Bought resale Grandview property without due diligence - please advise

[AlwaysOnTheRoad]

I've been idly looking for a Grandview 122k ownership to bid on, hoping to score a good deal. One popped up today, with an abnormally low Buy it Now price, and I committed to buying it immediately. This is very unlike me - I think we got a great deal, but I'm concerned because I don't do much of ANYTHING without exhaustive research. I know quite a lot about the Grandview ownerships in general, but realize I know very little about this one in particular.

It's a week 52 ownership, already in points. First use is not until 2019. I have requested an estoppel to make sure there is no loan against the ownership, and that 2018 maintenance fees are already paid. Is there anything else I should be asking for before I send them money? The seller has a 100% positive feedback rating, with 300+ reviews, so I am hopeful that they are above board.

Thank you for your assistance. I am quite nervous, this impulsiveness is not like me at all.

 

[Jan M.]

Did the seller guarantee a clean deed in the listing? The big timeshare sellers on eBay typically say in their listings that they guarantee a clean deep. We have three Grandview weeks that I bought on eBay from 3 different major sellers and all of them were fine. At the time I didn't know about asking for estoppel letters. In every case the sales agreement we signed said the deal was contingent on there being no unpaid maintenance fees, liens, mortgages or assessments.

 

[hintok]

Was this on eBay? They had one that listed as 122,000 annual points, but in fact it was a one bedroom week 35, which is not 122,000 points. Sold on July 21. I have bought many timeshares on eBay and have had two that were not as listed. Make sure the estopple is current an not one done several months ago.

 

[DaveNV]

If first use isn't till 2019, is it an annual or biennial use?

Dave

 

[AlwaysOnTheRoad]

Estoppel has arrived, dated earlier this month, and it's definitely a week 52 annual 2b/2b. There is also a scanned piece of mail attached from last year, indicating that there were 244,000 points with 122,000 expiring at the end of October last year. I bought it on the assumption that all points for this year have been used, but obviously would be quite a happy camper if I found an unexpected bonus upon transfer. It might not even come to that, though:

The estoppel is (I believe) wrong on at least one point - it says it is not a lockoff unit. The address given for the transfer fee to be paid is in Ft Lauderdale, which apparently is fairly normal, but the phone number it references is 954-561-5711 x 350, which is apparently the Mortgage / Customer Service Department? No option was circled for the question of whether or not there is an outstanding mortgage. The points section of the estoppel is also left blank, with a notation to contact RCI. Are many estoppels this darned sloppy??

I will not be heartbroken if this doesn't turn out to be legit, as it really does seem a bit too good to be true, but I'm still somewhat hopeful. Obviously I'll contact both phone numbers before I remit payment. I'll use an Amex so as to extend my chargeback abilities.

 

[Panina]

Estoppel has arrived, dated earlier this month, and it's definitely a week 52 annual 2b/2b. There is also a scanned piece of mail attached from last year, indicating that there were 244,000 points with 122,000 expiring at the end of October last year. I bought it on the assumption that all points for this year have been used, but obviously would be quite a happy camper if I found an unexpected bonus upon transfer. It might not even come to that, though:

The estoppel is (I believe) wrong on at least one point - it says it is not a lockoff unit. The address given for the transfer fee to be paid is in Ft Lauderdale, which apparently is fairly normal, but the phone number it references is 954-561-5711 x 350, which is apparently the Mortgage / Customer Service Department? No option was circled for the question of whether or not there is an outstanding mortgage. The points section of the estoppel is also left blank, with a notation to contact RCI. Are many estoppels this darned sloppy??

I will not be heartbroken if this doesn't turn out to be legit, as it really does seem a bit too good to be true, but I'm still somewhat hopeful. Obviously I'll contact both phone numbers before I remit payment. I'll use an Amex so as to extend my chargeback abilities.

Do a reverse lookup for the phone numbers. Just because they are listed doesn’t mean they are legit. You could be calling a number which is part of the setup.

 

[iwanttoflyaway]

Do a reverse lookup for the phone numbers. Just because they are listed doesn’t mean they are legit. You could be calling a number which is part of the setup.

Yes, that's how I discovered it was for the Mortgage department, that was not noted on the estoppel. The other number is for the RCI Points VV Specialists, apparently. I'm new to the particulars here, but I'm not entirely naive. Both numbers show up all over the official sites. We shall see, I suppose.

Oh, because I failed to answer one question earlier - the listing doesn't appear to mention anything about a clear deed. I considered emailing the seller to ask for some additional assurances, but honestly I'll just feel better when I've spoken with the mortgage department and RCI. I do have every confidence Amex will protect me, but I'll hold off on payment for a bit just the same.

 

[Jan M.]

Estoppel has arrived, dated earlier this month, and it's definitely a week 52 annual 2b/2b. There is also a scanned piece of mail attached from last year, indicating that there were 244,000 points with 122,000 expiring at the end of October last year. I bought it on the assumption that all points for this year have been used, but obviously would be quite a happy camper if I found an unexpected bonus upon transfer. It might not even come to that, though:

The estoppel is (I believe) wrong on at least one point - it says it is not a lockoff unit. The address given for the transfer fee to be paid is in Ft Lauderdale, which apparently is fairly normal, but the phone number it references is 954-561-5711 x 350, which is apparently the Mortgage / Customer Service Department? No option was circled for the question of whether or not there is an outstanding mortgage. The points section of the estoppel is also left blank, with a notation to contact RCI. Are many estoppels this darned sloppy??

I will not be heartbroken if this doesn't turn out to be legit, as it really does seem a bit too good to be true, but I'm still somewhat hopeful. Obviously I'll contact both phone numbers before I remit payment. I'll use an Amex so as to extend my chargeback abilities.

The two bedroom units are all lock offs there but called 2 bedroom/2 bath units on the sales agreements and deeds. I believe Vacation Village at Parkway is the same and there are other resorts in the Vacation Village family of resorts that are like this too.

The 954 number is a Fort Lauderdale number. The transfer fee is likely being paid directly to the closing company.

I'm being nosy so don't feel you have to answer if you'd rather not. How much did you pay and how much are the closing costs or transfer fees are you paying?

 

[sb2313]

I believe I saw the auction you purchased for $199, I’ve boifht from this seller before a couple of times sorry zero issue. You might get a response tomrorow, but definitely by Monday on your questions.

 

[iwanttoflyaway]

The two bedroom units are all lock offs there but called 2 bedroom/2 bath units on the sales agreements and deeds. I believe Vacation Village at Parkway is the same and there are other resorts in the Vacation Village family of resorts that are like this too.

The 954 number is a Fort Lauderdale number. The transfer fee is likely being paid directly to the closing company.

I'm being nosy so don't feel you have to answer if you'd rather not. How much did you pay and how much are the closing costs or transfer fees are you paying?

The address for the transfer fee is actually on the estoppel, and is for Daily Management. I am not paying the transfer fee, nor the closing fees. I don't understand it, but I'm willing to leave a few hundred bucks in the wind for a bit to take the chance...

 

[hintok]

The points section of the estoppel is also left blank, with a notation to contact RCI.

This is correct. The points go directly into your RCI account each year. Grandview, or Daily Management, does not know what the previous owner has left.

 

[Jan M.]

The address for the transfer fee is actually on the estoppel, and is for Daily Management. I am not paying the transfer fee, nor the closing fees. I don't understand it, but I'm willing to leave a few hundred bucks in the wind for a bit to take the chance...

That is an unbelievably sweet deal you got if you are the one sb2313 saw who only paid $199.

I think you will be fine. The transfer shouldn't take too long as they already had a recent estoppel letter. Maybe 4-6 weeks.

If you don't have an RCI account it will cost you $224 for a new account and that will include the first years membership fee. If you already have an RCI points account it will cost you $98 to add this deed/contract to your RCI account. If you don't have an RCI account you could ask if the seller plans to keep their RCI account or drop it. If they aren't going to keep it they could transfer it to you and save you some money. They would fill out an RCI MTA form and pay $98. Since you got such an amazing deal on this you could offer to reimburse the seller for the $98 to have the account transferred. If they paid several years membership fees the last time they renewed that could transfer to you also.