What should I buy?

[TravisW]

I've thought about joining a vacation club for a few years. Last year some good friends invited us to join them for a Disney World Vacation using their DVC membership and we loved it. We likely won't visit Disney more than every 4 or 5 years though so questionable if that is the right option for us. When we travel, we typically prefer a Hilton brand hotel chain. Homewood Suites, Garden Inn, & Doubletree all do a good job of accommodating our family of 6. How big a factor should that be? We have several friends who like the Marriott vacation club who have similar sized families.

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
No. We like variety and seeing new places.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Trade most of the time.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Hawaii, Europe, Florida, Utah, Caribbean / Bahamas

4) How many people do you usually travel with?
Family of 6. 4 kids ages 7 to 15

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Locked into school schedule

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3-4 stars

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$20K - $30K

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
5-10% of the purchase price

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes

 

[GT75]

Let me start off by saying that I am only familiar with HGVC. Hopefully others from MVC and DVC will add their opinions also. One of the best things that I like about staying in a TS is that it isn't a hotel room. I no longer want to stay in a hotel room for more than a few days. I also like that we can bring family and friends along to enjoy our time together.

Looking at the answers to your survey questionnaire, I really think that you should consider both HGVC and MVC. You definitely have enough budget for HGVC. HGVC doesn't have as many resort locations as MVC but their do treat their resale customers with all of the same benefits as direct sales (except that your points don't qualify for elite status which isn't really worth that much anyway). They are basically a point based system so you can book during club season (usually at less than 9-month before check-out) to any resort with availability. Obviously, if you will be competing with school schedule, then summer months at beach location such as HHI or Myrtle Beach book very quickly for example. If you are excepting to go skiing every year during a specific week at Sunrise Lodge at Park City for example, then you should own there in order to get home week booking (12 to 9-months prior). HGVC doesn't have any resorts in the Caribbean, so if this required then you best look at MVC.

I would suggest you thing looking at between 7000-8400 points in HGVC. This would get you a 2-3 bedroom in most places. The rule of thumb cost for HGVC is $1/point for platinum season. But, remember to also look at MF (maintenance fees). We have a Sticky which lists the resorts/units with the best MF/point ratio (https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...018-maintenance-fee-list.263776/#post-2062750). In general, MFs at HGVC are determined by room size and not season/view ect. So a 2-bd premier during platinum season (9600 pts) with have the same MFs as 2-bd (5000 pts) during gold season, for example.

I hope that helps. You can also read the posts in the HGVC forum to try to understand the system. If you do have more questions, please feel free to ask our experts there.

 

[TravisW]

Let me start off by saying that I am only familiar with HGVC. Hopefully others from MVC and DVC will add their opinions also...

Great! Thanks for the insights. I have been reading other posts on the site and am trying to learn as much as I can. Just a lot to take in. Thanks for the recommend on MF/point ratio. Will definitely look at that.

 

[GT75]

I have been reading other posts on the site and am trying to learn as much as I can.

You're welcome. I know, I tried to just give the basics for understanding and to get you started. I am sure that there so many details in each system. So I would recommend trying to learn as much as you can before jumping into any system. For example, with HGVC and I think this is true with all TS, don't think that you will have availability at 2-3 months before your trip like an hotel. So, I didn't really understand that before I started getting into this. I am already planning and booking for 2019. I know when I must book each resort. I also have some tentative plans made for 2020.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

You may also want to consider Vistana (Sheraton/Westin) https://www.vistana.com/. It has locations in all of your destinations (Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, Hawaii) except Utah (but several in Colorado) and is 4 - 5 in quality. You can pick up a mandatory trader at SVV (bella or Key West) Orlando for less than $5k or Westin Kierland Villas (Arizona) for $10 - 15k resale on Ebay or Tug or Redweek. You may be able to trade in II for Utah but not sure.

Make sure whatever you buy is a "mandatory property" so you can trade staroptions. Read the sticky's on the Vistana forums so you understand the difference. You don't want to buy a Vistana property designated as "voluntary" that you cannot trade since this is important for you.

If you are based in the west you might also want to consider, Worldmark. Although I am not an owner, I hear it is quite flexible and has 3 - 4 rating. I am not sure if it has all destinations you desire but check it out. They have very low resale purchase cost and very low maintenance fees.