Is South Africa still good, or no?

[debkay_w]

I'm a newbie and just spent about 2 hours reading threads about South Africa. The majority of them were from June of last year, admittedly.

What's the situation now? Is SA still a good area to buy into if I just want to use it for exchanges? Has RCI/Rand ruined it?

What's a good resort/week/price/maintenance fee to look for? (for trading, that is) Where's a good place to buy? What's a safe way to buy with the least amount of hassle, since I'm so new. I feel like I could easily be misled.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Aldo]

RCI US is really raking SA owners over the coals.

They have assured me that our SA weeks, which are "peak" according to RCI in SA, sit unused, and untaken by anyone, and assign us essentially ZERO "trading power" for these weeks.

Of course, an on-line search of SA indicates that our own weeks, which RCI assures us are sitting there unused, are themselves in fact unavailable.

The problem with SA timeshare is essentially that most of them trade through RCI, which is nothing more than a criminal ripoff scam.

South Africa itself is still good, but RCI is rotten to the core.

 

[MoiAl]

I own Durban Sands white one bedroom a pretty basic SA TS. Yet it has gotten me into two bedrooms GC Sedona, RID and CG Florida, GC Whistler, Nice, France. I'm pretty happy with it as I've gotten great trades when I've wanted to go. The maintenaince fees can't be beat as well. I do trade about 12 months out though.
Alton

 

[Carol C]

It's in a state of flux right now. Test of time will prove which resorts are ok to buy...unless RCI changes the equation again. My personal opinion is that the bloom is off the SA rose in general. Good luck to ya!

 

[AwayWeGo]

3 Great Trades In 3 Years

We bought a standard-grade 2BR timeshare week in South Africa based on a tip we found somewhere in the inner recesses of the TUG advice section. That was in 2002. Cost was low & annual fees ("levies") were low, so we weren't risking much. Several years of paid-up RCI membership came with it as part of the deal.

Using our banked SA week we traded into nice Florida timeshares in January 2003, January 2005, & September 2005. All 3 timeshare exchanges were good & 2 were outstanding.

Based on what we paid all-in (purchase, levies, exchange fees), our SA week has paid for itself. That is, we have already received full value for what we paid. Any nice exchanges we get for it from here on out are gravy.

We did Points For Deposit with our banked 2006 SA week. Any points-based exchanges we get before our current points balance expires will be done with a blend of SA & USA points & it won't make any difference where those points came from -- USA PFD, SA PFD, or USA straight-points week. Points are points.

Our 2007 SA week is banked in the week-for-week exchange system. If we don't find an advantageous straight-week exchange we can do with it, we can get more points for it by doing Points For Deposit again (just so we don't wait too late to do that). (Our 2006 week was already banked in weeks before we moved it over to points via PFD.)

Our view is that our South African timeshare week was a bigger bargain when the Rand was weaker & the Dollar was stronger. Will the current trend of a stronger Rand continue or reverse? Who knows?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Sandy]

I agree with Alan. I have gotten some fantastic trades with my little SA unit. I believed a year or so back that I had received my money's worth. I am sure of that now.

So from here on, it is indeed gravy.

I still believe that these units have great value, considering that the MF are still quite less than what other TS are charging. But one would have to do the math to make that determination.

 

[SteveChapin]

We got our money's worth, also

We received two banked weeks with our purchase from Herb of a White Gethlane (2br) and Red Dikhololo (3br). Thus far, we have traded for:

- Orange Lake (Orlando, 2BR GC), President's Week 2005
- Westgate Vacation Villas (2BR w/loft, Orlando), June 2005 (guest cert. for my brother and sister)
- Pahio Kauai Beach Villas (1BR GC, May 2004)
- Westgate Vacation Villas (Orlando, 2BR w/loft) President's Week 2006
- Sheraton Vistana (Orlando, 2BR), Week 5, 2004
- 2 12-sleepers at Massanutten for this summer, group get together
- a 1BR unit at Massanutten for summer 2007 for a family get together (2 12 sleepers reserved on points at the same time)

We have also deposited a Dik week into our points acct. for 53,500 points (waiting to be used).

Given that we got the two banked weeks, we figured we'd gotten our money's worth after our two trades to Hawaii and Orlando. So everything since then (the last two years) is a bonus, in our eyes.

All that said, I would not get into SA at this time, or I would at least be very selective. Our levies have increased substantially in the three years we've owned, and I will probably sell the Gethlane soon and the Dikhololo at some point in the next two years.

sc
--

 

[catwgirl]

My SA weeks are still working for me.

 

[magiroux]

Yes, but the OP has not had the gravy train ride that many of us enjoyed. We can give them up tomorrow and easily have made or money back, then some.

However, the OP wants to know if it is still a good investment for the $$$$ to buy INTO now. As Steve pointe out, unless you know what resort to buy, I think SA is NOT a wise investment. I already see that people that have weeks with decent trade power are not too willing share that info on this forum...'cause we all know what happens then .

 

[Mimi]

S.A. Weeks

I would not buy SA weeks at this time. The levies have gone up significantly and the trade power has deteriorated. We are thinking of getting rid of them.

 

[GregD]

My SA weeks are still working for me.

But getting weeker every year! At least mine are!

 

[X-ring]

My SA weeks are still working for me.

Ditto for me

 

[debkay_w]

Thank you all!

 

[dpray]

Would it make sense to buy in SA and deposit the week into RCI Points? I know several of you do not think it makes sense to buy there right now (due to the trading power) but with Points, that doesn't really matter much. I see some SA TS with fairly low MF (lower than what I'm paying now by about $200). Any thoughts?

 

[susan1738]

Sitting on the fence

I thought about getting rid of mine about a year ago, but decided to keep them. Although they don't trade as well as they did several years ago, they still get me some nice accommodations, and the value is better (by about $200 a year). I think it depends on what kind of accommodations you want to trade into as to whether you'd be happy with the SA units. If you are wanting to go to "hard to get" places (i.e. Hawaii), then you probably want something OTHER THAN SA. But you can get some nice places in the continental US and in Mexico with a SA. :whoopie: Good luck with your choice!

 

[ira g]

Re: Sitting on the fence

I thought about getting rid of mine about a year ago, but decided to keep them. Although they don't trade as well as they did several years ago, they still get me some nice accommodations, and the value is better (by about $200 a year). I think it depends on what kind of accommodations you want to trade into as to whether you'd be happy with the SA units. If you are wanting to go to "hard to get" places (i.e. Hawaii), then you probably want something OTHER THAN SA. But you can get some nice places in the continental US and in Mexico with a SA. :whoopie: Good luck with your choice!

We traded our one bedroom DIK for 2 bedroom gold crowns in hawaii. Paniolo Greens and Fairfield Hawaii at Kona Hawaiian Resort for Oct 07. We have consisitently traded our one bedrooms for 2 bedroom gold crowns in florida, arizona, las vegas, hilton head sc and myrtle beach. For MF less than $250 per week and the possibility of doing PFD i still feel they should be part of anyones TS portfolio, as they have and are still working for us.

 

[susan1738]

That brings another point to mind, Ira

Perhaps the reason I haven't been able to pull Hawaii with my SA is that I must vacation during school vacation times, so October wasn't even an option. So, when you can vacation should be considered when deciding to purchase SA or not, too.

 

[Blondie]

I love my SA- bought for only $365 and 6 years of RCI included for another $150. I have traded into NYC 4 times (but that ship has sailed...so now I have RHC points for NYC) and some other places I will not mention. The only reason I mention The Manhattan Club is that it is basically not doable anymore so I am not sharing any big secret. If you can be somewhat flexible and like Florida or Mexico, you will always find something to suit you. But, if I were buying today and looking for a gstrong trader and thinking of spending a grand or so I would wait and find a good trader on ebay etc. I think for under $2,000 if you are patient you will find a really good trader. :whoopie:

 

[nkosi278]

Of course it would be so nice if all the SA traders would actually go and spend a vacation (which you would never forget or regret) in the Rainbow country.
But then, I am biased - as a 5th generation 1820 settler, and someone who has been there many times to my family in the 'fairest cape on earth',and to the 'mother city' (Capetown).....
nkosi

 

[JohnnyO]

Same here......been great.....I deposit as soon as I can with my fixed week. The exchange rate has decreased the advantage we had a few years ago...so the maintenance fees have gone up.....but it still works for me.

Would I buy another.....not at this time.

My SA weeks are still working for me.

 

[Laurie]

I'm happy at the moment with my 1-BR flexi Dikhololo week. Nothing scientific, but my 2007 week seemed to do better than a couple of the years past - perhaps a reversal of the perceived deterioration of trade power. Some have had trouble w/communication w/this resort and heaven only knows what would happen if I needed to communicate w/them about anything complex, but at this time I'm glad I still own it for weeks trading.

 

[LisaH]

I think SA could still be a good buy if you know how to pick the right week from the right resort. I used to own four weeks at three different SA resorts. The trading powers initially were pretty much the same. Since BS, two have remained the same, one has decreased dramatically, and one has increased significantly to the level of my Hawaii/summer Myrtle Beach weeks. I sold three weeks and kept the one good week, but I think the week that I kept is from a resort that others have reported a decrease of trading power. That's why I say not only you need to know which resort to own, but more importantly which week to own.

 

[steve41337]

Regarding your question

My Silversands is trading better than ever. I purchased it in December 2003 for $495 including all closing costs and the best part is the levy is only R851 or $111/month at the current exchange rate. At the time I bought it SA was very popular and there were many internet offers. I did a lot of research before buying and made a good choice and saved a considerable amount of money compared to other red weeks at Silversands being sold by other brokers as well as individual owners.

I bought from a very nice fellow named Herb at timesharespecials.com (they're still in business). I understand he recently passed away when I called their number this evening. At the time I bought mine Herb had a deal no one else could touch. I am trying to find a good deal for a friend of mine and trying to answer the same question you asked regarding how good SA is now. I'm still researching and the verdict is still out. I have contacted Silversands directly and asked them to email me pricing of any unit currently for sale. My instincts are SA may still be good or else buying something on the Southern CA coast may be better provided you shop the used market hard for something with a low annual maintenance fee.

So if anyone else reads this that knows what's going on in SA regarding Timeshares . . . I have the same question regarding the best place to buy to get a good trader with a low maintenance fee? SA used to be tops . . . how is it now?

Steve

I'm a newbie and just spent about 2 hours reading threads about South Africa. The majority of them were from June of last year, admittedly.

What's the situation now? Is SA still a good area to buy into if I just want to use it for exchanges? Has RCI/Rand ruined it?

What's a good resort/week/price/maintenance fee to look for? (for trading, that is) Where's a good place to buy? What's a safe way to buy with the least amount of hassle, since I'm so new. I feel like I could easily be misled.

Thanks in advance for any help.