# Worldmark - doing the math.



## linnysue (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm taking some time to do some research on timeshare ownership.  So far, what seems to possibly work best for our family turns out to be a Worldmark ownership.  I love the flexibility of points, lower maintenance fees, and property inventory.  As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be any timeshare ownerships or vacation clubs that can match what Worldmark has to offer.  Correct me if I'm wrong because nothing is set in stone for us right now.  If there is something that is similar to Worldmark, definitely let me know.

Annual WM Maintenance fees:
5000 - 7000 CREDITS           $444.89
7000 - 10,000 CREDITS        $548.60 

For my family, I'm looking at an annual red week vacation for two with an occasional quick getaway to thaw out in our winter months.  I was thinking about owning 7,000 credits because of the lower maintenance fee tier, but for an annual week's vacation for most red weeks, it would require at least 8,000 - 10,000 credits.  (We love to go to Mexico.)  If I owned 7,000 WM credits, I would have to either borrow from next year's bank or buy additional credits for an annual week's vacation in a red week.  So my question is, would it be better to just go for a 10,000 credit ownership at the higher maintenance fee then to borrow or buy 1,000 - 3,000 credits to support our vacation needs?

Also, if you don't use the full 10,000 credits in any given year, are you able to rent out your points to cover the fees?  How does that work?  Are there companies that will help you rent out your credits if you didn't want to go through the trouble of advertising and trying to do this on your own?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm trying to figure this all out before we sign on the dotted line.  I appreciate very much how you all jump in and try and help.  This forum is awesome!


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## linnysue (Mar 31, 2009)

Okay, this just hot off the press.  I had a message from National Timeshare Help Center, http://www.timesharehelp.net/ and the sales rep. there found us a 7,000 credit WM membership [_details removed at poster's request_].  I told this rep the other day that that's what I was looking to spend, not thinking she would get back to me any time soon, but just two days later, I receive this phone call.  I don't know what the closing fees will be in addition to the $150 transfer fee.

I haven't called her back yet since I'm trying to decide on 7,000 credits vs. 10,000 credits.  Maybe I should start out with the 7,000 credit membership and add later.  So what would be the next step in dealing with this company?  What safeguards should I be looking for?  Has anyone here heard of this timeshare company and dealt with them?


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## Robert D (Mar 31, 2009)

I've not heard of them but looked at their website and their asking prices are over $1 per point, so this is a big reduction. I'd confirm that it's a Premeire membership and not a standard membership, confirm that nothing is owed on the membership and all fees are current.  I'd also be sure to pay with a credit card in the event they aren't for real and insist on just paying the $150 WM transfer fee and no other closing costs.  If they're for real and will do this, seems like you'd have a good deal.  If you think you're going to need 10K pts it would be better to buy a 10K membership but they might not have one for $.40 per pt.


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## Bill4728 (Mar 31, 2009)

I've rented from National Timeshare Help Center but never bought from them. I would happily rent from them again. 

That said, your question is what size WM mebership should you buy? Right now there are so many people renting out their extra WM points for much less than the MFs associated with the points, that I'd just buy a 7000 pt membership and rent extra points from other owners as I needed them. 

One other thing to lower your point useage. 
If lets say you wanted to go to Palm Springs, I'd use my points to make a reservation at one of the areas WM TSs, then at 59 days before travel, I start looking at last minute exchanges which might be available. If a westin or Marriott came up. Cancel the WM reservation and book a last minute exchange for just 4000 pts. You'll save more than 1/2 the points and get a really nice Westin or Marriott TS to stay in.


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## linnysue (Mar 31, 2009)

Here's the details: (I've removed most of the details.  Feel free to private email me.)

7,000 credit *premier *WM membership.  14,000 accumulated credits, 7,000 available until 6/30/09 and 7,000 until 6/30/10.  7,000 anniversary credits renewed on 7/1/09.   $295.00 closing costs + $150 transfer fees.  

They are asking for $500 deposit which will be placed in escrow.  The full amount is due in around 10 days after I receive the paper work.


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## ecwinch (Mar 31, 2009)

Linnysue - that sounds like a good deal for a fully loaded account. Effectively the 12k in accumulated credits translates to about $720 dollars of value. The closing costs are a little lower than most e-bay sellers also. 

You are right at the break-point for the next tier of m/f. Which is good.

It is relative easy to rent WM credits right now, so your travel plans are realistic. Prices vary, but WM credits rent for about 6 cents per credit from other owners.

It is also easy to rent them out. You would get more by doing it yourself. E-bay is a good conduit for renting out credits.

10k would be the optimal amount of points.


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## linnysue (Mar 31, 2009)

My husband is on the phone with the National Timeshare sales rep as I type this.  She's only placing $250 on our cc as a deposit.  I guess we'll be Worldmark owners soon!  :whoopie: 

She's also giving us until May 1 to come up with the rest of the purchase price.  Wow, my head is spinning.  I can't believe we just bought a WM membership!


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## LLW (Mar 31, 2009)

linnysue said:


> My husband is on the phone with the National Timeshare sales rep as I type this.  She's only placing $250 on our cc as a deposit.  I guess we'll be Worldmark owners soon!  :whoopie:
> 
> She's also giving us until May 1 to come up with the rest of the purchase price.  Wow, my head is spinning.  I can't believe we just bought a WM membership!



The rep from the NTHC is a TUG member. I didn't know they sell WM ownerships.


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## LisaH (Mar 31, 2009)

Sounds like a fantastic deal. I can't believe the price has dropped that much...!


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## duck_widow (Apr 1, 2009)

*Anyone know what the other fees are? Trade to Hyatt?*

I've been considering WorldMark for quite some time. Other than the maintenece fees, are there fees to book a reservation? Housekeeping fees? (I think you get two or so housekeeping credits per year or something like that.) How much are additional housekeeping fees if you break your points up into several smaller trips?

I'm also confused about their affiliation. I've seen some places that say they are dual affiliated with both II and RCI. Is this true? Do you have to pick one or the other, or it it decided for you? I'd love to be able to trade into II for Hyatt. Is this doable?

Thanks for reading this!


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## linnysue (Apr 1, 2009)

I need to know the answers to these questions as well.  I don't understand how the housekeeping fees work and how to sign up with RCI and II.  

Also, I hope this doesn't seem like a silly question, but when you buy a resale membership, do I get some sort of nice notebook/binder that explains the program?  You know, like the ones they give out when you buy retail from the developer.

Is there a phone # for the Worldmark office so I can ask some of these questions?  If I wanted to verify the seller's account, where do I call and what account information do I need to give them?


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## arch53 (Apr 1, 2009)

linnysue,
    Congrats. You got a great deal, especially considering how quickly you were able to accomplish the deal.  I'll put in a plug  here for having you consider being a dues paying member of TUG. Its cheap and I've found that the advice on all aspects of timesharing (as well as other subjects) is incredibly valuable. In many ways, TUG is a  example of  the internet at its best. 

On the exchange question. I have used II for a trade since purchasing my membership because it fit my needs. I have not reserved  directly with WorldMark so others would know better than I, but I do not believe there are any additional fees  in reserving directly with WorldMark as long as you have the credits and housekeeping tokens necessary for the specific reservation.  BTW, I  found the WorldMark personnel vey helpful and very nice when I ran into a snag in joining II (it was an II problem not WorldMark).

Have a great time with your new membership; I know I've been having a ball.


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## linnysue (Apr 1, 2009)

Thanks, arch.  You've been a tremendous help, and I appreciate all the help I've been receiving from everyone.  I am so glad I found this forum.  I will consider a TUG membership.


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## linnysue (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm looking over the purchase agreement and it's listed that this is a Perpetual/Premier lease-hold membership which does not expire.  I would like them to add in as an addendum all the benefits of this type of membership.  I know some of the benefits such as being able to will this to my heirs, full use of bonus time, and access to all future resorts, owner education classes.  Is there anything else that I should know about this type of membership to be added in the purchase agreement?


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## Robert D (Apr 1, 2009)

Linnysue, if you go to this site (http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/education) and click on View the Basic Owner Education Handbook on the right side, it will answer most of your questions.  There's a lot of very good information that is presented concisely there that explains the WM program.  The premiere membership is the one you want.


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## northpole (Apr 3, 2009)

I couldn't find what you paid for your membership.  The best prices that I've usually seen are on wmcredits.net for around .59 per credit, you can also rent extra credits from them using a credit card for around .07 per credit if you're ever short.

We've owned WM for a few years now, and we're very happy with our ownership.


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## LLW (Apr 3, 2009)

northpole said:


> I couldn't find what you paid for your membership.  The best prices that I've usually seen are on wmcredits.net for around .59 per credit, you can also rent extra credits from them using a credit card for around .07 per credit if you're ever short.
> 
> We've owned WM for a few years now, and we're very happy with our ownership.



If you haven't yet, you may like to visit www.wmowners.com . It's a community for Worldmark owners where you will find beneficial information on how to maximize the value of your WM ownership. There is resort and other information on the home page, and lots of tips and tricks in the discussion forums.  There are also for sale, rental and wanted forums where you can post for free.

Also keep visiting TUG - I have found invaluable information (especially those in the membership-privileged sections) here.


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## linnysue (Apr 3, 2009)

Thanks, I'm a member there as well.  I've had many questions answered at wmowners.com also.


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## melschey (Apr 4, 2009)

duck_widow said:


> I'm also confused about their affiliation. I've seen some places that say they are dual affiliated with both II and RCI. Is this true? Do you have to pick one or the other, or it it decided for you? I'd love to be able to trade into II for Hyatt. Is this doable?
> 
> Thanks for reading this!




You can belong either II or RCI or to both if you wish to.


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## jhoug (Apr 7, 2009)

I am both Worldmark and Wyndham points owner.  I like them both for the flexibility, but I will say with Worldmark you have to plan for the really popular places well in advance--really at like the 13 month open of booking window.  Tried to get Whistler next year for the Olympics--was calling in  5min AFTER THE BEGINNING THE DAY THE BOOKING WINDOW OPENED--could not even get to the hold queue until 1 hr later, waited another 1/2 hr---only to find ALL units had already been booked up unless I was able to book 1 weeks worth of days at other units leading up to the 2 days that were still left!!!


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## ecwinch (Apr 7, 2009)

Keep in the mind that the Olympics are a very special case, and not the norm.  Also WM implemented special rules for the Olympics, recognizing that balancing availability with exceptional owner demand would be a challenge.

Given that the Winter Olympics were in Vancouver, and the WM membership is heavily skewed to that area, you had a much larger group of owners competing for a small amount of space, I think your experience was an exception. Granted you do need to book prime holidays and certain resorts well in advance, but that is balanced by a very liberal cancellation policy.


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## cotraveller (Apr 7, 2009)

jhoug said:


> Tried to get Whistler next year for the Olympics--was calling in  5min AFTER THE BEGINNING THE DAY THE BOOKING WINDOW OPENED--could not even get to the hold queue until 1 hr later, waited another 1/2 hr---only to find ALL units had already been booked up unless I was able to book 1 weeks worth of days at other units leading up to the 2 days that were still left!!!





ecwinch said:


> Keep in the mind that the Olympics are a very special case, and not the norm.  Also WM implemented special rules for the Olympics, recognizing that balancing availability with exceptional owner demand would be a challenge.



Despite those special booking rules for the Olympics it is an almost sure thing that some of those WorldMark units that were booked at the 13 month window will show up on the rental market.  But if you try to implement any changes to limit the rentals it raises a chorus of complaints from the few who are doing the renting.


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## wileybunch (Apr 14, 2009)

I'm glad I found this site.  I've been doing a lot of reading and my head is spinning.  

linnysue, can I ask what you paid for that membership?  We are also now shopping for 7000 point WorldMark memberships and are very buyer beware in the research we've done, afraid to trust any of the sites we've seen WorldMark memberships listed on.  So very curious what price you paid and what your experience is like, although I realize you don't actually have everything in hand yet.

I used to own WorldMark. My ex got custody of it in our divorce 9 years ago and now uses it to come to town to visit our kids one weekend/year since there's a WorldMark (a couple) here in Vegas and the kids have fun there.  At least they got use of it.  :whoopie: 

We bought our WorldMark from Trendwest when we lived outside Seattle.  Learned better in later years to buy resale.  

We were also considering just buying a 5000 point membership for now and then adding another 5000 down the road if we are going to be using it more, but I'll start my own thread for that.


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## linnysue (Apr 16, 2009)

Wileybunch, I sent you a pm.  I'm unable to disclose the purchase price because of an agreement I have with my Realtor.  My experience with my Realtor has been above and beyond my expectations, and we should be closing soon.


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