# We are looking for suggestion on timeshares.



## saf512 (Jan 2, 2008)

We are interested in purchasing a TS.  Can anyone suggest which TS company to buy as a resale?  We have travelled a few times with RCI extra vacations through a friend's TS and liked what we saw.  They own fairfield points and seem to be happy with them but very confused with the system.


----------



## salpal (Jan 2, 2008)

Try holiday group.com


----------



## in2movyz (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't use Sunterra now called Diamond resorts.


----------



## durrod (Jan 2, 2008)

Take a look at www.bidshares.com


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Jan 3, 2008)

saf512 said:


> We are interested in purchasing a TS.  Can anyone suggest which TS company to buy as a resale?  We have travelled a few times with RCI extra vacations through a friend's TS and liked what we saw.  They own fairfield points and seem to be happy with them but very confused with the system.



We own lots of Fairfield points, now Wyndham, and we are also very confused with the system.  But there is help at www.wyndhamowners.org  You can register on this site for free and ask any and all questions that pop into your head.  The people there are also here, but the subject is Wyndham/ Fairfield exclusively.  I think you will get a handle on timeshare ownership, particularly Wyndham, from that site.  

I have to say that we own weeks that we have traded for years and years and have really enjoyed our exchanges.  We own 16 weeks right now and are always adding more.  

Where do you hope to go via exchange?  If Orlando is your favorite destination, you don't need much to trade.  If you want to go to Hawaii, that is a bit harder.  We have traded blue (low season) weeks into Hawaii through RCI, both last minute and a year out.


----------



## mamadot (Jan 3, 2008)

Marriotts are wonderful timeshares to own.  They trade very well.
Try Shelley at www.transactionsrealty.com

She is wonderfu to work and very fair and knowlegeable.


----------



## DeniseM (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome to TUG!  

You are so smart to do your homework before buying!

My suggestions:

Buy resale

Look at all your options - don't get locked into one Co. or system

Join TUG so you can access the Member's only Resort Reviews - then when  you see something that looks interesting, you can look it up in the reviews.

Buy where you want to go at least half the time, or buy 2 every other year resorts - like one in the mountains and one on the coast.

Buy a 1 bdm. minimum - or a 2 bdm. if you have a family (easier to rent/exchange)

Buy a popular season for that area (easier to rent/exchange)

Buy a resort that has some demand for rentals and exchanges (easier to rent/exchange)

Buy within driving distance of your home - you may not be able to afford airfare some years

Buy a TS you can afford to pay cash for - it’s a luxury, it shouldn’t be financed.

Know what the maintenance fee is - make sure it won’t be a financial burden.  They often come due around Christmas.

Check on special assessments coming up - you often see a lot of “great deals” for resorts with a heavy assessment coming due soon.

Don't buy with the expectation of making a profit by renting your unit, or getting glorious exchanges to resorts far superior to the one you own.

Exchanging gets more frustrating all the time, so you are much better off buying where you want to go. That's why I suggested 2 every other year TS's. That way you have variety, security, and the perks that go along with ownership.

Before you buy, become an ebay expert. Notice that you can use the search functions on the left side of the ebay page to search for specific areas, companies, resorts, etc.

This is what we paid for our last 4 purchases on ebay:

Scottsdale - Sheraton Desert Oasis (Starwood) $2,000
Tahoe - Kingsbury Crossing - $255
Kauai - Pahio Kauai Beach Villas, ocean FRONT - $1,300
Kauai - Pahio Kauai Beach Villas, ocean FRONT - $1,500

There are some great deals out there - take your time, do your homework, and you will find them. Good luck!


----------



## applegirl (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome to TUG!  Yes, you are very furtunate to have found this website BEFORE you buy a timeshare. Even though we love our Marriott timeshare, had we known about resale when we bought we would have saved thousands of $$$.

We really like Marriott's and everything we've seen so far has been very nice. There are other high-end timeshares and I would only stick with the nice ones. But as good of a season as you can afford, it will trade better when you want to venture out.

Follow DeniseM's advice. It's solid and she knows what she's talking about.
I can't add much to what she already said. Best of luck.

Janna


----------



## arlene22 (Jan 3, 2008)

DeniseM said:


> Welcome to TUG!
> 
> You are so smart to do your homework before buying!
> 
> ...



What she said.


----------



## brucecz (Jan 3, 2008)

In addition to the excellant suggestions above IMHO I suggest that you do not buy untill you have spent a minimum of at least 3 months(perferrably 6 months) studying this site, Timeshareforums and Timesharing Today webite, before buying anything.

If there is a resort or system you think is a good fit, then IMHO you first rent that ownership before buying.

Bruce


----------



## Jya-Ning (Jan 3, 2008)

Look at your travel patten, and determine what factors are most important when you travel. (is resort quality, is the service, is the resort location, is the view, is the whether, is the whole area ...).

Then you can determine your yearly MF you are willing to spend for those factor based on the EV cost you pay and give a % of that.

Then you can use how much cash you have at hand now to determine the price range.

Keep in mind that you may change your need and taste in the future, so you need find something that you like and at same time, if you change, you can rent it out or exchange and find most people will want to be there

Then it is much easy with all these in hand to determine few timeshares area/time slot you can visit and willing to be there, and you can look at the resorts in those area and determine which ones are the best for yopur money.

Most of the TS company are very good when you are buyers.  So take your time.

Jya-Ning


----------



## talkamotta (Jan 3, 2008)

saf512 said:


> We are interested in purchasing a TS.  Can anyone suggest which TS company to buy as a resale?  We have travelled a few times with RCI extra vacations through a friend's TS and liked what we saw.  They own fairfield points and seem to be happy with them but very confused with the system.



What part of Canada do you live in?  

If its towards the west I might look at Banff or Whistler.  Some of thier timeshares sell for pretty cheap even during the high time of summer and I know Banff would be a good trade.  It might be a way of getting your feet wet.

Worldmark/Wyndam has lots of timeshares in the Western US.  

If I were to start over again buying, I would look at every other year timeshares.  Even the nicest timeshares are sometimes better if visited every other year.  For example if you bought 2 every other year (same odd or even) in Hawaii,  then you would be able to go to Hawaii every other year for 2 weeks.  Which could take the sting out of airfare.  

I love my Longboat Key, Fl timeshare.  I didnt go one year and the next year I was so excited to go back.  

The advice already given is probably the best but I just thought I would throw out some more things to think about.  I bought and now I am fine tuning my timeshare strategy.  It would have been alot better if I would have done the strategy first.


----------



## saf512 (Jan 3, 2008)

*Thank you*

Thank you all for the information.  It looks like we still have homework to do but are armed with good information to start asking questions to the sellers before we decide.


----------



## janapur (Jan 3, 2008)

brucecz said:


> In addition to the excellant suggestions above IMHO I suggest that you do not buy untill you have spent a minimum of at least 3 months(perferrably 6 months) studying this site, Timeshareforums and Timesharing Today webite, before buying anything.
> 
> If there is a resort or system you think is a good fit, then IMHO you first rent that ownership before buying.
> 
> Bruce



Though hard to resist buying . . . this is excellent advice.

I know every ts in MN blindfolded, but purchased every other week we own sight unseen based upon my research here and on timeshareforums. I spent so many hours reading posts and reviews, that by the time we actually used our new weeks, I felt that I had been an owner for years. No regrets. We now have a very diverse and well planned portfolio.

Now . . . if only I could get a couple Dells weeks from Bruce!  

Jana


----------



## saf512 (Jan 3, 2008)

We live in Ottawa, Ontario.  We do like the idea of purchasing within (7 hours) driving distance but are open to anything at this point. We enjoy skiing as well as the sun...  The family really enjoyed Orange Lake resort, Florida last year and Smuggler Notch, Vermont the year before.  We do tend to rent in Tremblant, Quebec at least 2 weeks per year in high season. The plan is to fly somewhere every 2 years for a 2 week vacation. How would we find out which resorts trade well?
Thank you to everyone again, for all your help.


----------



## talkamotta (Jan 3, 2008)

saf512 said:


> We live in Ottawa, Ontario.  We do like the idea of purchasing within (7 hours) driving distance but are open to anything at this point. We enjoy skiing as well as the sun...  The family really enjoyed Orange Lake resort, Florida last year and Smuggler Notch, Vermont the year before.  We do tend to rent in Tremblant, Quebec at least 2 weeks per year in high season. The plan is to fly somewhere every 2 years for a 2 week vacation. How would we find out which resorts trade well?
> Thank you to everyone again, for all your help.



My coworker once said that his limits on driving was 500 miles.  So one day I went on mapquest and did a circle of 500 miles from Salt Lake.  I was surprised on just how much area it covered.  Flagstaff-Tahoe-Montana-Denver.  There are lots of National Parks in that area.  You might want to try doing that and seeing what timeshares are in that area.  Does Tremblant have many timeshares?   
Im still working for another couple of years but I like taking at least one 2-week vacation.  It makes me feel like I really did get away.  The last 2 years we went to Hawaii for 2 weeks. We went to Maui-Big Island the first year and Maui-Kauai the second.  When you fly that far to Hawaii, I cant imagine only staying 1 week. This year we are going to Banff and Fairmont Hot Springs and the surrounding areas.   We will be driving to Banff, going through Cordeleine on the way up and Glacier Park (over the sun road) on the way back.  

There are many trips that you could combine that would give you enough differences.  Orlando (maybe hit the east coast one day) and then the West Coast of Florida,  Las Vegas and Sedona,  Lake Tahoe and the California Coast, Hilton Head and the Smoky Mountains. 

Trading Power is a loaded question. What I want to trade for may not be what you need or desire.  I would stick with red and gold crown.  If you are tied to a school calendar then you will need to get a higher end resort and in a red season.  I like my Longboat Bay, its floating but doesnt include part of Feb-March and part of April (those are selling for $9-11K).  It only cost me $2,000 for the 2 bedroom and it trades extremely well. If you dont always need a 2 bedroom get a 2 bedroom w/lock off. 

 Hawaii generally trades very well but maintenance fees can be higher and sometimes much higher so they wont be good value exchanges. For example, my Sands of Kahana (2 bedroom), cost me $4500 but the mf's are $1200-1300, Pahio Ka Eo Kai was $1850 (2 bed/lock off) mf are around $1K. I feel I got a  good prices on the initial purchase that paying $2300 for 2 weeks in Hawaii isnt bad.  Others here have done alot better than me but Im still just learning.  

 Marriotts during gold and platinum season trade well.  Say for example Marriotts in Park City, UT.  Ski season is platinum, trades extremely well but they are very expensive to buy,  unless you are avid skiiers and want to go there most years, it would be better to buy a summer week, but I wouldnt buy a spring/fall week.  They are easy to trade into and cheap to rent. I wouldnt necessarily buy an Orlando timeshare although there are so many nice ones, I would opt for a Gulf Coast timeshare from Tampa south.  I hope that gives you somethings to think about.  Remember to take your time. You might want to rent more before you buy.  

I would join Tug for the review section. Sometimes a gold crown isnt really all that gold and some resorts are in such a wonderful place that just being there is all you need. Im so excited about being able to see Banff and Jasper that a tent would be good enough for me.  

Good luck.


----------



## Bwolf (Jan 4, 2008)

saf512:  You may want to look into any of the INN Season Resorts.  We own at Pollard Brook in Lincoln, NH, so I can give you PM advice if you want it.  Loon, Cannon, Bretton Woods, and several other ski resorts are nearby.  Our unit is a great trader.  I've found I see things other people don't.  OTOH, Interval International has same strange policy that generally doesn't let you see what it considers lesser resorts, even though you might want to trade to that resort despite the perceived "quality" difference.  We just added what might be considered a lesser resort to our interval membership, and I see some resorts in locations I might want to visit that I don't see with my Pollard Brook unit that does see very high quality resorts.  So, the "lesser" resort might be "better" in the sense of the visibility it provides.

There are many Pollard Brook deeded, inheritable, fixed week units for sale on various sites and I can offer you some advice on where to look and what to offer.

HTH


----------



## #1 Cowboys Fan (Jan 4, 2008)

Bwolf said:


> saf512:  You may want to look into any of the INN Season Resorts.  We own at Pollard Brook in Lincoln, NH, so I can give you PM advice if you want it.  Loon, Cannon, Bretton Woods, and several other ski resorts are nearby.  Our unit is a great trader.
> 
> There are many Pollard Brook deeded, inheritable, fixed week units for sale on various sites and I can offer you some advice on where to look and what to offer.
> 
> HTH



I am NOT the original poster---but I have some interest---so I have sent you a PM.

Pat


----------



## saf512 (Jan 5, 2008)

[QUOTE=talkamotta;444939]My coworker once said that his limits on driving was 500 miles.  So one day I went on mapquest and did a circle of 500 miles from Salt Lake.  I was surprised on just how much area it covered.  Flagstaff-Tahoe-Montana-Denver.  There are lots of National Parks in that area.  You might want to try doing that and seeing what timeshares are in that area.  Does Tremblant have many timeshares?   
Thanks for the advice.  We will get onto map quest today. Tremblant has at least 3 that I know about.  Club Intrawest is by far the best one located at the mountain.  La Voliere is another one that we actually just came home from.  It has older units, not much luxury but the location is great (5 minute drive to the hill). It is located in town, walking distance to a small grocery store, many restaurants, an activity center and has direct access to Lake Moore (across the street).  The other one is also associated with La Voliere, I think it's called Club Privilege.  It is approx. 5 min drive to mountain but doesn't have much around it.  Tremblant has so much to do and is really beautiful-deffinately a must see in the summer, fall or winter.

Trading Power is a loaded question. What I want to trade for may not be what you need or desire.  I would stick with red and gold crown.  If you are tied to a school calendar then you will need to get a higher end resort and in a red season.  I like my Longboat Bay, its floating but doesnt include part of Feb-March and part of April (those are selling for $9-11K).  It only cost me $2,000 for the 2 bedroom and it trades extremely well. If you dont always need a 2 bedroom get a 2 bedroom w/lock off. 

So trading a place like La Voliere would likely be difficult since it does't have a great rating...even though there aren't many TS around (that I know about)?  Club Intrawest is just not in our budget, not even as resale.  We are so glad we joind TUG before buing.  There is so much to learn and think about.


----------



## brucecz (Jan 5, 2008)

janapur said:


> Though hard to resist buying . . . this is excellent advice.
> 
> I know every ts in MN blindfolded, but purchased every other week we own sight unseen based upon my research here and on timeshareforums. I spent so many hours reading posts and reviews, that by the time we actually used our new weeks, I felt that I had been an owner for years. No regrets. We now have a very diverse and well planned portfolio.
> 
> ...



Have you checked the Tug Classifed's for sales lately? 

Bruce


----------



## njzees (Jan 6, 2008)

*CI to RCI*

Can anyone tell me what 220 Club Intrawest points would represent if trading into RCI?


----------



## bogey21 (Jan 7, 2008)

When visiting an area you like check out all the Timeshares. When you get home go to Ebay. If you are not hung up on the big boys (Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndam, etc), you might find your favorite for $300 - $400 including closing costs.

GEORGE


----------



## Jim McLaren (Jan 7, 2008)

bogey21 said:


> When visiting an area you like check out all the Timeshares. When you get home go to Ebay. If you are not hung up on the big boys (Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndam, etc), you might find your favorite for $300 - $400 including closing costs.


That's how we got our TS.  Took a long weekend at Hilton Head and took a TS tour.  The salesman pointed out Cottages at Shipyard when driving from the sales office to the TS he was selling.  We liked it & a week later saw it on ebay and bought it.  We did pay a little more than $400.  But not much.


----------



## Bill4728 (Jan 8, 2008)

njzees said:


> Can anyone tell me what 220 Club Intrawest points would represent if trading into RCI?



CI has a deal with RCI, so that if you want a red season 2 bedroom RCI trade, it will cost you 150 CI points. (Smaller room or lower season cost less CI points)  CI will also try and send you to only RCI gold crown resorts. You can tell them you want something which isn't gold crown but that it what CI will try and match you with.

 So for 220, you'll use 150 and have 70 left over for other things.


----------



## JoeMid (Jan 9, 2008)

saf512 said:


> We are interested in purchasing a TS.  Can anyone suggest which TS company to buy as a resale?  We have travelled a few times with RCI extra vacations through a friend's TS and liked what we saw.  They own fairfield points and seem to be happy with them but very confused with the system.





in2movyz said:


> Don't use Sunterra now called Diamond resorts.


in2, it's too bad you feel that way and give absolutely no reason or information.  Diamond's THE Club is one of the easiest and most versatile systems out there.  You seem so sour, maybe you should go visit this forum where they can probably cheer you up and teach you how to use you ownership.


----------



## Carmel85 (Jan 9, 2008)

saf512 said:


> We are interested in purchasing a TS.  Can anyone suggest which TS company to buy as a resale?  We have travelled a few times with RCI extra vacations through a friend's TS and liked what we saw.  They own fairfield points and seem to be happy with them but very confused with the system.



I personally love hyatt and the Hyatt system. I would go to a Hyatt timeshare presentation and get the scope or call the different resorts and they will personally send you a sales packet. I actually got a sales packet for 2 different Hyatt that Im trying to buy on the resale market.

Buy a Hyatt but only buy 2200,2000 or 1880 point weeks!!!


----------

