Looking for advice for TS purchase

[Reefgeek]

We are looking to purchase a timeshare (with the Silverleaf resort). We purchased one last year from the resort but cancelled and did not go through with it. I am glad that we did!!! Too much $$$$$

I have done quite a bit of research on this resort and I want to know what exactly to look for. We will mainly be using our week for Carribean type vacations. So it will be traded into RCI. With that being said, I do have some questions...

Things I know we want: (I think LOL)

Deeded at a Desitination location
Week: RED
Annual (1 week every year)
something around $4,000.00


Things we would like to have: (again I think) still new to this timeshare thing
Presidential unit
Endless escapes would be nice


I guess the most important thing is...
We want something that will get us the most for trade in value (which is also somthing new to us)
Is there a particular resort that gets a higher trade in value with RCI?
Is there a particular week that gets a higher trade in value with RCI?
What should we get that gets the most for our money?
How will it work if we trade in our week to RCI to go to the carribean? Will we get something compariable to our existing unit? etc.

We are currently looking at one that is:
Lodge unit, Annual, Red week, Wk 15 Deeded at Holliday Hills in Branson with endless escapes - 6 days

Any help/suggestions are definitley appreciated!!!!!!

 

[Bill4728]

Welcome to TUG!!

You're looking to buy a TS with the hopes of trading??

In my opinion, you should look to buy mostly were you want to go. One way to do that is buy into a mini-system which has lots of resorts all over the place rather than buy a single resort with hopes to trade into many different places.

Mini systems (sometimes called point based TSs) like Wyndham, Bluegreen, Hilton, Starwood, worldmark, Diamond, Monarch, Club Intrawest, shell & many others. Allow you to use points to make reservations at all their many resorts. SO YOU DON'T NEED TO TRADE.

Some of these systems can be bought for a song. Wyndham ( one of the biggest) can be purchased resale for <$1000 for a 2 bd peak week. Others like Hilton & Club Intrawest are alot more (>$6000)

The best advice I can give you is to spend some time here looking into the many options you have before buying. It is easy and cheap to buy but it can be very difficult to sell, so take your time before buying.

Good Luck

PS

Things we would like to have: (again I think) still new to this timeshare thing
Presidential unit
Endless escapes would be nice

If you buy a very nice TS system like Hilton, Westin (starwood), Hyatt or Marriott all their units are top notch and you'll not need a "Presidential unit"

All TS owners who are associated with one of the big exchange companies have access to cheap get-a-way weeks thru the exchange companies. PLUS there are many TS owners who rent their units for not alot on money. Something like "Endless escapes" is available to almost everyone and not something I look for in a TS system.

 

[chellej]

I used to own silverleaf and here is my 2 cents.

Unless you can use the endless escapes, the maintenenace fees are too high compared to exchange power.

The galveston resort, spring break or prime summer is probably the only resort that will pull top trades in RCI. You can do much better as far as traders go with RCI for less investment and lower maintenance fees.

 

[Reefgeek]

Welcome to TUG!!.

Thank You!!


You're looking to buy a TS with the hopes of trading??
Did you laugh after this question? lol

In my opinion, you should look to buy mostly were you want to go. One way to do that is buy into a mini-system which has lots of resorts all over the place rather than buy a single resort with hopes to trade into many different places.

We are looking to go places where we can dive. (WARM WATER) ie: ABC islands (Bonair), Belize, Caymans, Mexico, fiji, etc.


Mini systems (sometimes called point based TSs) like Wyndham, Bluegreen, Hilton, Starwood, worldmark, Diamond, Monarch, Club Intrawest, shell & many others. Allow you to use points to make reservations at all their many resorts. SO YOU DON'T NEED TO TRADE. Unfortunately, I know nothing about the points system. Would I be able to spend about $4,000.00 up front and go on a carribean type vacation every year?



Some of these systems can be bought for a song. Wyndham ( one of the biggest) can be purchased resale for <$1000 for a 2 bd peak week. Others like Hilton & Club Intrawest are alot more (>$6000) I don't want to invest more than $4,000.00. Is this possible for what we are looking for? If so, for where we are wanting to go which is the best choice? What is a bd peak week?


The best advice I can give you is to spend some time here looking into the many options you have before buying. It is easy and cheap to buy but it can be very difficult to sell, so take your time before buying. Will do! With the points system, what should we be looking for when purchasing?


Good Luck


PS
If you buy a very nice TS system like Hilton, Westin (starwood), Hyatt or Marriott all their units are top notch and you'll not need a "Presidential unit"This sounds great but would the places that we want to go be an option?



All TS owners who are associated with one of the big exchange companies have access to cheap get-a-way weeks thru the exchange companies. PLUS there are many TS owners who rent their units for not alot on money. Something like "Endless escapes" is available to almost everyone and not something I look for in a TS system. When you say unit does that mean we would have a unit, week, color the same as the silverleaf type systems?

This board is great! I am glad that I found it before I made a purchase!!! Thank you!!!!

 

[Reefgeek]

I used to own silverleaf and here is my 2 cents.

Unless you can use the endless escapes, the maintenenace fees are too high compared to exchange power.

The galveston resort, spring break or prime summer is probably the only resort that will pull top trades in RCI. You can do much better as far as traders go with RCI for less investment and lower maintenance fees.

Wow! okay. So you too probably suggest going with a point system also?

 

[Reefgeek]

Looking to purchase a Timeshare....

I thought that I would start another thread that wasn't geared directly toward silverleaf as I thought other newbies may benefit...

Welcome to TUG!!

You're looking to buy a TS with the hopes of trading??

In my opinion, you should look to buy mostly were you want to go. One way to do that is buy into a mini-system which has lots of resorts all over the place rather than buy a single resort with hopes to trade into many different places.

Mini systems (sometimes called point based TSs) like Wyndham, Bluegreen, Hilton, Starwood, worldmark, Diamond, Monarch, Club Intrawest, shell & many others. Allow you to use points to make reservations at all their many resorts. SO YOU DON'T NEED TO TRADE.

Some of these systems can be bought for a song. Wyndham ( one of the biggest) can be purchased resale for <$1000 for a 2 bd peak week. Others like Hilton & Club Intrawest are alot more (>$6000)

The best advice I can give you is to spend some time here looking into the many options you have before buying. It is easy and cheap to buy but it can be very difficult to sell, so take your time before buying.

Good Luck

PS
If you buy a very nice TS system like Hilton, Westin (starwood), Hyatt or Marriott all their units are top notch and you'll not need a "Presidential unit"

All TS owners who are associated with one of the big exchange companies have access to cheap get-a-way weeks thru the exchange companies. PLUS there are many TS owners who rent their units for not alot on money. Something like "Endless escapes" is available to almost everyone and not something I look for in a TS system.

Okay, I just finished reading "Timeshare 101"

I did learn a lot although there were a few questions that stood out...

Page 5: (Timeshare 101) Long term "value" of your points in reserving accommodations. This concerned me a little bit

Page 9: (Timeshare 101) Exchange Value: Being able to predict the exchange value of your timeshare aids in making long-range vacation plans. If you need a timeshare before you can have a membership to an exchange company then how do you determine the exchange value?

Page 10: (Timeshare 101) If you are purchasing to trade regularly, you should focus on areas and seasons that will provide the exhange value you need for the best price (considering purchase price and annual fees.)
Page: 16 (Timeshare 101) Primary factor for exchange value: Location, season, and how far you deposit your unit in advance of check-in. Resort rating and size of unit are less important than many people realize. How do you determine the best areas and seasons?

Those were the ones that stuck out the most for me. But that still leaves me with what works best for me...

We want to use our vacation for resorts that have great warm water diving. Corals, fish, etc.
ABC islands, fiji, belize, red sea, bahamas, key west, carribean, etc.

How many points would we need to take a vacation like this?

If you go with a point system, do you get a Deeded week?

You mention Wyndham, Is this a point system?

HELP!?!?!??! Points/ Deeded week ?!?!?!?

 

[Bill4728]

Okay, I just finished reading "Timeshare 101"

I did learn a lot although there were a few questions that stood out...

Page 5: (Timeshare 101) Long term "value" of your points in reserving accommodations. This concerned me a little bit

Most point based TS systems have some point inflation. So when the system opens a new resort, the number of points to reserve at that new resort may be more than reserving at a older resort. BUT your points should always get you into any of the older resorts.

Page 9: (Timeshare 101) Exchange Value: Being able to predict the exchange value of your timeshare aids in making long-range vacation plans. If you need a timeshare before you can have a membership to an exchange company then how do you determine the exchange value?

The exchange companies will not tell you which resorts and weeks they value most and will give you the best trading power. So this isn't really something to worry about.

Page 10: (Timeshare 101) If you are purchasing to trade regularly, you should focus on areas and seasons that will provide the exhange value you need for the best price (considering purchase price and annual fees.)

Page: 16 (Timeshare 101) Primary factor for exchange value: Location, season, and how far you deposit your unit in advance of check-in. Resort rating and size of unit are less important than many people realize. How do you determine the best areas and seasons?

The best places to own for trade value are those which have a smaller supply than the demand for those areas/season. So even though Orlando has maybe the biggest demand it also has even a bigger supply of TS in that area. So most people say don't buy Orlando for trading ( even with it huge demand) because the supply is bigger than the demand.

This is part of the reason I suggested you look into big point based mini systems. Because you just use your pts to reserve where you want to visit instead of trying to trade.

Those were the ones that stuck out the most for me. But that still leaves me with what works best for me...

We want to use our vacation for resorts that have great warm water diving. Corals, fish, etc.
ABC islands, fiji, belize, red sea, bahamas, key west, carribean, etc.

How many points would we need to take a vacation like this?

If you go with a point system, do you get a Deeded week?

You mention Wyndham, Is this a point system? Wyndham is one of the biggest point based systems but it can be a little tricky. Read about wyndham on the wyndham board

HELP!?!?!??! Points/ Deeded week ?!?!?!?

Here is a link to the FAQ about point based TS systems. Read it and then ask more questions.

 

[bnoble]

Most point based TS systems have some point inflation. So when the system opens a new resort, the number of points to reserve at that new resort may be more than reserving at a older resort. BUT your points should always get you into any of the older resorts.

There is another potential pitfall, though---some systems do revalue points ownerships. For example, when Vistana was downgraded from Gold Crown to Silver, I believe the RCI Points values were reduced as well. RCI Points is one of the few point systems that has actually done things like this. Wyndham's rules allow them to change point values, but no one can ever remember them doing so.

 

[sandkastle4966]

dont buy wyndham if you want rci trading power - you will NOT be able to trade into the caribbean.

 

[wackymother]

I know there are lots of points lovers here, but honestly, if you know you love to dive, and you know what time of year you will mostly want to travel, why not just buy the week you want? The points systems seem so complicated to me.

How about Morritt's in Grand Cayman? Beautiful units, very reasonable prices on eBay (much less than $4,000), and great diving, or so people tell me. The maintenance fees are high and of course you have to fly down there every year, and there's always the chance of special assessments, but overall it seems like a good value.

If you post in the Caribbean forum, people will be able to recommend good resorts for your interests. Good luck!

 

[capjak]

Marriott has St Kitts, St Thomas, Hawaii,

Starwood has Cancun, Bahamas, St John and Hawaii

Hilton Florida/Hawaii/Mexico ( but has added bonus for resale owners of using hotels that are scattered through out world

Not familiar with other systems

Cost:

Unfortunately I think these options (Marriott/Starwood/Hilton) will stretch your budget of $4000.

You could probably get a Sheraton Vistana Villiages (2 bedroom annual, 81,000 staroptions) for around 6000. RCI and II trader

Marriott Grand Vista (orlando) 2 bedroom lock off for 7000. II trader

Hilton Las Vegas 5000 points for 6000. RCI trader

 

[Reefgeek]

I know there are lots of points lovers here, but honestly, if you know you love to dive, and you know what time of year you will mostly want to travel, why not just buy the week you want? The points systems seem so complicated to me.

How about Morritt's in Grand Cayman? Beautiful units, very reasonable prices on eBay (much less than $4,000), and great diving, or so people tell me. The maintenance fees are high and of course you have to fly down there every year, and there's always the chance of special assessments, but overall it seems like a good value.

If you post in the Caribbean forum, people will be able to recommend good resorts for your interests. Good luck!

I was thinking possibly purchasing in The Keys in Florida that way if we are unable to go to the carribean then Florida will still be nice to visit.

Lets say I got a Summer week in Key Largo Fl. Would we be able to trade that for a carribean week if we wanted? I did notice that a majority of the units in the Keys are floating weeks.

 

[djanash]

Im new as well, and my two cents...Windjammer Landing in St Lucia

High trading power
Nice Island
Can be gotten for cheap on ebay and craigslist $4k
check out the reviews on line an on the TUG reviews
Open type condos + views, very nice...lots of pics available
rci member

 

[Reefgeek]

My head is spinning!!!!! LOL

I think it would be easier to trade out of The Keys instead of into The Keys.

But from what I am reading they are not that cheap! Some have high maintenance fees. I would love to find one for around $4k with low maintenance fees

I would think that a week in the keys would trade for almost anything else?!?!?!?

 

[Reefgeek]

What is the minimum points that I should accept annually for a timeshare?

I guess what I am asking is...When looking for re-sales, what is a good points # to look for?

 

[Bill4728]

What is the minimum points that I should accept annually for a timeshare?

I guess what I am asking is...When looking for re-sales, what is a good points # to look for?

Each point system has a different amount of points which equal a 2 bd TS in peak season

Wyndham is 154,000
Worldmark is 10,000
Hilton is 7,000
Club Intrawest is 200
Monarch Grand is 144
Starwood is 124,000

BUT your question is somewhat disturbing because IMHO the biggest mistake people make when buying a point based TS is buying too few points. Make sure you buy enough points!!

 

[Reefgeek]

Well after doing some searches for Key West, it looks like most are weeks and not points. There are a lot that have floating weeks. What is your take on those?

 

[Reefgeek]

Each point system has a different amount of points which equal a 2 bd TS in peak season

Wyndham is 154,000
Worldmark is 10,000
Hilton is 7,000 I did see a Hilton Beach House in Key West
Club Intrawest is 200
Monarch Grand is 144
Starwood is 124,000

BUT your question is somewhat disturbing because IMHO the biggest mistake people make when buying a point based TS is buying too few points. Make sure you buy enough points!!

I don't remember seeing any of the others.

 

[Reefgeek]

Well I guess I should have asked what the base amount for each was so I know to get much more.

 

[bnoble]

Some point systmes also suffer from "point creep"---newer resorts cost more for a peak unit than older resorts. Wyndham FairShare Plus definitely does. It pays to think a little bit about what resorts you expect to visit, and plan your purchase accordingly.

 

[Reefgeek]

I am not seeing any points based ts in Key West. It looks as though most are deeded fixed or floating weeks.

 

[Bill4728]

I am not seeing any points based ts in Key West. It looks as though most are deeded fixed or floating weeks.

Hyatt is point based and has 3 TS in the Key west area.

IMHO Hyatt is a great system but there are only a hand full of people who post here about Hyatt.

Look on the "other TS systems " board.

 

[Reefgeek]

Oh wow, this is getting way too confusing. Then why are they listing fixed or floating weeks on the tug classifieds for these properties. Why dont they list the points?

I am very close to giving up on this. I am afraid that I will get into something that is worthless. UGH

 

[capjak]

Hyatt Key West based on tug research is probably a good one, trades in II but most Hyatt owners state that you need at least 1800 points which will cost 10K+

 

[Reefgeek]

Yeah I couldn't even find one with 1800 points that cheap. They were closer to 18k or up. I guess I am a little out of my league with key west. Or shall i say a little out of my budget!

Is it even possible to find what I want and stay within my budget in the Key West area?