What Questions to Ask

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

Hey!

My neighbor/best friend has recently become disabled and asked if I would be interested in her RCI timeshare. Timeshare? I don't speak timeshare? So, I thought before we meet about it, I would try to at least get some feel for what questions to ask before deciding to "Timeshare."

1) My goals. My husband and I work way too much and I'm watching my 11 year old daughter grow up having travelled very little. I'm busy, I used to have time to plan complex itineraries, stay at off the path places, get the "best deals", but I no longer have time, so we never go anywhere. I'd like to go to Hawaii, New England, Mexico, Canada. We have vacation dollars to spend but trips seem to be $3000 and higher for decent hotels.

2) My friend said she would not charge me for the timeshare itself. I would pay $1500 per year and some type of maintenance fee, $800? I would own the timeshare. Her 2 weeks are around the holidays, in a winter resort town, but then she said something about points, she's trying to get in one last trip to Oregon? She said she has never used her winter resort, but has been to Hawaii 7 times, Maine, Mexico. So it must be working at least for her?

This is too long I'm sure, but where do I start on this? What do I ask her for? What questions? I certainly don't want want to buy a lemon. I want to stay at nice places but daughter still needs to go to college (if ya know what I mean).

Any help is welcome, but speak civilian if possible.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

1. What does she own? Specific resort and week? Or is it a points based system?
2. If points, what type and how many?
3. $1500 PLUS $800 a year sounds high unless it's a LOT of points that will get you multiple weeks (like at least 3) per year - unless the $1500 goes to paying off a loan, which is NOT recommended.

Generally, using timeshare successfully can be very timeconsuming in terms of planning unless you own and use the same week at the same place every year, but let's find out more. If she has an easy to use points system maybe it could work, but traveling at peak times is almost always a challenge.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Most ownership changes also require a fee, and some can be rather large. Check everything before you take it. I always tell people not to buy a timeshare if you can't pay for it in cash. There also is a annual fee to join an exchange company and a fee for each exchange.

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

Hi and welcome to timeshare forums! You've come to the right place as most of us make excellent use of our vacation time and get the best mileage from our ownerships.

You will need to ask what resort/developer/points system - Wyndham, Bluegreen, Hilton, etc. - as they all have different programs and often different RCI portals. No worries, we have experts on the boards for all of them!

I am no longer up-to-speed on RCI as I concentrate my use to Interval (an alternate trading company) to simply my life and eliminate duplicate fees, but if you provide the name of the resort/unit/week details, someone will be happy to assist you.

Maria