"What to Buy" Questions for New Timeshare Owners

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs.

Suggestion - copy the questions below, and start a new thread entitled "My Survey" or "What should I buy?," or something similar, and answer the questions in a NEW thread.

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

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 - total, including yourself?

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) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

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?

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

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?

quoting the text above and answering the questions will let us move your conversation to its own post below so more folks can assist you with your Timeshare purchase!

simply click HERE to start your new thread!

Sorry about that, apparently I missed a few of these to move into their own threads for help!

Do I need a paid membership on Tugbbs?

Should I, or do I need to become a full paid member of tugbbs to receive replies to resale timeshares I am interested in purchasing posted on here?

890zbh said:

Should I, or do I need to become a full paid member of tugbbs to receive replies to resale timeshares I am interested in purchasing posted on here?

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No - you don't have to be a member, but it's only $15, and it gives you access to the member's only areas, which are very helpful.

And it won't hurt your TUG "Street Cred"

MORE INFO: http://www.tug2.net/tug-pr.html

Ok, thanks, I'm gonna hoin. Lots of good info here I wish I had seen before. Tks

Better off renting?

DeniseM said:

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your timeshare wants/needs.

If you click on QUOTE at the end of my post, the questions will open up in a new window for you to answer:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be? No preference, something with top trade value, low MF's.

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 most of the time

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? SW USA, Caribbean, TN/NC, Hawaii, Wisconsin Dells

4) How many people do you usually travel with? 3-5

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? school

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Never have

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? 3 and up

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? $2k

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? $1k

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
__________________

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Beginning to wonder if we are better off renting from owners. Seems like there are plenty of deals to be had, especially within 60 days.

For many people it is better, especially if you aren't a detail oriented planner.

If you are flexible, there are wonderful last minute deals available - have you looked at our Last Minute Rental Forum?

renting

DeniseM said:

For many people it is better, especially if you aren't a detail oriented planner.

If you are flexible, there are wonderful last minute deals available - have you looked at our Last Minute Rental Forum?

Click to expand...

Yes I have and that is where I started getting the idea. Will keep doing the research though.

I have searched this forum for information but truthfully remain confused. What is the best timeshare system?? I kinda looked at getting a timeshare as investing in my vacation futures and give me incentive to go on them. I thought is would also help financially but right now I m not so sure people keep saying you can rent just as much or cheaper on your own

[Here are Solski's survey responses: http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239442]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Solski said:

I have searched this forum for information but truthfully remain confused. What is the best timeshare system?? I kinda looked at getting a timeshare as investing in my vacation futures and give me incentive to go on them. I thought is would also help financially but right now I m not so sure people keep saying you can rent just as much or cheaper on your own


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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If you start a new thread and answer the questions Denise has posed, many here will give you some ideas. There is no "best" for everybody so knowing a little about your expectations will help us help you.

csxjohn said:

If you start a new thread and answer the questions Denise has posed, many here will give you some ideas. There is no "best" for everybody so knowing a little about your expectations will help us help you.

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They did

sent from my cell phone...

His answers are here - we try to split them off into a new thread, so they don't get lost:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239442

What should I buy? TIA ;o)

Moved to a "New Thread" as instructed above. Oops!

DeniseM said:

No - you don't have to be a member, but it's only $15, and it gives you access to the member's only areas, which are very helpful.

And it won't hurt your TUG "Street Cred"

MORE INFO: http://www.tug2.net/tug-pr.html

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Is the $15 membership paid annually?

Yes, annually

sent from my cell phone...

Bescobar said:

Is the $15 membership paid annually?

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taterhed said:

Yes, annually

sent from my cell phone...

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There are ways to get free extensions. The most popular is to rate resorts when you visit to get extensions.

Another is to refer other people to become paid members.

I joined a few years ago and have not had to pay a renewal.

Great price on resales

cayman01 said:

Beginning to wonder if we are better off renting from owners. Seems like there are plenty of deals to be had, especially within 60 days.

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[Advertising deleted]

cayman01 said:

Better off renting?



Beginning to wonder if we are better off renting from owners. Seems like there are plenty of deals to be had, especially within 60 days.

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We have rented from owners for over 10 years now. If you travel within 60 days it is usually less expensive unless as long as there is availability and the renter gets the platinum discount. However we have found that often last minute bookings end up being a few reservations pieced together. We are taking the plunge and purchasing resale now as our mortgage is paid and we can commit to the yearly maintenance fees.

My husband and I have been timeshare owners at Vidanta for 15 years. Originally, it was called the Mayan Palace, then Grand Mayan, then they added the Grand Bliss and Grand Luxxe and needed to re-brand everything under one moniker: Vidanta.

The properties are AMAZING, but owning there is way too expensive and their practices are downright unethical. Every year, they try to upgrade us. We were manipulated into upgrades three times, cancelled twice and now in an epic battle over the most recent upgrade. They are ruthless and relentless.

If you want to visit a Vidanta property (which I would highly recommend because they are fabulous) rent a week from E-Bay or another timeshare rental group. Whatever you do, DON'T go for a presentation even if they offer a free breakfast, room credit, tours, golf, whatever. I promise you, it's not worth the stress and the time. Enjoy your vacation and avoid sale at all costs.

csxjohn said:

There are ways to get free extensions. The most popular is to rate resorts when you visit to get extensions.

Another is to refer other people to become paid members.

I joined a few years ago and have not had to pay a renewal.

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I will definitely become a paid member of TUG for $15 because they just saved me from buying $15k TS.

Ant said:

I will definitely become a paid member of TUG for $15 because they just saved me from buying $15k TS.

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Yes yes yes, again welcome to Tug, glad you are sticking around.

Ant said:

I will definitely become a paid member of TUG for $15 because they just saved me from buying $15k TS.

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Trust me, it's a 'Pay it forward' kind of thing!

We are new to actually vacationing, for years our vacations have been a camping trip to the lake or nothing due to time and/or money constraints. However, we have started going to the Florida panhandle (Navarre is our favorite) for a week every summer. And we no longer have a camper—it was totaled after a storm

We did take part in a Bluegreen presentation in Branson 2 years ago. I liked the concept but the investment was more than we wanted to make. (Thank goodness for my husband’s cool head!) I purchased the sampler program to see if Timeshare would be a good fit for us. Huge mistake! The opportunities were so limited since summers were blocked out except in just a couple of resorts. We do still have kids at home, who play every sport so summer, for now, is our only travel time as a family. And even that has to be worked around summer ball. But they are 14 & 16, we won’t be doing this for much longer and I want to be sure we make time for vacations. So now I’m looking on the resale market but still am not sure it’s a good option for us. I will complete the survey questions and look forward to hearing advise from you veterans!

1.)Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
—I would like Gulf area, but the closer area to me would be Branson, it can be a long weekend trip. Have been a little disappointed this winter that I didn’t have a few days I “had” to get booked so hubby and I could have a quick getaway like we did with the sampler.

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?
—Probably half and half. Hubby doesn’t care for the beach (oh the horrors!) so would need to find areas he enjoys. Branson at least has Table Rock nearby where he could fish. I don’t want to be out airfare for all of us for every trip so something drivable from Arkansas would be preferred most often.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
— I don’t know.

4) How many people do you usually travel with? —4-8

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
—Locked into school for about 4 years. Our Work schedules are easily adjusted.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
—It would be hard but I think it would be a benefit to start doing so. We have to schedule beach trip 6 months in advance and have learned it can be done and we just work everything else around it. I think I could adjust to 12-13 months.

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?— Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
—I don’t really know. I can compare to hotels— I’m a Marriott, Hilton, Hampton Inn fan. Not opposed to a Holliday Inn if it’s clean. So decent but not the Ritz Carlton.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
—What can I afford or what I’m willing? Considering how the Sampler bombed, I wont the be able to talk hubby into spending much until we see it can benefit us. So I’d say around a thousand to start

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?
— I’m looking a timeshares with fees in the 50-70 per month range.

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? —Nope

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

@Dreamweaver101 Welcome to Tug. You are wise to research such a purchase.

You said you are not a detailed oriented planner. Your maintenance fee budget is at the bottom-end of hotel-branded timeshares (and this will increase every year by 2 - 3%). Plus you are upset by the sampler program choices. Given all of this, I don't think you would be a happy TS owner given you are locked into a school schedule for the next 4 years.

Why don't you rent at TUG or Redweek or directly from resorts to get a feel for independent TS (which fit better in your budget) in your desired locations for the next few years. Once your kids are out of the house, you can then see if more flexible schedules at an independent resort would fit your lifestyle, and whether the maintenance fees and upfront cost save you any money vs. renting.

Good luck!