New Englander looking to buy close to home.

[Wcoady3]

Can anyone on here give me any advice on purchasing a timeshare in my area. I'm trying to keep it within a 3-4 hour drive so we can use it yearly without having to pay for flights unless we want to exchange resorts for another area of the world. I'm also leaning towards a floating week or points vs a locked in week.

I'm looking for timeshares that have a really good exchange potential. From what I understand I'd want a resort in an area with low timeshare saturation, but is still desirable to visit.

My wife and I are looking in Newport RI, Lake George NY, and Coastal Maine. I've also looked in VT and NH, but most of those resorts end up focusing on skiing season and we don't really like the snow.

Any Suggestions? Thanks

 

[theo]

Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine

Can anyone on here give me any advice on purchasing a timeshare in my area. I'm trying to keep it within a 3-4 hour drive so we can use it yearly without having to pay for flights unless we want to exchange resorts for another area of the world. I'm also leaning towards a floating week or points vs a locked in week.

I'm looking for timeshares that have a really good exchange potential. From what I understand I'd want a resort in an area with low timeshare saturation, but is still desirable to visit.

My wife and I are looking in Newport RI, Lake George NY, and Coastal Maine. I've also looked in VT and NH, but most of those resorts end up focusing on skiing season and we don't really like the snow.

Any Suggestions? Thanks

I own and use several different weeks (in spring, summer and fall) at Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine.
We love the place. All units are ocean view, free health club access while in residence, 18 hole championship golf course (not free, by any stretch), tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools and a restaurant on site in the hotel portion of this expansive oceanfront resort. Rockland / Camden / Rockport is a great area with many different and diverse features and activity options.

I have been to every single timeshare facility in the great state of Maine (...there are only a few more than a half dozen) and Samoset is by far the best of all of them IMnsHO. Most units are 1BR and relatively small, but all have screened patios with ocean view. There are some 2BR units in each building as well. Three buildings, three levels per building, no elevators (nor a need for any, unless physical disability is an issue). Two buildings are "Friday to Friday" (our overwheleming preference for minimizing encountering dizzy and distracted weekend tourist travellers), but Building #3 alone among the three is "Saturday to Saturday".

I am not on commission and I have nothing to sell you --- just sharing my experience and opinion. If you do a search here on TUG on the word Samoset, you'll find lots of posts with plenty of information. There is a resale office on site there (not developer related, very low key). Summer weeks are very expensive, spring and fall are much more reasonable. You don't want to be anywhere near this area in winter anyhow.

P.S. When you weren't looking, we gave Connecticut to the mid-Atlantic region, since CT seems so much more like New York (CT even has Yankees fans ) than it's like the rest of New England. There are now only five New England states. Very sorry to inform you that you are unofficially no longer a "New Englander".

 

[MommaBear]

I agree- and I recently picked up an April school vacation week on ebay for $10.50.

 

[Beaglemom3]

I own and use several different weeks (in spring, summer and fall) at Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine.
We love the place. All units are ocean view, free health club access while in residence, 18 hole championship golf course (not free, by any stretch), tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools and a restaurant on site in the hotel portion of this expansive oceanfront resort. Rockland / Camden / Rockport is a great area with many different and diverse features and activity options.

I have been to every single timeshare facility in the great state of Maine (...there are only a few more than a half dozen) and Samoset is by far the best of all of them IMnsHO. Most units are 1BR and relatively small, but all have screened patios with ocean view. There are some 2BR units in each building as well. Three buildings, three levels per building, no elevators (nor a need for any, unless physical disability is an issue). Two buildings are "Friday to Friday" (our overwheleming preference for minimizing encountering dizzy and distracted weekend tourist travellers), but Building #3 alone among the three is "Saturday to Saturday".

I am not on commission and I have nothing to sell you --- just sharing my experience and opinion. If you do a search here on TUG on the word Samoset, you'll find lots of posts with plenty of information. There is a resale office on site there (not developer related, very low key). Summer weeks are very expensive, spring and fall are much more reasonable. You don't want to be anywhere near this area in winter anyhow.

P.S. When you weren't looking, we actually gave Connecticut to the mid-Atlantic region, since it seems much more like New York than like the rest of New England. There are now only five New England states. Very sorry.

Good advice here. A red/high/summer week at the Samoset would be a great choice. It's very hard to trade into the Samoset during high season. I suspect it would be a very strong trader. Beautiful setting.
Summer weeks on Block Island, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard would be other choices. I own summer weeks at the Harborside Inn/M.V. (small hotel unit) and Mariner House - Nantucket ($$$ MFs), but they are so enjoyable and trade well. There is another t/s on Nantucket, Tristam's Landing, but I don't know that much about it.
Go to the TUG database and read reviews on the resorts in the areas that you're interested in. Your membership gives you access to this feature.
Location, location, location, season and value.

 

[theo]

A follow up observation...

<snip> It's very hard to trade into the Samoset during high season. I suspect it would be a very strong trader. <snip>

Samoset is indeed very difficult (...almost impossible, actually) to trade into in the summer months. Owners not using their very valuable summer weeks would almost always be far better off renting out such summer weeks for top dollar, rather than just giving them up to RCI or II for a "maybe...someday" suitable exchange.

I agree that all Samoset weeks (...except winter) should be "very strong traders", but it seems that both II and RCI slightly devalue Samoset weeks specifically because of the "lack of a full kitchen" within the units. More precisely, there is merely no oven (except for a microwave oven). Underneath the 4 burner stovetop is a dishwasher instead of an oven. I don't "bake" and I don't "exchange", so the absence of an oven and / or the "valuations" of RCI and II are of no concern or interest to me at all. Nonetheless, this "TPU valuation" observation may be worthy of note and interest to others who may be planning to "deposit and exchange".

By way of providing a clear example, I was very surprised to have a fellow mid-May week owner inform me that his 1BR mid-May week (identical unit and week, right next door to mine) yields only 18 TPU's from RCI (unlike me, he belongs to RCI and he apparently looked it up). I found that to be a surprisingly low "valuation", comparatively speaking, for a oceanfront spring week in coastal Maine, but I readily admit that my knowledge of (or interest in) "exchanging" is essentially non-existent anyhow. YMMV.

 

[Beaglemom3]

Samoset is indeed very difficult (...almost impossible, actually) to trade into in the summer months. Owners not using their very valuable summer weeks would, however, be far better off to just rent them out instead for top dollar, rather than give them up to RCI or II for a "maybe" suitable exchange.

I agree that all Samoset weeks (...except winter) should be "very strong traders", but it seems that both II and RCI slightly devalue Samoset weeks specifically because of the (supposed) lack of a full kitchen in the units. More precisely, there is no oven (except for a microwave). The 4 burner stovetops have beneath them a dishwasher instead of an oven. I don't "bake" and I don't "exchange", so the lack of an oven and / or the "valuations" of RCI and II are of no concern to me whatsoever. Nonetheless, the "valuation" observation may be worthy of note to someone else who may be looking at "exchanging".

By way of providing a clear example, I was very surprised to have a fellow mid-May week owner inform me that his 1BR mid-May week (identical unit and week, right next door to mine) yields only 18 TPU's from RCI (unlike me, he belongs to RCI and he apparently looked it up). I found that to be a surprisingly low "valuation", comparatively speaking, for a oceanfront spring week in coastal Maine, but I readily admit that my knowledge of (or interest in) "exchanging" is essentially non-existent. YMMV.

Hard, difficult or near-to-impossible, I've never been able to land one as an exchange and if I found a well-priced red week for sale,I might consider adding one to my porfolio (somebody stop me).

Have you ever checked on the TPU value if deposited say, a year or 18 months in advance ? I noticed that my Week 27 on Nantucket yielded a 42 TPU if deposited a year+ in advance, but about a 32 TPU around the 6 month point.

Great resort, wise buy, smart you !

 

[theo]

Another $0.02 worth...

<snip> ...if I found a well-priced red week for sale, I might consider adding one to my porfolio (somebody stop me).< snip>

I don't know what you (or RCI) would consider a "red" week, but I obtained a resale listing printout on site just last week and it appears that Samoset regards its' weeks 15-47 as all being "red" (....there would seem, to me anyhow, to be a whole lot of different "shades" of red in that broad spectrum, ranging from pale pink to bright scarlet). Asking prices vary according to unit size and proximity to mid-summer.
Note that although Samoset has only 1BR and 2BR units, there are actually four different sizes therein (two sizes each for 1BR (A size and B size) and 2BR (C size and D size. I am resisting the temptation to note analogous letter designations for certain undergarments of the fairer gender here). Maintenance fees vary by actual unit size, but all mf's are very reasonable (all are somewhere between about $350 - $550, at least to the best of my knowledge; I only own 1BR "A" units; all of which still have a King size bed).

Re: >> Have you ever checked on the TPU value if deposited say, a year or 18 months in advance ? <<

As stated, I don't belong to RCI or II and I've never actually checked RCI TPU's at all myself, since I don't care a whit about "exchanging" anyhow. I do clearly recall my neighbor stating, however, that his previously reported mid-May valuation was checked and obtained nearly a full year in advance. We both also have a fall 1BR week in common, which reportedly has 38 TPU's. He seemed to believe that his 1 full year advance inquiry revealed the "maximum" attainable TPU valuation; I wouldn't (and I don't) claim to even know.

 

[WinniWoman]

I also think it would depend on what you like to do. Do you want a beach? Do you like the mountains? Do you have any children? I love Samoset- been there in the off-season (April) and still enjoyed it and the area. Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful in the summer. (I am a Smuggs owner(VT) and go up twice a year-Summer and Spring or Fall-no small kids- just my husband and I). But we like hiking, biking, the mountain lakes and their beaches, the small New England towns, the resort pool and activities, Stowe restaurants and shops, etc. Love Burlington, too. Easy to Montreal from there. Smuggs is a 5.5-6 hour drive from our NY home. And we used to exchange our off season weeks when our son was little, but now we rent a timeshare from an owner if we want to go elsewhere in addition to Smuggs. Maybe you should try that first and check different places out before you commit to anything.

 

[Wcoady3]

Thanks everyone

Thank you all for the great advice. Samoset was definitely one of the resorts I was already looking into.

 

[amycurl]

I'll put a plug in for Harbor Ridge, too. Our June week trades well in II, the resort is HOA-controlled, and it's the closest to Acadia National Park. Most units have ocean views, and large two-bedrooms with a full kitchen. But it is harder to get to than Samoset, and no beach on site. But the MF are very reasonable. One thing to consider is if you want something that is RCI or II only, dual-affiliated, or if you're only going to use/rent.

The HOA periodically auctions off foreclosed units, and the locally-HOA-hired management helps to facilitate sales from owners (there's not an onsite sales operation.) If you're interested, you may want to contact the resort directly. I've not seen many of these units up on ebay (but, then, I'm not an ebay hawk, either.)

My two cents...

 

[e.bram]

Let me add Surfside Resort in Falmouth, ma. Oceanfront TS with full kitchens and indoor and outdoor pools.
Short easy ride from ct.

 

[Wcoady3]

Family Interests

Someone had commented about what we enjoy for activities as a family. My wife likes sitting by the beach, I like golfing and tennis. As a family we enjoy exploring the areas we travel to. We have an 8yo son and since he's an only child we become responsible for keeping him entertained during down time.

Ultimately I think our main purpose in purchasing a time share is going to be trading it off so we can see other areas of the world. I'm not the type of person that wants to go to the same place over and over. Although we are huge Disneyworld fans. Even that gets a lil old after a while.

 

[massvacationer]

Someone had commented about what we enjoy for activities as a family. My wife likes sitting by the beach, I like golfing and tennis. As a family we enjoy exploring the areas we travel to. We have an 8yo son and since he's an only child we become responsible for keeping him entertained during down time.

Ultimately I think our main purpose in purchasing a time share is going to be trading it off so we can see other areas of the world. I'm not the type of person that wants to go to the same place over and over. Although we are huge Disneyworld fans. Even that gets a lil old after a while.

Sounds like you may want to also consider a points based product in one of the mini systems, as you want to visit different areas.

 

[Beaglemom3]

Found a few Samoset rentals and resales on Maine's Craiglist:

http://maine.craigslist.org/search/hhh?query=samoset&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=

 

[pkyorkbeach]

I also wanted something close to home-CT. So, I own Holly Tree on Cape Cod in July and in Ogunquit Maine The Falls Inn Seasons. Both are close to the beach.

 

[e.bram]

Never mind close to the beach. if you like the beach buy ON the BEACH

 

[Wcoady3]

I think we're going to spend this year looking and going to see different places on weekend trips. That way we can get a sense of what we're buying into.

The only place I really know about it the Disney Vacation Club. I've taken the tour and a few of the guys I work with are already members who purchased directly from DVC.

 

[theo]

Samoset Resort resale weeks info, fwiw...

Fwiw, I was just looking at resale Samoset weeks advertised on RedWeek.com. There is a new listing there for a 1BR week 19 (...early May, around Mother's Day I think)) for $1,295. That's about 1/2 the price of any other "weaker weeks" at Samoset advertised on RedWeek and about 1/2 the price of any I see listed on the Samoset resale office sheet I recently obtained on site for that same time period (...actually, there are no week 19's available on the Samoset resale printout I obtained on site). That's a pretty decent price IMnsHO; I'd almost consider picking it up it myself, but that week is right before one I already own there and I don't need, don't want and can't use two "back to back" spring weeks at Samoset.

 

[jaym]

P.S. When you weren't looking, we gave Connecticut to the mid-Atlantic region, since CT seems so much more like New York (CT even has Yankees fans ) than it's like the rest of New England. There are now only five New England states. Very sorry to inform you that you are unofficially no longer a "New Englander".

:rofl: Funny, we often think the same thing!
We just passed through CT last weekend traveling to visit our son in Valley Forge, PA and feel like it's the black sheep of New England's "family"....Yankees stickers plastered on many vehicles, and I feel like I'm not in N.E. area whenever I venture through there....
My bigger complaint is the difficulty passing through it, I-95 has lousy traffic conditions near major cities, few good alternative routes. And don't get me started on the speed limit of 50 mph stretch off Rt. 395 that is setup for CT state troopers to "shoot fish in a barrel" whenever they feel like collecting revenue!
MA is no picnic at times either but it is the epicenter of New England and likely always will be.

 

[WinniWoman]

Someone had commented about what we enjoy for activities as a family. My wife likes sitting by the beach, I like golfing and tennis. As a family we enjoy exploring the areas we travel to. We have an 8yo son and since he's an only child we become responsible for keeping him entertained during down time.

Ultimately I think our main purpose in purchasing a time share is going to be trading it off so we can see other areas of the world. I'm not the type of person that wants to go to the same place over and over. Although we are huge Disneyworld fans. Even that gets a lil old after a while.

If you have an only child, as we do, Smugglers Notch is great for kids and you can drive to it. We loved that the focus there is on kids, so my husband and I could get some alone time and great family time together. My son(who was about age 10 or 11 when we bought there) made friends there who's families came up the same week as us every year. My son is now 24 and still loves going back to Smuggs. It is now part of Wyndham points, which has a good system for trades and Smuggs is a very strong trader. However-no beaches-just pools. You would have to drive to Lake Champlain or one of the other beautiful mountain lakes for a beach-which I do sometimes. And- same with golf-have to go over to Stowe for that-only 15 minutes, however. Lots of golf lovers at Smuggs and they drive over no problem. Tennis on site.

(Samoset has a nice gold course and, of course, is on the water. Beautiful! And- trades well also.)

But for entertaining/catering to kids-can't beat Smuggs.

That said- since you are big Disney fans- maybe buy into that system? But you can't drive there every year.

Your original post said you wanted a place you could drive to every year, but then a latter post said you wanted to always trade all over the world and didn't like going to the same place every year. That's what you have to decide first and go from there. It is not easy to trade in any event. It is a whole 'nother" job, especially if you want to go overseas. Which is why we, now that we are older (but still working full-time), rent now to go other places in the US and overseas and go to Smuggs every year as well.

I wouldn't rush into this. And- I would spend more than just a weekend to evaluate a resort. You cannot really get the feel of a place in such a short time. Better to spend a couple of years booking a vacation at each of the resorts you are considering (pick 3 or so) and experience what it is like to be at each a full week and go from there.We vacationed at Smuggs twice before we bought there, but it was several years later. In between, we vacationed in other areas. By then, we knew it was the best thing for us to buy at Smuggs as we wanted to go back (as did our son) and never regretted it. We are now in our late 50's and still love it to this day!

Good luck with it!

 

[csxjohn]

Don't dismiss a fixed unit on a fixed week. If you find a resort you like at a time you like to go there, this is the only way to guarantee you'll get that week at that resort.

If your primary interest is going where you own, then concentrate on that.

The independent trading companies like Dial An Exchange have units all over the world that you can trade into at reasonable costs and none of the "trading power" issues that RCI and II have.

For example, I own a 2 BR unit in the NC mountains, week 16, I trade that for units all over the world. No cost to join and $125 exchange fees.

If you really think a points system is what you need, talk to some of the owners of the different systems here on TUG to try to find out the ins and outs of each system before you buy.

 

[WinniWoman]

I agree with CSXJOHN. We own a summer fixed week with a floater week attached at Smuggs and always have gotten good trades with our float weeks as well as the fixed week. But, at least we always are guaranteed the fixed week we own and have been able to get to know people at the resort who come at that same time every year, as well as our son getting to know kids up there. Makes a difference.

We also don't have the hassle of having to reserve our week ahead of time like you do with points. We just show up!

We kind of have the best of both worlds. We always used the fixed week because we loved that time there in the summer and we have friends who also own that time (but every other year). And, we used our float weeks to exchange somewhere else every year since they were off-season and our son was in school. (Now, we go in the off season as well because we like it that much).

CSXJOHN is also right about using the alternate exchange companies like DAE when you want to- much cheaper fees. Can also try to swap. At SMUGGS, we have a Swap/Rental/Sale site for owners that comes in handy-no fees involved at all!

You can find resales for fixed weeks on the various sites like TUG, Redweek, E-Bay, etc.

 

[rrsafety]

South Mountain in Lincoln NH has some really nice suites and the location is really good four seasons a year. If you really love it and can get it on eBay it might be worth it. I think it is run by bluegreen now. I figure that given the mf you may be able to get about $1300 of "hotel value" a year for about $800 in mf.

Then again in the same area you can just rent a week at pollard brook with a suite for $700 on Craigslist.

 

[Phill12]

Can anyone on here give me any advice on purchasing a timeshare in my area. I'm trying to keep it within a 3-4 hour drive so we can use it yearly without having to pay for flights unless we want to exchange resorts for another area of the world. I'm also leaning towards a floating week or points vs a locked in week.

I'm looking for timeshares that have a really good exchange potential. From what I understand I'd want a resort in an area with low timeshare saturation, but is still desirable to visit.

My wife and I are looking in Newport RI, Lake George NY, and Coastal Maine. I've also looked in VT and NH, but most of those resorts end up focusing on skiing season and we don't really like the snow.

Any Suggestions? Thanks

You might be the most knowledgeable newbie ever asking a question about buying a timeshare!
We bought our timeshare many years ago for the reasons you listed plus we love the Lake Tahoe area and the resort. No matter about gas prices or anything else like air high pricing we can just go enjoy our resort in about three hours. We can exchange if we want to traval some place else but after many years of long distance vacations we are happy with home resort. The only advice you didn't cover is to buy in a resort your family really likes and could enjoy every year. Exchanging or renting should be a second option only.

We started out owning in Mexico in early eighties and every year had to deal with flights and prices. One year we took six others with us and we had to book all eight flights and this was a hassle. Now friends want to join us they just drive up and join us and can stay seven days or leave earlier and go home.

PHIL

 

[susieq]

We own a floating week at the Bay Voyage in Jamestown, RI (across the bridge from Newport). Beautiful area, and trades really well too. What we own is a Red Floating week, July/August, (we choose which week - and which type of unit - when we pay our MF) We enjoy vacationing there as well as exchanging.