Am I making a mistake?

[HuskerATL]

On a more expensive side but not overpriced. I paid $3.9K + closing for an identical deed in November 2021.

Yes, there can be cheaper ones out there but this isn't a terrible deal....

 

[HuskerATL]

FYI There is a 3 night minimum for stays using club points, so a couple of days in Vegas would require you to use open season OR book 3 nights with points and check out after the second night and burn the points for the third night. Open season in vegas can be a great choice especially for a fri to sun stay.

Except Hilton Club, for most of them, you can book 1 night with points.

 

[4TimeAway]

Buying direct cost you about 900% more than resale. -edited

Resale is about 80-90% of the developer price. So, you can buy about 9 times the points resale for the same initial cost. MFs are the same, so 9x the points will cost you about 9x the annual carrying costs.

As HuskerATL says, low MF can really make a difference when you have 10-12 weeks of shares. Say 20-50%, so it does add up.

My point is if you have a week or two it could be a couple hundred dollars a year. To some this is meaningful and to others they want the nicer 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom unit with the decent MFs that can be hard to get. You still must play the reserve 12 months out game and walking the reservation games, but the Forum has posts on that.

The biggest frustration for resale to me has been the couple of months for all the paperwork to be completed. It literally feels like the process freezes for weeks at a time with no progress. There does seem to be a reasonable number of protections for the relatively small purchase price.

Advice, go in expecting 3 months, maybe even 4 months, is what I recommend, but checking to be sure everyone has what they need from us.

 

[HuskerATL]

play the reserve 12 months out game and walking the reservation games

unfortunately, you can't walk a HW...so it would be 9 month club reservation walking....hence why owning there doesn't matter (many times but not all the time)

 

[weems637]

If not in a hurry, look for a lower price, possibly at other resorts. We seldom stay at our home resort,

 

[Yzfguy06]

You don't need to own where you want to visit. The only time it matters where you own is either for HW, which most people never use, or bHC lounge/early booking. Because HW is the exact unit type that you bought, the specific check in day, and the specific season, which many people don't always want... They want a different check in day, unit type, season, or property.... So, then where you own doesn't matter because you are using club reservations.

That’s what I did. I own in Italy and Barbados and will probably never go to Italy. I found deals I couldn't pass up. Seems like a fair deal imo.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

For trading, you can't go wrong with one of Vegas FEPS (Flamingo, Elara, Paradise, Strip) 11,200 Platinums. The mf/pt are among the lowest in the system. The purchase price is reasonable. There is strong demand to buy when you decide to exit.

Other properties than FEPS are cheaper for a reason. And much higher risk for exit which IMO is not worth the small difference in savings. They have worse mf/point. You might have to pay someone to exit wiping out any of that savings.

MF/pt is most important because over time, the small difference in purchase price between a FEPS and the lower cost "hot buy" won't matter because it is amortized over 10 to 20 years. You also risk being stuck with an albatross you must pay someone upon exit to take it off your hands. You get what you pay for.

 

[4TimeAway]

In the end, it’s an emotional personal decision and nobody "needs" a timeshare.

Take vacations and travel. If you buy a timeshare, use it.

If you spend an extra $20/day than the person next door or $200/day less, it really doesn’t matter.



PS- If anyone can advise on not sweating that damn $20/day. Should I brew my own coffee?

 

[HuskerATL]

Should I brew my own coffee?

I do...refuse to pay the chain prices....

But, I also buy Craig and have been accused of being a bottom feeder ...

 

[brp]

Should I brew my own coffee?

I do because I like to sit around in the room with it in the morning. Then I'm likely to get a latte/mocha at overinflated prices later anyway

We do make breakfast in rooms that have a kitchen because: a) we like to and b)I'm inherently cheap on some things.

Cheers.

 

[claraj]

PS- If anyone can advise on not sweating that damn $20/day. Should I brew my own coffee?

Yes if you had one of these!

 

[HuskerATL]

We have a similar set up....and order single origin beans roasted just the way I like them from a local company here in GA, https://www.smokinbeans.com/, where you order by bean type and how you like the roast...shipped to my door within a couple days of ordering... The nespresso is for when I am lazy.... BTW, I used to roast mine also, I would order unroasted from them and then roast myself...but I got lazy and now just ask them to do it.

 

[claraj]

I wish there was a company where I could rent an espresso machine for a week and they would deliver and pick up from the resort!!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Whoa! I am not worthy! Hats off to the baristas!

 

[Socallocal]

Your deal is good. I would go for it if you want to own in HGVC. How much are you closing costs?

They are about $2k I believe

 

[HuskerATL]

They are about $2k I believe

make sure that they list out what they covers. In addition to the closing fees, if you are new to HGV, then there is a $199 club fee and a points activation fee for the deed which are billed later.

 

[GT75]

a points activation fee for the deed which are billed later.

that fee is $655.

 

[brp]

And this is our setup. I even got a distributor in addition to the tamper as I saw one in use and really like it.

 

[HuskerATL]

Nice but that countertop looks way too clean...

 

[brp]

Nice but that countertop looks way too clean...

All of the paraphernalia are in the left hand cabinet above. Pretty much all coffee in there. The machine top has the pitchers, tamper and distributor.

Also, mrs. brp is a tea person, so I have to keep things neat out of respect

The espresso machine is about 22 years old, daily use. I recently had to replace the steamer assembly. It was a rotary, but the is a joystick and I kinda like it. Taking apart the machine to pop in the new parts was kinda fun.

Cheers.

 

[Socallocal]

make sure that they list out what they covers. In addition to the closing fees, if you are new to HGV, then there is a $199 club fee and a points activation fee for the deed which are billed later.

Yes thank you! My $2k estimate includes the club fee, activation fee, transfer fee, and misc closing costs relating to escrow.

 

[4TimeAway]

I forget what the post is even about. I have Coffee Machine Envy NOW...

I’m thinking I’d grind price down and buy a FANCY coffee maker.
Coffee & Tea | Sur La Table


On the other hand, you might want to see if you can get a few more points (i.e. 3 bedroom platinum instead of 2) or even lower MF rate. These damn timeshare points turn you into a vacation junkie. In case you haven't found this great list: https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/2024-hilton-grand-vacations-maintenance-fees.356662/post-2975698

 

[HuskerATL]

In case you haven't found this great list

This is a great list but some are very expensive (the large point deeds) so you need to weigh total cost of ownership (purchase price and MF cost over time), others are hard to get via resale since they are SC and they are taken back via ROFR, and a couple are not available at all any more...Coy....

so, far me, I look at total cost with MF/pt being part of it....and what does it cost us per week over a 10/20/30 year period.

 

[4TimeAway]

so, far me, I look at total cost with MF/pt being part of it....and what does it cost us per week over a 10/20/30 year period.

Agreed.

I also find some realtors like Diane Nadeau have access to inventory that might not be fully published and some nicer units. I'm guessing here, but it seems like Hawaii has a lot of Japanese owners that might be ageing out of the travel years and low birthrates mean less demand there. There must be some people who are getting tired of trying for top dollar and just want out. You could ask if she has any that are priced aggressively or fell out of escrow. ROFR is always a fear, so there is a bottom value you want to respect.

Then others like Eric Wyatt have some other trade in inventory must be moved.

 

[HuskerATL]

I think there is turnover so, at any given moment there are some that they have that aren't listed and then at this time of year, many owners are trying to offload before MFs are due