10k dollars for 10k points?

[Murderfacealice]

I have used my friends timeshare many times and am really happy with Worldmark. We would likely use it once a year and gift out any excess points to family. My friend has too many points and wants to sell off 10k points to me for 10k cash and roughly 1k per year in upkeep fees. Is that a good deal? Is 10k enough? Should I get more points to unlock the next tier of membership benefits? Is it cheaper to just pay cash? I see the rooms for sale online at the resort I stay at going cheaper than the cost in points sometimes. Any advice? And if it's not a good deal, how do I tell my friend?

Will this "investment" have the same rental power in 20 years? In the long run, will it "pay for itself" considering I currently spend about 500-800 a year on lodging but stay in crappy cheap places or use her timeshare for basically free? The cost of hotels have gone way way up, but 10k upfront is a lot, thats 10 years of vacations basically...

What would you do?

 

[jp10558]

I have used my friends timeshare many times and am really happy with Worldmark. We would likely use it once a year and gift out any excess points to family. My friend has too many points and wants to sell off 10k points to me for 10k cash and roughly 1k per year in upkeep fees. Is that a good deal? Is 10k enough? Should I get more points to unlock the next tier of membership benefits? Is it cheaper to just pay cash? I see the rooms for sale online at the resort I stay at going cheaper than the cost in points sometimes. Any advice? And if it's not a good deal, how do I tell my friend?

Will this "investment" have the same rental power in 20 years? In the long run, will it "pay for itself" considering I currently spend about 500-800 a year on lodging but stay in crappy cheap places or use her timeshare for basically free? The cost of hotels have gone way way up, but 10k upfront is a lot, thats 10 years of vacations basically...

What would you do?

If I were you, I'd get on ebay and see how much 10k points in Worldmark would cost you. They're buy it now for $999 and bidding is under that. The upkeep fees are the same for all Worldmark though - but I'd say tell your friend you'll give her $1,000 if you want to be nice. Spending 10x that doesn't make sense.

The MFs (upkeep fees) go up most years, so it won't be a fixed amount, but you know the value from the TSs and seem to like them. You may want to still consider rentals - if they're regularly less than the MFs for points where you want to go - you should just rent.

 

[sue1947]

I have used my friends timeshare many times and am really happy with Worldmark. We would likely use it once a year and gift out any excess points to family. My friend has too many points and wants to sell off 10k points to me for 10k cash and roughly 1k per year in upkeep fees. Is that a good deal? Is 10k enough? Should I get more points to unlock the next tier of membership benefits? Is it cheaper to just pay cash? I see the rooms for sale online at the resort I stay at going cheaper than the cost in points sometimes. Any advice? And if it's not a good deal, how do I tell my friend?

Will this "investment" have the same rental power in 20 years? In the long run, will it "pay for itself" considering I currently spend about 500-800 a year on lodging but stay in crappy cheap places or use her timeshare for basically free? The cost of hotels have gone way way up, but 10k upfront is a lot, thats 10 years of vacations basically...

What would you do?

Just tell your friend no. That's a complete sentence. If more is needed, simply show them listings for WM accounts (WM accounts for sale). Notice that the first one listed costs $5000 for 36,000 credits and comes with another 72000 available to use. That account is worth maybe $1000 + 0.07/credit for any available credits +- depending on expiration date. They probably paid a lot more and have an unrealistic idea of how much it is worth. Frequently, the friendship is worth more than the argument.
It can be a good deal. You get a lot more space + kitchen+ laundry for less money than a typical motel room. The key is to know how to use it. Book far enough in advance, work the waitlist etc. However, if the resort you want is available for less than maintenance fees, then why would you buy and obligate yourself to those fees every year.
If you do buy, buy small. You can use the cash options or rent in credits from other owners while you figure out what you will use.
But a big NO to this offer.

 

[dioxide45]

the friendship is worth more than the argument.

For this reason, I would just say no without any further explanation. Showing them all that stuff might cause more issues than necessary.

 

[kozykritter]

Should I get more points to unlock the next tier of membership benefits?

As a resale buyer, you won't retain any of your friend's membership benefits as far as elite ownership or tiers. What you get as a resale owner is 10,000 credits to use within the WorldMark system each year plus one guest certificate and one housekeeping credit. You can't use your resale ownership to access Wyndham properties directly. If you want to have all of the benefits of ownership like these and other things, you have to buy directly from WorldMark/Wyndham and pay probably $30,000 for those credits.

 

[Hobokie]

Agree with others that this is a terrible deal (from a financial perspective). That being said, if you want to be a Worldmark owner and already have experience with the system I would suggest you buy a 6000 or 7000 credit ownership to keep your MF low. I personally own a 6000 membership and this is more than enough for me as booking with cash options (Inventory Specials, Monday Madness, even FAX Time) is widely available for my travel needs and is cheaper than using credits.

 

[TUGBrian]

holy smokes...i sure hope that friend is just ignorant of the resale market or he might not be a very good friend at all!

 

[easyrider]

I have used my friends timeshare many times and am really happy with Worldmark. We would likely use it once a year and gift out any excess points to family. My friend has too many points and wants to sell off 10k points to me for 10k cash and roughly 1k per year in upkeep fees. Is that a good deal? Is 10k enough? Should I get more points to unlock the next tier of membership benefits? Is it cheaper to just pay cash? I see the rooms for sale online at the resort I stay at going cheaper than the cost in points sometimes. Any advice? And if it's not a good deal, how do I tell my friend?

Will this "investment" have the same rental power in 20 years? In the long run, will it "pay for itself" considering I currently spend about 500-800 a year on lodging but stay in crappy cheap places or use her timeshare for basically free? The cost of hotels have gone way way up, but 10k upfront is a lot, thats 10 years of vacations basically...

What would you do?

I'd look at ebay and buy it there.

Bill

 

[CO skier]

holy smokes...i sure hope that friend is just ignorant of the resale market or he might not be a very good friend at all!

I vaguely remember reading on TUG that less than 10% of owners in Club Wyndham or WorldMark (I do not remember which) are resale owners. Odds (9-1) strongly favor that the friend is offering the 10k credits at less than half the price they paid from the developer and think it is a favor.

 

[geist1223]

Worldmark Accounts are going for 10 cents to 15 cents per Credit on the Resell Market. Checkout www.wmowners.com/forum. Resell Owners have full access to all 90+ Resorts, 4 Waitlists, Monday Madness, Bonus Time, and Inventory Specials.