My Survey

[thatgirl913]

A bit of backgroud before the questions:
We have the option to be gifted a Vacation Village at Weston 2 bedroom with no mortgage. Current owner has used once. We have used once. We plan to use in the future and will take over maintenance fees as long as we are using (because that’s fair). Reason for having moved to our name is for ease of use, banking of weeks at RCI and full understanding of “what is owned/available”. Current owner is clueless and unreliable when it comes to getting things done in a timely manner. However, we don’t want to take it over and be “stuck” down the road due to unforeseen fees or just not fully understanding what we are getting into. So with all of that, here is the survey:

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where? Orlando for now, some shorter tips to Branson as it is close

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time? May never visit home resort, most likely will just use RCI weeks trading power

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? For now Orlando and Branson area, in the next few years National Parks and Washington DC, then some out of country. All based on kids getting older

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself? 4, we always invite a grandparent or two and IF they come it would increase to 5-6

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Mostly school schedule. We have never been to orlando in the summer though. We use our Spring break (March) and fall break (October). But we would go to some of the more northern National Park areas in the summer.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? 3 star or better

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? We typically spend close to $3k on a week on accommodations in Orlando

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
The maintenance fees are every other year at $947 for 2020 with typical increases (not due again until 2022); taxes on the “off maintenance” years have been less than $100 every two years and the RCI fee seems to be $150 or so for 2 years? Not sure on that as it is currently not due until 2022. Even all of that added together paid every other year is WAY less than the $3k we spend annually on just Orlando week alone.

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? Very

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do? Yes, this is my worry . I’m afraid I’m “missing something”. Sort of the blind leading the blind over here.

 

[CO skier]

You seem to be a good candidate for a timeshare. You have used the timeshare, so you know what you are getting into (and you are asking the right questions before you take the plunge).

$947 mf + $150 RCI fee + $239 RCI exchange fee = $1339 per week every other year

Since you plan to exchange most of the time, a points-based timeshare might be a more cost effective timeshare. For a comparison, WorldMark has many resorts near National Parks -- Rocky Mt., Yellowstone (difficult to reserve in summer) Olympic, Zion (not "northern Nation Parks", though), Orlando, Branson, but mostly west of the Mississippi locations. Club Wyndham would be a good option to look into for east of the Mississippi locations. There are no exchange fees to reserve the different resorts in each system, just the points.

The current mf on a 20,000 credits WorldMark ownership is $1606.15/year. Use the dropdown menu on this webpage to look at the resorts you might be interest in, select the resort, then select the "Credit Values" to see what 20,000 credits will get you. You could also buy a 10,000 credits ownership (mf = $914.55/year), and use 20,000 credits every other year.

https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/

WorldMark ownerships are not free like your VV deal. A 20,000 credit ownership will cost $3000 - $4000, depending on where you buy. Good deals are available on eBay, but deal only with sellers that have extensive positive feedback.

Timeshares are easy to buy; many are difficult to unload. I do not know if VV has a deedback program for when you are done with the timeshare. WorldMark might have some resale value or Wyndham offers Ovation to take back your ownership at no cost to owners. One of the easiest ways out of a timeshare.

Timeshare maintenance fees increase every year (generally). WorldMark goes up 5% every year, lately. The only "unforeseen" fees would be a special assessment. WorldMark has never had one.

 

[mcsteve]

It sounds like you have pretty much made up your mind that this is what you want. I get the impression that the “ missing something” component may be your own hesitation at the maintenance fee. Owning a TS means you are on the hook when these are due, regardless of your intention to use. Your statement that you

will take over maintenance fees as long as we are using (because that’s fair).

does suggest that you may not be on board with this concept. Maintenance fees are part of the deal and, unfortunately, are not based on usage but ownership. As long as you own you are responsible for their payment. I’ll double that

Timeshares are easy to buy; many are difficult to unload.

. If you feel you no longer wish to own, simply not paying your fees can lead to a whole other mess of problems.

VV @ Weston is a good quality location with good trading power in RCI. I acquired a 2BR unit this past year at the same location for the same reasons you have eluded to. I mostly wanted it as a trader but I would also be happy to stay here if it lost its ability to be traded.

 

[thatgirl913]

Thank you, the family member would be fine with continuing to own it and allowing us use without us ever taking ownership. I am the one that thinks it would be easier to just go ahead and take ownership. I (we) don’t feel right using it year over year while someone else pays the maintenance fees (that’s the fair statement) and they agree. The big thing is that it essentially becomes ours for use “anytime we want”. But then we have to rely on a non-detailed oriented person who knows less about it than I do at this point to bank the weeks at the right time, make the reservations, ask all the questions, make the calls for us, ect. ... and we pay an additional fee to book in our name every time. So, to me it seems better to just go ahead and put it in our name, but I wanted to make sure that wasn’t a bad idea. Sounds like we have covered our bases though. I do need to find out about special assessments, that isn’t one I’ve asked about and certainly don’t want to be hit with unexpectedly. Thanks everyone.

 

[Panina]

I would continue using as you have and would not take ownership. My reason, not the most desirable timeshare and when you decide you don’t want it, it can be very hard to get rid of. Now you want Orlando, an easy trade but later in life you might want places that are high in demand and you might have difficulty getting them with ownership at this resort.

 

[thatgirl913]

I would continue using as you have and would not take ownership. My reason, not the most desirable timeshare and when you decide you don’t want it, it can be very hard to get rid of. Now you want Orlando, an easy trade but later in life you might want places that are high in demand and you might have difficulty getting them with ownership at this resort.

That’s good info and something we wouldn’t know. Thank you.

 

[mcsteve]

Now you want Orlando, an easy trade but later in life you might want places that are high in demand and you might have difficulty getting them with ownership at this resort.

Just to be clear, I believe the OP stated they are considering VV@Weston, not the VV locations in Orlando.

 

[Panina]

Just to be clear, I believe the OP stated they are considering VV@Weston, not the VV locations in Orlando.

Yes, understood that. Just do a search on VV@Weston and there are so many available, seems hard to get rid of. There are many other free timeshares that are easy to give away and are great traders.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I want to echo what @Panina is stating. Just ask your family member to provide you the login and you can manage paying maint fees, reserving, saving the points etc.

If your family member is older and you are much younger, there are advantages to keeping it in their name. I am not sure if VV will deed back timeshares easily or cost effectively. Weston is in Florida so you can legally walk from it but this will involve foreclosure and may affect your credit. This way, when your older family member passes, no one will be obligated to own it. If you own it the obligation to pay maintenance fees will last for your life - perhaps many more years than you want and you will kick yourself for taking over ownership unless you decide to walk.

 

[CPNY]

A bit of backgroud before the questions:
We have the option to be gifted a Vacation Village at Weston 2 bedroom with no mortgage. Current owner has used once. We have used once. We plan to use in the future and will take over maintenance fees as long as we are using (because that’s fair). Reason for having moved to our name is for ease of use, banking of weeks at RCI and full understanding of “what is owned/available”. Current owner is clueless and unreliable when it comes to getting things done in a timely manner. However, we don’t want to take it over and be “stuck” down the road due to unforeseen fees or just not fully understanding what we are getting into. So with all of that, here is the survey:

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where? Orlando for now, some shorter tips to Branson as it is close

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time? May never visit home resort, most likely will just use RCI weeks trading power

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? For now Orlando and Branson area, in the next few years National Parks and Washington DC, then some out of country. All based on kids getting older

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself? 4, we always invite a grandparent or two and IF they come it would increase to 5-6

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Mostly school schedule. We have never been to orlando in the summer though. We use our Spring break (March) and fall break (October). But we would go to some of the more northern National Park areas in the summer.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? 3 star or better

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? We typically spend close to $3k on a week on accommodations in Orlando

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
The maintenance fees are every other year at $947 for 2020 with typical increases (not due again until 2022); taxes on the “off maintenance” years have been less than $100 every two years and the RCI fee seems to be $150 or so for 2 years? Not sure on that as it is currently not due until 2022. Even all of that added together paid every other year is WAY less than the $3k we spend annually on just Orlando week alone.

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? Very

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do? Yes, this is my worry . I’m afraid I’m “missing something”. Sort of the blind leading the blind over here.

Pick up a MVC property, getting into orlando is super easy. Or you can just join interval and book getaways in two bedrooms cheaper than any maint fee will be.

 

[thatgirl913]

I want to echo what @Panina is stating. Just ask your family member to provide you the login and you can manage paying maint fees, reserving, saving the points etc.

If your family member is older and you are much younger, there are advantages to keeping it in their name. I am not sure if VV will deed back timeshares easily or cost effectively. Weston is in Florida so you can legally walk from it but this will involve foreclosure and may affect your credit. This way, when your older family member passes, no one will be obligated to own it. If you own it the obligation to pay maintenance fees will last for your life - perhaps many more years than you want and you will kick yourself for taking over ownership unless you decide to walk.

Thank you! That’s good advice. We thought we would “have to” take it when he passed. Good to know we don’t have to.

 

[Hobokie]

I am WAAAAY less experienced than a lot of folks on here having joined just in August of 2018 and having closed on my 2 timeshares in June & October, but I personally have NOT had a good experience with RCI (perhaps because I'm using my HGVC to see RCI inventory compared to folks who own independent or smaller system properties and log into RCI independently?) Namely, I rarely find anything I would actually want to book (even if I'm looking out 9-12 months in advance) and I like a bit more flexibility on checking in dates. I also don't like the idea of needing to book full weeks (I'm a shorter vacay kinda gal and RCI has a lot less of these, at least through my HGVC) and to me the extra fees (all inclusives, exchange fees, etc) seem to make this less appealing. But then again, I probably haven't even scratched the surface on RCI and exchanging possibilities! It sounds like perhaps you have since you have been using the family member's timeshare and know about banking, guest certificate costs, exchange fees, etc... It also sounds like you are doing fine with full week reservations, is this your general preference or would you in fact prefer shorter stays? I bring up the above because you do in fact sound like a good candidate for a timeshare based on my limited knowledge, but perhaps buying the right timeshare FOR YOU vs taking over this property might be a better idea...

Based on the locations you are interested in (Orlando, Branson, National Parks), you should check out the link with resorts that @CO skier posted, I loooooove my Worldmark! And yes, I'm probably biased, but I am amazed at how flexible this system is! Their cancellation policies are above and beyond fair (especially as compared to other systems) and their maintenance fees are VERY REASONABLE. I purchased a 6000 annual points contract (for more money than I should've, to be honest) and pay $704 in annual MF (no additional dues unless I wanted to trade into RCI or II). With 6000 pts I'm doing 3 nights in Yosemite in a 2 bedroom during high season and I'm going to Fiji and doing 4 nights there in a 1 bedroom (I have extra points that were loaded in my account). 6000 points is probably not ideal, especially if your crew is 4-6, and you'd definitely be better off with a larger contract, but for example Orlando Reunion resort is available ALL THE TIME on inventory specials (without the need to use points) for WAY LESS than $3k. I just looked right now and a summer week there would cost you $1,530 for a 3 bedroom. I also checked Branson for fun and coincidentally you could get a summer week there for the same $1530 (in a 2 bd). I would suggest you look at the WM resort list and maybe consider a small (don't do 6k like me, do 7k if anything) contract to check it out. This is within your budget and lower risk than taking over the timeshare you are considering, in my opinion. Also, consider the fact that with WM you can trade into II (Interval International) which allegedly has nicer resorts than RCI (I have not tried this yet, this is what I have seen posted here on TUG).

I'll invite some of the WM pros to comment maybe... @geist1223 , @taterhed and @breezez , what say you about this specific guest's survey?

 

[thatgirl913]

I am WAAAAY less experienced than a lot of folks on here having joined just in August of 2018 and having closed on my 2 timeshares in June & October, but I personally have NOT had a good experience with RCI (perhaps because I'm using my HGVC to see RCI inventory compared to folks who own independent or smaller system properties and log into RCI independently?) Namely, I rarely find anything I would actually want to book (even if I'm looking out 9-12 months in advance) and I like a bit more flexibility on checking in dates. I also don't like the idea of needing to book full weeks (I'm a shorter vacay kinda gal and RCI has a lot less of these, at least through my HGVC) and to me the extra fees (all inclusives, exchange fees, etc) seem to make this less appealing. But then again, I probably haven't even scratched the surface on RCI and exchanging possibilities! It sounds like perhaps you have since you have been using the family member's timeshare and know about banking, guest certificate costs, exchange fees, etc... It also sounds like you are doing fine with full week reservations, is this your general preference or would you in fact prefer shorter stays? I bring up the above because you do in fact sound like a good candidate for a timeshare based on my limited knowledge, but perhaps buying the right timeshare FOR YOU vs taking over this property might be a better idea...

Based on the locations you are interested in (Orlando, Branson, National Parks), you should check out the link with resorts that @CO skier posted, I loooooove my Worldmark! And yes, I'm probably biased, but I am amazed at how flexible this system is! Their cancellation policies are above and beyond fair (especially as compared to other systems) and their maintenance fees are VERY REASONABLE. I purchased a 6000 annual points contract (for more money than I should've, to be honest) and pay $704 in annual MF (no additional dues unless I wanted to trade into RCI or II). With 6000 pts I'm doing 3 nights in Yosemite in a 2 bedroom during high season and I'm going to Fiji and doing 4 nights there in a 1 bedroom (I have extra points that were loaded in my account). 6000 points is probably not ideal, especially if your crew is 4-6, and you'd definitely be better off with a larger contract, but for example Orlando Reunion resort is available ALL THE TIME on inventory specials (without the need to use points) for WAY LESS than $3k. I just looked right now and a summer week there would cost you $1,530 for a 3 bedroom. I also checked Branson for fun and coincidentally you could get a summer week there for the same $1530 (in a 2 bd). I would suggest you look at the WM resort list and maybe consider a small (don't do 6k like me, do 7k if anything) contract to check it out. This is within your budget and lower risk than taking over the timeshare you are considering, in my opinion. Also, consider the fact that with WM you can trade into II (Interval International) which allegedly has nicer resorts than RCI (I have not tried this yet, this is what I have seen posted here on TUG).

I'll invite some of the WM pros to comment maybe... @geist1223 , @taterhed and @breezez , what say you about this specific guest's survey?

Thank you! I welcome the input.

 

[geist1223]

We have been Worldmark Owners since August 2002. We have 89K Worldmark Credits/Points. Most of these were purchased from the Developer. Which most people on this Forum do not recommend. However this grants us access to Wyndham (formerly Worldmark) South Pacific without having to do an II or RCI trade. Originally this gave us access to New Zealand and Australia. In a few weeks we are making our 4th trip in 10 years Downunder. We are spending 2 weeks in Tasmania and 1 week in Melbourne. We previously have been to Rotorua New Zealand (twice), Sydney Australia (twice), Coffs Harbour Australia, and Hobart Tasmania. In the last couple years Wyndham South Pacific has been expanding to Europe (Bavaria, Tuscany, and Normandy), Japan, Thailand, etc. We also have access to Club Pass (most Wyndham Resorts). So there can be benefits to buying from the Developer.

Worldmark currently has about 90 Resorts. It is true that most are West of the Mississippi. They do have 2 Resorts in Orlando, 1 in Dayton Beach and partials in Fort Lauderdale; partial in Myrtle Beach; and, partial in Pennsylvania.

Worldmark is a pure Points/Credits System. There is no Home Resort. It can be difficult and a challenge to Book very popular Resorts during High Season (Hawaii, Oregon Coast, Yellowstone, etc). It also has City locations - Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, etc. In addition to Yellowstone there is St George (Zion), Granby Rocky Mountain Preserve, and building by Arches National Park.

We always try to Book 13 months in advance to the day. You can cancel without penalty 30 days before check-in. Worldmark also has several Cash options such as Bonus Time, Inventory Specials, and Monday Madness. Worldmark also has a Waitlist. You can have 4 pending Wait lists at the same time. Wait list can be very successful as many Reservations are cancelled.

We would recommend a minimum Account of 20K Credits/Points. This will give you 2 Housekeeping Credits and 2 Guest Certificates. One funny thing about Worldmark is that the more Credits/Points you own the less in MF per Credit/Point you pay. The Gross Amount is of course greater but the cost per Credit Point is less. Also MF's are set by 2500 Blocks of Credits/Points. So a person owning 65K Credits/Points pays the exact same gross MF as a person a person owning 63K Credits/Points.

Resell Credits/Points are way cheaper than Developer Credits/Points. You have full access to all Worldmark Resorts, the cash options, wait list, trades through II, trades through RCI. You do have to pay to join RCI and II. Then there is the trade fee.

Between 13 months and 10 months prior to check-in you have to Reserve a full week. After that you can Book less than a full week. Check-in is any day of the week.

So if you can plan more than 13 months in advance, Book at 13 months, and realize that you might have to work hard to get a popular Resort Worldmark should work for you. I have never had a problem Booking Orlando.