Need help! Considering a time share

[Mitch Goldstein]

Where do I go to look at options? We stayed at the new Hilton in Hilton Head, and loved it. We want somewhere to spend a week with our kids and eventually with grandchildren. We like Hilton Head (golf for me and beach for my wife) and would also consider something more family friendly for future grandkids.

i don't want to pay full retail. The average cost per night for Hilton Head's deal would have been $600-800 for ten years!

Here are the answers to the questions:

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Hilton Head Island or kid friendly. Nothing that we are set on. Potentially Las Vegas.

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?

Plan on trading - maybe half the time if there is golf and pool/beach.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? Hilton Head, somewhere small children friendly, Southern Cal, really beach and golf

4) How many people do you usually travel with? 4-6 total

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? As of now, any time. Prefer spring or fall probably.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes, but prefer more like six month planning

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?
we really like Hilton Grand Vacations, but that is all we have looked at.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? We would like to minimize up front costs. That is why we are looking at resale. $5k or so? Really unsure of reality.

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? Up to $1200

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? No

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

 

[Passepartout]

Mitch, due generally to your inexperience, and purported desire to 'trade around', I'd suggest just renting. Don't buy any timeshare. As annual maintenance fees have increased, actual costs of use have become very close to rental costs. and when you roll in exchange fees (yes, it costs about $300ish to trade) and memberships to an exchange company, you can rent cheaper and have no buy-in cost or difficulty in getting rid of the obligation, and you can have the flexibility to go where you want on (relatively) shorter notice than owning and reserving.

Look in the TUG Marketplace in the dark blue stripe at the top of this page, or on Redweek(.com) for rentals. Try other systems, Hilton is nice, but it's not the only game in town. If you blow $15 to join TUG, you can look at reviews of thousands of resorts worldwide.

Not saying that you won't find just exactly the property you want to buy at the price you want to pay, but at least rent a few times so that you know the difference.

Jim

 

[Mitch Goldstein]

Thanks for the idea/help

 

[GT75]

Mitch, where are you traveling from? I assume that you stayed at Ocean Oaks (HGVC) in Hilton Head. Did you attend the sales presentation?

 

[Mitch Goldstein]

Hi, yes we went to Ocean Oaks and saw the presentation.

 

[Mitch Goldstein]

Ocean Oaks was fabulous.

 

[GT75]

Mitch, OK you have learned about HGVC from the sales presentation and you didn't purchase. That is good. Now, I am ONLY familiar with HGVC. For what others have stated, they are around quality 4. The nice thing about HGVC is that they treat their resales owners very good with all of the same benefits except ability to reach elite level (which isn't really worth all of that much).

@Passepartout has given you good sound advice because of the way you answered a couple of the questions. In order to make best use of a TS you will need to plan in advance. If you can't make advance plans then it just isn't going to work for you. For example, we also really like Ocean Oaks. I have already book two units during the week of June 9-16, 2018 for our family vacation. I did this exactly when the club window (so I booked this past September for June of next year) opened (9 months before check-out). Ocean Oaks is very popular and fills up quickly when 9 month window opens. What we do is make the reservation(s) if we would like to go. If it doesn't work, then cancel 31-days before the start of the reservations and all of the points are returned to our account.

If you wanted Ocean Oaks during fall and spring, this would be gold season (7000 points for Ocean Front/5000 points for regular 2-bedroom). Since Ocean Oaks is new this year, I don't think that you will find resales yet. You could think about looking for resale at Myrtle Beach (HGVC has two resorts there) or Orlando or Las Vegas. I would suggest around 7000 points with low MF (maintenance fees). The rule of thumb for HGVC resales is $1/point for an annual platinum season, but also look at the MF. So you are also short on expected buy-in cost for HGVC.

I will stop here and not try to overload you will information. You can always ask more questions. The important thing it to try to figure out what you would like to do and then see if the particular system will meet your needs.

 

[pedro47]

To the OP...The best advice I can give you look under the TUG banner for free advice and read Timesharing 101.

Please ask your questions here. This website does not charge for suggestions and advice.

Good luck and remember “Knowledge is Power.”

 

[Mitch Goldstein]

Thank you! I am considering an RCI property. The price is right and I wouldn't use the property, but the 122,000 RCI poiints. This way we can travel when and where we want to.

I could use help with Pros and cons of this. I like the price and the annual maintenance. Not sure of RCI charges. Thanks again for your help!

 

[vacationhopeful]

RCI Points has booking windows .. best times and locations are booked almost a year (13 months) or more in ADVANCE.

I have RCI Points and HOME RESORT window is needed for PRIME TIME .. just like any other timeshare -- 10-13 months in advance. Yes, all the Sales staff makes it sound like you just open up the web page and YOUR desired vacation is waiting for you 30 days before checking in. And your Home Resort is where your MFs are set. And Home Resort's RCI points values CAN go UP or DOWN.. based on reviews given.

The advice of renting is best for you RIGHT NOW. And stay away from the Sales meetings ... the sales staff is WORST than used car people. Almost all SAY they own timeshares but almost NONE have ever own. I got to know several of them pretty well ... one gal starting when she handed out parking pass tags, then a licensed real estate agent (required to work the sales floor) and finally, after her separation from her husband of 15 years to her HOMELESS status running after another sales staff member ... all within 4 years. Wyndham sales personal are REQUIRED to be onsite around 7:30AM .. to pass inspection from the sales manager ... like clean, proper attire, makeup, shaved, no bad breathe (hung over), no apparent drug use. They are con-artists .... truly understand, if their lips are moving, they are lying.

 

[theo]

<snip>...I wouldn't use the property, but the 122,000 RCI points. This way we can travel when and where we want to.

I could use help with Pros and cons of this. I like the price and the annual maintenance. Not sure of RCI charges. Thanks again for your help!

Reality check. No matter how many points you have, space availability where / when you want to go prevails over all else. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will find available space where / when you want to travel. Any such "guarantee" exists only with deeded fixed week ownerships.

Not saying you can't make good reservations with 122k RCI points, but the (blue highlighted, quoted) portion of your post is not really accurate.

 

[WalnutBaron]

Theo makes a great point. That said, I will tell you that Las Vegas is one of the most overbuilt timeshare locations in the world, which means availability--especially in the shoulder seasons which are your preferred times of the year anyway--should be fairly easy to secure unless you're trying to do it around national holidays. Hilton Head does not have the abundance of supply that Vegas does, but your desire to focus on the shoulder seasons of spring and fall should also help you in getting what you want. One key thing you must remember about timeshare: advance planning and flexibility of schedule are crucial elements in finding and securing a reservation. If you're locked into just one set of dates, for example, at just one property, and you're looking 3 months in advance, you're likely to be frustrated and unhappy. So learn to plan early, have your preferred date(s) as well as 2 or 3 alternate dates in mind, and be willing to accept alternative properties as long as you can get your desired location.

 

[classiclincoln]

While we are weeks owners, we had the opportunity to enroll our weeks in the Marriott points program. One of the concerns was that there is no guarantee that they won't change the number of points needed to book a week. So, for example, if you buy 1,000 points to get you a week at resort X, there is nothing preventing them from changing the points requirement for the same week to 1,025 points. So, either you spend less days there (and probably end up with leftover points that you might not be able to use) or you buy more points to get the week, which now increases your initial cost plus increases your annual fees (since your annual fees are per point). If you own a week, you get a week.