Evaluating Welk Timeshare Purchase- Options for Resale

[Christian B.]

I have 8 kids (age 19 down to 2), and a timeshare seems like a good option for my family at this stage it life for a variety of reasons. I recently purchased 540,000 points annually through Welk Resorts for around $58,000, but cancelled the within the 7 day cancellation period after reading articles on this forum. So thanks for that. They offered an addition 15% off when I cancelled (Which would have been approximately 49K), but I wasn't sure if it was still too much. I still think a timeshare would be a good purchase on resale, but want/need to get the best deal for my family. First, I wanted to know which timeshare companies/groups I should be looking at that would be best for families. Second, approximately what kind of price range I should expect on resale. I would like to buy a 4 or 5 star resort, and need enough so that all 10 of us will be able to be together for a week. Need more than just a 2 bedrooms. Probably a 2 bedroom and a 1 bedroom with flexibility on the dates. I stayed at both the Welk Escondido and Cabo San Lucas properties. I liked both, but the purchase price seemed too high.

 

[mjm1]

Congratulations on rescinding in time. That was a wise move. On Redweek, they have 480k Welk points listed for $8k. While that amount of points isn't what you looked at, it gives you an idea.

Others will chime is as well, but you need to consider where and when you want to vacation. You could look for resorts and systems that have 3 bedroom units as an option. As you probably know, Welk in Escondido does have some. Do plenty of research and asking questions before making a decision. Checking TUG was a great step.

We used to own Welk, both a fixed week/unit in Escondido and then in their points program. We owned 300k points, but sold them back to the company. We liked Escondido when our kids were young, since we could drive from the Bay Area. However, we decided to upgrade to Marriott and Starwood/Westin (now Vistana). We liked the higher quality of both systems. Marriott offers over 50 resorts in a wide variety of locations. I believe the general view is that Hilton, Disney, Marriott and Vistana offer the highest quality (there are likely others I can't think of).

As I mentioned, keep researching and asking questions. Tigers are very helpful.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[geist1223]

On the New to timeshare sun 4M there is a sticky (in red) at the top that lists a lot of questions to evaluate how you would use a timeshare. This would help guide you and provide information to the 4M Members so they can offer better advice. You should start there.

 

[Marathoner]

I have 8 kids (age 19 down to 2), and a timeshare seems like a good option for my family at this stage it life for a variety of reasons. First, I wanted to know which timeshare companies/groups I should be looking at that would be best for families. Second, approximately what kind of price range I should expect on resale.

Wow, a big family. Personally, I think a timeshare is a good choice for large families as compared to individual hotel rooms. Worldmark and Wyndham are good choices in the resale market because they are a points based system which have 3 and 4 bedrooms available in some of their resorts. You can also make multiple 1 and 2 bedroom reservations, only limited by the number of points that you have. Given that you are probably in the West Coast, a Worldmark membership is probably better because they have more resorts in the West while Wyndham has more resorts in the East. A 20,000 credit Worldmark is about $7000 and can be enough to book two 2BR weeks per year.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I'm guessing that about 5% of the inventory is 3 BR units. So keep that in mind when planning on traveling.

Welk is nice, but their locations are really limited. So, you were wise to rescind.

If you are able to travel during the shoulder season, you are more likely to be able to be able to snag two units.

Good luck.

 

[shellmo1]

I have 8 kids (age 19 down to 2), and a timeshare seems like a good option for my family at this stage it life for a variety of reasons. I recently purchased 540,000 points annually through Welk Resorts for around $58,000, but cancelled the within the 7 day cancellation period after reading articles on this forum. So thanks for that. They offered an addition 15% off when I cancelled (Which would have been approximately 49K), but I wasn't sure if it was still too much. I still think a timeshare would be a good purchase on resale, but want/need to get the best deal for my family. First, I wanted to know which timeshare companies/groups I should be looking at that would be best for families. Second, approximately what kind of price range I should expect on resale. I would like to buy a 4 or 5 star resort, and need enough so that all 10 of us will be able to be together for a week. Need more than just a 2 bedrooms. Probably a 2 bedroom and a 1 bedroom with flexibility on the dates. I stayed at both the Welk Escondido and Cabo San Lucas properties. I liked both, but the purchase price seemed too high.

My opinion is the opposite of some others-- You now need at least a 3 bedroom. Hard to find among exchanges and even within your Welk system. I would take all those thousands of dollars and put them into a vacation savings account. Use VRBO or another similar system and rent what you need each vacation. An entire beach house may cost you $3000+ for a week. That is a lot of vacations for $50,000 plus yearly maintenance fees. Want a full service resort? Again, renting what you need. With that many children, I am assuming you need spring break, Christmas break, summer season. Again, very difficult to find availability in timeshare systems. Everyone wants those times. Your oldest is 19. In another couple years, they may not be living or vacationing with you. In another couple years that may be true for another child. So your needs are going to change. There are also places you may want to go that don't have timeshares. Lots and lots of people rent out their weeks in timeshares too, just keep that in mind. JMHO! Happy Vacationing!