A wise purchase??

[jppatt01]

hi! Looking for some help from those of you with experience.. here is our situation: we are a family of ten, 8 kids from 2 to 15 yrs old. My husband is a pastor, we homeschool, so our vacation dates are flexible. We have not been able to travel a lot with the kids, mainly bc our only option is condos, and we can’t afford VRBO most places. A friend gifted us a week to orange lake, we’re here now, just purchased today, trying to decide if it was wise or if we should rescind.
We did not purchase at orange lake, we told them honestly none of it was feasible for us. Long story short, after about ten different offers, they offered us another owner’s resale.
We bought a week every other year at HICV holiday hills in Branson. 60,000 points every other year. Maintenance fees $203/yr. cost: $5300. I know 60,000 points (or technically 30,000 a year) gets us next to nothing (1 week if we book normally, maybe 3 if we book last minute). I expect that. However, what makes sense to me is the owner access to last call weeks (cash weeks) and 18k point weeks. Basically, weeks that are unbooked, and being willing to wait until last minute. It’s how we’ve always had to travel, and I don’t mind that a bit. I don’t mind not knowing where we go until a week or so before. We just like to have a comfortable place we can explore and a place big enough for the whole family to stay legally.
The price to me didn’t seem too high - was it? We can sell our camper and pay it off. Maintenance fees seemed low, if we include the club fee, our yearly cost is $329. Each vacation, if we are flexible, should be under $200 or so. Am I right in all of this? I’m thinking if we ever actually want more points we could purchase from here or a similar place. Please give me your advice! We don’t have money in our budget to waste, but we also desperately want to enjoy vacation time with our precious family who will be grown far too quickly!

 

[jackio]

I own HICV points, and 60,000 will not be enough to get you a week in a unit big enough to sleep 10. Did they give you a points chart? The last call and discounted point weeks can work for you but there may not be many large enough to accommodate your group. You may find them in Orlando or Williamsburg.
You might be better off buying a triennial week for $1 off EBay or the marketplace here. The maintenance fees will be low per year and it will give you acccess to the extra vacations and sale weeks at discounted TPU cost.
Unless you are set on HICV, I would rescind and take the time to look around. HICV points do not transfer as points at most of their resorts when purchased resale not from the developer.

 

[jppatt01]

I own HICV points, and 60,000 will not be enough to get you a week in a unit big enough to sleep 10. Did they give you a points chart? The last call and discounted point weeks can work for you but there may not be many large enough to accommodate your group. You may find them in Orlando or Williamsburg.
You might be better off buying a triennial week for $1 off EBay or the marketplace here. The maintenance fees will be low per year and it will give you acccess to the extra vacations and sale weeks at discounted TPU cost.
Unless you are set on HICV, I would rescind and take the time to look around. HICV points do not transfer as points at most of their resorts when purchased resale not from the developer.

Thank you for responding! Please excuse my ignorance, but I have a question.. what is the easiest way to get owner access to those last call/extra vacation cash option weeks? When you said that purchasing resale would not allow us to exchange our week for points, does that just mean that if we rescinded now and bought resale that we would still be “owners” and have an account that has access, but any points that came along with the triennial would be useless unless we actually took that one week every three years? So basically, every vacation we take would have to be a cash option? I wish I could get online and look at some of the availability for those last call weeks to get an idea what we’d be looking at!

 

[jwalk03]

Last Calls are whatever is left over that no one else wanted to book. So think ski resorts during mud season, beach resorts when its typically colder. You will also find some availability in places that just have an abundance of time shares- Branson, Williamsburg, Orlando, etc. There is certainly some usefulness to last calls if you truly are flexible and don't expect to be staying at the most desirable resorts and seasons. I would also add that the majority of availability in last calls is 2 bedrooms or less (lots of 1 BR & Studios), so you may need more than 1 room at the same resort for most vacations to sleep 10 people.

 

[Passepartout]

DO NOT BUY FROM ANY DEVELOPER! (rescind NOW if you did!) Timeshares are available free- or for $1. You will find it difficult to find accommodations for 10 in any single TS unit. I'd suggest that using your camper will continue to be the most cost-effective way for your family to recreate. Perhaps as time goes on and some of those kids move on and your family income increases, timeshares may become more cost effective for you.

Jim

 

[jwalk03]

I should have included that advise too. You should absolutely rescind! You can acquire timeshares for pennies on the dollar resale. There is no reason to pay the over inflated developer prices. You should rescind while you still can and if you are still interested in time sharing continue to learn the truth (not the lies you were likely told in a presentation) about the various systems and learn what would work for you and what wouldn't before making any resale purchase.

 

[ronparise]

Last calls is an RCI program and the easiest way (read cheapest) is to buy a week at an RCI affiliated resort on eBay

The one thing to be aware of (at least check it out) is that many of the weeks you see in last call are one bedrooms and studios, so for your family you will need more than one. But even three will be under $1000 and probably cheaper than vrbo

One I’m familiar with is Vacation Village at Parkway. They have a triennial 2 bedroom kickoff and the mf every 3 years is under $800.with an RCI membership you have access to last calls. Use the as it is for your deeded week every 3 years (sleeps 8) or deposit it to RCI as 2 one bedrooms and get 40 TPU. I did that and traded back into the same resort. There always seemed to be one bedrooms available at the last minute at 5 TPU. Again you would need two of them so 10 TPU and two exchange fees but you get a discount on exchange fees if you use your vacation village week to trade back into another vacation village unit

Any how that’s one idea to get access to RCI last calls. I’ve even heard of folks that buy something, join RCI and then sell what they bought. Don’t tell RCI and you will maintain your membership and have access to last calls without any maintenance fees

 

[wackymother]

Rescind today! Honestly, there are only a few resorts that even have the 3br units that you will need for your whole family. Research what you really need and want, and then ask for help here on finding it. I do think timeshares can work for you--just not the one you have bought. There are amazing resales (and freebies) all the time!

 

[bogey21]

Rescind today!

I'm not sure OP can rescind. They bought another owner's resale. It is possible that rescission rules don't apply.

George

 

[echino]

First, rescind now.

If you want access to extra cash inventory at RCI or II, buy the cheapest timeshare you can find - look at eBay. Or, look at SFX, you don't even have to own a timeshare to get access to their escape weeks, but their inventory is very limited:

https://www.sfxresorts.com/resort-escapes/

 

[tschwa2]

My recommendation is to rescind ASAP as well. Because you are flexible and not tied to the school schedule RCI last calls might work for you but expect to pay $350 or so for each. The areas you can expect availability for 3+ bedrooms are going to be Orlando, Williamsburg, Branson most of the year and other places on the more off season or low shoulder season. You can gain access to RCI for a lot less than $5000 upfront but will still have MF's and RCI fees.

What area of the country do you live in?

 

[wackymother]

I'm not sure OP can rescind. They bought another owner's resale. It is possible that rescission rules don't apply.

George

They bought it from the developer. I am pretty confident they can rescind. They should certainly give it a try.

 

[theo]

OP should rescind immediately. Five calendar days to cancel if contract was signed in MO, 10 days if contract was signed in FL --- but do it ASAP!

Rescission period aside, it seems to me that the real obstacle for a large family is adequate timeshare unit size and occupancy limits.
Neither constraint should be casually overlooked or ignored, even if a timeshare acquisition is offered for free.

 

[tschwa2]

The contract will say the days you have. If you bought in Orange Lake Orlando, even if you bought a property deeded in Branson, you will have 10 days but I wouldn't wait.

 

[geist1223]

Also many timeshares enforce their rule concerning the number of guests by room size - Studio 2 people; and assuming a Sofa Bed or Murphy Bed in the Living room - 1 bedroom 4 people, 2 bedroom 6 people, and 3 bedroom 8 people.

 

[wackymother]

There are 3br units that will accommodate 10 people. We own at King's Creek in Williamsburg, and the Cottages there are 1br/2br lockoffs that accommodate 10 people. (And resales are easy to get and inexpensive. OP, PM me for more info on this!)

Villas at Fairway in the Poconos also has 3br units that will accommodate 10 or 12. Powhatan in Williamsburg has 3brs and 4brs that will accommodate a large number. We can start a separate thread for this if OP would like.

 

[WinniWoman]

Smuggs 3 bedrooms sleep 10 with the pullout couch.

 

[5finny]

Rescind !!!
Afterwords make a plan when you have time to think it through.
Too many kids to be making the mistake you are about to make