP strengthened our resolve to start with the bare minimum if we made a purchase at all. Both my wife and I felt that the RCI discounted rates alone were worth the price. This is what he drew up for us the dollar amounts aren't exact but very close from what I can remember. For some strange reason we didn't leave with any written numbers.
105k points bi-annually
unlimited RCI usage
purchase price $10,500
$48/month maintenance
Nothing down
about $208 per month
After my Googling I actually found a listing for sale in another Florida property. I contacted the listing broker and explained that we had just returned from a weekend in PCB and that I was very interested in learning more about purchasing Wyndham points on the secondary market. He explained to me the process and told me that even though the prices were a lot lower it would take 120-180 for the sale to be complete because secondary sales is not a high priority for Wyndham. These are the details for the listing.
154k points annually
unlimited RCI usage
Purchase price $1,000
Deed Recording $699
Transfer fee $299
Admin fee $695
Total purchase price
$2693
This all sounds too good to be true! I just found this site (TUGBBS) literally a few hours ago I have been reading but I honestly am starting to get more confused because of what appears to be the technical aspects of using the Wyndham point system. I have some basic questions and I hope some of you more experienced members will help me understand some things.
#1 Will I or will I not be able to use the RCI benefits to get discounted rooms with my Wyndham ownership? I understand that peak times will probably be near impossible and that's fine but If I want to go to a resort in New Mexico in April I should be able to use the RCI program to get discounted rates right?
#2 I understand that I will never be able to reach platinum status with points purchased on the secondary market but do I have to purchase points from the same property to accumulate them or can I mix and match properties as long as they are Wyndham properties?
#3 Should I use a licensed broker to purchase on the secondary market or can I purchase on my own? Basically what are the benefits/disadvantages of working with a broker?
Again I'm brand new to this world of Time Shares and Vacation Points so please bear with me. I appreciate any guidance offered thanks.
Our wives have a mutual friend who is a Wyndahm Platinum VIP and gave them the points so we were able to stay the weekend for free. She actually warned them going in that they would try to sell us and that it would be hard to say no.
When we arrived for check-in on Friday my we were "invited" to breakfast Saturday morning and just had to leave a $20 "deposit" to secure our spot. I was aware that we would be pitched but I had never been in a time share sales presentation before. We all agreed (my friend, his wife, my wife and myself) that under no circumstances were we going to purchase ANYTHING! We had our minds made up (little did we know how persuasive our salesman would be).
Long story short Matt (our salesman) began writing down numbers and dates and before I knew it my wife was giving me the look. I have to be completely honest Matt was EXCEPTIONAL he was upfront and honest and he built awesome rapport with all four of us. We had actually met him the night before in the pool area and he told us he lived at the property but we had no idea he worked there. I got the sense that we were about to collectively change our minds.
During the tour he took us to the 22nd floor and showed us a beautiful 2 bed 2 bath unit. The view was incredible I have never seen water that shade of blue. On the way back to the presentation area we actually ran into a VIP Platinum member we asked her point blank her thoughts on the program and she was very forthcoming with Matt standing right there. She said that it was an awesome benefit and that she and her family vacation 6-8 weeks out of the year. She also said that she would advise to start slow don't rush into anything we weren't 110% comfortable with. She said points could always be added later but to try things out get our "feet wet" and if we really liked it then we could work our way up to whatever level we felt was appropriate for our travel/vacation needs.
She actually helped Matt and gave him a lot of credibility. We were back at the table and he excused himself so we could talk amongst ourselves. I have to admit it was my friends wife that brought us all back to reality. She said that we had made the commitment to not buy anything and even though we were all wavering in that decision we needed to stand by it. Her words strengthened our resolve and we had the pleasure of trying to shut the door that Matt could see his excellent skills had opened. He had an answer for every single rebuttal, he was GOOD! He was like a pit-bull but never in a rude or pushy way just laying out the facts and reminding us of the numbers and our love of travel. (We had made the mistake of telling him about all the previous trips we had taken together and apart in the last 3 years. Bahamas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami etc.)
We were passed on to the "move heaven and earth to change your mind team" and finally got out of the sales room without purchasing anything. It was hard because the deal seemed almost too good to be true. The one thing that bothered me was the thought in the back of my mind. I had seen late night commercials about companies that assist in selling unwanted time shares. A part of me wanted to know how much the package we were presented would cost on the secondary market.
We all enjoyed the rest of our time there and talked about how great an opportunity it was. As soon as I got back home I began a Google rampage to find all the information I could on Wyndham and purchasing time shares on the secondary market. I found several websites that had listings and when I did the math I couldn't believe the numbers.
I should probably lay out what Matt was offering us. To be clear we had stressed to him that we wanted the bare minimum package especially after he had shown us the benefits of using RCI and meeting the woman who was a Platinum VIP strengthened our resolve to start with the bare minimum if we made a purchase at all. Both my wife and I felt that the RCI discounted rates alone were worth the price. This is what he drew up for us the dollar amounts aren't exact but very close from what I can remember. For some strange reason we didn't leave with any written numbers.
105k points bi-annually
unlimited RCI usage
purchase price $10,500
$48/month maintenance
Nothing down
about $208 per month
After my Googling I actually found a listing for sale in another Florida property. I contacted the listing broker and explained that we had just returned from a weekend in PCB and that I was very interested in learning more about purchasing Wyndham points on the secondary market. He explained to me the process and told me that even though the prices were a lot lower it would take 120-180 for the sale to be complete because secondary sales is not a high priority for Wyndham. These are the details for the listing.
154k points annually
unlimited RCI usage
Purchase price $1,000
Deed Recording $699
Transfer fee $299
Admin fee $695
Total purchase price
$2693
This all sounds too good to be true! I just found this site (TUGBBS) literally a few hours ago I have been reading but I honestly am starting to get more confused because of what appears to be the technical aspects of using the Wyndham point system. I have some basic questions and I hope some of you more experienced members will help me understand some things.
#1 Will I or will I not be able to use the RCI benefits to get discounted rooms with my Wyndham ownership? I understand that peak times will probably be near impossible and that's fine but If I want to go to a resort in New Mexico in April I should be able to use the RCI program to get discounted rates right?
#2 I understand that I will never be able to reach platinum status with points purchased on the secondary market but do I have to purchase points from the same property to accumulate them or can I mix and match properties as long as they are Wyndham properties?
#3 Should I use a licensed broker to purchase on the secondary market or can I purchase on my own? Basically what are the benefits/disadvantages of working with a broker?
Again I'm brand new to this world of Time Shares and Vacation Points so please bear with me. I appreciate any guidance offered thanks.