Deciding to buy more points? And value question

[hgvcowner88]

I have been toying with the idea of buying additional HGVC points because we are traveling so much now that I feel like the points disappear faster. We currently have 2 EOY odd contracts, each with 7000 points. One is at Elara and one is at Tuscany Village. How did you know that you wanted/needed more points? I feel like it's an itch I have but not sure if it's a good choice overall.

Also, for buying resale, I know everyone says less than $1 per point is a good deal if the maintenance fees are under 15 cents per point. I found an Elara property that is annual, 2020 dues still due (as well as all the transfer fees). With all the fees and the 2020 dues, it puts the property over $1 per point. So is it only a good deal if everything totaled is below $1 per point? It's a 7000 point unit btw.

 

[SmithOp]

I’d say its ok to go over the $1/point guideline when including all costs as long as the annual maint fee per point ratio is low ( below 15 cents a point).

Has anyone purchased through timesharenation dot com? I see they have a free Flamingo 4800 point 1 br unit, seems to good to be true

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[hgvcowner88]

I haven't purchased through them but did purchase a very inexpensive resale unit. The maintenance fees are a bit higher but the buy in cost was so low.

The maintenance fees per point would be 12.7 cents which is low currently. I guess I'm more just trying to decide if it's worth it to buy right now versus wait. Or even buy more points at all. With the 14,000 EOY we can do one big vacation every other year and one or two small vacations with points. But I think of what we're doing now with our points and bonus points (our elara was a developer purchase) which is take the whole family (6 rooms) to Hawaii (lagoon tower) in April for a total of 25600 points. Which obviously just won't be possible with 14000 EOY. So that is where the itch is coming from. But then maybe it would make more sense to wait to find another matching EOY odd contract so I don't have annual maintenance fees and don't have to save points over from one year to the next depending on timing of the vacations. Ahhhh. Decisions.

 

[SmithOp]

Whatever you decide get rid of the idea of saving points until the next year, that costs fees. Get in the habit of borrowing from future years, it's free. With offsetting EOYs you can borrow to get that big vacation. I've already used all my 2020 points, I'm ready to book using 2021 points for next year reservations.

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[dayooper]

I’d say its ok to go over the $1/point guideline when including all costs as long as the annual maint fee per point ratio is low ( below 15 cents a point).

Has anyone purchased through timesharenation dot com? I see they have a free Flamingo 4800 point 1 br unit, seems to good to be true

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I would agree with @SmithOp on this. I think that's not a bad deal.

As far as Timeshare Nation goes, I haven't taken on one from them. My wife and I almost took on an EoY Gold 1 bedroom from the Boulevard last year. We were prepared to do so, but we needed to have some questions answered. The paperwork had said that it wasn't eligible to be in the club and we wanted to know if the owners were willing to pay all of the HGVC fees. They kept me up to date as they were trying to find out the answers. They told me that the owners were unresponsive so they pulled the deed from their website. I haven't seen it since. Take it for what it's worth, but I thought they were very upfront with me and pulled it when they could not get a straight answer.

I know others on TUG have taken on deeds from them and say they would do so again. They list what the owners say, so I would need to have some sort of verification before I proceeded. They did send me a copy of the deed.

I saw that Flamingo unit on there as well. The Flamingo 1 bedrooms actually have a pretty high MF to point ratio ($0.20 per point), but it's free so the price would offset the high MF's for awhile. Good Luck!

 

[Anthony Schmid]

I’d say its ok to go over the $1/point guideline when including all costs as long as the annual maint fee per point ratio is low ( below 15 cents a point).

Has anyone purchased through timesharenation dot com? I see they have a free Flamingo 4800 point 1 br unit, seems to good to be true

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Yes, and you better grab it fast. Seller pays for everything

 

[CalGalTraveler]

The $1 per point rule of thumb does not include seller fees. If the seller is paying for that and you are still less than $1 / point you've got a sweet deal.

 

[Finsadbel]

Just an FYI......

I received an email today from sellmytimesharenow.com. They had a Tuscany 7000 point TS for $2,500.

But the MF may be the reason it’s so low.....

 

[Tamaradarann]

I haven't purchased through them but did purchase a very inexpensive resale unit. The maintenance fees are a bit higher but the buy in cost was so low.

The maintenance fees per point would be 12.7 cents which is low currently. I guess I'm more just trying to decide if it's worth it to buy right now versus wait. Or even buy more points at all. With the 14,000 EOY we can do one big vacation every other year and one or two small vacations with points. But I think of what we're doing now with our points and bonus points (our elara was a developer purchase) which is take the whole family (6 rooms) to Hawaii (lagoon tower) in April for a total of 25600 points. Which obviously just won't be possible with 14000 EOY. So that is where the itch is coming from. But then maybe it would make more sense to wait to find another matching EOY odd contract so I don't have annual maintenance fees and don't have to save points over from one year to the next depending on timing of the vacations. Ahhhh. Decisions.

First of all if your plan for your Hawaii vacation is for April 2020 you are way too late to book anything in the Lagoon Tower. We are checking into the Lagoon Tower on January 4th for a club reservation that was made in April of 2019. Second, what type of units(6 rooms) were you planning on reserving? While your contemplation of what to buy seems to be your main concern, I would be more concerned with addressing the issues that I have presented above for your Hawaii trip given that the availability in the Lagoon Tower is very limited.

As far as buying right now or waiting for the purchase of HGVC timeshares, I believe that the secondary market prices are the lowest they have ever been. Since you want to vacation more than your current ownership allows, if you see a good deal I would buy it. I don't know how you determined that you need 25600 points for 6 rooms. What size rooms or units? How long is the trip you have in mind?

In 7 months the April 2021 Lagoon Tower availability can be reserved.

 

[dayooper]

Yes, and you better grab it fast. Seller pays for everything

For HGVC, does the seller usually pay for the enrollment fee?

 

[natarajanv]

For HGVC, does the seller usually pay for the enrollment fee?

Its very rare to see seller paying for enrollment unless they are very desperate. The most I have seen is seller paying the transfer fee, as it is required to do the transfer. The enrollment fee is only billed like 2 or 3 months after the transfer. My recent experience was that the broker did the transfer of a deed to his name but before the enrollment fee was due he flipped it . Will find out whether we are responsible for 2 enrollment fees soon.

 

[hgvcowner88]

First of all if your plan for your Hawaii vacation is for April 2020 you are way too late to book anything in the Lagoon Tower. We are checking into the Lagoon Tower on January 4th for a club reservation that was made in April of 2019. Second, what type of units(6 rooms) were you planning on reserving? While your contemplation of what to buy seems to be your main concern, I would be more concerned with addressing the issues that I have presented above for your Hawaii trip given that the availability in the Lagoon Tower is very limited.

As far as buying right now or waiting for the purchase of HGVC timeshares, I believe that the secondary market prices are the lowest they have ever been. Since you want to vacation more than your current ownership allows, if you see a good deal I would buy it. I don't know how you determined that you need 25600 points for 6 rooms. What size rooms or units? How long is the trip you have in mind?

In 7 months the April 2021 Lagoon Tower availability can be reserved.

What I was saying is that we already have everything in the Lagoon Tower booked. That's why I said when I think of what we're doing with our points now, meaning using that 25,600 points, when in reality we only have 14,000 points EOY. We used some bonus points and had some extra points because of the resale purchase. We have 2 2 bedroom suites booked and 4 studios. So I'm saying in the future, if we want to do a 25000 point vacation, we won't be able to. I booked Lagoon right when the 9 month window opened for a 7 day trip in Platinum season.

So what I was saying overall is I'm trying to decide whether or not buying more points will be good or whether it will get to be too much in the end. How did you decide how many points you wanted/needed?

 

[Tamaradarann]

What I was saying is that we already have everything in the Lagoon Tower booked. That's why I said when I think of what we're doing with our points now, meaning using that 25,600 points, when in reality we only have 14,000 points EOY. We used some bonus points and had some extra points because of the resale purchase. We have 2 2 bedroom suites booked and 4 studios. So I'm saying in the future, if we want to do a 25000 point vacation, we won't be able to. I booked Lagoon right when the 9 month window opened for a 7 day trip in Platinum season.

So what I was saying overall is I'm trying to decide whether or not buying more points will be good or whether it will get to be too much in the end. How did you decide how many points you wanted/needed?

For us we determined that we wanted to be away from the cold of NY in the warmth of Miami Beach or Hawaii for the winter. From the beginning of January until sometime in April Approximately 13 weeks. We would stay in Studios and 1 BR units. We needed in excess of 30,000 points. The last unit we purchased was a 3 BR in Sea World and that gave us 34,600 points which has worked out really well since 2009.

 

[alwysonvac]

What I was saying is that we already have everything in the Lagoon Tower booked. That's why I said when I think of what we're doing with our points now, meaning using that 25,600 points, when in reality we only have 14,000 points EOY. We used some bonus points and had some extra points because of the resale purchase. We have 2 2 bedroom suites booked and 4 studios. So I'm saying in the future, if we want to do a 25000 point vacation, we won't be able to. I booked Lagoon right when the 9 month window opened for a 7 day trip in Platinum season.

Nice! I hope you have a wonderful time

So what I was saying overall is I'm trying to decide whether or not buying more points will be good or whether it will get to be too much in the end. How did you decide how many points you wanted/needed?

Hmm..I would wait to see how the first trip turns out.

I find banking and borrowing very helpful for family gatherings. Think about how often you really need the extra points, what time of year you need to travel and where you think you’ll go. Also think about the cost impact for you and your guests. I’ve done several arrangements from covering everything for certain members of my extended family (air, food and lodging) to those who pay their own way and reimburse me too.

 

[hgvcowner88]

For us we determined that we wanted to be away from the cold of NY in the warmth of Miami Beach or Hawaii for the winter. From the beginning of January until sometime in April Approximately 13 weeks. We would stay in Studios and 1 BR units. We needed in excess of 30,000 points. The last unit we purchased was a 3 BR in Sea World and that gave us 34,600 points which has worked out really well since 2009.

Wow that's awesome. Maybe when we're retired we would use more points and travel more? For now 35000 points annually would go to waste for us for sure.

 

[hgvcowner88]

Nice! I hope you have a wonderful time


Hmm..I would wait to see how the first trip turns out.

I find banking and borrowing very helpful for family gatherings. Think about how often you really need the extra points, what time of year you need to travel and where you think you’ll go. Also think about the cost impact for you and your guests. I’ve done several arrangements from covering everything for certain members of my extended family (air, food and lodging) to those who pay their own way and reimburse me too.

We've traveled quite a bit with the points already, but not with the whole family! lol. We're covering everyone's rooms with the points and then they're paying for their flights and food and such. I could see us doing a trip like this every other year probably, assuming this trip turns out well. The kids will have a blast with their cousins I'm sure. The rest of the family doesn't have a lot of money to travel and take big trips like this so we see it as something that helps bring everyone together, even though if we were paying cash for the rooms, we wouldn't be, since we don't really have that kind of money floating around. So I do see it being something we will be doing in the future, in theory. My thought is that it would potentially make sense to get another 7000 point or higher EOY contract (based on maintenance fees). I ended up letting that Elara property go. Just wasn't sure I wanted an annual unit.

 

[GT75]

How did you know that you wanted/needed more points?

I have added several weeks over the past few years to cover our travels "needs" (really wants). I would suggest that you wait and see how your 2020 trip to HI turns out first before deciding on adding to your portfolio. I always find that @alwysonvac gives great advice. She will also say that you don't want to put "all of your eggs in one basket". You want to have travel funding available outside of TS too. If after your 2020 family trip, you can decide if that is something that you will want to repeat on some frequency. At that point, it might be appropriate to add more points.

We've traveled quite a bit with the points already, but not with the whole family! lol. We're covering everyone's rooms with the points and then they're paying for their flights and food and such.

This is actually what we do with our travels. We really enjoy bringing people (family and friends) along. We have a designated immediate family trip once per year and then a couple of extended family ski trips each year plus other trips where we will bring friends. We cover the rooms and our guests make their own arrangements to get there. I have really been able to connect with the grandson via the ski trips. It is something that we are able to do together. In fact, I was just discussing the 2020-2021 ski season schedule with him today.

We actually have developed a fairly repeatable pattern now concerning our yearly HGVC TS usage. Obvious, in the future things will be different such as someday I will no longer be able to ski (hopefully that is many years away) so then we will need to adjust our bookings. To me, flexibility is what is great about HGVC.

 

[GT75]

How did you know that you wanted/needed more points?

I also wanted to add, usually around October timeframe I layout plans for the year following next year (for example, around October 2019 I layout year 2021 plans.). This will include the resort/unit/#days/when. From this, I will determine how many points I will need to book that year and the strategy (either borrow points or purchase another property or adjust the bookings). Once that is laid out, I will schedule reminders on my calendar to book these resorts.