Trading Power

[westrougers]

We are considering looking at resales to get a top trader to supplement a few weaker ones we have. Is there a list anywhere which shows which resorts have top trading power?

Also, any suggestions as to who has best inventory?

Thanks

Mike

 

[chellej]

Look at the trade tests in the sightings area - it will give you an idea - In general: summer southern California beach, Colorado Ski weeks, summer east coast beach, Estes Park, Jackson Hole, Island Park Summer weeks are also good - near national parks. There are gems here & there depending on which exchange company you are interested in.

 

[Carolinian]

Add Sanibel/Captiva and Key West in Florida, Charleston, SC, France, Netherlands, and Italy.

 

[Dave M]

Carolinian's additions are good ones. However, like most timeshares, get peak season weeks if you want great trades. Off-season weeks in a great location will often be lousy weeks for exchanging.

 

[PerryM]

TP

Trading Power (TP) (Week based exchange system only) is a crazy mish-mash of secret computer rules and secret supply and demand figures – it’s virtually impossible to forecast. It’s better to look at it as a “Black Box” where there are inputs and outputs.

Inputs:
• As a general rule, the higher the rental rate for a timeshare the higher the TP

• The “Redder” the week the higher the TP

• The fewer similar weeks deposited in RCI/II the higher the TP. Deposit immediately after locking in a hot holiday week. If you wait and others beat you to the deposit your week will have reduced TP

• The higher the demand for the week the higher the TP (most of the time) (lock in a hot holiday week)


Outputs:
• The higher the TP the FEWER the units displayed (yes, it’s not a typo) (quality restrictions by the exchange company imposed)

• The lower the TP the MORE units displayed (yes, it’s not a typo)

• An upgrade can be requested (studio to 1BR, 1BR to 2BR) by just waiting until the exchange company needs more money for their stock holders

• If you don’t like the exchange you have 24 hours to return it (you may or may not get your original unit back)

• The exact same deposit one year may return completely different results the next year (in terms of quality)

• You may be blacked out with 1 in 4 rules (only 1 exchange into a resort in 4 years)

• You may be blacked out with geographic rules (Florida resort can’t exchange into Florida resorts)

As you can see, the possible combinations is great and trying to guess what the trading power of a unit is hard to do. It’s designed to be that way by the exchange companies who are listening to the developers.

The best way to exchange is to buy a cheap timeshare and place an ongoing exchange for a much harder to get unit and a much bigger size – many times (most times?) you will be filled. If you don’t get filled within 3 months lower your requrements.

Try to find a developer who has arranged with the exchange company to all for “Request first” exchanges so you don’t have to give up your unit before you find one you like.

Good luck; you will need it.

 

[westrougers]

Thanks for info.

I will check into Redweek and Holiday Group, and also TUG resales though they seem to be higher.

I like the idea of peak weeks and sounds like studio or 1BR at top resort might save on MFs and also allow me to trade up. Summer overall appears best bet.

Any other comments appreciated.

Mike

 

[Dave M]

...and also TUG resales though they seem to be higher.

One key to buying a resale is to completely ignore the stated asking price. Asking prices are only that: asking prices.

Decide in advance how much you are willing to pay for a specific timeshare and then start making offers, one at a time, to all who have listed the week you want.

Yes, some people will be insulted by your low offer. Expect to be ignored, yelled at (and worse), laughed at and ridiculed. Eventually, you'll find a motivated seller and you'll be able to buy at or near your price

...or you'll decide you have misjudged the value of the timeshare you seek and will increase your offers.

In either case, you'll likely save a lot of money and be comfortable that you have gotten a good deal.

 

[PerryM]

WM is King

Don’t forget about WorldMark (WM) Link: http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/

WM is THE most flexible timeshare in existence. Right now I have 12 open II exchange requests – if I get an exchange I have 1 week to come up with the 10,000 WM credits for a 2BR Red exchange. I don’t need 1 credit available to open unlimited on-going exchanges in either II or RCI.

In that week I can a) Borrow from the next year’s usage of my credits or 2) Rent credits from other owners for about 6¢ a credit.

You only need to buy a 6,000 WM credit account for 80¢ a credit resale = $4,800 plus a $150 resort transfer fee. Takes 3 days – 3 weeks to put the account in your name.

After you have your account you can rent unlimited credits from other WM owners for about 6¢ each. Many owners have hundreds of thousands of credits this way and exchange into Marriotts on a weekly basis.

WM is just a powerful exchanger as a Marriott for pennies on the dollar.

At 59-days before check-in you only need 4,000 WM credits to exchange into ANYTHING in II and 45 days in RCI. It’s entirely possible to live 52 weeks a year in Orlando in Marriotts in 3BR, 2BR, 1BR, and studios with 2BR’s almost always available.

WM's do have to wait for the 24 day exclusive Marriott window (3 days at 59-day) before they can "see" the Marriott.

There is no better exchanger available anywhere!

 

[ira g]

Perry-
We have an II week that we use during flexchange (59 days and less) that MF's are $175 per week and exchange of $135 for a total of $310. Would this be comparable th the Worldmark? Thanks. We also have used it for Marriott exchanges.

 

[PerryM]

Yes; but

Perry-
We have an II week that we use during flexchange (59 days and less) that MF's are $175 per week and exchange of $135 for a total of $310. Would this be comparable th the Worldmark? Thanks. We also have used it for Marriott exchanges.

Although I have not rented WM credits from other owners (have way too many now) I understand that 5 cents is very typical so for the 4,000 WM credits it costs $200 to rent them. This is inexcess of your $175 but I can do this 10 or 20 or more times this afternoon if I want to. I don't need to have 1 WM credit to place all those on-going searches.

Why so many exchange requests - to work the II system to the max. Also if I don't find an exchange I can cancel the exchange and it costs me nothing to have long term and short term exchanges working 24/7 for me. I don't have to pay a penny to work the II system for years before the desired exchange. (Well, I do have to pay the exchange fee up front but get it back if cancelled)

This just can't be done with even a unit with a MF of $175. There are many exchange strategies available to the WM owner that are not available to any other timeshare owner.

 

[philemer]

Re: TP

Outputs:
• The higher the TP the FEWER the units displayed (yes, it’s not a typo) (quality restrictions by the exchange company imposed)

• The lower the TP the MORE units displayed (yes, it’s not a typo)
.

Perry has made some good points but the above statements are only true if your week has high VEP & high TP. For instance, I have a week in UT that has high TP because it is a 'hot' ski week (President's Week). However, the resort has a low to medium VEP so I see a lot of resorts when searching. If my week was at a resort that had a high VEP (Marriott for example) then I would see less weeks because of the downward filter. That's why summer weeks at low VEP resorts on the East Coast (near the ocean) are such awesome traders. They see almost everything. The same with prime ski weeks in average resorts out West.

From Ask RCI here are the components that determine TP:

1) Supply, demand, and usage of your week at your Home Resort
2) Supply, demand, and usage for all weeks in your resort's region
3) Comment Card ratings for your Home Resort (this is VEP)
4) Size and configuration of your unit
5) Seasonal designation of your Week
6) How far in advance you deposit your week with RCI

Hope this helps a little.

Phil

 

[urple2]

How does Hawaii rate in regards to trading power ?


____

Bill