Thinking of Buying a Timeshare, but don't know where to start

[Larry M]

I'm glad that your "presentation" experience was beneficial, but I would respectfully submit that the "presentation" style and experience of (higher end) Hilton, Hyatt, or Marriott is quite a bit "different"
(...and I'm exercising considerable restraint and being very charitable just leaving it at "different"...) than the presentation "experience" foisted upon unwary innocents at Wyndham and / or Westgate.

The presentation experience at Wyndham and / or Westgate is very closely akin to that of a small baitfish being tossed into an enclosed tank of hungry piranhas.

Just sayin'...

I've done the Wyndham thing nearly a dozen times, even when it's optional. If you can go one-on-one you can get out in 15-20 minutes with the premiums. Just stay stone-faced and respond only when asked a direct question and only in monosyllables. The agent will quickly realize that he's never going to get a sale and will close the discussion to avoid wasting his time and yours.

It's a little more annoying when there's an hour group pitch before the one-on-one because you have to sit through it--I usually tune it completely out--before the short one-on-one session.

Most recently I paid Wyndham vacations about $200 for 2 rooms/4 days/3 nights at a Wyndham hotel adjacent to the timeshares. We had a 20 minute conversation and they gave me back a $150 cash gift card and two $100 restaurant cards (that might be useless). I considered this a good deal.

 

[Larry M]

Fair enough, but the OP had mentioned Hilton and seemed like someone looking for information. If you are prepared and capable of exercising restraint, I think a Hilton (or Hyatt, if you say so) presentation might be an additional source of information. And I disagreed with the description of incentives as "trinkets", since some offers to attend a presentation are for considerably more. There are plenty of people on these boards warning about the dangers of sales presentations, I just thought the OP might want to know there are scenarios where it could be useful/beneficial.

If your partner likes to sleep late and you are an early riser and you can get an early appointment and come back with a $50 restaurant card you can use that night and get back before she awakes, then you've done great!

Voice of Experience

 

[d2r4s]

Lots Of Advice

Lots of good advice, and it helps to learn from others.

In my expierence time sharing is an alternative to a second home with some major advantages. Pick a home resort that you would enjoy going to. Pick a home resort where you can internally make trades, and which trades well in a trading group. Also consider how much time you have to use take a vacation, when you can go (more flexibility is better) and type of accomadation you need.

Once you have an idea of what you might want next look at the options; price, maintance fees, and in todays world points system have a lot of flexiblity.

Most people who buy a time share end up going to a presentation and being sold, which is not a bad thing but not the best way since its like walking into a store and seeing an item on impulse and buying.

As far as maintenance fees they are related to where you own, in what time share system you own, size of unit purchased or points purchased. If you have a need for a two bedroom and compared it to a hotel then if the fees where $1000 a week, and you would need to hotel room to do the same thing at say 150 a night then you would be paying 1050 per room or 2050 for two rooms more less depending on accomadaitons. Also no kitchen (in my case we like to cook and control our diet so it saves another couple of hundred over resturants.

Buying from a developer vs resale. If you only want to trade than resale can make sense as the owner perks may not mean that much.

Read, Study and go to presentations to learn not buy until you are ready.

JBeyer

 

[Rent_Share]

I second this. For the best option I would consider buying a WorldMark on the resale market for a few thousand and trying it out for a while. WorldMarks typically hold their resale value so if you choose to get rid of it after a few years it will not be difficult to find a buyer at close to what you originally paid.

This was in response to a statement that timeshares were non existent Chicago, New York and Seattle

 

[Rent_Share]

I have two issues with your post

Buying from a developer vs resale. If you only want to trade than then resale can make sense as the owner perks may not mean that much. J Beyer

I have yet to see a case made where developer perks or incentives can justify the difference between developer gouging and resale pricing,

Read, Study and go to presentations to learn not buy until you are ready. JBeyer

Salesmen are trained to lie and embellish, as well as find your weaknesses to play on your emotions, probably the most stressful and inefficient way to learn the truth.

Find out what you might be interested, read their "manual" (it's on-line somewhere) and any stickies or articles on TUG, if something doesn't make sense ask here in the appropriate forum. Re-read and ask again

 

[Dc3drivr]

TUG

Great! I take it you will be with us awhile & joining TUG. Sounds like you have a lot to share.

 

[presley]

I'm curious if anyone has actually learned anything about the nuts and bolts use of their timeshares from a sale presentation/owner update. The ones I've talked to have never known anything about how to use them. They know sales info, but for everything else, they say,"you will get a member packet that explains everything."

 

[wallyboag]

Again, thank you to everyone who has so far answered my questions.

I had been asking friends and family about Timeshares and came to find that my wife's parents inherited a timeshare from their parents at the Welk Resorts in Escondido. Their answer was that they despised it. They felt that their maintenance fees were useless and they had been paying $1,000 a year without getting any use out of the timeshare. They said that there are very few resorts that they can exchange for, and all of them looked run down and too far out of town to be useful.

I think that a lot of their hatred for the system is because they don't understand or want to put any effort into making exchanges. I *think* they said they are willing to give us this timeshare if we take over the payments, but I'll have to negotiate that with them independantly, obviously.

I tried to get more information out of her and to log on to the Welk Resorts owners lounge online but she didn't know any login information or account numbers or anythign like that.

We're heading up to their place for a visit in a couple of weeks so hopefully I can look at their statement and get a good idea of how many points they own, what the maintenance fees really are, and what they can exchange for in other resorts, but I was hoping maybe someone here familiar with Welk could clue me in. So here is what I know:

• The original timeshare was for a fixed week 2 bedroom unit in the "old" section of the resort.
• When my mother in law inherited it, they convinced her to re-sell it back to Welk and turn the 2 bedroom into points that could then be used for any time at any of their units (based on exchange value) or exchanged for any other Welk resort (Cabo, Branson & Palm Springs)
• They could exchange their points for hotels that are non-Welk resorts for a fee through a third party company
• Their maintenance fees are approximately $1,000 a year billed annually.

So what can I make out of this information? Do they still have the equivalent of a 2 bedroom for one week at Welk in Escondido? What could I exchange this for? Could I get say a Hilton room for a few days in Las Vegas and a timeshare in Orlando for a few days?

Thanks for the help!

 

[ajgag57]

So glad i found this web site.

My wife and I just bought an HGVC timeshare at a sales promo last weekend (1-31-2014), and we have rescinded already (but not received notice of the cancellation). Wish I had done a little research ahead of time, but I am hoping that it ends up being no harm, no foul.

Anyway, I think one of the points-type programs (such as HGVC, but want to look at others as well) would be great for us. Enjoying this site immensely, and thankful for all your help.

 

[ajgag57]

I am a heavy planner, so I'm OK with preplanning... I actually like to plan for my vacations. It's probably my favorite pastime!

While my wife and I really enjoy the actual vacations, I have to admit that the planning can be almost as much fun.

 

[ajgag57]

...maybe we should go to one? Since we live near Disneyland I am sure there are a few out here we could go to. I guess I should look to find one that will give us the best freebies. If we're going to spend the time we might as well get some sort of reimbursement.

I'm just a newbie, so my advice might not be the greatest, but I'll give it anyway.

First off, you are way ahead of the game compared to my wife and I. We just went to a Hilton vacation club presentation (1-31-2014) and we DID buy a time share. And, YES we are in the process of rescinding.

Had I done some of my research ahead of time, I probably would have just enjoyed the presentation, learned all I could, said thank you, and ended up doing exactly what I'm doing now (researching). Anyway, the presentation itself was a great learning experience. The trip was a nice little getaway at a great price. I definitely think a points-based time share might be great for my wife and I, but if I've learned anything yet, it is don't buy at the presentation, buy resale.

I foresee the possibility that my wife and I might take advantage of another presentation with another company in the near future (assuming our rescission goes through OK). I also see us buying (resale) into HGVC at a later time as well.


P.S. To all the other posters on this thread, please feel free to disagree with me, or give me your advice as well. I think that's why we are here.

 

[ajgag57]

Fair enough, but the OP had mentioned Hilton and seemed like someone looking for information. If you are prepared and capable of exercising restraint, I think a Hilton (or Hyatt, if you say so) presentation might be an additional source of information. And I disagreed with the description of incentives as "trinkets", since some offers to attend a presentation are for considerably more. There are plenty of people on these boards warning about the dangers of sales presentations, I just thought the OP might want to know there are scenarios where it could be useful/beneficial.

I think your advice was fairly accurate. We just did a Hilton presentation (and bought, but are rescinding) Our sale person (women) was very friendly, helpful, and I would say honest too -- except for not telling us about resale opportunities, but that could be expected. We learned a lot, and we never felt pressured (except that if we did not sign then, we would not get the big bonus points they were offering us). Truth of the matter, I think my wife and I are the ideal couple for a points-based time share as market by HGVC, but I am reserving my judgement on that until I do some more research.

 

[ajgag57]

Thanks for some great info, though I'm not original poster.

 

[ajgag57]

My sales rep (a women) at HGVC seemed very knowledgeable (she claimed to be owner herself). She was very good at her job (she got us to buy), but I feel she really knew a enough about the system to be able to focus on the things that would likely be most attractive to us. We asked a lot of questions, and she was able to answer them very well. Again, she was very good at her job, and was able to get us excited enough about the plan that we did buy despite not having any intention. One important question I did ask, was about buyer's remorse, and she let me know in no uncertain terms that we would have a right to rescind. That seems to be the case (we are in process of rescinding).