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Anybody own at Samoset?

missyrcrews

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In the exploratory/maybe stage...found a week 43 (gets 30 TPUs when deposited with RCI) that has low mf's. Anything I should know that would keep you from buying here again? This would be a trader only for now. I live 50 miles from there...so might use it someday when I'm not still in the school system. Thanks for your wisdom!
 

wackymother

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I don't own there and I've never stayed there. But when you're getting a resale...I feel like it's best to get the highest of high season. Better trading, easier to resell down the road, same maintenance. What is high season there?
 

theo

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In the exploratory/maybe stage...found a week 43 (gets 30 TPUs when deposited with RCI) that has low mf's. Anything I should know that would keep you from buying here again? This would be a trader only for now. I live 50 miles from there...so might use it someday when I'm not still in the school system. Thanks for your wisdom!

A few observations as a Samoset owner / user follow. Some may be less relevant than others for right now if you are only intending to "trade" instead of "use", but offered fwiw anyhow, for when your future schedule flexibility changes and you then perhaps consider shifting from "trading" to "using".

1. All weeks in Buildings I and II are "Friday to Friday". All weeks in Building III are "Saturday to Saturday". No exceptions. 1BR units are relatively small, but just fine for 2 people (like us). If the exchange companies assert that 1BR units at Samoset "sleep 4", just know in advance that (IMnsHO) it would certainly be quite cramped for 4 adults in the smaller 1BR units with the sofa bed taking up much of the living room area when opened up.

2. These are all wooden buildings, in which noise transmits quite well (...too well). Top floor units are much more quiet, not being subject to the transmitted noise of track meets, stampedes, furniture rearrangement. etc. directly above you --- sometimes sounding like the "event" might be ready to come right through the ceiling from the floor above.

3. There are 3 floors in each building, no elevators (I have never been in Building III, but have no reason to believe that it's much if any different from the other two). Entry to each building from the parking lot accesses the middle floor (for which no stairs are required). The bottom floor is actually below "street" level. I don't exchange, but I hope that the exchange companies make known to exchangers that for people with mobility issues, there is no alternative to using the stairs to access the top and / or bottom floor.

4. I would buy at Samoset again, if the week and price were both "right". In fact, I always keep an eye peeled for an additional week (looking only for the week immediately preceding our one remaining unit / week, within the same building and still on the top floor). Have not actually seen one available fitting that bill during at least the past decade or longer. The whole place is well managed and well maintained, with spectacular ocean views from most units (oceanview, not oceanfront (there are golf course fairways and greens between the timeshare buildings and the coast shoreline). Like all of us, the buildings are not getting any younger but everything seems to be reasonably well maintained. Maintenance fees are low (real estate taxes are billed separately by the town of Rockport) and I do not recall having ever received a surprise "special assessment" -- and not much can beat so easily watching the sun rise up out of the Atlantic Ocean in the morning right from your unit (weather permitting, of course).

5. Kitchens are small, but entirely serviceable. There is a dishwasher beneath the stovetop (i.e., there is no oven compartment). I'm told that this arrangement somehow translates into Samoset units being regarded as having only a "partial kitchen" in the eyes of the exchange companies (which frankly baffles me). However, if you already know (and are satisfied with) RCI's TPU allocation for the week that you're looking at, then maybe that particular alleged "shortcoming" is of no real concern to you.

6. Week 43 is late October. Being a Mainer, you already know that fall foliage is pretty much "done" by then. The schooner trips in Camden and Rockport are also "done" for the season by then, as they either prepare to "winterize" or sail southward to warmer climes. However, Rockland and Rockport and Camden are really not "tourist towns" anyhow, so most everything else stays alive and well and open and fully functional then, with the exception of a few ice cream shops here and there.

Don't know that any of this actually qualifies as "wisdom", but it's at least based upon a fair number of years of direct, first hand observation. I hope that some of it helps you.
Good luck if you decide to "pull the trigger" on the Samoset week that you are contemplating!
 
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theo

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I don't own there and I've never stayed there. But when you're getting a resale...I feel like it's best to get the highest of high season. Better trading, easier to resell down the road, same maintenance. What is high season there?

Sound advice, but much more easily said than done at Samoset, where the "highest of high season" weeks are rarely seen offered for sale --- and no bargain when available. Such weeks can easily be rented out by their owners for 3X the maintenance fee amount, so are seldom found offered for resale or as having been "deposited for exchange".

In mid-coast Maine where Samoset Resort is located, "high season" would be summer; approximately late June, all of July and August (the peak) and into early September.
 
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missyrcrews

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@wackymother --High season there is summer. It's expensive to buy in, if one can even find a week, and those weeks get more TPU than I really need. (I have other weeks.) The resort works with the owners to sell them...I found this week on a list put out by the resort, but the owner set the price. (The week is going to end up being less than $500, including closing costs.) All good points.

@theo --I thought I remembered you owning here. I've stayed there quite a bit...we spent Christmas break and April break last year. Christmas again this coming year. Feb break for 2023. I know about the noise, lack of elevators, etc. All okay with me, especially since I'm not looking to use the unit. I'm only 52. Will be awhile before I can see my way clear to retire. :) However, if I ever DID use it...late October is PERFECT. All the tourists are gone. The quiet descends. I am not one who needs to eat out, do things, etc. I can be perfectly content with a donut from Willow Bake Shoppe in the morning, a nice ride up to Belfast, etc. etc. Do you happen to know how much property taxes are? This is a small 1 BR unit...not one of the deluxes. I have an email in to the resort to ask.

I tend to use the weeks I already own..only one of them is one that I trade. Just looking to add something to trade so that if I end up having to trade to get the Holiday Inn resort out in Missouri (rather than getting in through an extra vacation) I'm all set without having to trade in a unit that I enjoy using. Or if we want to take a "bigger" trip like our Myrtle Beach trip this summer, I'll have tpus to use for such an endeavor.

Thanks!
 

theo

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Do you happen to know how much property taxes are? This is a small 1 BR unit...not one of the deluxes. I have an email in to the resort to ask.

Our most recent (September , 2021) tax bill from the Town of Rockport for a smaller (not "deluxe") 1BR unit in Building I was $51.15 for a full year. It has not been more than a very few dollars different from that amount at any time in the past 10--15 years.

I recall someone telling me once that property taxes are slightly higher for units in Building II (and then slightly higher still in Building III) for comparably sized units, supposedly because the 3 timeshare separate buildings were built in phases, at different times, with the later construction having slightly higher taxes. If that claim is accurate, I doubt that differences in tax amount are truly significant, but I can only specifically address the tax amount for smaller, non-"deluxe" 1BR units in Building 1, where we have owned for years.
 
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missyrcrews

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@theo I went to the town of Rockport's tax bill site, and found the tax bills for the current owners. It was around $25 the past two years.

I went ahead and started the sale this morning. I'll get 30 TPUs for a combined maintenance fee/tax bill of a little less than $500. Even if the TPUs fluctuate downward a bit, I'm okay with that. It's a place I can eventually use if I want to. They seem to work with owners to get rid of their units. Buy in was less than $500, including closing costs. Are there better deals out there? Probably. But this is one that checks enough of the boxes that I'm happy. Sent things in, and now I'll wait for their lawyer to get the paperwork together to complete the sale.

Once again, SO happy that this group is here. <3
 

theo

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@theo I went to the town of Rockport's tax bill site, and found the tax bills for the current owners. It was around $25 the past two years.

I think if you look a bit more closely, you may actually discover that $25 is actually a half-year amount. Rockport sends out property tax bills once annually, in early fall, with the option to split the amount into two separate payments. For the small amount of money involved, I just write one check each year; it was $51.15 for 2021. Trust me on this being accurate; I've been writing those annual property tax checks to the town of Rockport for a whole lot of years in a row now. ;)

Personally, I think that you're getting a great deal for a decent week, with RCI TPU's to use now and for your personal use and enjoyment later. Another benefit to Samoset ownership is access to the hotel's attached health club when staying there as a timeshare owner (or exchanger), at no additional cost, even though the health club really has nothing whatsoever to do with the timeshare buildings and / or the timeshare operations. Indoor pool, saunas, hot tub and a lot of great, modern exercise equipment.

Enjoy!
 
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missyrcrews

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@theo Interesting. It does have the option to split payments, but each 1/2 is $12 and change, adding up to the $25 or so. No matter. As you say, it's a decent deal. Makes me happy, and that's the important thing. Yes, Audrey (my track kid) LOVES the fitness area there. We've been to a lot of timeshare places over the years, and this is her very favorite gym. :)
 
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