Ebay points purchase did I miss a great Deal ?

[Larry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Larry]

I posted this on TUG but since there BB is currently read only I thought I'd post it here to get some feedback:

I currently own 7 weeks in traditional fixed weeks systems which has worked very well for me and was watching an EBAY auction that I was seriously considering bidding on but don't feel really comfortable buying into this with my limited knowledge of RCI points, but thought this was a great buy for the amount of points I would have received http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=016 . 81,500 points for $2,515.

Did I miss a great deal here ???
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[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I posted this on TUG but since there BB is currently read only I thought I'd post it here to get some feedback:

I currently own 7 weeks in traditional fixed weeks systems which has worked very well for me and was watching an EBAY auction that I was seriously considering bidding on but don't feel really comfortable buying into this with my limited knowledge of RCI points, but thought this was a great buy for the amount of points I would have received http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=016 . 81,500 points for $2,515.

Did I miss a great deal here ???
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Larry,

The link you posted didn't work. Do you have the auction number? I'll take a look at it for you.

That's a good price. But, you also need to factor in the closing costs and reimbursements for current year points. If those are reasonable and the MF is less than $800, then you missed a good deal. If the MF is less than $600, then you missed a great deal.

[Larry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Larry]

Thanks Bocabum

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=016

Here it is again. The link worked for me.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Larry,

Yes, you missed a good deal. Don't worry, there are GREAT deals out there, too.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

People have caught on to RCI points deals

They are more rare than they used to be. There was a seller about a year ago, tochoa of the infamous group that denies being infamous, that was selling a VV at Parkway in Orlando with 92,500 annual RCI points and I could not believe the price. I should have jumped on it, but I chickened out. I think it went for $800. MF's were only about $585, maybe less but not more. One thing that I worry about with resorts in developer sales: After the developer leaves, which they are eventually supposed to do, what mess are they going to leave behind and how much are those fees going to increase? Maybe they are being kept artificially low for a while, in order to sell the new units.

By the way, I emailed Thomas and asked him about the points and thought it was odd that the owner was already bailing. He said it did include the points, for a $99 transfer fee.

Now the same deal goes for a lot more on ebay. Of course, there is that one week that the same group keeps passing around and shill bids up to $8K, then the auction ends and shows up again right away. Yeah, that week is worth that much to someone, but not on ebay.

There is another guy who sells low-maintenance-fee weeks on ebay, mickey44 or something like that, and his prices are very high, but he eventually sells them and they are a bargain for MF's. I would never pay that much for a week in an oddball place with high points. You never know if RCI will adjust points AGAINST you.

If you are patient, you will find a good deal, but there are lots of us doing the same. Watch for me, I am cinmon32373 on ebay.

[Larry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Larry]

Larry,

Yes, you missed a good deal. Don't worry, there are GREAT deals out there, too.

OK so how do you determine a great price. This was $2,515 and would get me a trade in high season in a 2BR unit. Maintenance is $730 per year and to me the only drawback was that it's a RTU until 2026 so at the end of 20 years it has zero value. That's the main reason I didn't bid on this week.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

OK so how do you determine a great price. This was $2,515 and would get me a trade in high season in a 2BR unit. Maintenance is $730 per year and to me the only drawback was that it's a RTU until 2026 so at the end of 20 years it has zero value. That's the main reason I didn't bid on this week.

A 20 year RTU makes it easy to figure out, 2500 / 20 = 225 per year plus 730 equals 955 per year for 81.5K points. You can get a really nice 2 bdr for around 60K if you find something in the weeks system, that leaves enough for a nice long weekend using a standard points reservation. Add two exchange fees $149 (or higher!) and 75-100 for the long weekend and you're at around 1200 per year for 1 and a half weeks vacation. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

[Arkansas Winger Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Arkansas Winger]

There have been several FF 84,000 points units sell for less than $1,000 on ebay in the past couple of weeks and they all were deeded properties (you may own it, sell it, rent it, or pass it on to your heirs) with MF below $600 per year. Purchase includes a membship in RCI.

[Republiman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Republiman]

There have been several FF 84,000 points units sell for less than $1,000 on ebay in the past couple of weeks and they all were deeded properties (you may own it, sell it, rent it, or pass it on to your heirs) with MF below $600 per year. Purchase includes a membship in RCI.

But I'm not sure that would satisfy Larry's needs. I assume with 7 fixed weeks he was buying points so that he would have the opportunity to use the "Points for Deposit" program. You can't use that with FFld points, that is and RCI Points thing (I think!?).

[Larry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Larry]

But I'm not sure that would satisfy Larry's needs. I assume with 7 fixed weeks he was buying points so that he would have the opportunity to use the "Points for Deposit" program. You can't use that with FFld points, that is and RCI Points thing (I think!?).

That's correct so can I get 81,000-85,000 RCI points at a better price than this? I am not looking for FF points.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

But I'm not sure that would satisfy Larry's needs. I assume with 7 fixed weeks he was buying points so that he would have the opportunity to use the "Points for Deposit" program. You can't use that with FFld points, that is and RCI Points thing (I think!?).

Actually, Fairfield has something very similar to Points-for-deposit, called PIC, I believe. (Fairfield and RCI have the same parent company, so they have similar systems.) However, what you wind up with is Fairfield Points, not RCI Points. Also, I believe Fairfield usually requires a developer purchase at high prices before you can use their PIC program.

Also, 84,000 Fairfield points are not worth the same as 84,000 RCI points. 84,000 Fairfield points are worth maybe 28,000 RCI points.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

A question for those looking to buy RCI Points. This auction had a nice number of points for the price, but it was a RTU in the Bahamas, not a deeded week in the US. How much would a deeded week in the US be worth per point, in your opinion? Also, as the MF per point drops, how much more would you be willing to pay in purchase price per point, assuming that the resort was well-run (so MFs weren't artificially low) and the RCI Points value assigned to the week seemed reasonable based on the week's desirability (so Points value wasn't artificially high)?

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

That's correct so can I get 81,000-85,000 RCI points at a better price than this? I am not looking for FF points.

Hmmm, this went for about 3 cents per point, which is an excellant price. There are very few Points deals where the purchase price is lower than that per point. On the other hand, the MF was about .9 cents annually per point, which is just OK, not great. Some buyers care more about MF than purchase price -- after all, you pay the purchase price once; the MFs are every year.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

We picked up our RCI Points resort in Vegas fixed week 42 for these reasons.

The weeks for RCI Points program so we can deposit some of our CMV UDI low cost weeks.

We did not deposit our week 42 for their value of 53,000 RCI Points for 2006 so we can use it or rent it out, hopefully reducing this years maintenance fees cost to less than $0 for owning a RCI Points resort.

If we deposit our fixed week for RCI Points our present 2006 maintence fees would equal .79 cents per RCI Point which is TO DARN HIGH IMHO a on going yearly RCI Point cost.

Bruce

[reddiablosv Member Find all posts View Profile Close reddiablosv]

Hmmm, this went for about 3 cents per point, which is an excellant price. There are very few Points deals where the purchase price is lower than that per point. On the other hand, the MF was about .9 cents annually per point, which is just OK, not great. Some buyers care more about MF than purchase price -- after all, you pay the purchase price once; the MFs are every year.

Your purchase price is a fact, a low MF is a future promise. I have heard of examples where MFs have rapidly escalated, or resorts have implemented special assessments. Another strategy is to look for a RCI points resort with a low initial cost, a small number of points, perhaps a studio? Just something to gain entry into points, then use the Points for deposit program. Ben