First time buyer. Questions on if this is a good purchase.

[jeswheeler]

My husband and I have recently started looking at WorldMark memberships. We inquired on an add for a 6000 point club and received this response from the seller:

No once the $5000 is paid your done paying me and there are no monthly payments. There are however members fees every 3 months, for around $132.00 which we have just paid. The anniversary date is in August and you will get you another 6000 points you do not lose them if you don't use them. You will then have a total of 2400 points. 6000 points will get you a week in most resorts and they have tons of resorts all over the country and the USA there are a ton right here in WA and a short drive away in OR and right down the California coast as well as all over Mexico. Our favorite in the area is in Seaside OR. You can also use the points for airfair or cruises. To be honest the only reason we are selling is because they don't allow animals and we travel with our two dogs. There are charges for changing owners but we will take care of all extra fees the price is $5000 not $5000+


Being new to the system I was wonder a few things, This seems like a good deal, Can anyone with more knowledge advise if our thoughts are correct?
Also, I thought the points were use them or lose them after 2 years. Is this not the case in all memberships? Maybe this has some grandfathered plan?

Thank you for all your help in advance.

 

[presley]

The points are use or lose in 2 years. You can learn all about that stuff, but I want to point out that you can easily purchase a 6K account for about half of that price.

You cannot use the points for airline credits. When you buy a resale contract, the travelshare benefits do not transfer to the new owner. It sounds like the seller doesn't know what they are selling. Look at wmowners.com to get a handle on how the program works and how large of a contract you can buy for $5000.

 

[jeswheeler]

Thank you. I will check that out now. I was sure the points were use or lose, that is what made me really question what they are offering.

 

[aliikai2]

Way to high a price

I just bought a 6 k WM for $2000 all costs included. Check ebay,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WorldMark-B...31201788116?pt=Timeshares&hash=item4d1d2a38d4

fwiw, Greg

 

[jeswheeler]

That ebay link was very helpful, Thank you.

 

[aliikai2]

This one is all of the WM's on ebay right now,

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Timeshares-for-Sale-/15897/i.html?_sop=10&_nkw=worldmark&_frs=1

fwiw, Greg

 

[jeswheeler]

Thank you. We are now really thinking about the first one you list. That was a great help.

 

[sue1947]

I also want to second the recommendation to look at www.wmowners.com/forum. The Rent/sell forum has a list of trusted resellers and you can check the memberships for sale section to see what is listed. In addition, there are lots of threads to help you decide what size account is best. 6000 is the most common 'starter' amount, but with a $299 fee to add future contracts, you might want to really analyze the right size for you.

Some comments on the original deal: 6000 credits will NOT get you a week in most resorts. It will get you a week in the off season in some resorts in some sizes. You can always rent in additional credits (see the credits for rent thread at wmowners.com/forum).
If the anniversary date is August and you will only have 2400 credits at that point, that means the current owner has already used 3600 of your next year's allotment of credits. In August, you would have 2400 available and 6000 to borrow from next years for a total of only 8400 credits. Usually, accounts that are not 'fully loaded' (i.e. a full allotment of this year, last year and next years credits) sell at a discount making this one really expensive. Current owners who just want to add capacity but don't need current credits to use will buy a stripped down account but new owners usually want to start making reservations immediately.

There are lots of other WM owners from the SEattle area (including myself) who post at wmowners and that is your best place to get good information about what to buy and how to best use your account. It's a heavily used area so there is lots of competition for reservations and you may not be able to get what you want as easily as you expect. When I first purchased, I thought I would be able to reserve summer weekends for hiking trips in Leavenworth or the Olympics, but that doesn't really work without some extra work.

Sue

 

[jeswheeler]

Thank you Sue. That is helpful. we have thought about getting more points, but in the summer we do not vacation full weeks around the NW, I think the 6000 would be perfect for us, and in the winter we take a week vacation out of state or country that we would probably just pay for and use this plan for local travel. We were in Seaside last year and were pretty envious of the WM resort there!

Reviewing ebay options I have seen the posting on CL seems a little steep. Thank you all for your guidance and help.