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Maybe this can help a newbie...how I acquired great timeshares

Panina

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I just found another wonderful timeshare that I wish I knew existed. I would have been going for years.

Not only was this timeshare a great place but I was able to acquire it at a very low price, to me almost equivalent to free.


It made me think...I have been timesharing for 33 years since I was 25. Whereas I made the mistake of buying my first timeshare at full retail, I never really regretted it as the rest of my experiences in timesharing has been great.


Many of the units I acquired since I have either gotten for free or a very small cost.


Only 4 I have spent more ....my 3 Old key west weeks, 1 fall and 2 winter weeks and my winter beachfront Marco Island Week. Even with these I have gotten them for way below market price by learning how it all works.

Learn first, then buy, if it’s right for you.


My acquisitions have been from tuggers, eBay, Redweek and the most HOA’s or their owners. HOA’s sometimes get back great weeks and give great prices as they want the maintenance fees to come in.


This recent purchase evolved. I was staying at Banner Elk, NC at The Blue Ridge Village. I have been looking to acquire a spring week. We already own a fall week. We did find a week but the owner was asking $4000, never would this tugger spend that.


So I decided to check out all the reviews for all the timeshares in the area and one kept standing out Chetola. So I looked for the website and came across the sales available from the HOA and from current owners. I was in the area so I went to check it out and now I am in the process of acquiring two consecutive weeks in the same unit, prime season, low low price, low mf, prime resort.


Over the years I have acquired timeshares this way in Longboat Keys, FL, Treasure Island, FL, Myrtle Beach, Marco Island FL, Ashland NH, St. Pete’s Beach,etc.


So my point, if there is an area you love, research it and look for the HOA sales as well as owner sales. Sometimes I found it online but many times it was just calling each resort and asking If the HOA had units for sale.
 

DaveNV

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Great advice. And your point of "if it’s right for you" cannot be overstated. So many times buyers get in a rush, and end up with something less than they expect, leaving them wondering what went wrong. Often times, nothing went wrong - the buyer just bought the wrong thing.

My second purchase was that way. It was a resort on Kauai I knew I'd like to own, but I didn't understand how units were assigned. I bought in a rush, without doing my full due diligence. The price was low, and I jumped on it. After I got the week into my name, and called to make a reservation, I learned I had bought the lesser of the units available, and the better units I wanted to stay in weren't available to me. I turned around (without ever staying there), sold the unit to a coworker at a break-even price, and I bought the unit type I really wanted. I owned there for over ten years, and enjoyed many stays in the prime unit I'd purchased. Education is so important!

Dave
 

bogey21

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So my point, if there is an area you love, research it and look for the HOA sales as well as owner sales....

I agree with this with a twist. Do it in person at the Resort. Talk to the Manager. Chances are he/she will not only have HOA Owned Weeks but also Owner Weeks for sale. In both cases a low offer will almost always be accepted. Another benefit of doing it in person is that you actually get to look at the Unit if it is a Fixed Week/Fixed Unit.

George
 

Liz M

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As a timeshare newbie, I appreciate all the insight! In terms of going to the manager or asking the resort directly for an HOA owned week, does this only work with resorts that are not affiliated with the main chains such as Hyatt, Westin, Wyndham, Marriott, etc?

Which websites show HOA owned weeks?

Thanks!
 

Panina

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As a timeshare newbie, I appreciate all the insight! In terms of going to the manager or asking the resort directly for an HOA owned week, does this only work with resorts that are not affiliated with the main chains such as Hyatt, Westin, Wyndham, Marriott, etc?

Which websites show HOA owned weeks?

Thanks!
This works with independent run HOAs. To see if a resort has a list of units for sale you would have to go to each individual resorts website. Not all resorts put it on their website so calling then would be needed.

With some Hgvc affiliates, calling will get you a list of hoa weeks. Whereas they are priced better then regular resale the best bargains are with independent hoa resorts.
 

silentg

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By the same logic, will these resorts take back timeshare to resell? Is that where the HOA listings are from? Or are they abandoned weeks by owners?
Just curios, as I have a timeshare that I want to give back, because I cannot give it away!
Thanks!
Silentg
 

Panina

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By the same logic, will these resorts take back timeshare to resell? Is that where the HOA listings are from? Or are they abandoned weeks by owners?
Just curios, as I have a timeshare that I want to give back, because I cannot give it away!
Thanks!
Silentg
I really don’t know but my guess is foreclosures. I own at one resort that decides on an individual basis. If illness occurs they have taken them back. Many of my timeshares have in house listings sheets that they give to guests that trade in which moves them with no fees.
 

TravelTime

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I bought 2 HOA owned weeks from the Four Seasons Aviara authorized agent. I paid $2000 per week for two odd years. I wanted 2 weeks because it is a hard resort to book for prime weeks and 2 weeks gives owners the 13 month booking window (vs 12 months for single week owners). We paid $2000 per week because we decided to opt for the ability to convert to Four Seasons hotel specials, in case we can't use the weeks. However, if we would have passed on that benefit, each week would have only cost $1500. I have been looking at the Four Seasons Aviara inventory and there are very few EOY weeks and they are selling for more now. I think we were lucky to get 2 EOY odd weeks. The MFs are high but, given the quality, location and the Four Seasons owner benefits such as entering the lottery to stay in the even more upscale fractionals in Punta Mita and Costa Rica, I do not mind paying the MFs. The 2 bedrooms have 2.5 bathrooms and are about 1600 sf. The interiors look gorgeous. I can wait to visit next year. Also, the other reason we bought FSA is we can deposit one week into Elite Alliance and get 3-4 bedroom luxury units and houses for our MF as well as book Getaways with EA for reasonable prices.
 

Liz M

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I bought 2 HOA owned weeks from the Four Seasons Aviara authorized agent. I paid $2000 per week for two odd years. I wanted 2 weeks because it is a hard resort to book for prime weeks and 2 weeks gives owners the 13 month booking window (vs 12 months for single week owners). We paid $2000 per week because we decided to opt for the ability to convert to Four Seasons hotel specials, in case we can't use the weeks. However, if we would have passed on that benefit, each week would have only cost $1500. I have been looking at the Four Seasons Aviara inventory and there are very few EOY weeks and they are selling for more now. I think we were lucky to get 2 EOY odd weeks. The MFs are high but, given the quality, location and the Four Seasons owner benefits such as entering the lottery to stay in the even more upscale fractionals in Punta Mita and Costa Rica, I do not mind paying the MFs. The 2 bedrooms have 2.5 bathrooms and are about 1600 sf. The interiors look gorgeous. I can wait to visit next year. Also, the other reason we bought FSA is we can deposit one week into Elite Alliance and get 3-4 b
droom luxury units and houses for our MF as well as book Getaways with EA for reasonable prices.

Out of curiosity, how much are the MFs at Four Seasons? Do you have the contact info of the authorized agent or is there a way to look it up?
 

JudiZ

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Panina, I pretty much adore you in the most positive way as a timeshare owner. Your kindness and generosity are an example to many. Your pragmatism and wisdom without judgement impresses me over and over again! Thank you for once again, guiding the conversation to the positive. Thank you!
JudiZ
 

Panina

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Panina, I pretty much adore you in the most positive way as a timeshare owner. Your kindness and generosity are an example to many. Your pragmatism and wisdom without judgement impresses me over and over again! Thank you for once again, guiding the conversation to the positive. Thank you!
JudiZ

JudiZ, wow, what kind words.

Tuggers, including you, are a combination of kind and generous people. I feel lucky to have this close community of support. I only wish I could have a party so I could meet everyone personally.

I always think an act of kindness can affect someone in a positive way that you could never imagine. That is what you just did for me. Thank you. :)
 

missyrcrews

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JudiZ, wow, what kind words.

Tuggers, including you, are a combination of kind and generous people. I feel lucky to have this close community of support. I only wish I could have a party so I could meet everyone personally.

I always think an act of kindness can affect someone in a positive way that you could never imagine. That is what you just did for me. Thank you. :)

What a party that would be, wouldn't it?? ;) We'd have a blast!

I second the idea of going straight to the independently owned resort. Ours keeps a list of resort-owned weeks. While not free, there are many that are fairly inexpensive. I even won a free week at a wine/cheese social at our home resort several years ago. Had the option to say no, of course! It isn't "prime," but it is a time we would go once we're retired. For now it trades pretty well, so we've been happy. I've used it to trade for early summer weeks here in New England. Patience is key...no need to rush. That's where the mistakes happen!
 

TravelTime

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Out of curiosity, how much are the MFs at Four Seasons? Do you have the contact info of the authorized agent or is there a way to look it up?

The MFs are about $2600 per week. I have two EOY odd weeks so I pay $2600 per year for both weeks. I bought two EOY gold weeks because it has a longer season, including Christmas and New Years as well as Memorial Day. Betty told me buying the summer season is very hard to book, even with the 13 month booking window so we decided to go with Gold season. She is right because we are receiving emails for FSA about the competition for summer week bookings. My agent was Betty at Tri-West http://www.triwest-timeshare.com. She is very knowledgeable and helpful!
 

TravelTime

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Panina, I pretty much adore you in the most positive way as a timeshare owner. Your kindness and generosity are an example to many. Your pragmatism and wisdom without judgement impresses me over and over again! Thank you for once again, guiding the conversation to the positive. Thank you!
JudiZ

I agree, Panina, you appear to be a very kind and positive person. A role model for how to interact in TUG.
 
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