# Looking at SA week for trading



## mshatty (May 30, 2006)

I am looking at purchasing (for the first time) a SA week for trading purposes for the low entry cost and maintenance fees.  I have read the FAQ's on SA weeks on this BBS forum.

I would like to get some guidance or suggestions from experienced owners of SA weeks as to real problem issues and other advice in my pursuit to find an appropriate week, e.g. resorts to get or avoid, title transfer issues, real cost ranges, size to buy (1, 2, or 3 BR).  Also, is it very important to have the RCI Gold Crown designation on the SA weeks?

Thanks so much.

Mike


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## AwayWeGo (May 30, 2006)

*Found Out About South African Timeshare Weeks Right Here On TUG.*

We bought a USA timeshare for our own use within our extended family, with no thought of exchanging through RCI or I-I. 

Shortly after that, we read right here on TUG about low-cost South African timeshare weeks for RCI exchanges into nice resorts closer to home. 

Checking further, we found out that total outlay for a standard-grade 2BR South African timeshare week -- purchase, closing, resort transfer, & several years of paid-up RCI membership -- amounted to just a bit more than 1 year of annual maintenance fee payments at our USA timeshare. 

For the money involved, we decided we would break even if we got 3 nice timeshare exchanges out of it.  Anything more will be gravy.  So far we've taken 3 Florida timeshare vacations via RCI exchanges based on deposits of our South African week. 

This year we added the points-equivalent value of our 2BR South African timeshare to our RCI Points balance via _Points For Deposit_ -- so in keeping with our original estimate, any timeshare exchange we get using those points will be gravy, as will any future week-for-week or points exchanges we get by depositing future-year weeks. 

In short, it all worked out exactly as we expected it would, based on what we read right here on TUG about buying RCI-affiliated South African timeshare weeks for exchanges into nice USA timeshare resorts.  We never would have thought of it -- or even known about it -- on our own. 

Some folks on TUG have complained that the "trade power" of South African timeshare weeks is down in contrast with what it was just a few years back, while others have noted that South African timeshare weeks are not the big bargains they were when the US dollar was stronger and the South African rand was weaker. 

So what? 

I have no reason to doubt either of those points.  However, in my experience (which, after all is limited to _my experience_), both points are a perfect illustration of _mox nix_.  That is to say, (A) our South African timeshare week didn't cost us much, (B) the trades we got with it in 2003, 2004, & 2005 & the points we got for it in 2006 are all highly satisfactory, & (C) we have zero grounds for complaint from any aspect of our experience as USA owners of a timeshare week in South Africa. 

BTW, we sprang for a 2BR South African timeshare week just to jack up its trade value in comparison with 1BR.  The incremental cost was minimal, so why not? 

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


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## king1 (May 30, 2006)

If you'd like to test drive a SA week before committing to a purchase, just email Cape Escapes and buy a banked week.  My last deal with them was a 1BR red week for around $300 and they threw in a free white week.  They may not be running that same sale now, but you can probably get something in that price range.    email:   desiree@capeescape.co.za


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## jkrich (May 31, 2006)

The first question that comes to mind is what do you want to exchange for?
If you are looking for shoulder season trades and trades into areas with an over population of timeshares such as Branson or Orlando, then S Africa is a perfect and economical exchange tool.  If you are looking for the tough exchanges then you need something different.  For not a lot more in purchase price or maintenance you can get some tiger traders.
That being said, Alan's comments are very accurate and we have more than gotten our money's worth from the S African timeshares we own.  However, in today's environment I'm not sure I see the same value, with the exception that like Alan we used the last year's S Africans for PFD with RCI points.

In response to your specific requests, the most common complaint I see with regard to S. Africa is the time it takes to complete routine transactions, whether purchase, sale or simply maintenance fee payments.  A review of posts on this board will show that some resorts are more responsive than others and others seem to create problems with their owners.  

The question of which S African timeshare to buy to maximize trade power has become much more complex in the past year.  RCI went from what was essentially,an alll weeks trade the same policy to significant variances in trade power based on their perception of relative trade power.  I'm not sure that at this point we have a sufficent handle on the revised trade power of various weeks in S Africa in order to advise on which resort and season to buy.  This same question may apply to unit size.  In the past this was not a major issue.  With the change in RCI's trade power algorithm, size may be more significant in the trade power equation.  

Sorry this isn't more definitive, but in my opinion, the whole S African equation is more complex than 3-4 years ago when they were all cheap and all seemed to trade similarly.  

Maybe the best suggestion you've received is to buy a space banked week and try it out.  The investment is minor and will give you a good idea of whether it will trade for areas and times to which you wish to exchange.


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## mshatty (May 31, 2006)

Thanks to all that have responded.  I will certainly look at the Cape Escapes scenario about buying a banked week.  I didn't know that was possible.

I have read some other threads on this forum and saw some references to "Black Sunday".   Is that where RCI changed its trading formula for SA weeks?

Again, thanks for your help.

Mike


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## BarCol (May 31, 2006)

Hi Mike:

If I'm not right I'm *sure* that someone will correct me. "Black Sunday" was the day that the South African RCI system became aligned to the US and they started to apply (sort of) the US formulas for trade power to our SA units.. As a result some timeshare's trade power went up, some down, and some stayed the same - and based on my reading I'm not sure that there is any consensus as to what resorts are consistently up and which are consistently down.

I personally haven't deposited our units since then, but other Durban Sands owners I have talked to in our local TOTUG group seem to indicate no observed change in trade power - Alton if you read this - was that you impresssion?

I am hoping that they will still trade well in some areas and niches.


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## LisaH (May 31, 2006)

After BS:

My week 2 Durban Sands' trading power took a huge hit. 

My floating DIK week stayed the same.

My week 24 Glenmore Sands week took a huge boost in trading power. It trades indentically to my HI and Myrtle Beach summer weeks now.


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## annetteterry (Jun 1, 2006)

In terms of the size of the unit, I own a 3 bedroom and a 1 bedroom Dikhololo and after Black Sunday both of these trade the same.  I see exactly the same resort choices despite the fact that one unit is larger (and has higher MF) than the other.  I can't recall for certain, but I believe this has always been the case.   

Both these units trade much more poorly than by 06 (pre-BS) week I have in the bank, but as others have mentioned, this seems not to be the case with all resorts.

An advantage to purchasing a larger unit is that if you ever do an ongoing search and you wish to look for something at least as large as 2 bedrooms, you would need a 2 bedroom deposit to search against unless this has changed.


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## susan1738 (Jun 1, 2006)

Hey Mike,

We own a 2 bedroom at Sodwana Bay Lodge and a 1 bedroom at the Seapointer.  Both trade about the same, but the maintenance fees for the 2 Bd. are higher.  The only time I see that owning a larger unit is beneficial is if you plan to put in on-going searches, so you can request up to a 2 bd. unit.  However, I usually don't use my SA units for ongoing searches.  I see what they will pull and if it meets my needs, I snag it.  DEALING with paying the MF is sometimes a pain, too.  It may take me a week to track someone down who will finally charge my card in SA.  (As opposed to here in the states where one phone call does it all!)  (I guess a week doesn't sound like much time to some, but I'm not a very patient person )  Good luck in your quest!


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## mshatty (Jun 2, 2006)

You guys are all very generous with your comments and information.  It sounds like I should be patient to find the appropriate resort/week.  Is it best to try to have a Gold Crown SA week in light of the Black Sunday issue?  Or have you found that the trading adjustment on Gold Crowns is severely impacting them too?  (I don't know if I have asked that right.)

Mike


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## AwayWeGo (Jun 2, 2006)

*2BR, Etc.*

Our 1 & only SA timeshare that we own is 2BR, standard grade.  Our most recent exchange based on our SA week was into a Gold Crown 3BR timeshare.  The RCI lady who got us the 3BR exchange reservation said we could have had a 4BR  unit if 1 happened to be available for the week we wanted.  

Who'd a thunk? 
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## JimJ (Jun 2, 2006)

I think I can speak with a voice of experience since I bought our first (of now probably too many) SA week in 1998, have had 44 exchanges and still have 2 weeks currently banked.

Initially, most SA weeks traded like tigers and most traded about the same.  That is no longer the case as the trade power has obviously been realigned by RCI and is most likely more realistic now.  In the late 1990's, many weeks were selling in the $1,000-$2,000 range (and some even less), but the annual fees (or levies as per the SA term) were often in the $75-$150 area.  The fees for 2BR and 3BR units were higher, but all seemed to trade about the same.

The purchase prices seemed to drop and I bought my last SA week for about $200 in 2003.  However, there has been about an annual inflation in fees in the 10-15% range.  Combined with this has been an exchange rate that has gone from more than 11 Rand = $1 to a current rate of about 6.7 Rand = $1.

I haven't paid much attention to buying/selling prices lately.  However, with the incraese in annual levies combined with a worse exchange rate and the general decrease in trade power, I would hesitate to venture too much into the SA timeshare market right now.  For those of us who have been in that market for a while it is still probably "ok" for the time being, but if the trends continue, the economics of even keeping what we have becomes questionable.

For a newbie to t/s I would not recommend SA at this time.  There are many t/s on e-bay, etc. that have much less risk.


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## Aldo (Jun 3, 2006)

While my prime St. Mike's week in now a Monster trader within RCI, my prime Sudwala week is considered of ZERO value by them.  By this I mean that I can never trade it for anything other than the leftover weeks which I can rent from RCI through getravelop.com for less than the MF plus the Exchange fee.
Thus, there is no point in owning that week if the point it to trade it with RCI.

We are depositing BOTH of these weeks with DAE next year.


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## mshatty (Jun 3, 2006)

Thanks JimJ and Aldo.  Your comments are very helpful and enlightening.

Mike


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## michelle (Jun 6, 2006)

Some more resorts that trade better after Black Sunday are Strand Pavilion, Kruger Park Lodge and The Place on the Bay. All three are Gold Crown in popular locations, but also on the more expensive end of the range.

There seems to be some inconsistency with peak weeks, though... Hopefully this will get resolved enough so we can see the pattern. 

I think that buying a red week between October and March of any of the above would do well. (Some of them are red all year round, but I think the red winters are defintely leaning towards pink)


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## tedshare (Jun 7, 2006)

jkrich said:
			
		

> .... If you are looking for the tough exchanges then you need something different.  For not a lot more in purchase price or maintenance you can get some tiger traders......




I'd really appreciate it if you would name some of these bargain priced "tiger traders" you refer to and what one should expect to pay for them.  

Ted


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## rwroth (Jun 18, 2006)

Didn't TUG posts used to have email addresses for off-line contacting?

*Click on the name of the poster and a box will drop down with a link to click for email*

_Part of this post that is an ad has been removed. Karen G, moderator_


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