Entry into Timeshare - Best deal for a family starting in Timeshare

[DRH90277]

That is wonderful! How many total weeks at NCV do you own now to hold your whole family at once? We purchased NCV in 2005, when we just had two children and they were 2 and 4 years old. The villa seemed HUGE back then! Since then, we’ve had another child(who is 14 years old now) and a daughter-in-law and our first grandchild is due in a few months! All so wonderful, but when we all went to NCV for spring break this last March, the villa was crazy tight! So we purchased another platinum week and also two gold weeks to get out of the cold in the winter. And now with baby coming, I will book our weeks at the same time so everyone can have enough space. Now I need to figure out how to book both summer weeks at the same time…it was hard enough to secure one summer week, let alone two. I’m also thinking we will probably need more weeks as the others get married and families grow! Or I could get them now and then have a month at NCV until I have to start booking weeks at the same time.

We own 6 NCV weeks (1 Gold, 4 Platinum, and 1 Plat Fixed Wk). We now live in NC and our children and their families now live 3 in CA, 1 in VA, and 1 in NC. Because we moved 6 years ago to NC (from CA) the NCV weeks are used some, rented out, exchanged for points, or for family reunions. We now have family reunions at OceanWatch (MOW) in Myrtle Beach because it is closer to us and we now own 6 resale weeks there. We had 21 at our reunion the last week of June - missing 1 family. The missing family with their now married children and grandchildren hold a reunion at NCV.

We started out expecting our reunions to be every other year, I make the reservations every year and nearly all come - that's success to us. The grandkids think this is our home at the beach. We tried to use points for the MOW reunions, but it is just too tough to get all the concurrent weeks we need (or to get any good summer weeks). So, we bought 6 MOW OceanSide villas resale over the last three years. Being at Chairman's level, we book the weeks 13 months in advance.

We own 16 timeshares, 6 at MOW, 6 at MNC, 2 at Custom House, 1 Grand Chateau (for trading), 1 Timber Lodge and some points. We tend to use what we own and do exchange for points for other locations.

The best and most cost-effective thing we have done was to buy the OceanWatch resales. We paid about $11,000 per week, the ongoing maintenance fees are $1,630 per unit for an ongoing cost per night of $235 for each 2 bedroom unit. Newport Coast is a similar property and could easily be used in a similar fashion at a reasonable cost. These are great properties for family events.

 

[Lakeshore]

We own 6 NCV weeks (1 Gold, 4 Platinum, and 1 Plat Fixed Wk). We now live in NC and our children and their families now live 3 in CA, 1 in VA, and 1 in NC. Because we moved 6 years ago to NC (from CA) the NCV weeks are used some, rented out, exchanged for points, or for family reunions. We now have family reunions at OceanWatch (MOW) in Myrtle Beach because it is closer to us and we now own 6 resale weeks there. We had 21 at our reunion the last week of June - missing 1 family. The missing family with their now married children and grandchildren hold a reunion at NCV.

We started out expecting our reunions to be every other year, I make the reservations every year and nearly all come - that's success to us. The grandkids think this is our home at the beach. We tried to use points for the MOW reunions, but it is just too tough to get all the concurrent weeks we need (or to get any good summer weeks). So, we bought 6 MOW OceanSide villas resale over the last three years. Being at Chairman's level, we book the weeks 13 months in advance.

We own 16 timeshares, 6 at MOW, 6 at MNC, 2 at Custom House, 1 Grand Chateau (for trading), 1 Timber Lodge and some points. We tend to use what we own and do exchange for points for other locations.

The best and most cost-effective thing we have done was to buy the OceanWatch resales. We paid about $11,000 per week, the ongoing maintenance fees are $1,630 per unit for an ongoing cost per night of $235 for each 2 bedroom unit. Newport Coast is a similar property and could easily be used in a similar fashion at a reasonable cost. These are great properties for family events.

Wow, that is fantastic! What a blessing for your whole family! Thank you so much for going into detail. I hope we can do something similar to this for our sons and families at NCV every summer!

 

[ahdah]

I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning but in the end I have just what I want and need. I lost money but not the kind of money it would have been if it were in points. I bought GO in silver because we visited friends in silver season and really loved GO. It was before 2010, I paid $8500 on the resale market. I almost bought points when they became available but after looking at it closely I cancelled the points. I also bought Marriott Dessert Springs because my daughter lived in CA, I used GO and traded MDS. I paid about $6000 for MDS. I also bought Boston Custom House for over $5000 because my children were born in MA and thought they would use it. With one bedroom we used it one time and used to trade. I also bought Grand Chateau for over $5000 and used to trade. Then the market fell, so I gave away GO and MDS, sold Custom House for $1000 and sold GC for about $1500. Now I knew what I wanted. In the last 2 or 3 years, I have bought 3 three bedroom platinum weeks at SW, I gave one to my son and his family in NC and I bought 1 3 bedroom summer platinum at Timber Lodge and gave that to my daughter. I spent a little less than 40,000 on the 3 SW and TL 3 bedroom units. (they averaged about 10,000 each). We use SW for family and friends, this year there were 26 of us there for a family reunion. If we can't use then they are excellent for renting. As I said in the beginning I spent some money in the beginning but I look at it as an expensive learning experience. When I die each child will get a 3 bedroom at SW. One of my grandsons said to me this summer that coming to SW on HHI in the summer was his favorite thing to do! It was all worth it, I know I made mistakes, but I have just what I want and we have wonderful memories that you can't put a price tag on.

 

[ahdah]

We are older and own an abundance of points and weeks. But we started in timeshares in 2006 by buying a Newport Coast week, so we could have a great vacation close to home every year. We lived in So Cal at the time. Yes, we did buy it from the developer as we didn't know about resales at the time - that was a costly mistake but ok at the time.

My thought then, is how would I do this if I were starting again to provide a great vacation for our family at the time (six children) every year without traveling a great distance and spending $80,000 plus maintenance fees for enough points to do this. Obviously, I'm thinking best value for the money. So, here are my suggestions for someone living in So. California or North Carolina, our current residence.

So. California - I'd buy a "Platinum resale week" at Newport Coast for about $10,000 with annual maintenance fees and property taxes of $1,800. The initial outlay can be recovered if resold later. Maintenance fees $257 per night for a great 2 bdrm villa. Also, this is a high value trade through Interval and great rental.

No. Carolina - I'd buy a "Platinum resale week" at OceanWatch for about $12,000 for an Ocean Side with annual maintenance fees of $1,632. The initial outlay can be recovered if resold later. Maintenance fees $233 per night for 2 bdrm villa. One special advantage of OceanWatch is the Platinum season is short with only weeks 20 to 32, excluding 4th of July week (mid-May to mid-August) - so you are assured of a great summer week. Also, this is a high value trade through Interval and a great rental.

Keep in mind that once bought in both cases, the cost per night is about $250 for a 2 bdrm villa with full resort privileges/activities, beach, etc. These are both highly rated resorts.

Sorry, I'm most familiar with these two resorts as we own multiple weeks at both locations for our 6 kids and now 20 grandchildren. For those in other states, I'm sure someone on this forum would know of similar resale options there.

I'd buy a 3 bedroom 3 bath at Marriott's SurfWatch on HHI in the platinum season. It does include the 4th of July week, then I would take my entire family every year to celebrate the 4th on the lovely HHI! I did just what I suggested and I have never regretted my purchase. By the way Ocean Watch is also in SC.

 

[winger]

... So, we bought 6 MOW OceanSide villas resale over the last three years. Being at Chairman's level, we book the weeks 13 months in advance.

...

You are booking using Club Points 13 months in advance? Trying to make the jump from your six MOW resale weeks to the 13 months being Chairman

 

[DRH90277]

You are booking using Club Points 13 months in advance? Trying to make the jump from your six MOW resale weeks to the 13 months being Chairman

Sorry for the confusion - We have six owned MOW weeks and I can make reservations for those units 13 mos in advance for "concurrent or sequential" weeks. Because of Chairman's club, I can make points reservations 13 mos in advance. We also have access to lots of points through point ownership or by exchanging enrolled weeks for points.

Because of the difficulty in getting MOW reservations, I routinely try to book "point" reservations and then try to book "week" reservations both at the earliest permissible dates. The points reservations do offer a more tailored number of days so sometimes I get 5- or 6-day reservations if it works better for us. But the week reservations are the surer thing (because we own them) and have a better probability of getting the reservations we want. Because the reservation days of the week vary for points and weeks, I go for the earliest possible date to make reservations.

We would not be able to continue our reunions if we relied totally on the points system for MOW and probably lots of other resorts. Our defensive move was to own enough OceanWatch and Newport Coast weeks to bypass the points system for prime-time reservations.

... only my view....

 

[winger]

Sorry for the confusion - We have six owned MOW weeks and I can make reservations for those units 13 mos in advance for "concurrent or sequential" weeks. Because of Chairman's club, I can make points reservations 13 mos in advance. We also have access to lots of points through point ownership or by exchanging enrolled weeks for points.

Because of the difficulty in getting MOW reservations, I routinely try to book "point" reservations and then try to book "week" reservations both at the earliest permissible dates. The points reservations do offer a more tailored number of days so sometimes I get 5- or 6-day reservations if it works better for us. But the week reservations are the surer thing (because we own them) and have a better probability of getting the reservations we want. Because the reservation days of the week vary for points and weeks, I go for the earliest possible date to make reservations.

We would not be able to continue our reunions if we relied totally on the points system for MOW and probably lots of other resorts. Our defensive move was to own enough OceanWatch and Newport Coast weeks to bypass the points system for prime-time reservations.

... only my view....

TY for clarifying.
You basically built flexibility into your ownership to generate the outcomes you want, that is awesome.

 

[Dean]

Sorry for the confusion - We have six owned MOW weeks and I can make reservations for those units 13 mos in advance for "concurrent or sequential" weeks. Because of Chairman's club, I can make points reservations 13 mos in advance. We also have access to lots of points through point ownership or by exchanging enrolled weeks for points.

Because of the difficulty in getting MOW reservations, I routinely try to book "point" reservations and then try to book "week" reservations both at the earliest permissible dates. The points reservations do offer a more tailored number of days so sometimes I get 5- or 6-day reservations if it works better for us. But the week reservations are the surer thing (because we own them) and have a better probability of getting the reservations we want. Because the reservation days of the week vary for points and weeks, I go for the earliest possible date to make reservations.

We would not be able to continue our reunions if we relied totally on the points system for MOW and probably lots of other resorts. Our defensive move was to own enough OceanWatch and Newport Coast weeks to bypass the points system for prime-time reservations.

... only my view....

This is our approach for Grande Ocean. I own 10 weeks plus other weeks to general points. I also put in exchange requests to supplement, usually canceling points reservations if I get an exchange(s). This year we had 17 units, last year it was 16 and looks to be 16 for this coming year.

 

[DRH90277]

This is our approach for Grande Ocean. I own 10 weeks plus other weeks to general points. I also put in exchange requests to supplement, usually canceling points reservations if I get an exchange(s). This year we had 17 units, last year it was 16 and looks to be 16 for this coming year.

Dean, have you figured out a way to get a particular view through an exchange (I'm assuming you mean Interval). An exchange is an exchange at some resorts like Newport Coast but seems to be a problem matching up with existing reservations for a particular view at resorts where they have multiple views. Any suggestions or thoughts?

 

[Dean]

Dean, have you figured out a way to get a particular view through an exchange (I'm assuming you mean Interval). An exchange is an exchange at some resorts like Newport Coast but seems to be a problem matching up with existing reservations for a particular view at resorts where they have multiple views. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Nothing concrete and it does vary by resort. MGO is easier because they only have 2 views, while MOW has 4 and the likelihood of getting an exchange across the street is very high just like the chances of getting Garden View at Surfwarch or Barony is higher. Also at MGO we always have multiple weeks including owned and points reservations. At times I have taken the chance of re-trading M to M hoping for a better view, looking at the unit code and trading back to the original unit if I didn't like it.

In general though I find that if I make reasonable requests that are relatively general and makes it easy on the resort, call about 1.5 to 2 weeks out and speak either to a Front Desk Supervisor or the room assignment team and DO NOT respond to the email that comes automated; I have always gotten good choices with one exception which I've written about here before about Ko Olina. They could not have handled it more poorly.

For example, for our 17 units at MGO, my ONLY request was the same building, preferably Dolphin since it's quieter AND easier for them to fulfill the request since Starfish is more commonly requested and those are the only 2 buildings with both view types. I also ask them to give me the room info so I can assign the units to group families, who to assign to any HC units and who to assign to the villas that only have one queen in the second BR. And while my request is simple in one aspect, that doesn't make it easy because it's a mix of OF & OS, Fri & Sat starts, owned weeks, points reservations & exchanges and there are other guests/owners to consider as well. Then I give them all the names ahead of time to try to help them put in some of the work at slower times than a Friday/Saturday check in for the busiest week of the year. A couple of years ago they told me that 1 or 2 of our units would be in the next building but then they ended up changing it themselves to all be in the same building. I didn't say anything other than I understood and I appreciated the effort. I keep telling my group that it's very likely we'll have a couple of units in the next building to set expectations just in case.