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Contemplating buying Wyndham points on eBay - have a few questions?

feistymama

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Hi!
I'm new to this forum and I appreciate any help anyone can offer. I apologize in advance if I ask questions that have been answered elsewhere; I've read through a few pages of posts on this forum and still have some questions that I didn't see addressed.
My parents had a timeshare through Fairfield when I was a kid and although it wasn't a universally positive experience, we were able to travel across the USA - taking a vacation almost every summer on two teachers' salaries - with the timeshare for many years.
My parents had chosen their home resort very close to our home - within a 2-hour drive - and in years when money was tight we would just spend the whole vacation at the home resort, which was always great. My parents retired to the city where our home resort was and now coincidentally live less than 1000 yards from the old resort :)
My husband and I are now interested in purchasing a timeshare or two on the resale market (eBay). While I am interested in trading some, we have a small son and I know that making travel plans for long-distance trips is going to be dicey for some time. We can generally make it to Vegas (1 1/2 hour n/s flight from where we live) in a year, and we can generally do a driving vacation. My husband has plenty of vacation time through his job and I am a freelancer/SAHM so getting time off isn't a problem.
I've been watching eBay auctions for a couple of months and there seem to be a lot of Wyndham auctions for resorts close to us (Arizona, Utah, NM, Colorado, Nevada) at very low costs. I understand now from reading posts why prices are so low on some of these higher-point auctions - problems with Wyndham + high maintenance fees. Still, we would really like to stick with resorts closer to home - especially because I've been reading that people are having a great deal of difficulty trading through RCI?
Am I mistaken in thinking that we should buy at resorts that are easy for us to get to? I see a lot of people own timeshares in South Africa or other places very far from the U.S. I've been researching the Wyndham resorts we're interested in (Sedona, Pagosa Springs, Angel Fire, etc.) and they seem like they're being maintained but of course, I don't know. I have personally stayed at Angel Fire and Pagosa Springs (although that was some time ago) and my parents recently stayed at Wyndham Sedona and loved it. I understand, though, that these may not be the highest-demand resorts.
In all honesty - while we'd love to be able to trade out vacations - we are outdoorsy types and would be fine being at our home resorts and not trading out very often. On the other hand, I don't want to be stuck with worthless points we can't ever trade if we wanted to.
So - should I forget about regional resorts and just try to go for high points/low fees regardless of location? We don't see this as any kind of long-term financial investment - only in an investment in time together as a family - but we would like that time together to be as fun as possible.
Thanks for your advice before I plunge into bidding :)
 

DeniseM

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Welcome to TUG! :hi: I think you are right on target with your idea of buying near home. In this economy, it's smart to buy at a drive-to location, that you would enjoy visiting on a regular basis.

Here's my advice for buying a first timeshare.

BTW - I need to update my ebay list at that link, because I recently made an ebay purchase for just $98 total, including closing costs. :D
 
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Jya-Ning

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Have you talked to your parents? Maybe they want to pass the TS to one of their kids? May as be you.

With the constant change, you may want to combine their account with yours. If that is the case, make sure you disccuse the rules among your family how each get to use what and under what conditions.

I would buy a home resorts that I can and want to go most of the time.

Another thing is, with your parents already has Wyndham, do you need to buy into Wyndham again? You may want to look around to see if you want to buy into different system that can complimental your parent's TS but give you a new dimension that your parents TS can not reach to if case you want to visit different places or resort chains?

Jya-Ning
 

feistymama

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Hi there
Thanks for responding!
DeniseM - Thanks for posting that link, it was helpful.
Jya-Ning - the timeshare my parents have is going to my brother; I am getting some other things from our family that are more valuable to me sentimentally - my brother doesn't have the means to purchase his own timeshare no matter how low prices go and we do, so I think that's how that decision got made. However, I hadn't thought about the advisability of getting into another system besides Wyndham. I am now looking at some Marriott and Hilton properties and like what I see. I imagine we'll probably do some combination of Wyndham and another system in the end.
I appreciate you both taking the time to answer my questions! Happy New Year!
 

Jya-Ning

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the timeshare my parents have is going to my brother; I am getting some other things from our family that are more valuable to me sentimentally - my brother doesn't have the means to purchase his own timeshare no matter how low prices go and we do

Probably not good for you to mention this to your parent, if that is the case, you can ask them to read this thread. But TS needs pay MF which most owners has no control of it. And to enjoy it, you will spend more money to travel to there and some fancy diner, some sightsee. Unless he is very good at renting it out, than it can help his income, otherwise, it may not be a good idea. He probably wants to have a say on this also.

Am I mistaken in thinking that we should buy at resorts that are easy for us to get to? we are outdoorsy types and would be fine being at our home resorts and not trading out very often. On the other hand, I don't want to be stuck with worthless points we can't ever trade if we wanted to.
So - should I forget about regional resorts and just try to go for high points/low fees regardless of location? We don't see this as any kind of long-term financial investment - only in an investment in time together as a family - but we would like that time together to be as fun as possible.
Thanks for your advice before I plunge into bidding :)


There are several different thoughts on this. One is if you get low MF one, you will have more options during the bad time. And it always get more choices.

My thought is this, since I am going to use it, so as long as the MF is reasonable to me, and I can handle it during the good time, the bad time, the location is more important to me. I may want to spend some special date on the resort, although I can almost guarantee it maybe a slow time thus really no need of home resort advantage, but I prefer to own it there, so no matter what the situation changes, I will make sure I have the fighting chance.

Reasonable means I can easily find a slot in that resorts that is high demand, that around that area, I can see if I want to get one Bed hotel or resort, I will be charged more than what my points can get at that slot (so, if bad time, I can try to get that slot and rent it out and expect reasonable return without too much trouble). And if I need different options, I would not be in a position where I will guarantee loss. Also, it is within my affordable range if I use it year in year out.

MF is usually not control by you. So, today's low one means very little in tomorrow. But if that is an concern to you, you should look at this. The forums.atozed.com has a history MF file from 1994 to 2008, you should look at it, get a feeling. But four things controls the MF, the utility bill, the human cost (maintaince, housekeeping, and front desk), the management company's cut, and the reservation funds. Since all Wyndham TS are located in US, the differnce will not be that much.

Only you can determine what makes you feel comfortable.

Don't need to get too many points even with the potential changes that disbar the transfer of the points, there are places where Timeshare does not convient has inventories. There are situations where you want to join tours, and there are times you may take cuises. And a lot of time, you can try to use less point to make enjoy vacations. With bad time, if you manage well, you can take more benefits in exchange. Just make sure you buy enough points to accomdate your family in the places you will go more for 1/4 of your free time will be a very good staring points.

Jya-Ning
 
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