Hi there - brand new - please be kind... HGVC questions.

[Demrex]

Hello all.

TLDR: Key info in bold portions. Questions are bolded and italicized and in teal.

Before I say anything else; I'm a relatively sensitive person. I fully understand and respect that you have all probably seen/heard my story countless times from others. I have been lurking, reading threads here, investigating the marketplace and such and decided to finally join the forums as my entry point to things here. Anyway, I'll tell you what I have and I'd just like some honest opinions and feedback on next steps I should take.

Blame it on covid brain, blame it on the fact it was my birthday... blame it on me or whatever else... but In November of 2021 - my wife and I purchased:

A 2BR / 8,000 pts / Gold - HGVC @ Seaworld Orlando.

We have paid roughly half of principal on it ($14,086.88)
Our current payoff amount is $14,259.68
Maintenance is currently $1,402.80/yr

I fully understand that it is likely I will never get a dime back of what I've spent on it. That's fine, I've come to terms with that. However, I would like to offload this without having to pay that payoff balance. Is there an effective way of going about that in your estimation?

From all that I've read so far in the forum - It seems very difficult, if not impossible, to sell a timeshare that has a remaining loan balance. Further - with HGVC I believe they have right of first refusal... which is making this more challenging because I can't get them to respond to any of my inquiries.

Am I stuck with this until I payoff that remaining loan balance?
Does anyone know how to effectively get this "right of first refusal" process up and going with HGVC?

Thanks for reading.

- Demrex (Michael)

 

[Demrex]

Hi there - I know we're not supposed to create multiple posts like for like in different forum sections - however, can I make a post like this and then include a link to my other post?

Hi there - brand new - please be kind... HGVC questions.

Hello all. TLDR: Key info in bold portions. Questions are bolded and italicized and in teal. Before I say anything else; I'm a relatively sensitive person. I fully understand and respect that you have all probably seen/heard my story countless times from others. I have been lurking, reading...

tugbbs.com

If not, please just let me know - or if you're an admin and seeing this please just remove the post and let me know privately. Thank you!

 

[Passepartout]

Our current payoff amount is $14,259.68
Maintenance is currently $1,402.80/yr

I fully understand that it is likely I will never get a dime back of what I've spent on it. That's fine, I've come to terms with that. However, I would like to offload this without having to pay that payoff balance. Is there an effective way of going about that in your estimation?

From all that I've read so far in the forum - It seems very difficult, if not impossible, to sell a timeshare that has a remaining loan balance. Further - with HGVC I believe they have right of first refusal... which is making this more challenging because I can't get them to respond to any of my inquiries.

Am I stuck with this until I payoff that remaining loan balance?
Does anyone know how to effectively get this "right of first refusal" process up and going with HGVC?

Thanks for reading.

- Demrex (Michael)

Hi Michael,
Nice use of the features on the site. You should be in design. I am sorry to reiterate what you already have surmised. Nobody will buy your TS while there is a mortgage, and HGVC will not transfer the title into another name without it being paid off.

No other entity- lawyers or otherwise - can magically make your purchase 'go away'. You were presumed to be adults and perfectly able to enter into a binding contract. You had 10 or so days to terminate the contract and make it go away as if your birthday, or covid, or whatever you wish to blame had never happened.

Congratulations on paying down nearly half of the outstanding loan. Unfortunately, you are going to need to whittle down the remainder in order to offload it without consequences.

The value in timeshares is not financial. They are lousy investments. Their value is inn their use and the memories the use of them will leave with your family. HGVC has some GREAT resorts and though you are a bit hobbled being limited to Gold season, folks here can guide you how to best make use of them. Introduce yourselves to the HGVC forum. They are nice people. Maybe you can reserve some great use and rent the week(s) to help you reduce the annual fees and maybe even reduce your loan?

If it makes you feel better we took a poll some time ago, and roughly half of UG members bought their first timeshare just like you did. They went to a presentation, were led down a garden path and signed a contract with no intention whatever of buying a timeshare. Then they didn't rescind inn time for whatever reason. Thay moved on and most bought more TSs from the resale market, bringing down the overall cost of those great memories.

Good Luck and Welcome to TUG!

Jim

 

[pedro47]

Welcome to TUG and Good Luck. I have no words of wisdom to share with you right now. Please try to find a lower bank interest rate is my only suggestion.
Good Luck.

 

[Demrex]

Hi Michael,
Nice use of the features on the site. You should be in design. I am sorry to reiterate what you already have surmised. Nobody will buy your TS while there is a mortgage, and HGVC will not transfer the title into another name without it being paid off.

No other entity- lawyers or otherwise - can magically make your purchase 'go away'. You were presumed to be adults and perfectly able to enter into a binding contract. You had 10 or so days to terminate the contract and make it go away as if your birthday, or covid, or whatever you wish to blame had never happened.

Congratulations on paying down nearly half of the outstanding loan. Unfortunately, you are going to need to whittle down the remainder in order to offload it without consequences.

The value in timeshares is not financial. They are lousy investments. Their value is inn their use and the memories the use of them will leave with your family. HGVC has some GREAT resorts and though you are a bit hobbled being limited to Gold season, folks here can guide you how to best make use of them. Introduce yourselves to the HGVC forum. They are nice people. Maybe you can reserve some great use and rent the week(s) to help you reduce the annual fees and maybe even reduce your loan?

If it makes you feel better we took a poll some time ago, and roughly half of UG members bought their first timeshare just like you did. They went to a presentation, were led down a garden path and signed a contract with no intention whatever of buying a timeshare. Then they didn't rescind inn time for whatever reason. Thay moved on and most bought more TSs from the resale market, bringing down the overall cost of those great memories.

Good Luck and Welcome to TUG!

Jim

Jim - thank you so much for the candor and the swift response. Totally what I needed - a validation of what I already knew. Appreciate you! Thanks!

 

[Demrex]

Welcome to TUG and Good Luck. I have no words of wisdom to share with you right now. Please try to find a lower bank interest rate is my only suggestion.
Good Luck.

Thanks Pedro. We actually pay quite a bit toward the principal each time - we're not super worried over all about the expense all things considered. It's more just the nuisance of having something we haven't been able to use efficiently. Plus, not wanting to stick my daughter with the maintenance after I'm dead. That all being said, thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

[Passepartout]

Thanks Pedro. We actually pay quite a bit toward the principal each time - we're not super worried over all about the expense all things considered. It's more just the nuisance of having something we haven't been able to use efficiently. Plus, not wanting to stick my daughter with the maintenance after I'm dead. That all being said, thanks for taking the time to reply!

We hope that the risk you might saddle your daughter with an unwanted TS is far off on the horizon. But you should know that no one has to accept a bequest they don't want. Just instruct her to not make any payments on it after you achieve ambient temperature.

 

[Demrex]

We hope that the risk you might saddle your daughter with an unwanted TS is far off on the horizon. But you should know that no one has to accept a bequest they don't want. Just instruct her to not make any payments on it after you achieve ambient temperature.

Honestly - I'm totally naïve when it comes to deathbed stuff... so I appreciate the info on the bequest bit. Yes indeed I'm hoping that risk is far off in the horizon as well.

 

[DeniseM]

No - that is still duplicate posting. MOVED TO HILTON FORUM.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Honestly - I'm totally naïve when it comes to deathbed stuff... so I appreciate the info on the bequest bit. Yes indeed I'm hoping that risk is far off in the horizon as well.

I will second what Jim said above. We own HGV as well, and are very happy with it. As Jim mentioned contrary to what some people nobody has to accept an inheritance.. Otherwise you could just name a random person, someone you hate, etc and they would be forced with an asset / liability they down' want.

In addition, once you pay off the rest of the balance and own the timeshare free and clear, you could sell or give the timeshare away if you decide you don't want it at that point.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

You can also rent out your home week if you can't use it to help defray the maintenance fees.

 

[HuskerATL]

Unless your daughter is on your title, you don't have to worry about it. Also, Seaworld or probably any of the Orlando properties won't ever get taken via ROFR because they happy to have the weeks owned versus them stuck with them. All of them have been sold out for many years so these are resales getting sold as retail...over and over.

You have summed up your option right now. You can't sell it unless it is paid off but once you get it paid off, it isn't worth much. The worth is in using it. You have two options; pay it off and then figure out next steps (use or sell) or stop paying and let it default. I would advise against the latter but each person has to decide that on their own based on their situation.

Our first week that we owned was a 8,000 point Gold season Tuscany so the same as yours. We paid $15k for it in 2003 but now it is worth about $500 or we would have to give it away to get rid of it. We made good use of it over the years and learned to use the system then added more points via resale. Now we have over 78k points and actually considering dumping our Tuscany since it is our highest MF week but it is our only retail week so we have held onto it.

I would probably pay it off and learn tricks to maximize the system by taking advantage of sales that give you a discount on point use, like the one that just ended with 25% off, use open season if you want stays within a month, stay M to F so that you remove the expensive weekend nights (in a weekly stay, the weekend is 60% of the cost), stay in gold/silver/bronze seasons, and use smaller units, like a 1 bedroom. If it is just the 3 of you, then your daughter can use the sofa bed. Our sons have slept on many sofa beds over the years. You can stretch that 8,000 points out to at least a couple vacations per year if you plan it out correctly. Book early....at the 9 month mark and enjoy vacations with your family. Both of our sons, who are 9 years apart in age, learned to scuba dive in the Tuscany pool over the years. Owning a week like this forces you to plan vacations, since you have already paid for it, so enjoy it and forget about the cost that you are already contractually obliged to pay (I know, painful to see that money going out each month but it is what it is).

 

[Bill4728]

Our first week that we owned was a 8,000 point Gold season Tuscany so the same as yours. We paid $15k for it in 2003 but now it is worth about $500 or we would have to give it away to get rid of it. We made good use of it over the years and learned to use the system then added more points via resale.

Have prices on HGVC resorts really gone down that much?? ! I was under the impression that Gold weeks at HGVC resorts would sell for about $0.25 - $0.50 /pt or about $2,000 - $4,000. I believed that Platinum, 2 bd weeks were between $ 5k - $7K .

 

[HuskerATL]

Have prices on HGVC resorts really gone down that much?? ! I was under the impression that Gold weeks at HGVC resorts would sell for about $0.25 - $0.50 /pt or about $2,000 - $4,000. I believed that Platinum, 2 bd weeks were between $ 5k - $7K .

Depends on the resort, MFs, season, and the points. 8000 gold season at Tuscany are about 0.17 MF/point compared to our Craig Lodges that are 0.09 so much less desirable. Our boulevard is about 25% lower in MFs than our Tuscany.

Here is what is in ROFR.net for Tuscany and if you look on Ebay or even TUG marketplace, they are low. There is one for sale on TUG right now for $1,200 but I doubt anyone will buy it. You either need to almost give away those or find a person who is new.

 

[Demrex]

Unless your daughter is on your title, you don't have to worry about it. Also, Seaworld or probably any of the Orlando properties won't ever get taken via ROFR because they happy to have the weeks owned versus them stuck with them. All of them have been sold out for many years so these are resales getting sold as retail...over and over.

You have summed up your option right now. You can't sell it unless it is paid off but once you get it paid off, it isn't worth much. The worth is in using it. You have two options; pay it off and then figure out next steps (use or sell) or stop paying and let it default. I would advise against the latter but each person has to decide that on their own based on their situation.

Our first week that we owned was a 8,000 point Gold season Tuscany so the same as yours. We paid $15k for it in 2003 but now it is worth about $500 or we would have to give it away to get rid of it. We made good use of it over the years and learned to use the system then added more points via resale. Now we have over 78k points and actually considering dumping our Tuscany since it is our highest MF week but it is our only retail week so we have held onto it.

I would probably pay it off and learn tricks to maximize the system by taking advantage of sales that give you a discount on point use, like the one that just ended with 25% off, use open season if you want stays within a month, stay M to F so that you remove the expensive weekend nights (in a weekly stay, the weekend is 60% of the cost), stay in gold/silver/bronze seasons, and use smaller units, like a 1 bedroom. If it is just the 3 of you, then your daughter can use the sofa bed. Our sons have slept on many sofa beds over the years. You can stretch that 8,000 points out to at least a couple vacations per year if you plan it out correctly. Book early....at the 9 month mark and enjoy vacations with your family. Both of our sons, who are 9 years apart in age, learned to scuba dive in the Tuscany pool over the years. Owning a week like this forces you to plan vacations, since you have already paid for it, so enjoy it and forget about the cost that you are already contractually obliged to pay (I know, painful to see that money going out each month but it is what it is).

Great tips! Thank you!!

 

[Passepartout]

Honestly - I'm totally naïve when it comes to deathbed stuff... so I appreciate the info on the bequest bit. Yes indeed I'm hoping that risk is far off in the horizon as well.

Hello all.

Before I say anything else; I'm a relatively sensitive person. I fully understand and respect that you have all probably seen/heard my story countless times from others. I have been lurking, reading threads here, investigating the marketplace and such and decided to finally join the forums as my entry point to things here.

- Demrex (Michael)

We really are pretty gentle people here- as BBSs go. We haven't killed a newbie in months, and I don't ever remember eating one. They're too tough.

Ask away.

Jim

 

[Talent312]

We haven't killed a newbie in months, and I don't ever remember eating one. They're too tough.

That's what the marinade is for.
He should be more worried about the TUG posse that'll come after him.


.

 

[pacman]

What others have said already is good advice. Just will add that HGVC is a great system. Very nice resorts. You will spend waaay less vs a hotel, for instance, and get a full kitchen in addition. Consider that you will save money each time you vacation vs a hotel. We go to the Big Island on Hawaii twice every year. We pay the equivalent of about $175/night for a really nice 2 bedroom unit. I'm sure if we were staying in a non-time share hotel or vrbo or whatever, it would be $4-$500/night. In addition, we are the type that take full advantage of the kitchen and only eat out a few time during a 2 week stay, so we are saving $ there also.
You made a "mistake" by not buying resale, but now just put it behind you and enjoy some great vacations, and make some awesome memories.

 

[kanerf]

I own and use mine at The District in Washington D.C. which is a wonderful resort. It sits on top of the Embassy Suites Georgetown and you get the same free breakfast and nightly managers reception that hotel guests get. If you are an owner at this location there is also an owner's lounge with free drinks and hot appetizers in the evening.

 

[dayooper]

We really are pretty gentle people here- as BBSs go. We haven't killed a newbie in months, and I don't ever remember eating one. They're too tough.

Ask away.

Jim

There was that one last year, but we needed toppings for the boiled pizza dinner at the last TUG gathering.

 

[dayooper]

What others have said already is good advice. Just will add that HGVC is a great system. Very nice resorts. You will spend waaay less vs a hotel, for instance, and get a full kitchen in addition. Consider that you will save money each time you vacation vs a hotel. We go to the Big Island on Hawaii twice every year. We pay the equivalent of about $175/night for a really nice 2 bedroom unit. I'm sure if we were staying in a non-time share hotel or vrbo or whatever, it would be $4-$500/night. In addition, we are the type that take full advantage of the kitchen and only eat out a few time during a 2 week stay, so we are saving $ there also.
You made a "mistake" by not buying resale, but now just put it behind you and enjoy some great vacations, and make some awesome memories.

@Demrex I couldn’t agree more with this statement. My family and I love our HGVC vacations. We have 3 kids and they all are so spoiled with the size, comfort and level of accommodations if the resorts. They now find hotel rooms just a bit small. The non-sales staff at each of resorts we have been to have been great and are very accommodating. We also use our kitchen a lot in the units, but places like Vegas we use the full size refrigerator for leftovers and beverages of all kinds.

 

[brp]

That's what the marinade is for.
He should be more worried about the TUG posse that'll come after him.

There was that one last year, but we needed toppings for the boiled pizza dinner at the last TUG gathering.

What happened to "what happens in the TUG stew pots stays in the TUG stew pots, and plates...?"

Cheers.

 

[dayooper]

What happened to "what happens in the TUG stew pots stays in the TUG stew pots, and plates...?"

Cheers.

We weren’t in Vegas

 

[DaveNV]

We weren’t in Vegas

And everyone knows "What happens in Vegas, goes on the Internet."

@Demrex: Michael, these folks above are giving you solid information. (The jokers notwithstanding. ) HGVC is a very good system, if you have to be in one. Rather than try to get out of it, try to learn best how to use it. You've taken your licks, and done enough self-abuse rear-end kicking. Now dust yourself off, and figure out how to make the ownership work for you. You may find it is better than you think, if you can focus on what it brings into your life, rather than what it takes out of your wallet.

Good luck!
Dave

 

[Curiosity]

Have prices on HGVC resorts really gone down that much?? ! I was under the impression that Gold weeks at HGVC resorts would sell for about $0.25 - $0.50 /pt or about $2,000 - $4,000. I believed that Platinum, 2 bd weeks were between $ 5k - $7K .

My sister went with me to my Lagoon Tower platinum week last Christmas that I bought on Ebay in 2020 for $300. She caught the bug and I found her 2 weeks for $1 3 BR gold at HGVC Sea World. She gets close to 20000 points for 3K yearly. I also own 2 Elara that are platinum a studio and a 1BR that I found for free. I paid $0 closing costs or transfer fees.