International Opportunities?

[perfectreign Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close perfectreign]

I just joined the forum today. My wife and I own a week in Southern California with an RCI weeks membership. We didn't take the opportunity to transfer to points some years ago and are now thinking of this.

I joined the forum because I wanted to know this - what are the pros and cons for purchasing a timeshare in another country. I recall meeting somebody - I think it was in Sedona, Arizona - who owned a TS in South Africa. According to that person, they paid something like $500 for the one-bedroom unit and maintenance was only about $250 per year. (I pay about $700 per year for my unit.)

Any recent discussions here on this?

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

I've read mention of South Africa Timeshares pretty frequently, but it seems like they have all pretty much been about getting rid of them. Be sure to do lots of research, as things may have changed recently regarding trading power, etc.

I do not recommend upgrading to RCI points for a southern California timeshare. My experience has been that you get to pay a lot more for what you already have. My Carlsbad week gets 46,500 points, but there aren't any weeks in the same resort that for that amount. They are all higher.

Which resort do you own at? Is the $700. too much for you? All of my southern California TS are higher than that.

[perfectreign Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close perfectreign]

My wife and I own in San Clemente Inn in - well - San Clemente. Just a bit north of you. My FIL also owns at Wave Crest in Del Mar. I actually find the $700 extremely steep for a 1b/one week. What do you pay?


Thanks for the advice, I kind of figured the switch to points would not be worth the $$$.


I wasn't necessarily stuck on South Africa. Just looking into international options.

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

My wife and I own in San Clemente Inn in - well - San Clemente. Just a bit north of you. My FIL also owns at Wave Crest in Del Mar. I actually find the $700 extremely steep for a 1b/one week. What do you pay?


Thanks for the advice, I kind of figured the switch to points would not be worth the $$$.


I wasn't necessarily stuck on South Africa. Just looking into international options.

One bedroom is around $900. and 2 bedroom about $1100., but those do include taxes and reserves. Southern California coast is a very high demand area, so it will seem more expensive than other places.

Good luck on your search. Let us know what you find.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

SA's a soooo 10 years ago. We're pretty much over them now.

Recent discussion anywhere is that you can buy timeshares for free just about anywhere because folks are tired of paying maintenance fees and getting a lot less than they used to.

With RCI weeks, online you can view trading power of any week and any resort and with a little time and effort you can see what it takes to trade into anywhere, any time.

There is also a thread going on how TPU's cost, which is getting at the cruxt of your question. You need more of a feel for what it takes to trade, but TPUs are going for anywhere from under $10 to over $80 per point.

That means the price of an exchange looking at just maintenance fees can vary from $30 to over $3000.

Yeah, really.

Many here have spent beaucoup hours looking at this, so here's a good place to ask questions.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

To give you a headstart, a 1 bedroom, 6/4, peak summer at SCI is 27 TPUs, so with a $700 fee, that's $26.92 per point. Not great, but not horrible.

SOCAL has always been good traders.

My best is about $16 and worst about $80.

That's assuming you deposit at least nine months out.

I seldom pay attention to people I hear talking at resorts because normally in the first minute I can tell they don't know squat. (same with RCI Guides )

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

South Africa still works with some independent exchange companies. For RCI, if you live in SA and use RCI SA, you still get fair value. It is only the SA owners living outside of SA that RCI has screwed.

If the euro goes off the cliff, then currency exchange rates may make Europe attractive, but avoid the overbuilt areas like the Canary Islands and Costa del Sol in Spain. Also, RCI tends to give fair valuation in RCI Points but does not in ''Points Lite'' (''Weeks'')

Australia used to be in vogue for Points people when the Oz dollar was in the toilet, but now that it is stornger than the greenback, that is no longer attractive.

Most foreign weeks are really a currency play.

[perfectreign Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close perfectreign]

Thank you each for the answers. I just used SA as an example, and because I have an acquaintance from there (who lives in London full-time now).

I'll take all the advice and look around!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

My wife and I own in San Clemente Inn in - well - San Clemente. Just a bit north of you. My FIL also owns at Wave Crest in Del Mar. I actually find the $700 extremely steep for a 1b/one week. What do you pay?

My familiarity with SOCAL traders goes back a long time, way more than ten years, as is true with many on this forum. We had trading power tests back in the 1990's and early 2000's, and I even administered one or two. That's how we, together, used to figure the secret things out, before that became legally mandated.

SOCAL resorts always did well. There were few, if any, more coveted areas. I probably have a few test results saved on Ole PC.

Here's a post from later on, June, 2009:

A friend that I recently compared trading power with was over today. His San Clemente Inn used to do 1000 better than my best trader. Today his San Clemente Inn saw 155000 and my best trader saw 146000.

That was after a few enhancements ago, when stuff disappeared over the course of a weekend.

[Jaquelline Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jaquelline]

I assume owning outside of the country may have its benefits depending on where exactly you own. Obviously Mexico would not be a good choice in case you have not heard over the years of the scams that arise with timeshare resorts in Mexico. As long as you make a wise decision and understand exactly what you are buying rather than being told what you are buying, then the benefits of owning outside of the USA far more outweighs the cons. I would buy with a major resort chain however, like Wyndham, I have a property with them and I find them to be one of the best.