When buying HGVC, why not just buy for the resort with the most points and the cheapest maintenance?

[HuskerATL]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum but have owned a HGCV timeshare at Tuscany Village for over 15 years. I bought it directly from Hilton but now want to add points so I am looking at buying a resale. I rarely use the Tuscany property and just use the points for other properties, exchange for RCI, or exchange for Hilton Honors Points. So, as I am looking at current resales on TUG and curious why wouldn't I just buy the cheapest one with the most annual points and the cheapest maintenance...irrelevant of location? Also, since I am new to this process, any pitfalls that I should look out for? I am seeing properties for less than $500 and the owners will pay the closing costs and transfer fees. I understand about annual maintenance, since I have paid that over 15 years. I equate the cost of maintenance to what it would cost me to rent a similar property for a vacation each year anyway.

Thanks

 

[SmithOp]

Well you have arrived at the TUG HGVC mantra, welcome, points are points, forget about location unless you must go there every year and need that 12 month home booking advantage.

There is an HGVC board, this will probably get moved there.

Watch out for the cheap ones with all costs included, they are usually low point units in off seasons, paying the same maint fees as platinum season. If you plan on using for 20+ years then its ok to spend a little more up front to get lower cost per point maint fee.

In the HGVC section there is a chart of the units with the best ratios, getting something under 15 cents a point is a good target.



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[Sandy VDH]

Why not indeed. Sounds like a plan. Just buy Platinum points to get the most bang for you buck.

 

[HuskerATL]

Well you have arrived at the TUG HGVC mantra, welcome, points are points, forget about location unless you must go there every year and need that 12 month home booking advantage.

There is an HGVC board, this will probably get moved there.

Watch out for the cheap ones with all costs included, they are usually low point units in off seasons, paying the same maint fees as platinum season. If you plan on using for 20+ years then its ok to spend a little more up front to get lower cost per point maint fee.

In the HGVC section there is a chart of the units with the best ratios, getting something under 15 cents a point is a good target.



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Thank you for this information. As an example, I just saw one in the classified for Hawaii, 4,800 annual platinum points with closing costs and transfer fees paid by the seller for $500. I also saw similar for Vegas but cheaper maintenance. For the Hawaii example, the maintenance is around $1,300 which about what we pay in Orlando. I am always a skeptic so I am looking for the trap....

 

[HuskerATL]

Why not indeed. Sounds like a plan. Just buy Platinum points to get the most bang for you buck.

Thank you and good suggestion. I have been digging around for those and found some but still trying to figure out the best option and making sure that I understand the buying process. I reached out to the Hawaii property, mentioned above, and a broker responded. He said that I would have an agreement with them, pay them the amount asked by the seller, and then during or after the deed process with HGVC, I would pay the annual maintenance fee. Once that is done, it is mine and will be added to my point total at HGVC. Is it really that straight forward?

Thanks again

 

[Sandy VDH]

Hilton is one of the easier ones to deal, and do not treat resale that differently from developer purchased. You can't get Elite from resale (there are a few expections, like Scotland for example), but Elite does not offer much, in my opinion it is not worth buying from developer to obtain (and I have Elite, resale from an HGVC employee doing resales, but an option no longer available). The will just add the contract to your existing HGVC account.

 

[HuskerATL]

Hilton is one of the easier ones to deal, and do not treat resale that differently from developer purchased. You can't get Elite from resale (there are a few expections, like Scotland for example), but Elite does not offer much, in my opinion it is not worth buying from developer to obtain (and I have Elite, resale from an HGVC employee doing resales, but an option no longer available). The will just add the contract to your existing HGVC account.

Thank you for the information. I have never seen the need to get Elite. I just manipulate the points to meet our needs based on what is available...change to RCI and head to Europe, change to HH and do the hotel thing, or actually stay in a HGVC property which we did last year but it was the first time any many years. I like the flexibility of the points but haven't worried about the Elite stuff. As long as I get the points added to my existing account, then I can divvy them up as needed to meet our needs. The only thing that I kick around is whether it is worth it to get another one or use the Heros Vacation Club more. We have used it several times and at $349 per week at nice resorts, it is a great deal. I can stay at 3 of those for the cost of annual maintenance. That is for us to figure out but I like the idea of having more points to pay with. Wife and I want to get our for a week, studio or 1 bedroom. 1 kid joins us, then 1 bedroom and kid on the fold out sofa. 2 kids join us, then 2 bedrooms.....so much flexibility. HGVC tried to sale another unit to us last year while we were there and part of their selling point was the Gold Hilton Honors but I get that with my Amex Platinum card anyway so not much of a selling point.

 

[Panina]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum but have owned a HGCV timeshare at Tuscany Village for over 15 years. I bought it directly from Hilton but now want to add points so I am looking at buying a resale. I rarely use the Tuscany property and just use the points for other properties, exchange for RCI, or exchange for Hilton Honors Points. So, as I am looking at current resales on TUG and curious why wouldn't I just buy the cheapest one with the most annual points and the cheapest maintenance...irrelevant of location? Also, since I am new to this process, any pitfalls that I should look out for? I am seeing properties for less than $500 and the owners will pay the closing costs and transfer fees. I understand about annual maintenance, since I have paid that over 15 years. I equate the cost of maintenance to what it would cost me to rent a similar property for a vacation each year anyway.

Thanks

Be aware in addition to the transfer fee there is a fee for enrollment that you will pay after closing.

Being you are a HGVC owner already, you know if. “buy the cheapest one with the most annual points” will work for you. Most tuggers agree with that.

My question to you, have you wanted to go somewhere within the HGVC system and had trouble getting it And would like to go often? Then you should consider getting a week there. Most of what I own in HGVC is where I love to go Marco Island. I most often go but occasionally trade. Being Marco Island is an affiliate it is hard to get at certain times. This way I am guaranteed I can go.

I would also keep an eye out here on Tug. Some generous tuggers have given theirs away for free.

 

[HuskerATL]

Be aware in addition to the transfer fee there is a fee for enrollment that you will pay after closing.

Being you are a HGVC owner already, you know if. “buy the cheapest one with the most annual points” will work for you. Most tuggers agree with that.

My question to you, have you wanted to go somewhere within the HGVC system and had trouble getting it And would like to go often? Then you should consider getting a week there. Most of what I own in HGVC is where I love to go Marco Island. I most often go but occasionally trade. Being Marco Island is an affiliate it is hard to get at certain times. This way I am guaranteed I can go.

I would also keep an eye out here on Tug. Some generous tuggers have given theirs away for free.

I like Marco Island as well. We have stayed there in the past. We don't really have any favorites though. There is one available at Bay Club in Hawaii so we have been thinking about it. I have been all over the world but not to Hawaii so that would give us an excuse to go. It looks nice on TV. I was in the US Peace Corps in the Philippines and loved it. The island that I was on reminds me of Hawaii....just way less developed.

We are all over and tend not to return to the same places too often. We have stayed at our home resort the most though over the years. It is nice but the kids are tired of Orlando. Funny thing. When I was a kid in Nebraska, I would have loved to have gone to Orlando but since we are in ATL, Orlando is a quick trip and my kids are like, "do we have to go to Orlando again?" Now we do the Europe thing more often than US and the exchange rate to RCI from HGVC is pretty good so we can usually get at least a couple weeks in RCI out of our 1 week of HGVC and have decent choices around Europe.

If the seller is paying closing costs and transfer fee, then I would just owe the amount to the owner, annual maintenance, and the HGVC enrollment fee? The enrollment fee is about $600?

Great point about getting it in a location we would prefer to go to though. Thank you.

 

[SmithOp]

Thank you for this information. As an example, I just saw one in the classified for Hawaii, 4,800 annual platinum points with closing costs and transfer fees paid by the seller for $500. I also saw similar for Vegas but cheaper maintenance. For the Hawaii example, the maintenance is around $1,300 which about what we pay in Orlando. I am always a skeptic so I am looking for the trap....

Vegas would be a much better deal for 4800 points. I wouldn’t recommend Bay Club for points unless you intend to stay there and not enroll it in HGVC. I used to own an odd year Bay Club not enrolled and we used it as an extra unit to invite friends/family.

Hawaii is best if you live on West Coast otherwise its a long trek and get old after a while. There are some good maint fee ratios there but the buy in cost is high, so it has to be long term ownership to even out the upfront costs.


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[dayooper]

Vegas would be a much better deal for 4800 points. I wouldn’t recommend Bay Club for points unless you intend to stay there and not enroll it in HGVC. I used to own an odd year Bay Club not enrolled and we used it as an extra unit to invite friends/family.

Hawaii is best if you live on West Coast otherwise its a long trek and get old after a while. There are some good maint fee ratios there but the buy in cost is high, so it has to be long term ownership to even out the upfront costs.


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This is my thought as well. Bay Club has very high MF’s as a points generator. Vegas would be my choice or even Scotland would work well. Both place have some of the lowest MF’s in the system.

 

[HuskerATL]

Vegas would be a much better deal for 4800 points. I wouldn’t recommend Bay Club for points unless you intend to stay there and not enroll it in HGVC. I used to own an odd year Bay Club not enrolled and we used it as an extra unit to invite friends/family.

Hawaii is best if you live on West Coast otherwise its a long trek and get old after a while. There are some good maint fee ratios there but the buy in cost is high, so it has to be long term ownership to even out the upfront costs.


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That is sound advice. Thank you.

I have been looking a the Vegas properties in the bargain bin as well and have emailed them. You are right, ATL to Hawaii is a haul but direct on Delta so that is something. So $500 for 4,800 annual platinum points isn't the best deal? 2019 annual maintenance was about $1,300 so I would have that cost plus the HGVC enrollment, if I went that route which I probably would just so that I would have the option to use other properties or that one. I do like the idea of having Christmas there....

Did you decide not to enroll in HGVC because it wasn't worth the cost to use the points in other HGVC properties?

 

[HuskerATL]

This is my thought as well. Bay Club has very high MF’s as a points generator. Vegas would be my choice or even Scotland would work well. Both place have some of the lowest MF’s in the system.

I have been looking at the Vegas properties also. They are lower maintenance but not that much lower. I see that they are about $1,200 and the Bay Club is about $1,300. Maybe the numbers aren't completely accurate though. When I reached out about the Bay Club, they told me that was 2019 maintenance so I don't know 2020. I know my Tuscany went up so I am that one did also. Seaworld has some with lower maintenance also and even the Carlsbad.

Thank you for your input.

 

[dayooper]

I have been looking at the Vegas properties also. They are lower maintenance but not that much lower. I see that they are about $1,200 and the Bay Club is about $1,300. Maybe the numbers aren't completely accurate though. When I reached out about the Bay Club, they told me that was 2019 maintenance so I don't know 2020. I know my Tuscany went up so I am that one did also. Seaworld has some with lower maintenance also and even the Carlsbad.

Thank you for your input.

Your data is a little off. The Boulevard has MF’s around $875 for a 2 bedroom and Paradise isn’t that far behind. A Bay Club is closer to $1600. 1 bedrooms at The Boulevard and Paradise are around $700. If you are dead set on Bay Club, go for it. Just make sure you have the correct facts before you make your decision.

Here is the data from TUG

 

[HuskerATL]

Your data is a little off. The Boulevard has MF’s around $875 for a 2 bedroom and Paradise isn’t that far behind. A Bay Club is closer to $1600. 1 bedrooms at The Boulevard and Paradise are around $700. If you are dead set on Bay Club, go for it. Just make sure you have the correct facts before you make your decision.

Here is the data from TUG

Thanks. I am just going off the ads in TUG classifieds so they could be off. I was surprised that the MF's weren't farther apart so that is why I was leaning that direction but, you are right. Point and MF wise, Vegas would be the better choice. Thanks again.

 

[SmithOp]

That is sound advice. Thank you.

I have been looking a the Vegas properties in the bargain bin as well and have emailed them. You are right, ATL to Hawaii is a haul but direct on Delta so that is something. So $500 for 4,800 annual platinum points isn't the best deal? 2019 annual maintenance was about $1,300 so I would have that cost plus the HGVC enrollment, if I went that route which I probably would just so that I would have the option to use other properties or that one. I do like the idea of having Christmas there....

Did you decide not to enroll in HGVC because it wasn't worth the cost to use the points in other HGVC properties?

I decided not to enroll because I used it every other year, We go to Hawaii every year from CA it's an easy 5 hour trip. A lot easier than going to FLA. We either had guests use it or extended our stay by an extra week. I paid $299 all in on eBay then gave it away here on TUG when the situation changed.

It wouldn't make sense to enroll if I wasn't using the points elsewhere. The other kicker is enrollment doesn't pass on when you sell it, every new owner pays the fee, HGVC makes a ton of money on fees and they go up every year. It won't add value when you get rid of it.

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[HuskerATL]

I decided not to enroll because I used it every other year, We go to Hawaii every year from CA it's an easy 5 hour trip. A lot easier than going to FLA. We either had guests use it or extended our stay by an extra week. I paid $299 all in on eBay then gave it away here on TUG when the situation changed.

It wouldn't make sense to enroll if I wasn't using the points elsewhere. The other kicker is enrollment doesn't pass on when you sell it, every new owner pays the fee, HGVC makes a ton of money on fees and they go up every year. It won't add value when you get rid of it.

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That makes sense especially from CA....much longer flight from ATL. It is interesting that the HGVC fee doesn't travel with the unit but just another money making scheme for them since many will do it so that they can use the points at different locations. For us, we have used our points more at other locations than our home resort.

 

[LC Travel Newbs]

Be sure that when you see maintenance fees being quoted, you know what they're including or not. Maintenance fees, RE taxes, and other misc fees can change that number drastically.

Yes, for most points per yearly maintenance fee, look for that best season possible for that location. 2br gold season costs the same as 2br in platinum maintenance fees, but has more points associated with it.

 

[brp]

This is my thought as well. Bay Club has very high MF’s as a points generator. Vegas would be my choice or even Scotland would work well. Both place have some of the lowest MF’s in the system.

Yup. We've stayed at Bay Club and Kohala a bunch of times now. All on Vegas points.

So, the answer to the OP's question is simply "yes."

Cheers.

 

[escanoe]

I rarely use the Tuscany property and just use the points for other properties, exchange for RCI, or exchange for Hilton Honors Points

I largely agree with your observation and the comments received. I also have a couple of additional thoughts.

1) If you are regularly using a significant chunk of your HGVC points for RCI exchanges, you should consider buying a property enrolled directly in RCI that gives you the best mf/point ratio in the RCI system. If you will be using more than 2k HGVC points a year on RCI, I would strongly recommend this.

2) If you are routinely exchanging HGVC points for H Honors, this is not a great value and you may already have more HGVC points than you need.

 

[HuskerATL]

Be sure that when you see maintenance fees being quoted, you know what they're including or not. Maintenance fees, RE taxes, and other misc fees can change that number drastically.

Yes, for most points per yearly maintenance fee, look for that best season possible for that location. 2br gold season costs the same as 2br in platinum maintenance fees, but has more points associated with it.

Good point. thank you. that is the challenge with the fees listed in the ads, you don't really know what that includes and what year it is quoted from.

 

[HuskerATL]

Yup. We've stayed at Bay Club and Kohala a bunch of times now. All on Vegas points.

So, the answer to the OP's question is simply "yes."

Cheers.

Thank you. That is what I thought so it is good to have confirmation.

 

[HuskerATL]

I largely agree with your observation and the comments received. I also have a couple of additional thoughts.

1) If you are regularly using a significant chunk of your HGVC points for RCI exchanges, you should consider buying a property enrolled directly in RCI that gives you the best mf/point ratio in the RCI system. If you will be using more than 2k HGVC points a year on RCI, I would strongly recommend this.

2) If you are routinely exchanging HGVC points for H Honors, this is not a great value and you may already have more HGVC points than you need.

That is something to think about. I like the flexibility of HGVC to spread points out by unit size or time of the year or to exchange. I was just based overseas for the last 3 years so it changed my focus a bit and I mainly converted to RCI. I have 19,000 sitting there now and trying to figure out how to use plus my HGVC points. We don't exchange to HH often but have in the past. Since my work is more international now, I tend to stay in IHG properties more than Hilton so that has affected my need for HH points. Thanks for your guidance.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

One buys at Bay Club because one wants to be at Bay Club. (I'm at Bay Club right now, as the sun is starting to work its way over the mountains. . . )

I don't recommend it for pure points buyers, there are cheaper choices.

(I use Bay Club as a surrogate second home. I'm not a member of HGVC. Multiple weeks in the penthouse unit(s).)

 

[HuskerATL]

One buys at Bay Club because one wants to be at Bay Club. (I'm at Bay Club right now, as the sun is starting to work its way over the mountains. . . )

I don't recommend it for pure points buyers, there are cheaper choices.

(I use Bay Club as a surrogate second home. I'm not a member of HGVC. Multiple weeks in the penthouse unit(s).)

That makes sense and one of the reasons that were thinking about it. We like the idea of having a reason to regularly going to Hawaii....we are beach/island lovers.... It is a long haul from ATL but a direct flight..... What are your MF this year? The one that I was looking at was 4,800 platinum points but they only provided last years MF, which was about $1,300 but I am unsure what all that includes. I know ours at Tuscany Village was $1,446 total ($846.07 for Operating fees, $252.68 for Reserve fee, $166.02 for Real Estate Tax, $182 for Club Dues, and $5 for Voluntary ARDA fee) for 5,000 Gold points. Thanks.