Riddle Me This, John Chase . . . [Cypress Pointe Question]

[timeos2]

John and Alan:

I thought I'd better check in and let you guys know that my purchase at Cypress Pointe did not go thru. It was through timeshare liquidators in North Carolina, which has been discussed on the buying threads. Once this gets straightened out with my credit card company, I plan to look to purchase there again, from a more reputable source. I'm embarassed I let this happen to me, but hopefully it will work out OK.

Jim

Jim - Sorry to hear you got caught up in that mess. Hopefully it will be straightened out soon.

 

[Spence]

Seems to me that I answered this for you here, giving you the link to the points chart and telling you how to trade.

Edited to remove quoted text of deleted post immediately above. --Cat

 

[JudyS]

Very interesting thread! (I had overlooked it before.) Thanks for the great information, John & Alan!

I have never owned at Cypress Pointe, but I still feel a lot of affection for the resort. Right around the time that I got into timesharing, there was an opportunity to buy spacebanked Cypress Pointe weeks (before RCI shut the sale of them down.) I got 2 of those weeks, and used one to make my first timeshare trade ever -- back to Cypress Pointe. (A 3 bedroom at Christmas.) Now, RCI keeps pestering me to deposit "my Cypress Pointe" week, even though I don't own there -- they see that I had spacebanked weeks from there, and think I'm an owner. (Sort of the reverse of your experience of owning but not having RCI realize it, Alan!)

Cypress Pointe is a great resort! Clean, great location, lovely rooms. My only complaints -- the pool could have been warmer when we stayed there in the winter. Also, the smaller side of the lock-offs in Phase 1 aren't one-bedrooms -- they aren't even studios. They should be described as hotel units, especially since the combined bathroom/bedroom design means everyone in the unit can see the whole of the bathroom, which is a problem if unrelated people are sharing the unit.

Overall, though, excellant resort! Tons of space in the 3 bedrooms.

John, I have a question about rentals at this resort. First, are the rental units that I see at www.hotelkingdom.com that "5% of units used as rentals" that you mentioned? Second, are you aware that RCI is letting Cypress Pointe units go for basically nothing on SkyAuction? (SkyAuction has other Orlando resorts for rent cheap, but almost none of those other resorts have the quality of Cypress Pointe.) SkyAuction now has a class of timeshare rentals going for even less than their Ready, Set, Go auctions. Ready, Set, Go was in the $200-$300 range; their new "Getawayweeks" are in the $100-$200 range, with $100 of free gift certificates for food or travel thrown in. This really has the potential to undercut the resort's own rentals, owner's private rentals, and owners who want to sell.

Cypress Pointe's MF are what -- $680 a year? I really feel it's unfair for RCI to get those weeks by making owners think they'll get good trades for their "Gold Crown week", then offer them nothing and rent the week out when the owner gives up and lets their week expire.

 

[lawgs]

judy

using skyauction we just got a week at cypresse pointe in a three bedroom in september for a price similar to what we used to get EV last year when they were first introduced, might as well enjoy them while we can, there are no guarantees that RCI inventory on skyauction will always be there....

used to see HGVC and Orange Lake there, but Vistana seems to be the only one of that group left now...

 

[timeos2]

John, I have a question about rentals at this resort. First, are the rental units that I see at www.hotelkingdom.com that "5% of units used as rentals" that you mentioned? Second, are you aware that RCI is letting Cypress Pointe units go for basically nothing on SkyAuction? (SkyAuction has other Orlando resorts for rent cheap, but almost none of those other resorts have the quality of Cypress Pointe.) SkyAuction now has a class of timeshare rentals going for even less than their Ready, Set, Go auctions. Ready, Set, Go was in the $200-$300 range; their new "Getawayweeks" are in the $100-$200 range, with $100 of free gift certificates for food or travel thrown in. This really has the potential to undercut the resort's own rentals, owner's private rentals, and owners who want to sell.

Cypress Pointe's MF are what -- $680 a year? I really feel it's unfair for RCI to get those weeks by making owners think they'll get good trades for their "Gold Crown week", then offer them nothing and rent the week out when the owner gives up and lets their week expire.

As a resort and an owner there is nothing we can do about the RCI rentals. Once the fees are paid in full - and for over 95% of the weeks at CPR thats the case - what the owners that paid those fees decide to do with that time is up to them. The resort has been paid so it is out of the picture. That wouldn't be the 5% that is still delinquent by the way. Those weeks are rented by VRI for the Association and they do all they can to maximize, not minimize, that income. At the end of the year it is applied to all delinquent accounts and credited back to those owners thus reducing overall bad debt. We hopr to see 3% or less bad debt in 2006. Those weeks are never given to RCI so they cannot be the weeks RCI / Skyauction is renting.

Hotel Kingdoms inventory seems to come from one of our 3 really large owners (500+ weeks). Again the fees have been paid so if thats how they want to rent the time thats the owners choice.

If these rentals were available all the time or for every use period it could be trouble. But they are occasional and may never show up again so no one can depend on those sources. Since someone is paying the full fare why would they continue to let them rent for less? It seems to be a one time issue and we probably won't see it happen again.

Because of these two threads I have been looking at Skyauction myself. I needed some Fairfield time later this year which I was able to find using my FF points but, after checking, also see at Skyauction for much less than my FF points represent. Guess I know which method to use to make THAT reservation! As always find the best deal however it may be offered and use it. If Skyauction has lower rates I'm going to use them and save my points /weeks for something else. It saves me money so why complain? As for the rentals at CPR we have a history of RCI utilization of the high 90 percentiles. A few weeks at a discount for someone isn't going to change that. The first couple weeks of September are the slowest of the year so they have a few to sell off so be it.

 

[JudyS]

Thanks for the information, John. (I also made some comments about RCI versus II on the other thread.)

So, what outlet does CP use for its own rentals?

 

[timeos2]

So, what outlet does CP use for its own rentals?

VRI markets them in print, on their website, at the resort and, if there are a lot, has been known to wholesale some off. Since 2002 we haven't had enough to wholesale so it's been the VRI marketing for us.

 

[JudyS]

VRI markets them in print, on their website, at the resort and, if there are a lot, has been known to wholesale some off. Since 2002 we haven't had enough to wholesale so it's been the VRI marketing for us.

Oh, right! I forgot that VRI markets rooms at its resorts. Thanks for the information!

 

[riu girl]

Sorry - slightly OT
From reading this thread it looks like the one bedroom units at CPGV (the 524 sq. ft. units) offer a mini-kitchen?
Can someone please tell me what appliances are in this kitchen type?

Thank you

 

[AwayWeGo]

Mini-Kitchen At Phase 1 -- Complete Kitchen At The Grandevillas.

Sorry - slightly OT
From reading this thread it looks like the one bedroom units at CPGV (the 524 sq. ft. units) offer a mini-kitchen?
Can someone please tell me what appliances are in this kitchen type?

Thank you

The 1BR lock-off "B" units at Cypress Pointe Grandevillas have complete kitchens, lacking only dishwasher.

When we're there, however, there is an automatic dishwasher that kicks in whenever the kitchen sink fills up with dirty dishes.

It's me.

Same goes whenever we're at our dinky 35-foot non-traveling CoachMen travel trailer at Port Delmarva.

The Chief Of Staff finds it extremely convenient.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virgina, USA.​

 

[riu girl]

Thank you for the info. From the pics I have seen it looks like a lovely resort.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Glad We Lucked Into The Grandevillas.

Thank you for the info. From the pics I have seen it looks like a lovely resort.

Cypress Pointe Grandevillas is outstanding -- no doubt about it. And it's only Silver Crown.

And if you think The Grandevillas is nice, check out Cypress Pointe Resort At Lake Buena Vista ( Phase I ) right across the street. It's Gold Crown, with wi-fi & everything.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[riu girl]

Thanks for the link. It looks incredible also.

 

[topdog]

John:

I finally got my credit card company to credit back the charge on the fraudulent transaction from July. I am looking again to purchase at Cypress Pointe. I was looking at the CP website at the resale listings by current owners who want to sell, and some of these show a contract number. Do you know if VRI would be able to handle the transfer of ownership to me without need for a third party escrow?

 

[timeos2]

John:

I finally got my credit card company to credit back the charge on the fraudulent transaction from July. I am looking again to purchase at Cypress Pointe. I was looking at the CP website at the resale listings by current owners who want to sell, and some of these show a contract number. Do you know if VRI would be able to handle the transfer of ownership to me without need for a third party escrow?

VRI does not handle transfers. They only make the change in ownership based on the new deed filed with the County. If you trust your seller you can draw up & record the deed yourself (I think they even have an on line way to do it) and only pay the cost of the recording and the transfer fee ($75) due. Thats less than the $299-$399 most closing companies charge.

 

[topdog]

Thanks again John. Do you know yet what the assessments will be for 2007, and are any more special assessments planned at this time?

Jim

 

[timeos2]

Thanks again John. Do you know yet what the assessments will be for 2007, and are any more special assessments planned at this time?

Jim

For 2007 the average week will pay $765. including taxes. I say average as the taxes are assessed on each building individually so the bottom line can vary up to $10 either way based on the deeded week you own.

Barring any unplanned emergencies or natural diasters we believe we are done with special assessments and have in place a financial plan for stable fees for at least the next 10 years (we have actually planned it out for 30 years). That isn't to say fees won't rise but that it will be reasonable and the results will be a resort that continues to improve. Nothing can ever be 100% certain, and we were surprised by the roof issues last time we thought we had reached this point, but the plan is solid and the numbers conservative so the Board believes we are in fact able to say this will work out. If planning counts we have put in the effort needed to indentify everything that has to be done over the next 30 years and backed into the collections needed to accomplish that work.