Raintree Vacation Club Puerto Vallarta (New Promotion: 9 year maintenance fee)

[NinaC]

Hello, I am a Raintree Vacation Club Emerald and Raintree Blue member (160,000 points). Raintree 7 contract since 2016. Usage and contract ends 2028.

What thoughts does the forum have on this new Raintree Vacation Club promotion? I was at the Puerto Vallarta location end of March this year and this was not presented then. I am staying at the Puerto Vallarta location now and spoke with the Raintree Puerto Vallarta sales rep today (Friday, September 28, 2018). And for once, I can get back to him by September 30. I am here until October 26. Have personally used my points once a year and now retired. Want to look further into what DonnaD does (using during the winter months of her home base) and/or T_R_Oglodyte (renting).

6,000USD for the following:
--30,000 additional points purchased
--2018 to 2046 usage
--9 maintenance fees paid 2018 to 2027 with option to not-pay any two maintenance fee years (recommended option - do not pay the last 2 years as they are higher maintenance fees)
--points can be used each maintenance fee year
--after 2027 until 2046, only pay maintenance fee for the amount of points used

NinaC

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hi Nina ,
I am not a Raintree member - so not fully knowledgeable .
I have read most Club Regina / Raintree TUG threads in the Mexican Forum .

Here are my questions about your status .

1) You are retired - and your contract has 9 years left (2028) based on your converting it to Raintree 7.
At that point you are likely 75 . If your are healthy and still able to traveling 2028 / I would suggest renting year by year rather than having ownership to 2046 .

2) If you currently need / want more Raintree points - there are / were points available for free on TUG
the bargain sub -forum .

3 ) $ 6000;- would pay the MF for 5 years on a 50,000 point ( obtained for free contract)

4) I am not sure ; how / if you can add points from resale to an existing contract . I will leave that to
T_R_O or DonnaD .

5) I know T_R_ O recently posted that 80,000 points and higher is a more efficient ownership based on the MF cost .


added - we exchanged into Club Regina- Raintree Cancun in 2015 and found it a well run property . I booked it on RCI- based on staying next door in PV at the Mayan Palace
I can understand why you like the resort and location in the PV - Marina area .

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Some quick thoughts -

What T-Dot posted is on point. I can't speak to ability to combine contracts if purchased resale. I suspect that Raintree would not allow them to be combined unless you bought something from them.

Re needing to get back to them by the 30th, just ask for more time. I'm sure they'll give you more time if the option is no sale. You just need to be clear that if they don't give you more time, your answer today is "No".

If you've got an Emerald contract in Raintree 7 I think you're in a pretty good situation.

*******

As T-Dot mentioned, the fee structure makes Raintree an attractive possibility for rental. However, if you expect to make money renting, you need to approach it as a business. That means developing some business plan, working through some operating budgets, etc.

It also means having a sales and marketing plan - and budget. How are you going to connect with potential renters?

You want people to have confidence that they are dealing with an established business operation that knows what they are doing. How you present yourself is critical. The documents you send out (rental agreements). The website you set up. How you accept payment. What your terms are. These all make a difference and are important to help the renter feel that they are interacting with a reputable organization.

Finally, don't expect to make money the first several years. To get established you will likely need to rent at below market rates.

I stopped renting when the Financial Markets collapsed in 2008. The rental market where I had built a presence were people involved in real estate in So Cal, and they all lost their jobs. Conveniently, at the same time we started vacationing regularly in Mexico in February, and so we started using our weeks instead of renting.

*******

I have some significant reservations about Raintree as a company. They are engaging in a number of actions - such as the Raintre 7 and 15 programs - that appear to me to be efforts to sacrifice future cash flow in favor of cash flow now. They've got most of Villa Vera in Puerto Vallarta mothballed. Their resort base is shrinking. They tried to do a special assessment a few years back to fund what were essentially operating costs. They spent four years developing a web site that sucks.

We went into Raintree 7 because I wanted to terminate our contract as fast as we could.

 

[JohnPaul]

Since I seem to have Raintree knowledge here, I have a question. I heard that Worldmark is buying more of the units at The Miners Club/Worldmark Park City. Is there any truth to that from your knowledge on the Raintree side?

 

[geist1223]

When I was a Club Regina/ Raintree Member you could not combine resell accounts to get a higher valued account. I had a resell Gold and I thought about buying a resell Silver to combine and end up with Platinum. RVC said no way. I bought the Gold Account for less than 10 cents on the dollar. So I ended up trading my Gold Account in to RVC got full then current retail, argue forever and got the price down on the Platimun ( which another member had turned in) so I ended up with a Platinum for a couple thousand out of pocket. Used it for years and gave to a friend for the transfer fees.

She hardly uses it and I could probably get it back for the transfer fees.