Welk Resorts Platinum Program Purchase

[gge]

My wife and I purchased the Platinum Program package on Tuesday of this week and want to make sure that we did not spend to much.

They were asking $39,000 and we settled for $30,000 with 300,000 points. This will not be our primary place to stay, we are looking at trading out to other properties.

Any suggestions?

Should we threaten to cancel and renegotiate price? What should we settle for?

We are new to this.

GGE

 

[caribbeansun]

Rescind - how would it make sense to pay that much to just trade somewhere? For that kind of coin you can rent almost anywhere you want without the hassle of trading.

Look at resales and you'll find much cheaper options - see www.redweek.com, ebay, myresortnetwork.com and of course the TUG classifieds - you find Welk weeks there for a whole lot less.

 

[McFail]

You'll see it here a million times.

Rescind and research until you know what you need and how much (or little) you need to spend for it. You can always get that deal again despite what they'll tell you.

For that much cash you could buy a couple of resale Welk weeks and invest the rest to help pay the MFs.

FYI I am a Welk week owner, great resort, trades great in RCI, have not tried trading it in II. Also spent a whole lot less than $30k. I am not familiar with that points plan.

 

[applegirl]

You are not ready yet to purchase a timeshare. Please rescind and start reading the forums here and ask lots of questions. Once you learn the ins and outs of timesharing, you will know exactly what you want and how much you should pay for it. Always buy resale!!!!!!!!!!

Janna

 

[ajlm33]

I am a Welk points owner (300,000) for the past almost two years. I am happy with my purchase as it was at the right price and the property meets my needs for a top quality TS close to home that has many personal advantages. It trades well in II. It also fits perfectly into my TS portfolio along with my three Marriotts.

Something to keep in mind is that I understand that buying Welk resale at any kind of a discount is next to impossible because of the ROFR that Welk seems to almost always exercise in their attempt to covert all of the older units to the points system. They have a high financial interest in converting as many of the fixed week older units to points as possible and then reselling them (the converted points value that is) to new customers.

My advise is to resind now and do your homework here at TUG before purchasing at Welk or any other TS resort. You will not be sorry for taking the time and patience to research and you will probably save thousands of dollars in the process.

Welk is a great resort but remember that you can always later go back directly to the salesperson and get the same or better deal, especially in the current economic climate, even if they now tell you that it is a take-it-or-leave-it deal. JMHO.

 

[gge]

We are actually negotiating for a better deal with upper management and have told them that we will be canceling our contract.

Sunday we will drive back and speak with upper management about getting a lowwer price.

Any suggestions on price? This will be a straight cash deal

 

[caribbeansun]

Why wouldn't you try to buy resale first? If they do indeed ROFR you into oblivion a couple of times then go back but in the meantime I can't understand the logic behind not even trying.

You're asking us for advice on a price from management - print off the Welk Redweek listings and take that with you. See if they'll match the lowest price. It's independent and objective and highly unlikely to succeed.

 

[PerryM]

We are actually negotiating for a better deal with upper management and have told them that we will be canceling our contract.

Sunday we will drive back and speak with upper management about getting a lowwer price.

Any suggestions on price? This will be a straight cash deal

First, make sure that the developer is offering something that is worth the 100% markup from resale prices - only you can determine it's true worth to you. There are many examples of developer incentives and benefits being worth the premium - there are many more examples of it being worthless.

Second, if you do buy from the developer and make some kind of a deal - get it in writing, signed by the sales manager and insist it is notarized. That sales manager represents management's voice and will carry weight. Your sales rep's word is worthless.

Good luck.

 

[McFail]

You are probably unlikely to get a cash price for better than you could get resale. There are a lot of resorts in major programs like Hyatt and Marriott that could be had for the low 20's and have better TS value.

Take a look at the TUG top 20 list and you can pretty much have a pick of the list for under 30k resale.

The thing that we have seen here time and again is:

1. People overpay from developer and have buyers remorse and for a good reason.

2. People do not fully understand what they are buying, how to use it, or what they really want or need going forward and pick the wrong place. There are so many great plans and places out there.

 

[Jaybee]

Rescind!

I hope you realize that Sunday will be the 6th day of your 7 day recission period. According to the contract, you can also hand deliver, or fax (760-651-3297), but whatever method must be dated (officially) within the recission period.

I'm not sure there is a resale market for Welk Platinum points yet. We converted our villa for the points, but we bought the villa at resale, so we paid much, much less. $30,000 is way too much.

Please listen to applegirl. You are babes in the woods to the timeshare people..."upper management" notwithstanding.

Incidentally, I didn't know that Welk used the ROFR. Interesting.

 

[gge]

We have been researching and will be presenting resale lists tomorrow and will look at a final purchase price of $20,000 to 25,000. This is their new resort with a 2 bedroom lockout.

We thank you all for your replies they have been very helpful.. I am in the kitchen remodeling business and there sales practices are similiar. I work to give people a fair price with out all the hassles.

 

[Jaybee]

I'm waiting for "the other shoe to drop" so we can hear the end of the story. Did the re-negotiation work? Did they go as "low" as $25,000?
C'mon gge...please tell us the outcome.

 

[jdb0822]

it seems to me that he asked for advice, got the advice, and then decided against the advice. The developer played the stall game, cleverly delaying as the rescind period clock winded down. Something tells me that one of two things happened, either they got a better price, but still paid WAY too much, or didn't get a "deal" and ended up past the rescind period and now its too late.

 

[gmarine]

Even $20,000 is way too much. Hopefully the OP rescinded.

 

[Jim C]

wow!!

I'm waiting for "the other shoe to drop" so we can hear the end of the story. Did the re-negotiation work? Did they go as "low" as $25,000?
C'mon gge...please tell us the outcome.

Amazing!! How much more did gge need to convince him what he needed to do? Somehow I don't think we'll hear much about the outcome unless he was able to rescind.

 

[Patri]

Ah well, maybe he just wrote a check for $30,000 and it didn't even hurt. We may be reading too much into other folks' finances. 30 grand to some people is peanuts. So give me a bag full!

 

[gge]

Hey gang we did go back to Welk on Sunday and did come back with a much better deal. We printed resales for 2 bedroom lock outs and presented these prices for renegoiations.

The platium program is 300,000 points with floating week that can be traded with II.

The timeshare resales are using MR. W's resturant which has not been there for at least 3 years.

Welk Resorts is not offering the upgrades to present owners anymore, unless asked for by the owner. There is the First Right of Refusal now with resales, if we wanted to buy a resale at a undervalued price they would most likely buy it.

They are very tough on their game on selling. I am in the business and know the tricks.

Our final deal was between 20 and 25k no closing costs and a round trip airline voucher for 2.

GGE

 

[Talent312]

Hey gang we did go back to Welk on Sunday and did come back with a much better deal. We printed resales for 2 bedroom lock outs and presented these prices for renegoiations.

The platium program is 300,000 points with floating week that can be traded with II.... Our final deal was between 20 and 25k no closing costs and a round trip airline voucher for 2.

A vast improvement. Congrats and thanks for the info.

 

[gmarine]

Improvement, yes. But you still paid way more than you could have resale. And the deal is even worse because you plan on using it to trade. I'm not sure why you asked for advice. You didnt take any offered.

You know the tricks? Your kidding right?

 

[jdb0822]

as for ROFR, that may be similar to Westgate, where any NEW contracts bought recently are subject to ROFR, but older contracts are not. 20-25K is way to much. for 25K you could buy 2,500,000 Wyndham points. The average 2-bed at Wyndham is 154,000 points, so you could have 16 weeks of vacation in a 2bed at various resorts, or trade those whopping 2.5million points in for 16 weeks of exchanges with II or RCI. Thats just one example.

Another is DVC, which I understand is a strong trader in II, $25K buys probably around 200-240 pts directly from Disney, more if resale. DVC also holds better resale value.

There's just 2 examples, I am sure others know other examples as well.

Bottom line, you paid way too much, and by the time you realize it, it will be too late.

 

[Jim C]

Improvement, yes. But you still paid way more than you could have resale. And the deal is even worse because you plan on using it to trade. I'm not sure why you asked for advice. You didnt take any offered.

You know the tricks? Your kidding right?

I actually think he was serious!!! All cash deal makes this thing even worse. Well, I guess he did OK; probably only paid $10,000 - $15,000 more than it was worth. A lot better than $15,000 - $20,000 more, right?

 

[CatLovers]

Folks, bottom-line, you can give people advice if they ask for it, but you can't force them to take it!

I work to give people a fair price without all the hassles.

The OP has made an (incorrect IMO) assumption that salespeople in the timeshare industry operate in the same way as salespeople in the kitchen remodeling business. At this point, he has made a decision to drop $20-25K for something that he could have achieved for $10-15K less. It's his money, and truthfully, not everyone sees that as a large amount ... perhaps this is true of the OP.

As frustrating as it is to some of the regulars on TUG, we can't take responsibility for every (poor) timeshare-related decision that people make. JMHO.

 

[gmarine]

Folks, bottom-line, you can give people advice if they ask for it, but you can't force them to take it!




The OP has made an (incorrect IMO) assumption that salespeople in the timeshare industry operate in the same way as salespeople in the kitchen remodeling business. At this point, he has made a decision to drop $20-25K for something that he could have achieved for $10-15K less. It's his money, and truthfully, not everyone sees that as a large amount ... perhaps this is true of the OP.

As frustrating as it is to some of the regulars on TUG, we can't take responsibility for every (poor) timeshare-related decision that people make. JMHO.

This is a very good point. The OP assumes because he has gotten the price down from the starting point that he has gotten a good deal. In timeshares sales that isnt the case. The saleperson at Welk apparently did a very good job of convincing the OP that he was getting a special deal. Unfortunately the $25000 purchase couldnt be sold for half that today.

 

[Bill4728]

Hey gang we did go back to Welk on Sunday and did come back with a much better deal. We printed resales for 2 bedroom lock outs and presented these prices for renegoiations.

I'm glad you got a better deal. But just because they lowered the price doesn't mean your better deal was a good deal.

The platium program is 300,000 points with floating week that can be traded with II.

The timeshare resales are using MR. W's resturant which has not been there for at least 3 years.

There are always resells out there. Often you'll see resale for resorts which haven't even opened. ( several months ago, at the westin on Kauai, there were resales offered 6 months before the resort opened!!) Just because some resales meantion a restaurant which closed 3 years ago, doesn't mean there aren't currently many resales offering almost the exact same thing you bought.

Welk Resorts is not offering the upgrades to present owners anymore, unless asked for by the owner.

But if the current owner wants to upgrade, the salesmen will upgrade them.

There is the First Right of Refusal now with resales, if we wanted to buy a resale at a undervalued price they would most likely buy it.

Most of the time talk about ROFR is baloney. Most TS resorts do not use their ROFR. And the ones which do, like Marriott & Hilton, use it at a level were buying resale will almost alway saves you tens of thousands of dollars.

I'm pleased you got a better deal. And hope you enjoy your new TS. Maybe with the new Welk resort's point system, you can't get a better deal resale. Either way.

Good Luck

 

[Jaybee]

Well, rats! I'm still confused about one point gge mentioned.. "The resales are using Mr. W's restaurant"??? What are they using it for? It's been replaced by a different restaurant, which is closer to the theater. So... If you're happy, Mr. gge, then I'm happy for you. Sorry you underestimated the timeshare mentality. I hope you stick around on Tug.