You will get varying opinions on this. You can form your own opinion by looking at this spreadsheet, which gives a fair number of price points across the system.
docs.google.com
For me, anything appreciably below CWA is worth considering. In 2022, CWA is 6.93, so I would consider $6 worth a second look. IMO, there are two reasons why the ratio matters. The first is the obvious one: lower ratios have lower ongoing costs for the same vacation experiences. The second is that deeds with lower ratios are easier to dispose of. The second thing doesn't seem important given that Wyndham is more or less willing to take anything off your hands, but that program is not guaranteed to last forever. Having an "attractive" ratio gives you an extra exit strategy if you need it.
You absolutely can hold out for the "best" ratio if you want, but you will not be alone, and some of those end up selling for more than they are worth to me. The resale market is dominated by people who know what they are doing--because who else would ever look to buy a timeshare on their own?--and those folks disproportionally look for the lowest-fee resorts. You see those same few resorts repeated here over and over as attractive targets. It might be simpler to by a
slightly more expensive resort that is still comfortably inside your budget, is still easy to dispose of, but is easier (and faster) to obtain.
Ultimately, it comes down to why you are buying a timeshare in the first place. If you are trying to get the very best deal possible and want to squeeze every last dollar out of it, then be very particular about what you buy. But to me this is a bit of a fool's errand, because I am convinced that
nobody saves money by owning timeshares. Yes, nearly anyone saves money on their owned timeshare vacation lodging compared to renting those exact same stays. But, nearly anyone who owns timeshares travels more often than they would if left to their own devices. Nearly all of us have taken the "my points are going to expire so I need to figure out how to use them" vacation, and while the lodging might be cheap, you still have to deal with food, transportation, and entertainment. So if you are buying as a commitment to vacation rather than to save every last dollar, maybe you don't care if you spend an extra couple hundred dollars per year on the timeshare portion?
