I only know Wyndham, but will do what I can to answer.
1. Fundamentally for a week stay at both what's the typical MFs? I want to end up with 3 weeks.
2. Are there major restrictions using resale vs dev?
3. How easy is it for family members to use?
4. Typical cost for resale week equivalents?
1:
It can vary, and by a lot.
It depends on season, resort, unit size, and the underlying "cost basis" of what you own. It's probably best to start with cost basis: Wyndham has in the past sold (A) specific deeded fixed/floating weeks that were converted to points; (B) deeded "undivided interests" in a specific resort denominated directly in points; and (C) undeeded interests in a trust, where the trust holds the deeds and the interests are denominated in points. Each ownership carries a maintenance fee that is based on
what they own. Owners also pay a program fee that is based on
how many points they own.
All ownerships in Category C have the same cost basis. In 2022, that's $6.93 per thousand points. These are simple to figure out. This is probably average, or maybe a little worse than average, but not by much.
Ownerships in Category B vary depending on what resort you own, but every owner at that resort pays the same rate. For example, those who own UDI at Bonnet Creek pay $6.37 per thousand points. In contrast, owners at Durango in Colorado pay north of $10.50 per thousand, while owners at Canterbury in San Francisco pay only $3.78.
Ownerships in Category C have the most variation, because they depend on your home resort
and the specific week you own. That's because every owner pays the same fees per owned week, but different weeks can be awarded a different number of points based on season. For example, I own a lock-off unit in the Waterfalls section of Sea Gardens. An owner of one of those weeks pays $862.77 per week owned. But, the points awarded are either 231K (peak season), 189K (shoulder season), or 161K. That gives ratios of $3.73, $4.56, or $5.36, respectively.
Every resale ownership also pays a program fee, which in 2022 is either $170 or $0.66/thousand points, whichever is greater. So, if you own more than about 260K points, you pay the $0.66/K rate. If you own less than that, you pay $170. This makes accounts totaling less than 260K or so more expensive.
The next bit is how many points a reservation costs. This depends on resort, season and size. At the older resorts, which tend to be in rural locations where land is cheap, a 2BR in peak season costs 154K points. Newer and fancier resorts cost more points to book, as do resorts in more expensive locations. For example, a 2BR prime week at Bonnet Creek, the Orlando flagship, is 224K. A "basic" 2BR at Shearwater on Kauai's north coast is 400K.
So if you figure the "average" peak-season 2BR is around 200-225K or so, using an "average" deed that costs about $7/K, you'll pay about $1400-$1600 per peak-season week. Owning at a less expensive resort (e.g. Canterbury) cuts that to $900-$1000. If you had the misfortune of owning at Durango, you'd be paying $2200-$2500. So you can see how important
choosing the right thing to buy can be. Personally, I don't worry too much about getting the very best ratio I can possibly get, but I would try to stay at or below the CWA level for anything I considered.
2:
In my experience, no.
In terms of access: For the "Club Wyndham Resorts", points are points, and any owner can book any resort in that collection at 10 months prior to check-in, pending availability. I've had very good luck booking at the 10 month window, including at some hard-to-book resorts. You also have the same access to the "Affiliate and Associate" resorts, but it is safe to ignore them because there is almost no inventory at those resorts for anyone to book. You cannot book the Club Pass (WorldMark) resorts, while the retail owners can, but IMO that's not a big deal. That's because WorldMark owners have a several month head start in booking before Wyndham-retail owners can book, so most of the desirable inventory is already gone. If you want to visit WorldMark resorts regularly, it would be better to own WorldMark. There are a few other oddities (Margaritaville, Presidential Reserve) but it's safe to ignore those as well.
In other ways, there are some modest differences. Resale owners can get hit by nuisance fees from time to time---retail owners can too, but they have a little more wiggle room. I've found that it is easy to avoid most of these most of the time, and I almost never pay them. But, doing so depends on using the system like a timeshare (a home base for many days for a vacation) vs. a hotel (a place to stay for a couple of nights or a long weekend). Owners with many short stays--particularly during the off-season--are more likely to get hit by these nuisance fees. I don't use the system that way; my stays are almost always five or more nights.
3:
Doing this routinely can add nuisance fees.
Wyndham distinguishes between owners (the people named on the deed/contract) and guests (everyone else, including any other immediate family members). An owner can be the check-in guest of record on any non-overlapping reservation. That means if you have two units for a particular trip, any particular owner can be the lead guest on only one of them for "free". A guest can only check-in if they have a
guest certificate. Resale owners get two of these for free each year. After that, you have to pay about $100 for each one. For long stays that require a lot of points, maybe that's not a big deal. For a bunch of long weekends, it adds up fast.
So, it pays to think about who will be on the deed/contract. If you have a spouse/partner, that person probably should definitely be on the deeds/contracts. That allows you to book up to two concurrent units, one checking in on one, the other on the other. If you have adult children that you want to send on vacation regularly, it
might make sense to list them as well, but that also means that they are liable to keep paying if for some reason you stop. We did not put our adult children on the deeds, preferring to pay for the infrequent GC instead.
4:
It can vary, by a lot.
I have not been tracking the market, so I can't give you specifics. But, the cost of
buying a deed is usually inversely proportional to the
fees per thousand of that deed. There are plenty of free Wyndham deeds out there, but most of those have $/K ratios that are higher than the trust product, and I would not want one at any price. They are too expensive to use, and they are hard to get rid of later. There are a handful of very low-fee resorts that generate a lot of interest and are bid up quickly. Then there are a range of options between those that are less expensive to buy and more expensive to own.
My advice: If you are going to own this for ten years or more before disposal, it makes sense to pay a little more for a low-fee deed. If you are going to own for less than ten years, it might be better to just rent.
