Would This be A Strong Trader To Buy My First TS??

[JWG]

I am looking to buy my first Timeshare as I am a single Dad who wants to continue those good times we had started with the kids. They are literally all over so I expect I will be vacationing all over. I am from Canada and like to get away to a warm climate over the winters. Should I be looking for a certain location (ie. Hawaii but I find the MF too expensive) or any Gold Crown resort inland that has a low MR? How is Las Vegas, Florida, or Branson Missouri for trading? Any help and direction is greatly appreciated. Thankyou in advance for taking the time and have an awesome Easter! Jim

 

[Janie]

Hi, and welcome to TUG!

Your question is a common one, and you will find dozens of similar threads on TUG discussing the fine points of trading power, so I suggest that you do a search to learn more. But here are a few major factors to consider:

The two major exchange companies (RCI and II) use somewhat different criteria to calculate trade power. Since you've mentioned Gold Crown (an RCI designation), I'll make a leap of faith and assume that RCI is your preferred trading company.

"Gold Crown" is virtually meaningless in the RCI trading power equation. The important factors are supply vs. demand (which translates into location, season, and how much timeshare inventory is available at the location), and the ratings that exchangers provide after an exchange experience.

Branson is wildly overbuilt with timeshares, and will not be a strong trader for you.

The same applies to some locations in Florida, for example Orlando.

Las Vegas, I don't know.

Almost any location in the "off season" will be a poor trader. Pay no attention to the "red" designation: it is meaningless. Instead, look at the times when people really travel in great numbers to a location. For example, July to mid August at East or West Coast beaches (except Florida, which is perceived as too hot). Feb and March on Florida, Mexico, or Caribbean beaches. February and March in major ski resorts.

My recommendation for a great trader in RCI is a July-mid August week in a popular beach location on the East Coast. Cape Cod, NC Outer Banks, Ocean City, MD, Atlantic Beach, NC, Myrtle Beach, SC, Hilton Head island, SC are examples. This will be both fun for your family to use, and should continue to attract high demand from exchangers regardless of the economy.

(Disclaimer: No guarantees! In the timeshare world, almost everything is subject to change)

 

[Janie]

deleted duplicate post

 

[EAM]

Winter ski weeks are also often good traders. I normally recommend buying someplace you will go to yourself, but if you'd prefer to own something in your own country but trade it for someplace warm, you might consider a ski week in the Canadian Rockies.

 

[JWG]

Great advice. Thank you both so much. Much appreciated!! JWG

 

[dreamin]

I own at the Elkhorn Resort in Manitoba. Although I have never stayed there, I have a points account with 48,000 annual points. If I use the Instant Exchange program with RCI (9000 points or less) and Extra Vacations for cash, I can usually get 5 weeks of vacation from these points. You have to be flexible and spend some time doing searches, but I have had wonderful vacations with our family. If I could afford to buy another timeshare, I would make sure it was in Canada. In past years, our CDN dollar has been valued at anywhere from 65 cents to $1.10 approximately to the US dollar. Naturally, if you purchased in the US, your maintenance fees would be in US dollars. Something to consider.

 

[PeelBoy]

Jim, I am also from Canada. Most Canadians work in the cold winter and play in the hot summer.

Since you have children, you may need a vacation during school holidays, which are always difficult to exchange into, unless in over-built areas such as Williamsburg, Orlando, Vegas, Branson and Arizona.

You may want a fixed week and return every year. If you are willing to try your luck, the key is ski winter or beach summer. I don't ski so can't help you with resorts in ski areas. For summer beach, look into Cap Cod, North and South Carolina.

I own a week in Outerbanks, NC. MF is like USD460. Another week is a two bedroom lockout in Myrtle Beach. MF is USD670. I can spilt it into two weeks and either of them can pull 170K units from RCI. If I plan well in advance, I can get two bedrooms for two weeks any week posted in the sighting boards. These are real "tiger" traders and the MF are reasonable.

 

[JudyS]

..... Should I be looking for a certain location (ie. Hawaii but I find the MF too expensive) or any Gold Crown resort inland that has a low MR? How is Las Vegas, Florida, or Branson Missouri for trading? Any help and direction is greatly appreciated. Thankyou in advance for taking the time and have an awesome Easter! Jim

None of those are particularly strong traders, actually.

Instead, I would suggest Southern California coast or Cape Cod during July. Fixed SoCal summer weeks are very expensive, but there are some floating weeks that are reasonably priced; you just have to remember to book as soon as reservations open.

Also, a big question here is what type of resorts you want to stay at. If you like high-end resorts, II has far more of those than does RCI, and II doesn't care that much about trade value. Instead, II cares about unit size and resort quality.

 

[aliikai2]

bevvy5

on TS4M's may have something,
She has a couple of pretty good traders she is try to give away.
email me and I will check with her.
Greg