Newbie here! Looking for wisdom to help me buy a resale! I'm all ears!

[Patohana]

Hello all,

I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii. I have no family currently living there. I'd like to have a place to stay so I can visit more often than every so many years. My hubby and I are recently retired so have flexible scheduling. My brother lives on Oahu and I'd like to be able to visit him there too. He lives in a small apartment so staying with him is not an option and he isn't in a position to meet me on the Big Island either. My hubby is an avid skier and we live in Denver.

In my little fantasy world, I'd have a place to visit in Hawaii annually and I'm sure my hubby would like to have a place to stay in the winter months for skiing. I got a membership a couple weeks ago and I've been trying to educate myself on ways to find a timeshare resale. The way I see it, if I can find a place in Hawaii for about $1500/yr maintenance fees, I can break even on a week-long stay. I obviously know nothing about trading, points, etc. so still have a lot to learn. My hubby would consider a place in Colorado for skiing once we get our feet wet, but Hawaii is my #1 want.

We recently stayed at the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort by buying points from my hubby's friend's wife. She pays $700/mo and has a ton of points, possibly in both Wyndham and Mariott. I don't want to pay that much! We really enjoyed the location and the accommodation and would be happy having it as our home resort. I've filled out the questionnaire below and hope your combined wisdom can help guide me to an inexpensive resale that will help me go home on a regular basis.

Thanks to you all in advance! I'm excited to have found this place!


1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

​

1. Big Island - Kailua-Kona​

2. Honolulu - Waikiki area​

3. Colorado mountains near ski resorts (Winter Park, Breck, Avon?)​

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?

If we can get any of the above, we would stay there at least half the time.​

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

See above for top three. After that, we're flexible on other locations. Perhaps Mexico? Maybe even Asia? Who knows​

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?

At this point, our family; myself, hubby, two adult daughters. This could increase as both are currently young and single.​

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

No school schedule. Prefer fall through spring given the places we're interested in.​

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

​

Yes, but we also like to plan on a shorter timeframe if an opportunity comes up.​

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?

Usually 3 stars, but we like A/C in humid areas.​

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

A few thousand.​

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?

Would prefer $1500 or lower to start. Depends on the street value, of course.​

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

I'm not sure I understand what "detail" means. I generally am but once we're on a trip, I don't overschedule things. That said, my hubby calls me the spreadsheet queen. I have planned trips to other countries for my family of four that lasted two weeks so I'm comfortable with details.​

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​

 

[easyrider]

1. Big Island - Kailua-Kona2. Honolulu - Waikiki area3. Colorado mountains near ski resorts (Winter Park, Breck, Avon?)

You might look at a resale Vacation Internationale. There are four resort condos in Waikiki, three on Big Island , three or four on Maui, three on Kauai and a resort in Steamboat Springs. The mf's aren't too high. It's a very flexible points type system. The resorts are older but well kept.

Bill

VI Resort Locations | VI Resorts

 

[jp10558]

I don't have time right now to research Wyndham locations on specific Hawaiian islands but you don't list unit size desired. If you can stretch the purchase price a little, I might recommend HGVC in Scotland - You can use the points right at 9 months to book anywhere, and if you're able to go in a 1BR unit or Studio you won't need as big a unit. I still think 2BR though is a bit of a sweet spot. Anyway, you can buy direct from Scotland https://www.craigendarroch.com/sales/ - look at platinum season in the unit size you want. With 2BR you get 11,200 pts, which costs last I looked around 6k GBP, but the MFs are around $1,100 USD plus the $399 yearly program fee and a $70 booking fee - right around what you want, and you could probably get a 1BR for more than a week OR borrow points sort of EOY for 2 weeks / 1 week roughly OR stay at a newer / more expensive location.

HGVC has locations in the Hawaiian islands you wanted, and one in Breckenridge - though I will say IDK about if that location is bookable without owning there in prime ski season. HOWEVER - HGVC does also get you RCI access, and while it's debatable about it being the absolute best value, you probably could find lower end (3 star vs 4 star HGVC locations) locations via that if you're ok with the kind of annoying $299 exchange fee to do so on top of the points. You also could watch for shoulder and off season (if that works for you in any location) in RCIs Extra Vacations / Last Calls for just cash stays of a week.

If Wyndham has the locations you want - if you're willing to pay more in MFs you can pick up CWA on ebay basically for free. I'm not as familiar with Wyndham points values without looking it up - you can find links to their resort book. If the ongoing being more is OK you can pick it up basically now with the caveat that it takes them 6 months to a year to transfer and you might have to pay MFs for a while without points depending on when the purchase goes through. Basically, you'd want a purchase to "close" between August and December each year to avoid the worst option of 6 months of MFs for nothing waiting for January to get the points if you close in a January. Wyndham has a benefit over HGVC of way more locations, but HGVC happens to have the locations you seem to want. If you can work out the up front purchase, and largely want to go where HGVC *is* I think they're nicer places for about the same MFs per week and unit size - at least IME. I also do Wyndham, and like them too - they're just not quite as fancy usually.

Both Wyndham and HGVC let you book more or less than a week depending on the points you have available. And both scale point costs by season and unit size.

Final point - the shorter booking range is not something to "plan on". HGVC pretty much books up at most resorts right in the 9 month out club booking window opening. Wyndham has more availability and I've seen things that can work at ~6-7 months out. Both tend to have "leftovers" closer in of a few days - maybe up to 4 during a week. But this depends on location and season a lot. The best availability IMO for "last minute or closer in" is RCI cash deals, but these are usually in overbuilt locations like Orlando or Williamsburg or Las Vegas. And they're cash deals so you're paying above the yearly MFs. Though some are pretty compelling - Massanutten often has something for $550ish all in for a week in a 2BR which is pretty good IMO.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Hilton points via resale will get you everything you want. They have Valdoro in Breck, the best resorts on the Big island, and a plethora of Waikiki Beach resorts that are better than Wyndham has.

sellingtimeshares.net is a reseller often mentioned here. Seth Nock is a Hilton expert and a TUG member. There are others.

The only point systems that cover Waikiki Beach are Hilton and Wyndham. Hilton is top notch, Wyndham is good.

 

[Patohana]

I don't have time right now to research Wyndham locations on specific Hawaiian islands but you don't list unit size desired. If you can stretch the purchase price a little, I might recommend HGVC in Scotland - You can use the points right at 9 months to book anywhere, and if you're able to go in a 1BR unit or Studio you won't need as big a unit. I still think 2BR though is a bit of a sweet spot. Anyway, you can buy direct from Scotland https://www.craigendarroch.com/sales/ - look at platinum season in the unit size you want. With 2BR you get 11,200 pts, which costs last I looked around 6k GBP, but the MFs are around $1,100 USD plus the $399 yearly program fee and a $70 booking fee - right around what you want, and you could probably get a 1BR for more than a week OR borrow points sort of EOY for 2 weeks / 1 week roughly OR stay at a newer / more expensive location.

HGVC has locations in the Hawaiian islands you wanted, and one in Breckenridge - though I will say IDK about if that location is bookable without owning there in prime ski season. HOWEVER - HGVC does also get you RCI access, and while it's debatable about it being the absolute best value, you probably could find lower end (3 star vs 4 star HGVC locations) locations via that if you're ok with the kind of annoying $299 exchange fee to do so on top of the points. You also could watch for shoulder and off season (if that works for you in any location) in RCIs Extra Vacations / Last Calls for just cash stays of a week.

If Wyndham has the locations you want - if you're willing to pay more in MFs you can pick up CWA on ebay basically for free. I'm not as familiar with Wyndham points values without looking it up - you can find links to their resort book. If the ongoing being more is OK you can pick it up basically now with the caveat that it takes them 6 months to a year to transfer and you might have to pay MFs for a while without points depending on when the purchase goes through. Basically, you'd want a purchase to "close" between August and December each year to avoid the worst option of 6 months of MFs for nothing waiting for January to get the points if you close in a January. Wyndham has a benefit over HGVC of way more locations, but HGVC happens to have the locations you seem to want. If you can work out the up front purchase, and largely want to go where HGVC *is* I think they're nicer places for about the same MFs per week and unit size - at least IME. I also do Wyndham, and like them too - they're just not quite as fancy usually.

Both Wyndham and HGVC let you book more or less than a week depending on the points you have available. And both scale point costs by season and unit size.

Final point - the shorter booking range is not something to "plan on". HGVC pretty much books up at most resorts right in the 9 month out club booking window opening. Wyndham has more availability and I've seen things that can work at ~6-7 months out. Both tend to have "leftovers" closer in of a few days - maybe up to 4 during a week. But this depends on location and season a lot. The best availability IMO for "last minute or closer in" is RCI cash deals, but these are usually in overbuilt locations like Orlando or Williamsburg or Las Vegas. And they're cash deals so you're paying above the yearly MFs. Though some are pretty compelling - Massanutten often has something for $550ish all in for a week in a 2BR which is pretty good IMO.

Sorry, I didn't mention what size. I am interested in a 2Br unit.

I'll look into HGVC. I started studying Wyndham b/c I read that their system is the simplest. Fro Hawaii travel, shoulder season is fine. My hubby obviously likes prime ski season but I was mostly shooting for the stars on that one. He's managed to survive getting together with friends to book places.

Thank you!

 

[alexinorlando]

I recommend Wyndham. They have 6 locations on the Big Island and nice resort in Steamboat (5 minutes from the slopes, with free shuttle).

Program is flexible and easy to use. Maintenance cost are reasonable and availability is plentiful.

 

[bartpennington]

Why choose Craig, @jp10558? Others have mentioned buying direct there—was looking at something in Vegas but very curious of benefits of Craig.

 

[jp10558]

Why choose Craig, @jp10558? Others have mentioned buying direct there—was looking at something in Vegas but very curious of benefits of Craig.

A couple reasons - good Vegas deeds can be harder to find, Craig has stuff up for sale direct at competitive prices all the time. They're also apparently much cheaper to close as a RTU rather than a deed. They also give you optional access to Interval and Dex in addition to just the corporate RCI. The downside is I suppose you don't have a deed so it could potentially shut down easier and they don't qualify for the Amex Aspire resort credit paying for MFs.

Normally I would be ambivalent on the deeds - but being the first timeshare I bought, and trying to buy from the TUG listings, I feel like I got swindled by the broker to some extent.

1) None of the listings I called about in Vegas actually existed anymore - they were all "sold". IDK, maybe it's too much trouble to update TUG listings. I was told the best I could hope for was an Orlando deed for about the same or a little more than the listed Vegas ones. So I kind of screwed up here taking it.

2) the "closing costs" from this broker turned out to be about double to triple what they actually were and I think the speculation is the broker pocketed that cost.

Now I would have probably looked around some more when the listings seemed to change in seconds (IDK, maybe HGVC resale is that fast) but I basically never saw HGVC on ebay, and pretty much all the listings on TUG went back to this person.

Was it horrible - no, but I don't love the Florida law's increase in MFs this year, and if I had realized that the closing probably shouldn't have cost $2,000 I would have considered that much more on the purchase if I had known of other options.

I don't know if there's an easy way to get a good Vegas deed without "finding the good broker" cause I don't see any HGVC listings around outside of TUG and again now I don't trust the listings.

Craig is e-mail them directly based on their "for sale" list and I guess it'd be less "nothing listed is actually on sale anymore" but you do have the option (and this is probably a good plan) to contact them *right after* a list is posted each quarter, rather than 2+ months in when many could be sold reasonably.

 

[bartpennington]

Thanks for your insight. Access to Interval and Dex opens a new door to other options. Craig us definitely on my radar now!

 

[Patohana]

I found two listings on eBay for the Wyndham Kona Hawaii Resort. They are here:

WYNDHAM KONA HAWAII ~ 128,000 BIENNIAL PTS ~ 2026 USE AVAILABLE!! | eBay

WYNDHAM KONA HAWAIIAN RESORT. Biennial Even. Biennial Points. First Year's Usage. All information is taken directly from the estoppel provided by the resort. Resorts have the right to exercise First Refusal.

www.ebay.com

and here:

WYNDHAM KONA HAWAIIAN RESORT 2 BEDROOM ANNUAL TIMESHARE FOR SALE! | eBay

Guests experience the best of Hawaiian local hospitality from the resort staff. The town of Kona and the beautiful beach is a short walk from our rustic but comfortable accommodations. This tropical vacation paradise features two outdoor pools, hot tubs, and a children's pool.

www.ebay.com

For the sake of practice, to compare the two, what do you think would make more sense for us? Both have closing costs paid by the seller.

The first one involves points (126,000) and, from what I've been reading, it takes a year to book so first use in '26 is what we get. And it's biennial so the MF are obviously lower.

The second one is a floating week that says it can be used in '25. But how would that work? And if i can't get to use it in '25 then what happens? This one is annual. But I don't understand how to attempt to get a floating week given the advance timeframes that people talk about.