Need advice - to buy TS or rent for 1 week every year?

[tryingfirsttime]

Recently found this website while searching for something else (Cancun vacation). But the question I have is about Lake Tahoe.

Depending upon snow, we rent a house for a week every year and do some day trips (4 hrs drive) to ski. I have always wanted to buy a vacation home in Tahoe but could not justify from financial perspective.

Reading up on TS, I think this could work very nicely for us.

Should I be looking at Resort System (Marriott, DRI etc) or should I pick up something from Bargain basement? I am in no rush and can wait for some time for right thing to pop up. Also, we try to take vacation to other places too (Cancun, Cabo, Asia, Eurpoe every other year).

What would be advice/question for a newbie to TS?

TIA
-Vic

 

[TUGBrian]

would absolutely suggest looking into renting before making a purchase! its a fantastic way to "try before you buy" the product without being locked into any ownership!

many folks even find renting suits their needs forever...so until you find the answers to all your questions on here, dont hesitate one bit about being a renter!

welcome to TUG!

 

[WinniWoman]

I just had a discussion with another owner at our resort about renting vs. buying. Now that are maintenance fees are getting higher and higher, it is almost more worth it for people to rent rather than buy at our resort. She only rents for the cost of the maintenance fees- she refuses to pay any higher than that for a rental. Many owners rent their units or at least try to rent for more than the maintenance fee, but it is getting more difficult.

Of course, hopefully, with a rental, the week and/or building/unit you would want would be available for the dates you would want. The benefit to owning could be that you can get the unit/building/dates you want every year with no hassle.

I do both. I own 3 weeks and I usually rent another week or at least a few days to go other places in addition to my home resorts.

 

[ronparise]

Mary Ann hit the nail on the head

The question is always availability. It does no good to be able to rent for less than mf if the week you want isn't available

And there are some weeks where the demand is high enough that that you will have to pay double or triple mf to rent one

I much prefer ownership

I own my home rather than rent and I own my cars rather than lease and I own a boat rather than chartering one. In all three cases I could get by cheaper renting but I don't. I feel the same way about vacation ownership

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

rent " mud " weeks vs own prime

If you want to go to NOLA every year during Mardi Gras you would do best to own . etc etc
( Almost ) Every resort has prime weeks and easy to rent weeks .
depends when you want to go .

 

[Ty1on]

I've spent a lot of time in Tahoe. PEAK ski weeks are a good time to own a timeshare if you plan to go there annually. If you don't mind taking your chances on mud weeks with the hope the slopes are skiable, renting may be an option.

San Francisco swims in money, and they are willing to spend it for Tahoe skiing. If you rent during peak weeks, you are competing against their pocketbooks.

 

[bogey21]

Another thought on this subject. My Son likes to ski. He doesn't have a lot of money and flies Standby (essentially free to him) as his Mother is a Flight Attendant with American Airlines. Thus he usually travels outbound early Monday am and returns on Friday. This way he flies free and only has 4 days of destination expenses (occupancy, food, lift tickets, etc.) In his case renting may be a better alternative than owning a full Week TS.

George

 

[Here There]

treating a Tahoe ski TS like a vacation home

...Depending upon snow, we rent a house for a week every year and do some day trips (4 hrs drive) to ski. I have always wanted to buy a vacation home in Tahoe but could not justify from financial perspective.

Reading up on TS, I think this could work very nicely for us.

Should I be looking at Resort System (Marriott, DRI etc) or should I pick up something from Bargain basement? Also, we try to take vacation to other places too (Cancun, Cabo, Asia, Eurpoe every other year).

What would be advice/question for a newbie to TS?

I bought 2 resale units at Olympic Village Inn (Squaw Valley) 20+ years ago specifically to support a skiing lifestyle for a growing family. I found that owning allowed us to ski during premium weeks and weekends that would have been prohibitively expensive otherwise. We owned 2 weeks (1 winter, 1 shoulder) to give us a 30-day reservation priority, which we used to reserve week 51, 52 or President's week on a rotating basis (since there was a 1 in 3 yr limit on those prime weeks). We would trade the shoulder week for "easier" trades into SoCal beaches in the summer or Spring break skiing at South Shore (eg, Ridge Tahoe).

Another advantage of owning is bonus time: I would call in for waitlisting the minute the calendar opened and always got my request filled. We used to go up every 2-3 weekends and ended up skiing 20-25 days per season. Again impossible to consider without owning a TS.

Although the units were miniscule (<400 sqft, LK), besides bonus time we chose OVI for several other reasons:

- easy accessibility to/from Hwy 80...Hwy 50 (south shore) would be a more difficult winter commute

- it was 1 of only 2 TSs located next to world-class skiing at Squaw Valley...and SV offered (back then) dirt-cheap lift tickets for kids <12 yo.

- an almost ski-in/ski-out experience via frequent resort provided shuttles or walking <10 minutes in ski boots...important for a family with different ski schedules

- a resort rental program which netted us a fair profit, should we forego using our week.

Although I've owned in other TS systems I looked beyond system-related benefits and considered only accessibility and ease of usage when it came to buying a TS for skiing only. Have fun shopping!

 

[tryingfirsttime]

Very nice responses and excellent information here.

As everyone pointed out, the biggest challenge is availability and the price that you have to pay. Besides the peak days, its all open and you can rent it for much cheaper but its a major struggle to find a good rental for peak days (weeks 51-52-1).

Like I was looking at rentals last night for this coming weekend (even tiny ones which sleep 4)...and its all $300/night :annoyed:

I like what "HereThere" posted below and that is exactly what I had in mind too. I just need to evaluate the cost and see if I willing to pay that.

Thanks once again for all the excellent info.

-Vic

 

[Here There]

I just need to evaluate the cost and see if I willing to pay that.

Keep in mind the cost is only one consideration to owning a TS for one's own use. One needs also to learn the rules, esp. timing: The earliest time to reserve your week, waitlist bonus time, place the unit into the rental pool, the deposit window to get a free AC, etc.

Also I find that having certain resort amenities enhance my ski TS experience, making it even better than staying in many hotels or private homes: hot tubs, sauna, pool (to recharge the tired body), and fitness facilities, clubhouse, gameroom (all antidotes for cabin fever).

 

[tryingfirsttime]

Keep in mind the cost is only one consideration to owning a TS for one's own use. One needs also to learn the rules, esp. timing: The earliest time to reserve your week, waitlist bonus time, place the unit into the rental pool, the deposit window to get a free AC, etc.
.

Nice tips. I am reading more on OVI and like it so far. I did find some TS at OVI for sale.

What do you think would be a fair price for 1/1 (375 sq ft) for Red season?

-Vic

 

[decadude]

I would suggest owning but this is always a personal question I think brians philosophy of try before you buy is solid.

There is nothing wrong with renting.

I choose ownership because I was patient and got the exact dang timeshare portfolio since I am a multiple resort owner that I wanted after a mound of research.

I do have a high maintenance fee annually but to me the money spent is worth it.

 

[Here There]

due diligence

What do you think would be a fair price for 1/1 (375 sq ft) for Red season?

Before making an offer, go over the contents of the HOA section on their website, incl. past newsletters. Phone the reservations mgr & ask the likelihood of a single week owner booking weeks 51, 52 or 7 if call is placed when calendar opens. If it's unlikely then you might need to buy 2 weeks.

The resort has a resale office. Speak to Greg and ask about the going price. Guessing that a winter week ~$500 and a shoulder week for free. Negotiate.

Finally speak to the Manager: ask about rate of MF increases & likelihood of special assessments. Also ask about the resort's policy of accepting deedbacks (exit strategy).

All 3 parties have worked there for decades, and most winter owners are committed SV skiiers who own multiple weeks. Go through the vetting process to see if owning there is right for you. If you do end up joining this tight club, jump on the calendar queue for booking, bonus time, and renting out...as competition is fierce among the players. Best wishes!

 

[tryingfirsttime]

OMG! HereThere...you are my hero, Thanks for spoon feeding me with what to look for at OVI

I will be up there this weekend and was planning on talking to someone at the sales office.

I have found 2 units, both around out the door price of $500.

-Vic

 

[tryingfirsttime]

A followup question (after some discussion with my better half)

1. Since I can use prime holidays once every 3 years, can I rent out the other 2 ? How much does the rent typically cover? All of MF dues?

2. Can I exchange my week at OVI for something like a vacation in Cancun (with some extra money)?

Thanks again
-Vic

 

[Here There]

talk to reservation mgr 1st!!!

... was planning on talking to someone at the sales office. I have found 2 units, both around out the door price of $500.

Whoa! Owning a TS is like getting a pet: you're in it for the long haul, and the token adoption fee is nothing compared to ongoing costs. To repeat: talk to res mgr Sherrie 1st to see how competitive it is to book prime holiday weeks. Then negotiate with salesguy Greg and develop a rapport with GM Mark Z. Note that Sherrie works only on weekdays.
Pros for owning at OVI: access world-class skiing at SV & Alpine Meadows without driving to the slopes; SV is always first to open & last to close. Con: Can't rent out/give away even Week 7 during the drought years.

1. Since I can use prime holidays once every 3 years, can I rent out the other 2 ? How much does the rent typically cover? All of MF dues?

Read up on HOA/Rules & Reg/Holiday Rules to better understand 1 in 3. You could rent the other 2 weeks an owners discount. Many just rent bonus time for all the 3 day weekends.

2. Can I exchange my week at OVI for something like a vacation in Cancun (with some extra money)?

Exchanging a high value week is an art & requires another learning curve, you can learn the intricacies once you become an owner. Always consider buying cash getaways as an alternative to trading & do think hard about whether you wish to deposit that prime week that you fought so hard to book.

I hope you're now armed with adequate alerts to make an informed decision. I must now take leave to tend to my own travel planning & TS billpaying. [So many rules & deadlines to observe that sometimes it feels like my head will explode!]

best wishes!

 

[qwerty]

If you like to ski at Squaw, owning at OVI is great. M/F was $840 for the 2015/ 2016 season. (Placer County taxes are additional, less than $50.00) Being a long time owner, I usually reserve our five winter weeks as far in advance as the almost two years allowed. The one in three rule applies to each of my weeks, so that owning five allows me to reserve almost any week(s) that we want. Even owning one week, you should be able to get almost any week that you want as long as you reserve far out in advance. Talk to Sherrie at reservations regarding this. In addition, you may be able to bookend your week with bonus nights @ approximately 1/7 the annual M/F. If you are convinced that you want to own at least one week, check with Greg for availability. You may be offered an OVI week already converted to points. If so, I advise you to only get a week that is not in points. From my perspective and under current conditions with RCI, I will probably never bank any of our weeks. Nor would I ever convert to RCI points. If I understand correctly, you do not belong to RCI or currently own a T/S. RCI charges an annual fee and currently a $209.00 exchange fee. Although we do not live within driving distance, we have never regretted buying our first week over twenty years ago.