Staying at King's Creek, Williamsburg. Can you give us some input?

[cecilia.noelle]

Hi everyone! My husband and I are newbies. New, new, newbies.
My husband's family owns several units at Suntide Island Beach Club in Sarasota, Florida, so the idea of potentially getting timeshare(s) of our own at some point has crossed our minds.
We are currently at King's Creek in Williamsburg for a family trip with our three very young kids (we came to Williamsburg for our honeymoon 9 years ago, and I came here somewhat regularly as a kid myself, so the town has sentimental value to us even though this specific resort does not).
We like what we have seen of this particular place, and of course (as I think almost everyone who doesn't own a timeshare and got a great deal on renting it on short notice), we did have a condition of attending their sales pitch.
The salesperson we had was not a pusher, though he was a good salesman and was great at building rapport.
Essentially, I'd like the perspective on anyone who owns at King's Creek (or somewhere else 'in-network'?) who has stayed regularly and/or (maybe more importantly) has rented a lot of their time.
We were offered: every other year 3-bed Cottage (essentially a full 2-bedroom unit and a full 1-bedroom unit in a single free-standing structure), which is the equivalent of 120,000 points, as well as their 'VIP' package, I believe they called it that gives us an extra 4 weeks (that we would be allowed to rent, but we would have to rent it ourselves, rather than through them) for $13,900. Maintenance fees are $1050 (I'm rounding up a smidge here).
I'm pretty sure we can find something similar for less money upfront if we buyout another owner who wants to leave, but I'm curious how that process would go. And honestly, that extra 4 weeks is tempting (which I don't think we would get buying directly from another owner?).
While we would like to use this for family trips with our kids, we are also very interested in renting out our unit (especially to make back any upfront costs and potentially cover the maintenance fees). We were told that the minimum we would be paid for a week rented through them was $800 (minus a $99 fee they charge for doing the rental process for us if we didn't want to rent it ourselves).
Current/experienced owners, can you shed some light on this deal? Can you offer any advice or insight into how this compares to what would be included in a private sale from a current owner (potentially from the TUG marketplace)?
I want to make sure we make the wisest decision for our household in the long run.

 

[wackymother]

We own at King's Creek. Please don't take this deal. If you wait a bit and watch, you can certainly get a nice prime season cottage for a very small price--possibly free. We've owned for almost 20 years and we're still happy with our ownership, but we bought resale and saved a bundle. There are always people who want to sell bc it's a big resort. Never take anything but high summer in Williamsburg, btw.

The Cottages lock off into two units, so that is two weeks right there. We deposit into RCI and get plenty of TPUs to exchange into four weeks. At II, you can get bonus weeks. This is all talking about weeks deposits, not King's Creek points--which I think are only at King's Creek, so they have the power to control the points and their value.

HTH!

 

[wackymother]

Forgot to say I wouldn't be trusting them to do all those rentals for you year after year. As far as I know, they've never had a robust rental program.

 

[escanoe]

You need to do quite a bit of research and hanging out on TUG before you buy. I would stay away from owning Spinnaker (I like trading in), but that is just me. Williamsburg is one of the easiest places on Earth to trade into. Where do you live? Where else do you want to go?

 

[cecilia.noelle]

We own at King's Creek. Please don't take this deal. If you wait a bit and watch, you can certainly get a nice prime season cottage for a very small price--possibly free. We've owned for almost 20 years and we're still happy with our ownership, but we bought resale and saved a bundle. There are always people who want to sell bc it's a big resort. Never take anything but high summer in Williamsburg, btw.

The Cottages lock off into two units, so that is two weeks right there. We deposit into RCI and get plenty of TPUs to exchange into four weeks. At II, you can get bonus weeks. This is all talking about weeks deposits, not King's Creek points--which I think are only at King's Creek, so they have the power to control the points and their value.

HTH!

You sound like someone I want to have as my best friend at this moment! haha
Would you be comfortable with allowing me to PM you with some additional questions? Or I can ask them here (and the answers could potentially be very useful to some folks in the future maybe).
How do I know whether the deal I'm looking at purchasing is High Summer? This was not effectively explained by the salesperson (maybe purposely? Or it could have just genuinely been the distraction of my recently walking 1.5 year old playing peek-a-boo with him around his desk during the meeting )
Forgive my ignorance of the terms, but could you explain RCI, TPU, and II?

ETA: We are currently staying in the 2 bedroom portion of one of the cottages, and really like the space and layout it offers.

 

[cecilia.noelle]

You need to do quite a bit of research and hanging out on TUG before you buy. I would stay away from owning Spinnaker (I like trading in), but that is just me. Williamsburg is one of the easiest places on Earth to trade into. Where do you live? Where else do you want to go?

I agree, I've been stalking TUG for a little while, but never had any exposure first hand to the 'sales' before to have specific questions to get on here and ask.
Do you mind my asking why you wouldn't want to own Spinnaker?
Honestly, I'm not thinking hugely in the "trading" to go elsewhere aspect...historically we have done well, finding deals to go to special or exciting places (Ireland for example) on our own. The idea of getting a timeshare in Williamsburg is attractive to us because it is a place we can see ourselves wanting to return to regularly. We live about 3 hours away, so it's a distance that doesn't feel too expensive or difficult for us to get to with our kids for time away, but also offers a something different from our usual setting, and of course the sentimental value of it being where we had our honeymoon. I am also really intrigued by the idea/option of renting it to recoup costs. Is that something that can actually realistically happen with a timeshare?

 

[wackymother]

You sound like someone I want to have as my best friend at this moment! haha
Would you be comfortable with allowing me to PM you with some additional questions? Or I can ask them here (and the answers could potentially be very useful to some folks in the future maybe).
How do I know whether the deal I'm looking at purchasing is High Summer? This was not effectively explained by the salesperson (maybe purposely? Or it could have just genuinely been the distraction of my recently walking 1.5 year old playing peek-a-boo with him around his desk during the meeting )
Forgive my ignorance of the terms, but could you explain RCI, TPU, and II?

ETA: We are currently staying in the 2 bedroom portion of one of the cottages, and really like the space and layout it offers.

Sure, PM me. Please don't take this deal, I promise you you can do better!

 

[escanoe]

Research some TUG threads where people that own Spinnaker discuss fees that have to be paid in advance in order to transfer the unit.

With the exception of their HHI properties they are in places that are overbuilt (Branson and Williamsurg) that are the easiest places on Earth to exchange into or rent at a price that is less than owning.

They have switched from RCI to II. It is generally nice to have a timeshare that can trade in both systems. But they do not allow (or cause considerable hassle for) resale owners that want to trade in II. I don’t like them messing around and restricting exchange usage.

 

[cecilia.noelle]

Research some TUG threads where people that own Spinnaker discuss fees that have to be paid in advance in order to transfer the unit.

With the exception of their HHI properties they are in places that are overbuilt (Branson and Williamsurg) that are the easiest places on Earth to exchange into or rent at a price that is less than owning.

They have switched from RCI to II. It is generally nice to have a timeshare that can trade in both systems. But they do not allow (or cause considerable hassle for) resale owners that want to trade in II. I don’t like them messing around and restricting exchange usage.

Would you have a recommendation on what resort to look at if our primary concerns are using it ourselves (primarily in the Williamsburg area, because we would like to come here often, though we might start looking outside that area down the road once our kids are older), and renting it out to cover expenses the times we do not go?

 

[escanoe]

Owning about any timeshare that trades in II or RCI will give you the opportunity to go to Williamsburg (a bunch of different resorts there) for cheap several times a year.

The resale properties I own (both in II and RCI) come with certificates that let you stay in places like Williamsburg for basically an exchange fee. ($220 to $320).

I do own a prime summer week (30) there at the Colonies, but I primarily own it because it's a good trader and not because it is in Williamsburg.

We always stay in Williamsburg 5 days thanksgiving week (using a full week) and make it there for about 3 long weekends a year. We live a bit over 2 hours away in Northern VA. I do generally spend some of my trading power for the Thanksgiving trip.

 

[mdurette]

Good for you for doing your research!

I own a Every Other year 3 BR lockoff jsut as you described.
I paid $400 for it on ebay several years ago.

I have never stayed there, but consider it a good trader for the cost of the MFs which this year were just shy of $900.

 

[cecilia.noelle]

Good for you for doing your research!

I own a Every Other year 3 BR lockoff jsut as you described.
I paid $400 for it on ebay several years ago.

I have never stayed there, but consider it a good trader for the cost of the MFs which this year were just shy of $900.

I would never have thought to look for something like that on eBay!
When doing that kind of purchase how do you confirm the exact details of the contract/availability/etc. that you are buying?

 

[cecilia.noelle]

Good for you for doing your research!

I own a Every Other year 3 BR lockoff jsut as you described.
I paid $400 for it on ebay several years ago.

I have never stayed there, but consider it a good trader for the cost of the MFs which this year were just shy of $900.

I would never have thought to look for something like that on eBay!
When doing that kind of purchase how do you confirm the exact details of the contract/availability/etc. that you are buying?

 

[mdurette]

I would never have thought to look for something like that on eBay!
When doing that kind of purchase how do you confirm the exact details of the contract/availability/etc. that you are buying?

the seller (usually a resale company, not owner) will provide info and they should also provide you with an estopel letter that states everything. Also, check out the marketplace right here on TUG and the bargain forum!

 

[pedro47]

Please take your time and do your homework.
Buy resale and save some big money.