# Question- receiving TS as a gift from family.



## MWB6924 (Mar 18, 2021)

So I am getting a deeded DIR annual week gifted from my uncle who does't use it anymore. I have tried to look online for information on what if any additional costs or buy ins I would need and haven't found anything. I saw the transitions program from the DIR website but no useful information.

Q1 : Is there any additional buy in other than a transfer fee and deed coding fees?
Q2: since its a family gift, and my uncle purchased from the developer, am I able to get the points associated with the Club Membership?

I'm brand new to timesharing and trying to learn as much as I can. It seems like a good deal as the yearly maintenance fees are not as bad as booking for the designated week ( 2nd week in July). Any info or guidance would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## AndySamuels (Mar 18, 2021)

Not sure about transfer of privileges from an uncle: usually not considered direct family. Adding you to the deed and then dropping your uncle from the deed may work best.

Diamond should be able to answer all your questions. Plus you can ask for the fine print as applicable.

You always have the risk for increased maintenance fees over time + special assessments at any time.


----------



## applepie (Mar 18, 2021)

I bought a week.  The only thing we had to do is the transfer paperwork to transfer the deed, notarize the paperwork, and send it to Diamond.  There is a company that was used to make the transfer.  LT Transfers was the company -- readylegal@gmail.com.  I think I paid around $500 for all of the fees.  It took Diamond a few months to make updates on their side so that I could see my property in the system.  I received a bill for management fees like 5 months later.  I had to open a ticket to move the property from the former owner to me.  

I did talk to Diamond about bringing the property into the collection, and I was told that they normally charge $5,000 to $7,000 to transfer it in while allowing you to retain the deed.  You end up having to pay an additional $200 per year in maintenance club fees.  It gives you the option to be able to trade the property for points if you don't want to stay at it.  The other thing you can do is trade it into Interval International or Destination Exchange.


----------



## AndySamuels (Mar 19, 2021)

That is a lot of $. At least to me it is.


----------



## nuwermj (Mar 19, 2021)

MWB6924 said:


> So I am getting a deeded DIR annual week gifted from my uncle who does't use it anymore. I have tried to look online for information on what if any additional costs or buy ins I would need and haven't found anything. I saw the transitions program from the DIR website but no useful information.
> 
> Q1 : Is there any additional buy in other than a transfer fee and deed coding fees?
> Q2: since its a family gift, and my uncle purchased from the developer, am I able to get the points associated with the Club Membership?
> ...



I think the first question to ask yourself is: would you be satisfied using the designated week (at that resort and at that time) every year. That is the only think you will have a legal right to. Anything else (like club member) could be taken away, changed, reduced. 

Second, as a timeshare novice, be very careful with buying into a Club membership. The deed may be worth say 6,000 points. Diamonds typical way of offering a buy-in is sell you additional points, say 2,500 trust fund points. That is what you pay $5 to 7 thousand for. When the deal is over you would have 8,500 points. But the maintenance fees would be whatever you pay on the deed, plus another $1,000 or so each year. Whether this is good or bad for your family is up to you. I'm only cautioning that one needs to be care about the deal Diamond offers, because it can be complicated and therefore confusing.

Points can be nice if one likes to make short stays like 3 or 4 days, but the annual fees for points can get expensive. If the Club membership does not transfer to you, you might consider owning the deed and joining one of the exchange programs instead of joining Diamond's point Club. Although it's not perfect, I still like the old fashion exchange programs. But you must be and you must be able to be flexible about times and places.      

If you choose to keep the deed, AndySamuels suggestion of adding your name to the deed and leave your uncles name for the time being sounds the best to me too.


----------

