# when should you buy from the developer



## Crohnos01 (Sep 9, 2012)

Reading the 101 lessons for newbies, there is a reference that there are a few times it might make sense to buy from the developer. Cited are trust issues of buying resale (in my opinion, not a consideration if you practice due diligence), and the other reason cited was to obtain "developer perks" of one type or another. Can anyone give me an example.of said perks that can't be obtained when buying resale?


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## DeniseM (Sep 9, 2012)

[Edited so the math makes more sense] 

At this point in time, developer purchases can cost [2 - 20 times as much] as a resale purchase, so the "perks" are seldom worth the thousands and thousands of dollars difference.

But here is an example:  

With Starwood, if you buy enough timeshares from the developer (around $100K) you reach Starwood 5 Star Elite and get some special perks, including Platinum Starwood Preferred Guest status.

However, instead of buying all your timeshares from the developer, you are also allowed to buy a resale week, for a fraction of the cost, and then buy a developer week to "grandfather in" the resale, and you could perhaps reach Starwood Elite for $50-60K, instead of $100K.  

We have quite a few Starwood Elite Owners on TUG, and overall, they seem to be happy with their status, but of course, you have to the time and money to make it worthwhile.


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## jerseygirl (Sep 9, 2012)

Although I agree with Denise that the perks are generally not worth the cost, here's an example of dollar cost averaging:

It's very difficult for non-Starwood owners to trade into Starwood's premier properties due to a Starwood-to-Starwood preference at Interval international (the same can be said for Marriott's premier properties).  But, it's easier to trade within Starwood if you're part of SVN, their internal trading network.

It can make sense to purchase a valuable (using Starwood's internal currency for the definition of value) resale week for pennies on the dollar, then integrate that purchase into Starwood's network by purchasing something from Starwood.  You pay almost nothing for the first one, then overpay for the second one - and end up with a decent average price.

However, this only makes sense if you truly value the opportunity to convert your weeks to hotel points or are chasing an elite level of ownership for added perks.

Do I personally think it's worth it?  No.  But, I did purchase something from the developer when a specific unit type and season I wanted was not available on the resale market (pre economic meltdown).  The ability to "mainstream" a bad eBay purchase took some of the sting out of paying full retail.

The situation with Starwood is more complicated due to the fact that you can get some of the perks (but never all) by buying resale at certain resorts.  So, this response is an over simplification .... But I'm attempting to describe one reason people buy from the developer (actually two reasons, but the availability issue pretty much disappeared when the economy tanked!).


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## Rent_Share (Sep 9, 2012)

I respect your timeshare knowledge and volunteer time, but I am glad you are an English Teacher not a Math Teacher :whoopie: 



> At this point in time, developer purchases usually cost 80-100% more than resale purchases, so the "perks" are seldom worth the thousands and thousands of dollars difference.


 
Resale Price "All Inn" $1,000 - (To make the arithmetic easy)
Developer Price $21,000

Premium of a Developer Week/Resale Price = Developer Premium Percentage (21,000-1,000)/1000 = 20 Times or 2,000%

Using your percentages on a 1,000 Resale Price the Developer Price would be between $ 1,800 and and $ 2,000

The only reason I can see paying developer pricing is if the season an view cannot be obatained except at developer pricing.


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## DeniseM (Sep 9, 2012)

Definitely NOT a math teacher 

See if my edit makes more sense.


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## ronparise (Sep 9, 2012)

In the Wyndham system VIP gives you up to a 50% discount when you book within 60 days of check in and free upgrades if available. So its possible if you are the highest level of VIP to get a 3 or 4 bedroom unit for 50% of the studio or 1 bedroom price. Also as VIP you get more free guest certificates and unlimited transactions and unlimited housekeeping

For most people just do the math and you will see its not worth the money to buy at developer prices to get these benefits. But there are a few circumstances where I think its worth a developer purchase to get the benefits. Specifically if you wanted to make a living renting vacation accommodations. In the Wyndham system thats possible,  but the difference between breaking even and profit are often those discounts.


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## Rent_Share (Sep 9, 2012)

DeniseM said:


> Definitely NOT a math teacher
> 
> See if my edit makes more sense.


 

As the Resale Aproaches $ 1.00 or Seller Paid Costs the Ratio/Percentage moves towards Infinity (and beyond, to hijack another thread)


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## timeos2 (Sep 9, 2012)

With the exception of a "must have" resort available only at retail - and virtually none exist now - there is never a reason to grossly overpay at retail (developer) price.


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## Crohnos01 (Sep 9, 2012)

To infinity and beyond?... Really? Ok...thanks Buzz....lol

So for a Wyndham property (since thats what i currently own) I can't obtain VIP status without buying developer points?


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## learnalot (Sep 9, 2012)

Crohnos01 said:


> To infinity and beyond?... Really? Ok...thanks Buzz....lol
> 
> So for a Wyndham property (since thats what i currently own) I can't obtain VIP status without buying developer points?



Correct.  BUT you need to understand that VIP benefits are not guaranteed and can be (and have been) changed at the whim of Wyndham.  It is a pretty big financial gamble to pay the upfront costs and hope that they don't change the rules before you might possibly break even in 20+ years.


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## Beefnot (Sep 9, 2012)

If you have disposable income and can afford to drop cash for extra benefits and status, then it might be "worth it" to you. But unless you are some superdupermega traveler that racks up oodles of miles and points, you would not be making a financial decision, but rather a lifestyle or vanity decision.


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## Crohnos01 (Sep 9, 2012)

Well, a quick glance at my bank account tells me I am not blessed with more money than I know what to do with, and while some may consider me a "mega traveller", mostly my travels are to spectacular places like Podunk, Kansas on business related travels... On the other hand, it's the business related travel that gets me the air mile points that makes my TS in Hawaii such a affordable vacation spot. 

So, it would seem that I should just go on with the fixed week contract I have currently and not worry about the VIP status, perks or other conderations in regards to developer points.

Thanks folks!


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## chriskre (Sep 9, 2012)

I did one direct developer purchase with DVC out of the 8 TS's that I own.

At the time (2004) DVC was selling pretty close to developer prices and it was a big chunk of change for me to pay with cash.  Disney was offering an incentive down payment of $1500, so in essence I paid almost what would have been resale prices, buying direct.  Disney did not charge closing costs and a resale broker would have so I saved on that also by going direct.  

 I got Disney "owner financing" and they did not put the payment on my credit report, which at the time was very important to me since I was buying alot of rental property and needed my credit squeaky clean to qualify for the multiple loans I was getting.  Disney was true to their word and the payment never showed on my credit report.   

If I were to do it today I'd only buy direct from Disney for small contracts that I could break up into different resorts.  I should have done that with my bigger purchase but I wasn't that active on TUG back then so didn't have that knowledge just yet.  Oh well, live and learn.


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## Crohnos01 (Sep 10, 2012)

Which leads me to another related question; I see a lot of people on the board own two, three, five or more timeshares.... How is that cost effective with the MF attached to each timeshare? I know that some properties have lower fees than others, but unless I am missing something, they all seem to have a minimum of $300/yr MF's, which I would think would add up to being a rather large impact on the average budget?


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## DeniseM (Sep 10, 2012)

Crohnos01 said:


> Which leads me to another related question; I see a lot of people on the board own two, three, five or more timeshares.... How is that cost effective with the MF attached to each timeshare? I know that some properties have lower fees than others, but unless I am missing something, they all seem to have a minimum of $300/yr MF's, which I would think would add up to being a rather large impact on the average budget?



If you vacation several weeks a year, it's cheaper than renting the additional weeks.


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## Passepartout (Sep 10, 2012)

Timeshares are sort of like peanuts. One handful is hardly enough. The first one we bought was in RCI Points and based near the grands. It has given us flexibility to vacation in many places around the world. Then there was that 'winning' bid of $1.25 on eBay into a mini system to add some drive-to destinations, THEN there is that mid-Summer fixed week at Yellowstone. Yes, the MF is a consideration, but so is RCI membership, fees, and travel to the TSs. 

We budget $200/mo into our getaway fund that softens the blow when the bills come in for MFs etc.

As to the thread title, I can't see a single instance where buying from the developer is to the (financial) advantage to the buyer. There small, imo, insignificant perks that can be bought alacarte as wanted (golf, views, housekeeping credits, etc) instead of being included in a developer purchase for 10-100X more cost.

Jim


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## thetaxqueen (Sep 12, 2012)

I bought the smallest package available ($5k) thru the developer at Wyndham Glacier Canyon in Wisconsin Dells.

The reason behind this developer purchase was to give me day privledge access to the resort.  It is driving distance from my home and I can have up to 10 guests per day for free at the resort.  Waterpark passes in the Dells can cost of to $30/day for a good one.  This give me unlimited use for FREE any time I want.

This was the ONLY reason I paid developer prices.  To date (2 years) I have saved approx $1,200 because of this purchase.  

However, this has to be the right situation at the right location and price to make it worth while.


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## Rent_Share (Sep 12, 2012)

thetaxqueen said:


> To date (2 years) I have saved approx $1,200 because of this purchase.


 So if the developer doesn;t rescind the day access you should break even in another 6 Years


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## chriskre (Sep 12, 2012)

Crohnos01 said:


> Which leads me to another related question; I see a lot of people on the board own two, three, five or more timeshares.... How is that cost effective with the MF attached to each timeshare? I know that some properties have lower fees than others, but unless I am missing something, they all seem to have a minimum of $300/yr MF's, which I would think would add up to being a rather large impact on the average budget?



Before I discovered TS's I was already spending around $5K-$10K a year traveling doing hotels, cruises, tours etc.  With that I was only doing 3 or 4 vacations a year and a few long weekends.  Now for almost the same price, I do 10-12 vacations and save alot of money with the kitchens.  

Luckily I live in FL where there are a ton of nice TS's within driving distance so I also use them as a quasi second home.  I also own biennials and triennials in my TS portfolio so I can own in more systems and have access to different inventory in different years so I can mix it up.  I do own 4 annuals but will probably not add anymore annuals to my mix again if I can help it.


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## alexadeparis (Sep 12, 2012)

As someone who has bought from the developer, I have to say that it isn't always a bad idea, but 99.9 percent of the time it usually is. For my situation, I was ok with it at the time of purchase and I still am. 

For the record, the rest of my timeshares are resale, and some of them predate the "developer" purchase. Looking at it from a 10 year perspective, i will break even and then some based on the perks, in my opinion (which is all that matters).

so my advice would be, don't walk in there blind and purchase willy nilly from the developer. Do your research, and if you can justify legitimate, compelling reasons why you should buy from the developer, then do it and don't look back.


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## MN2Travel (Sep 12, 2012)

We have bought through developers. Most of the time we were just not able to say no. We have learned since then. Our big motivator for the last (and THE last) was that we got rid of 2 timeshares that we did not want and were of no use to us. We had advertised to sell them and had no responses. Neither one of us wanted or knew how to deal with the paperwork of transferring them. One was in Arkansas and one was on Kauai, but was not a very good property. So, we just wanted them to be gone. We bought a 5 star timeshare (use) in Mexico. We use it every year for the one vacation we take. I also wanted a timeshare that after the specified number of year we could just let it go or if our kids wanted it, they could take over. We have in our contract that if we don't use it, we don't pay MF. We are pretty satisfied with everything overall. If I bought another one (which I don't think will happen), then I would buy from someone on a place like TUG. But I would research quite a bit before I did. I can rent places where I like to go in Mexico for what we are paying now in MF and there is no output of money to make. Of course, the resort will tell us that we can't get what we can at the resort, but to be honest, we are not that fancy of people that we need all that.


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## Barbs44 (Sep 12, 2012)

*Sometimes Okay*



alexadeparis said:


> As someone who has bought from the developer, I have to say that it isn't always a bad idea, but 99.9 percent of the time it usually is. For my situation, I was ok with it at the time of purchase and I still am.
> 
> So my advice would be, don't walk in there blind and purchase willy nilly from the developer. Do your research, and if you can justify legitimate, compelling reasons why you should buy from the developer, then do it and don't look back.



We too bought our first timeshare from the developer and have kicked ourselves for not researching but giving in to extremely high pressure.  But then we went back and bought more, also from the developer, and I am so glad we did.  Marriott has a new option of the points program that many of the other timeshare companies have had for some time.  In Marriott's case, if you buy into the points program(which we did at the very lowest amount available for $1500), you could convert your existing units into points if you choose to.  If you buy a resale, the unit may not be included in the points program.

This summer I was able to trade my use year and the little amount of extra points into an Alaska cruise for my granddaughter and I in a very nice oceanview cabin plus port fees, taxes and gratuities.  We cruise a lot and this was definitely worth the cost.  But my booking for next year is the one that has me excited.  For the cost of less than 2 years MFs, we have the very best balcony category on the Celebrity Silhouette for a 13 day cruise around Italy for my sister and I.  My MFs for this use comes to the online cost of one fare.  Definitely helps to make me feel better about that exorbitant price of the first unit.

Since I don't have any timeshare usage for the next two years, I bought a unit on ebay that is near where two daughters live in Northern California.  I know we will definitely all use that one - a problem has been getting everyone transported to my home resort at the same time.  This was $1 for a 2bdrm/3ba unit that sleeps 8.  No closing costs except for current year's MF.  That purchase was so easy and fit into our lifestyle so well that I later bought 40000 RCI points for $601 but no closing cost or MF - only the money to join RCI.

So, for us, both ways of buying did work for different purposes.  This coming year my MFs for all will be about $3000 but we will have 2 bdrm units for a week in Newport in January, a week in Texas Hill country in March after a cruise to the Western Caribbean, a week at the beach in July, a week near Yosemite in October and the 13 day cruise around Italy in November. 

It is working for us.


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## PeakRunner (Sep 12, 2012)

*Depends on perks offered*

Now knowing TUG and learning from all advice offered, I conclude buying from the developer is simply too expensive. We have learned our lesson but very late after buying several TSs.

On the other hand, our first purchase in Wyndham was a very good deal. Extra inducements were put on the table -- in addition to the TS itself, for an extra several hundred we obtained both a 4 night and 3 night package in Waikiki Beach, HI, plus free airfare from the east coast. We were able to put together a 3+week vacation in HI, including the first 7 nights in Waikiki Beach, for the cost of one alternate-year TS in SC. Our extra costs were for auto rentals, food, and some entertainment. We visited 4 of the islands in the 3+weeks. For a 40th year anniversary, and a first visit to HI, we were delighted all ways round. 

In recent years, with the economic downturn, resale prices have tanked to bottom and beyond (sometimes now people even pay to unload a TS, such as by paying next year's MF for the purchaser). In this climate, my OP is to defray some MF costs by renting. But that takes time and there is a learning curve. So far we are defraying about 30% of MFs, and using the rest of the TSs for ourselves or as gifts to family members.


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## ronparise (Sep 12, 2012)

thetaxqueen said:


> I bought the smallest package available ($5k) thru the developer at Wyndham Glacier Canyon in Wisconsin Dells.
> 
> The reason behind this developer purchase was to give me day privledge access to the resort.  It is driving distance from my home and I can have up to 10 guests per day for free at the resort.  Waterpark passes in the Dells can cost of to $30/day for a good one.  This give me unlimited use for FREE any time I want.
> 
> ...



I live just a few minutes from Fort Myers Beach. But going there in season for a walk on the beach or for dinner at one of the restaurants makes no sense, Because of the traffic it takes forever to get on and off the island. and once there, forever to find a place to park. So we locals either dont go to the beach, of if we do we have to make a day of it. Arrive early and come home late...and changing clothes in the car isnt something I do anymore.....

But there is a timeshare resort there with a big parking lot, a pool on the beach and bathrooms, that offers day use for us locals...an offseason week is just 14k, a whole lot cheaper than the difference between a condo on island vs one off


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## GHT (Sep 12, 2012)

*You can't make a living renting out your timeshares*



ronparise said:


> But there are a few circumstances where I think its worth a developer purchase to get the benefits. Specifically if you wanted to make a living renting vacation accommodations. In the Wyndham system thats possible,  but the difference between breaking even and profit are often those discounts.


I disagree.  You can not make a living renting vacation ownerships at Wyndham.  To make the math easy, let's say you have a $1000 maintenance fee at a Wyndham resort, and you just want to recover your maintenance fee by renting it out for a $1000.  Wyndham will rent it to someone for the $1000, keep $400 for themselves as a administration fee, and send you a check for only $600.  And then to make matters worse, they will send you a 1099 MISC form at tax time stating that you received the full $1000, so that they can dodge the IRS for their $400 they got off the whole transaction.


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## Larry M (Sep 12, 2012)

learnalot said:


> Correct.  BUT you need to understand that VIP benefits are not guaranteed and can be (and have been) changed at the whim of Wyndham.  It is a pretty big financial gamble to pay the upfront costs and hope that they don't change the rules before you might possibly break even in 20+ years.



Indeed, Wyndham has a history of changing the rules (read: breaking their promises to their owners). That's why I will never do business with them again.


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## ronparise (Sep 12, 2012)

GHT said:


> I disagree.  You can not make a living renting vacation ownerships at Wyndham.  To make the math easy, let's say you have a $1000 maintenance fee at a Wyndham resort, and you just want to recover your maintenance fee by renting it out for a $1000.  Wyndham will rent it to someone for the $1000, keep $400 for themselves as a administration fee, and send you a check for only $600.  And then to make matters worse, they will send you a 1099 MISC form at tax time stating that you received the full $1000, so that they can dodge the IRS for their $400 they got off the whole transaction.



But Wyndham doesnt do my rentals; I do heres the math 

3 day weekend at 72000 points ($5/1000 points plus $100 guest cert) $460, rent at $500-$1000 profit is $40-$540....If I was platinum and was able to play the cancel and rebook and upgrade game I could get a larger unit for half the points and as a Platinum VIP I get a supply of guest certs free....so 36000 points for the same income potential


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## Larry M (Sep 12, 2012)

DeniseM said:


> If you vacation several weeks a year, it's cheaper than renting the additional weeks.



Well, actually, you may have to only own one week. My non-Wyndham TS is with a tiny outfit in South Carolina called Egrets' Pointe. Their policy is to knock $100 off the rental fee for owners who wish to rent additional weeks. And the rental starts at slightly less than the maintenance fee.


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## Crohnos01 (Sep 13, 2012)

GHT said:


> I disagree.  You can not make a living renting vacation ownerships at Wyndham.  To make the math easy, let's say you have a $1000 maintenance fee at a Wyndham resort, and you just want to recover your maintenance fee by renting it out for a $1000.  Wyndham will rent it to someone for the $1000, keep $400 for themselves as a administration fee, and send you a check for only $600.  And then to make matters worse, they will send you a 1099 MISC form at tax time stating that you received the full $1000, so that they can dodge the IRS for their $400 they got off the whole transaction.



Now that is some seriously twisted math.... That's a lot like how the government does math... You know, "We are going to cut taxes by 2 million dollars"

Translation: "we are going to raise taxes by 18 million instead of the 20 million we had planned"


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## rrlongwell (Sep 13, 2012)

ronparise said:


> But Wyndham doesnt do my rentals; I do heres the math
> 
> 3 day weekend at 72000 points ($5/1000 points plus $100 guest cert) $460, rent at $500-$1000 profit is $40-$540....If I was platinum and was able to play the cancel and rebook and upgrade game I could get a larger unit for half the points and as a Platinum VIP I get a supply of guest certs free....so 36000 points for the same income potential



Ron's math is a little closer.  The math does not appear to include housekeeping fees.  So, I assume he gets these for free as a VIP Silver member.

The points he used appears to be reflecting shoulder season rates at the better resorts for the most part.  And the figures do not appear to reflect the VIP Silver Discount of 25 percent.

Here are some examples with the VIP Platinum discounts.

Resort:  Bentley Brook
Unit type:
2 Bedroom Deluxe
Check-In date:
11/02/2012
Length of stay:
3 nights 
Total points required:  28,500 

28,500 times .006 equals $171 for the reservation.  $57 dollars per night.

Resort:  Wyndham SeaWatch Plantation
Unit type:
2 Bedroom Deluxe
Check-In date:
10/26/2012
Length of stay:
3 nights 
Total points required:  30,000

30,000 times .006 equals $180.  $60 dollars per night.			

Resort:  Star Island
Unit type:
2 Bedroom Lockoff
Check-In date:
11/09/2012
Length of stay:
3 nights 
Total points required:  28,500 

28,500 times .006 equals $171 for the reservation.  $57 dollars per night.

Resort:  Wyndham Smoky Mountains
Unit type:
3 Bedroom Deluxe
Check-In date:
09/23/2012
Length of stay:
3 nights 
Total points required:  13,500

13,500 points times .006 equals $81 dollars.  $27 dollars per night.

Resort:  Smugglers' Notch 
Unit type:  3 Bedroom Deluxe
Check-In date:  11/05/2012
Length of stay:  3 nights 
Total points required:  33,000

33,000 times .006 equals $198.  $66 dollars per night.

Resort:  Wyndham Vacation Resorts at National Harbor 
Unit type:  2 Bedroom Deluxe
Check-In date:  09/17/2012 
Length of stay:  3 nights 
Total points required:  33,900 

33,900 times .006 equals $203.40.  $67.80 per night.

Apply our own cost per thousand points to figure out your own cost per night for the reservations you want.

Note:  Under a "Flight to Quality" approach to purchasing timeshares, you would have a slightly higer cost per thousand, however, you would retain the ability to use ARP rights with all of the associated benifits of that program for getting great rates for great weeks in prime season (using the book cancel re-book system).

Note:  3 day weekends were used where available.  A couple were not weekends.


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## pacodemountainside (Sep 13, 2012)

GHT said:


> I disagree.  You can not make a living renting vacation ownerships at Wyndham.  To make the math easy, let's say you have a $1000 maintenance fee at a Wyndham resort, and you just want to recover your maintenance fee by renting it out for a $1000.  Wyndham will rent it to someone for the $1000, keep $400 for themselves as a administration fee, and send you a check for only $600.  And then to make matters worse, they will send you a 1099 MISC form at tax time stating that you received the full $1000, so that they can dodge the IRS for their $400 they got off the whole transaction.



I think you need to talk with a CPA when it comes to taxes.

Yes, it is extremely   difficult to make money renting through EH. This has beeen discussed at length. However, I do not believe anyone would put  something for rent for $1K that had $1K in MF  resulting in losing another $400 in rental commissions.

Best case they rent for   full seven nights  and you get $1,000. General case they cherry pick and  rent just 3-4 nights and  you lose money.

You do get a 1099 for  $1,000 GROSS rental amount as required by law. You had better report on Schedule  E!   From this you deduct  their $400 commission and  probaby $30 CC and you deduct say  $550 MF and  say $20 other expenses. So best case you break even.  That is why you see  large owners renting  points for $5.00/ $1,000 on thir own.

As far as Wyndham(EH) this is its primary source of income. If they did not report  $400 would sure look funny. Anway, I will bet you the farm  EH does report  $400 as income on its tax   return.


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## 2chuck (Sep 13, 2012)

I made one purchase from a Developer and I still consider it to be a fair price considering my requisites.  I own 2) Two Bedroom Lockouts that I wanted to have flexibility on. Renting one side of the other, or both was usually possible, but it made me nervous. I didn't like RCI weeks for exchanging either. After a lengthy sales presentation in which I turned down every proposal, the salesman in a last ditch effort to sell me something, offered a triannual 2 bdrm at Vac Village Parkway in RCI Points and also agreed to put my other 2 bedroom lockouts in points for $5000 total.  There may have been a way to do this for less, but I haven't seen one, because the price my home resort was charging to get into points was almost as much as the whole deal I was offered.  I'm glad I took it, because I have enjoyed the freedom that Points has given me in the past 5 years. I have attended numerous presentations since then, not so much for the money, but more for the information I get from asking lots of questions. I always say no in the end. I usually find a good resale deal on Tug or Red Week and ask if they can beat it, that shuts them down fast.


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## ronparise (Sep 13, 2012)

rrlongwell said:


> Ron's math is a little closer.  The math does not appear to include housekeeping fees.  So, I assume he gets these for free as a VIP Silver member.
> 
> The points he used appears to be reflecting shoulder season rates at the better resorts for the most part.  And the figures do not appear to reflect the VIP Silver Discount of 25 percent.


My math isnt _a little bit_ closer, its dead on, and based on a ton of real life examples

Please dont assume that what Im doing is different from what I say Im doing.

The rate is for a studio unit in *Prime* season, at the best timeshare resort in town..(not just the best wyndham resort, it's the best resort)  and although I get housekeeping the math was presented for a non VIP.. Housekeeping is not an issue and doesent enter into the equation . Regarding the VIP discount, I only get that within 60 days of check in. I make my reservations (most of the time) well ahead of that and I dont play the cancel and rebook game

You probably dont know because of your VIP status, but you get one housekeeping credit for every 1000 points. and a housekeeping fee for a studio is 28 credits.  even if I wasnt a Silver VIP, Id run out of points before Id run out of Housekeeping credits...do the math


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## talkamotta (Sep 13, 2012)

I dont hear any Marriott owners jumping in.  

My coworker swears by Marriott.  Has 6 timeshares and has bought all through Marriott.  Has about 230k invested in his 6 timeshares.  He has millions of Marriott points.  

I dont understand it because I have 8 1/2 timeshares and have about 18k invested in the original timeshare purchase.  Probably pay more in trading fees but I think Im still ahead.  3 of mine are Hawaii properties and 5 of the 8 are GC so I can still get about anything I want.  

He likes the conciere service that a multi Marriott owner gets.  I dont care if I have to take my own bags in, oh wait a minute, Jeff always takes my bags in.  He doesnt care either.  Jeff doesnt care about granite counter tops.  I kind of like them but it wouldnt make a difference if I stayed in a place or not.  

My coworker is still working and will until hes 67, I retired at 58.  There is so much more to life and how we spend out money and time that we need to be wise.


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## timeos2 (Sep 13, 2012)

talkamotta said:


> My coworker is still working and will until hes 67, I retired at 58.  There is so much more to life and how we spend out money and time that we need to be wise.



You got it! Why spend thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands for the exact same units (the ONLY real value)?  You'll find most of the so called "perks" from developers are either time limited, not guaranteed or are available to virtually anyone anyway.  Even if you have the money I'd rather give it to a local hospital or charity than see it in the hands of the obnoxious timeshare sales folks. But that's me. Some simply must pay more of they feel somehow cheapened. I prefer cash in hand or bank account. I retired at 52 and it was the best thing I ever did. If I had purchased our 8 (now 2) timeshares at retail that wouldn't have been likely to occur. It does matter how you spend your money or how you save it. 

I've never seen a retail timeshare worth the money. I've seen plenty of resales (and surprisingly they are the same resorts!) that are great values.


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## ampaholic (Sep 13, 2012)

talkamotta said:


> I dont hear any Marriott owners jumping in.
> 
> My coworker swears by Marriott.  Has 6 timeshares and has bought all through Marriott.  Has about 230k invested in his 6 timeshares.  He has millions of Marriott points.
> 
> ...



Imagine if that coworker had plopped 200K of that 230K into his or her retirement fund. :whoopie:


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## ronparise (Sep 13, 2012)

talkamotta said:


> I dont hear any Marriott owners jumping in.
> 
> My coworker swears by Marriott.  Has 6 timeshares and has bought all through Marriott.  Has about 230k invested in his 6 timeshares.  He has millions of Marriott points.
> 
> ...



I recently assisted in the sale of two timeshare, actually just one, because the other one didnt sell

both are 2 bedroom lockoffs, both in Orlando, both new or fairly new properties, both about 1500 sq ft, both have a small side that is a true one bedroom, not a studio. One has mf of $1250, the other $750

The one with the higher mf and therefore less desirable in my mind sold for $7500 and the one with the lower mf didnt attract any bidders...I offered it here on tug for $50 and still no takers

Guess which one is the Marriott

I dont get it;  but Marriott Owners love their Marriotts and it seems would rather have their money in Marriott's pocket, rather than in their own. I cant imagine a day at Disney is any better after sleeping in a Marriott bed...but thats me

Does it ever make sense to buy from the developer, not usually if you do a strictly financial analysis, but people do it....There must be more to their decision than the money


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## rrlongwell (Sep 13, 2012)

ronparise said:


> My math isnt _a little bit_ closer, its dead on, and based on a ton of real life examples
> 
> Please dont assume that what Im doing is different from what I say Im doing.
> 
> ...



Just to make sure I understand what you are saying correctly, one housekeeping credit is used for every 1000 points and the housekeeping credits for a studio is 28.  That makes the studio 28,000 points in prime season.

Since we appear to be talking about a 3 day weekend reservation in Prime Season, that appears to suggest that 4 three day weekends in prime season at the best resort in that city would be 112,000 points.  I cannot access the site right now, however, when it lets me in, I will check it out.  Never looked at it that way.  If this is what is available for non-VIP, then I may be missing a great thing.

Add in the guest pass fee and the math is done.


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## Free2Roam (Sep 14, 2012)

rrlongwell said:


> Just to make sure I understand what you are saying correctly, one housekeeping credit is used for every 1000 points and the housekeeping credits for a studio is 28.  That makes the studio 28,000 points in prime season.



One housekeeping credit is EARNED for every 1000 points. The USAGE is calculated differently.


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