We are considering buying a fixed number of weeks (10) at a Canadian resort. We are weighing the pros and cons of doing this and would like to know if anyone else has ever done this. If so, is it something you would do again or have you found it to be not as good as you thought?
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Buying a fixed number of weeks
- Thread starter dmiller1
- Start date
Bill4728
Moderator
For most ski resorts, week 10 is one of the very best weeks therefore highly valued. BUT the real question is "Do you want a week 10 at a ski resort?" ?
Your question sounds like you want to buy more than one??
Your question sounds like you want to buy more than one??
caribbeansun
TUG Member
What are your objectives from such a purchase?
Own to use? Own to rent? Own to retire? Some combination of the aforementioned?
Own to use? Own to rent? Own to retire? Some combination of the aforementioned?
We did that, but only for 6 weeks, as a winter retirement home; fixed weeks and unit. Staying only one or two weeks or moving every week or two wouldn't suite us so we'd do it again. In the mean time they need to rent okay, which they do. We won't retire for 10 years.
JMAESD84
TUG Member
I'm acquiring just such a multiweek holding in Florida as a winter vacation home for retirement, which is still many years away.
I believe it to be an excellent alternative to whole year ownership.
Currently I rent and exchange the units.
I believe it to be an excellent alternative to whole year ownership.
Currently I rent and exchange the units.
South Florida Beaches and my winter timeahare collection. I have mine scattered over 3 different resorts ... 7 weeks ... I love clean sheets, fresh towels, and NO cleaning in my winter condos.
Will rent some out til I figure out how to be retired.:whoopie:
Will rent some out til I figure out how to be retired.:whoopie:
cali girl
TUG Member
I think it's a great idea. That way you don't have to buy a second condo or home and keep it up all year. This way you get the time you want in a nice timeshare.
ctyatty
TUG Member
Putting together consecutive weeks resale is hard but can be done. I have a similiar project going, been buying anything priced right in the correct weeks and then contacting people about trades. Maybe in 10 years I will have it put together the way I want.
The MF annual cost of a 10 week TS makes the year round expense of a vacation home look really expensive.
The MF annual cost of a 10 week TS makes the year round expense of a vacation home look really expensive.
Jennie
TUG Member
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We have gradually acquired 3 fixed/deeded February weeks in the same resort in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Two weeks are in the same unit and the third is in the unit right across the hall, less than 10 feet away. We are able to remain in our unit until the second one is cleaned. The change-over takes about 5 minutes. If the owner is not going to be using our unit during the following week (e.g. has deposited with RCI or II), we are usually able to stay put for all three weeks. The Resort Manager will just place the "inbound exchanger" elsewhere.
In addition, we have purchased RCI Points packages which derive from fixed/deeded February weeks at this same resort--weeks that were converted to RCI Points by previous owners. We can (and do!) notify RCI 13 months in advance that we will be using the underlying unit ourselves next year instead of receiving the Points.
We are therefore able to spend 5-6 weeks back-to-back at our home resort, The units are all two bedroom, two bath lock-offs. Depending upon how many of our family members or friends wish to vacation there for all or part of the time, we have often times rented out the lock-off units and the rental monies come close to covering the maintenance fees for the entire 2/2 unit.
The resort also has an active rental program and can rent whatever we decide not to use. However, they charge a hefty commission so we only used this option once for a very last minute cancellation.
The resort exchanges through RCI and I.I.. And, as mentioned previously, we can obtain weeks or extra nights through RCI Points. The weeks rent well too so if we would like to do something different in a given year, we have many great options.
We are early-young retirees. For years we had planned to buy a condo in Florida as a "winter home" after we retired. (We live in New York and like to avoid the harsh winters). Many of our relatives, friends, and former co-workers bought condos or homes, and most now regret it. The real estate taxes, homeowner association fees, maintenance, and insurance keeps going up and up. If they come down for 3-6 months, they worry about what may happen when they are not there.
One friend has to keep a dehumidifier running at all times, which adds to her already steep electric bill. She was paying a maintenance employee of the condo (on the side, off the books) to check periodically that the dehumidifier was working properly during her 6 month absence. One year, the worker quit and didn't tell anyone about the commitments he had made to do these "side jobs." My friend and several of her neighbors arrived next winter and found the dehumidifiers had been unplugged and there was extensive green slime covering the walls and ceilings. The errant maintenance guy has never been found. It cost my friend big bucks to have the mold and mildew removed and to re-paint the condo.
I'm so glad we figured out that buying the right timeshare weeks could accomplish our snowbird escape plan, at a fraction of the cost of traditional ownership.
Added benefits include our resort's nice pool, sun deck, exercise room, interesting planned activities, free wi-fi, and it's location just a block from the fabulous Ft. Lauderdale beach and Birch State Park. There are great restaurants nearby and the upscale Galleria Mall is a few blocks away, as is the water taxi stop to downtown. The hi-rise building two blocks away has condos selling in the million dollar (an up) range. We enjoy the same neighborhood, etc... for 4-6 weeks a year (including free housekeeping services) for $850. a week (maintenance and real estate taxes). And, as noted previously, we could actually enjoy all this for $0. per week if we rented out the lock-off unit. With the RCI Points we can actually reserve smaller units and thus stay for more weeks at the same low price.
We also enjoy the eclectic mix of owners and exchangers. It's nice to sit at the pool and meet people from all over the world, as well as to see to the familiar faces of employees and owners met in prior years.
It cost us less than $10,000. total to acquire the weeks and Points resale over a 5 year period. Our first two weeks in the same unit cost $2,500. per week. And then we had to pay $1100. per week Special Assessment. We knew that was coming, going in. The resort did a fabulous job upgrading the building and each unit. It was money well-spent. The RCI Points packages were bought through Ebay for well under $1,000. each (including all closing costs). They even came to us with extra unused points from the previous owners, which yielded extra weeks of vacations for us.
We feel confident that we could sell all of our weeks for what we paid (or more) if the time comes that we are unable to take these winter vacations.
So, my advice is to do a lot of homework. If you can find a well managed resort that you would like to return to year after year, owning multiple weeks at that resort could be a huge bargain as opposed to purchasing a full time condo or home in the area.
In addition, we have purchased RCI Points packages which derive from fixed/deeded February weeks at this same resort--weeks that were converted to RCI Points by previous owners. We can (and do!) notify RCI 13 months in advance that we will be using the underlying unit ourselves next year instead of receiving the Points.
We are therefore able to spend 5-6 weeks back-to-back at our home resort, The units are all two bedroom, two bath lock-offs. Depending upon how many of our family members or friends wish to vacation there for all or part of the time, we have often times rented out the lock-off units and the rental monies come close to covering the maintenance fees for the entire 2/2 unit.
The resort also has an active rental program and can rent whatever we decide not to use. However, they charge a hefty commission so we only used this option once for a very last minute cancellation.
The resort exchanges through RCI and I.I.. And, as mentioned previously, we can obtain weeks or extra nights through RCI Points. The weeks rent well too so if we would like to do something different in a given year, we have many great options.
We are early-young retirees. For years we had planned to buy a condo in Florida as a "winter home" after we retired. (We live in New York and like to avoid the harsh winters). Many of our relatives, friends, and former co-workers bought condos or homes, and most now regret it. The real estate taxes, homeowner association fees, maintenance, and insurance keeps going up and up. If they come down for 3-6 months, they worry about what may happen when they are not there.
One friend has to keep a dehumidifier running at all times, which adds to her already steep electric bill. She was paying a maintenance employee of the condo (on the side, off the books) to check periodically that the dehumidifier was working properly during her 6 month absence. One year, the worker quit and didn't tell anyone about the commitments he had made to do these "side jobs." My friend and several of her neighbors arrived next winter and found the dehumidifiers had been unplugged and there was extensive green slime covering the walls and ceilings. The errant maintenance guy has never been found. It cost my friend big bucks to have the mold and mildew removed and to re-paint the condo.
I'm so glad we figured out that buying the right timeshare weeks could accomplish our snowbird escape plan, at a fraction of the cost of traditional ownership.
Added benefits include our resort's nice pool, sun deck, exercise room, interesting planned activities, free wi-fi, and it's location just a block from the fabulous Ft. Lauderdale beach and Birch State Park. There are great restaurants nearby and the upscale Galleria Mall is a few blocks away, as is the water taxi stop to downtown. The hi-rise building two blocks away has condos selling in the million dollar (an up) range. We enjoy the same neighborhood, etc... for 4-6 weeks a year (including free housekeeping services) for $850. a week (maintenance and real estate taxes). And, as noted previously, we could actually enjoy all this for $0. per week if we rented out the lock-off unit. With the RCI Points we can actually reserve smaller units and thus stay for more weeks at the same low price.
We also enjoy the eclectic mix of owners and exchangers. It's nice to sit at the pool and meet people from all over the world, as well as to see to the familiar faces of employees and owners met in prior years.
It cost us less than $10,000. total to acquire the weeks and Points resale over a 5 year period. Our first two weeks in the same unit cost $2,500. per week. And then we had to pay $1100. per week Special Assessment. We knew that was coming, going in. The resort did a fabulous job upgrading the building and each unit. It was money well-spent. The RCI Points packages were bought through Ebay for well under $1,000. each (including all closing costs). They even came to us with extra unused points from the previous owners, which yielded extra weeks of vacations for us.
We feel confident that we could sell all of our weeks for what we paid (or more) if the time comes that we are unable to take these winter vacations.
So, my advice is to do a lot of homework. If you can find a well managed resort that you would like to return to year after year, owning multiple weeks at that resort could be a huge bargain as opposed to purchasing a full time condo or home in the area.
JMAESD84
TUG Member
It's a much easier proposition if the resort your aiming for has fixed week but floating units, that way you can purchase the consecutive weeks without concern of possibly having to change units.
Jennie - Know your resort well and have been doing the same as my winter vacation condo. And there are several other owners who are doing the same as us. I also have a couple of weeks up in Pompano Beach, filling in the holes. I enjoy out resort and its location and many walk to dining stops. It is hard to describe our ratty, outdated neighborhood as anything other than olde South Florida ... I remember, when I first visited, this is almost ghetto-like and very run down 3 block square area. 4 Tattoo pallors, 3 hole-in-the wall convienance stores, laundrymat, and more boarded up stores than open ones ... including the former eatry in our resort - it lacks that BeachPlace Towers newest which is 1/2 mile away.
But to console the "your unit is occupied by con-artists" when I tried to checkin at 11PM" was the local bar down the street with comforting words of "the resort people are good and will fix" and "here, have a beer on us" speaks volumes for the strength of the "neighborhood".
See you in the Lobby this winter.
But to console the "your unit is occupied by con-artists" when I tried to checkin at 11PM" was the local bar down the street with comforting words of "the resort people are good and will fix" and "here, have a beer on us" speaks volumes for the strength of the "neighborhood".
See you in the Lobby this winter.
london
TUG Member
Multiple Weeks
We own 6 weeks in Florida for use in the winter. Four at Cocoa Beach and two in Treasure Island.
We also have a Key Largo week for trading and use. Our Myrtle Beach weeks are also used by us.
We own 6 weeks in Florida for use in the winter. Four at Cocoa Beach and two in Treasure Island.
We also have a Key Largo week for trading and use. Our Myrtle Beach weeks are also used by us.