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[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

You don't seem new to the timeshare world. Why did you not tell us u paid $1 for 2 weeks? I think you are trying to scam us here. Nice try. But didn't work.

Gee Joe...I guess you have problems with honesty, huh? If you have an issue with people scamming you, maybe you need some help?? I didn't mention the $1 as I didn't think it made that much of a difference. I'm brand new to timeshares and really have no idea what I bought but I figured for $1, I couldn't really go wrong. My question had nothing to do with what I paid for it...it had to do with "What do I have and What do I do now that I have it"? All I'm trying to do is get an honest answer from someone...and apparently that someone isn't you, huh? Guess I will see if I can find another forum that has people that I can trust.

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

Can we trade those 2 weeks in a 2br for a 1br at another time of the year or will that be hard to do? Thanks

It depends on the trading system. Different systems use different criteria in an attempt to make sure people trade "like for like", so what you need to do is find the system that works best for you. Different trading systems offer different options on where you can go and how well something trades.

I'd post to the trading system forums (i.e., RCI, Interval International, etc. - "Timeshare Exchange Companies" is the header for that group here), tell people what you've got, and ask if anyone has any guesses about trading up. I'm guessing your purchase won't trade stunningly well; OTOH, it depends on what you want. We don't mind going off-season and aren't bored with the usual places yet and aren't determined to get on the beach, so a collection of options that many long-time timesharers who just want a new beach find unimpressive often looks good to us.

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

Gee Joe...I guess you have problems with honesty, huh? If you have an issue with people scamming you, maybe you need some help?? I didn't mention the $1 as I didn't think it made that much of a difference. I'm brand new to timeshares and really have no idea what I bought but I figured for $1, I couldn't really go wrong. My question had nothing to do with what I paid for it...it had to do with "What do I have and What do I do now that I have it"? All I'm trying to do is get an honest answer from someone...and apparently that someone isn't you, huh? Guess I will see if I can find another forum that has people that I can trust.

The time period you bought is low to medium season. If you bought to exchange, the weeks may not have a lot of trading power. Do you know which exchange company your resort is affiliated with? I believe that Festiva may manage your resort, and they may try to get you to join their points based Adventure Club. Do not be pressured in to doing so. BTW, you can go wrong buying at a $1, as you have continuing maintenance fee responsibilities.

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Thanks. Their website indicates RCI or II. Would I be better off with one over the other?

I can deal with the maintenance costs for the upcoming year and, if I really messed up, I can put it back on Ebay and see if I can sell it and advertise that, while I won't pay the closing costs, I will include the paid maintenance, can't I? Would that help me sell it? By that time, hopefully I will have had help pulling my head out of my butt and will know what I'm getting in to when buying another resale?

[SPG900NY Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SPG900NY]

Geordie97, I sort of did what you did. I did some research first, and the folks on this forum said that the big thing is to buy where you want to vacation. So I ended up getting a $1 sale in a so-so week at the place I wanted to vacation with my family. It was a big unit - 2BR/2BA, like yours, but it was in a blue (low demand) month, and it was a weeks unit through RCI, so you could only trade the full week for something else, and since it was a low-demand week, there wasn't much I could trade it for.

I knew though that I might be able to get, say, a studio in a better month, for instance for the 2BR at the same resort...

When we got to the resort, we spoke with a real nice guy in the ownership office and we got to see the new construction in the complex. Since they were building new units, a lot of people were "trading up" and some of the old units were becoming available for the first time in 30 years (so the rep said, who knows what the case was).

We ended up "trading up" to three adjoining units in a much better week. The resort paid for our "points upgrade" so we are now points instead of weeks and they gave us full retail credit for the unit we bought for $1. So we basically upgraded for about half price, we're now in the RCI points system, and we have three units so we can bank the 1BR for max points to stay elsewhere, we use the studio for ourselves and stay there each year, and we can sell the other unit back to the resort each year and help pay our maintenance fees.

In short, we think this was the best $1 we spent, even though it initially looked like we weren't going to be able to do much with the unit we bought. It got us into vacation ownership, and now we actually SCHEDULE vacations. We went many years without even taking one. It's amazing how fast the years go by.

So a $1 timeshare, even in a slow week, can turn out to be a very good deal!

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Welcome to all!

This entire thread has gotten a bit off track from the customary welcome handshake! However, some great points have been expressed here recently.. IMHO- the cost of a timeshare has absolutely nothing to do with it's actual value, it's simply a matter of usage. No matter what you own- if you use the ownership and get enjoyment from it- chances are it was a good purchase!

The main thing to remember, is that hopefully- every new member to the forums will be able to stay in touch with other owners through this site and continue to learn new strategies, and about new destinations- to get the most from their timeshare ownership!

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Thanks for the information. I retire on March 1, 2010 and on/off season doesn't really matter to me. We just want to be able to travel on our motorcycle and stay at a variety of places. Last minute generally should work for us too. We do want to go to Myrtle Beach as my wife has never been there (I haven't been there since 1975) but it's a bit of a trip from the Memphis area. We also want to be able to go to motorcycle rally's and try to stay at a place other than a hotel.

We will probably try to go over to MB next year, just to see the place anyway. Of course, we will be late getting our bids in as it will be at least another month before we close but maybe there will be something open we can use.

If we rent the place out for a week, I assume we lose that week to use for ourselves? Any idea how much does a 2BR/2BA rent for at Yachtsman?

[Merilyn Member Find all posts View Profile Close Merilyn]

Welcome to the forum from one former Memphian to present Memphian. I live in Maryville, TN now. You need to come to our part of the state. We have wonderful places to motorcycle!

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Geordie97, I sort of did what you did. I did some research first, and the folks on this forum said that the big thing is to buy where you want to vacation. So I ended up getting a $1 sale in a so-so week at the place I wanted to vacation with my family. It was a big unit - 2BR/2BA, like yours, but it was in a blue (low demand) month, and it was a weeks unit through RCI, so you could only trade the full week for something else, and since it was a low-demand week, there wasn't much I could trade it for.

I knew though that I might be able to get, say, a studio in a better month, for instance for the 2BR at the same resort...

When we got to the resort, we spoke with a real nice guy in the ownership office and we got to see the new construction in the complex. Since they were building new units, a lot of people were "trading up" and some of the old units were becoming available for the first time in 30 years (so the rep said, who knows what the case was).

We ended up "trading up" to three adjoining units in a much better week. The resort paid for our "points upgrade" so we are now points instead of weeks and they gave us full retail credit for the unit we bought for $1. So we basically upgraded for about half price, we're now in the RCI points system, and we have three units so we can bank the 1BR for max points to stay elsewhere, we use the studio for ourselves and stay there each year, and we can sell the other unit back to the resort each year and help pay our maintenance fees.

In short, we think this was the best $1 we spent, even though it initially looked like we weren't going to be able to do much with the unit we bought. It got us into vacation ownership, and now we actually SCHEDULE vacations. We went many years without even taking one. It's amazing how fast the years go by.

So a $1 timeshare, even in a slow week, can turn out to be a very good deal!

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the upgrade? Still trying to get a handle on all of this.

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

Tahiti Village Las Vegas TS owners-To Own or Not to Own?!?!

hi all,
My husband Travis and I, Carmen, bought a 1-bedroom at Tahiti Village in Las Vegas in January 2009. We have every other year (odd). We also joined Interval International so we could exchange it for other places. We live in NC. Since we have 3 8-year olds we didn't want to go to Las Vegas this year so we exchanged for the Marriott Harbour Lake in Orlando this summer. A great resort to go to when you have kids. We never even visited any of the parks because we had so much fun at the resort. We also purchased a week getaway at a resort in Williamsburg. That wasn't as great. The pool was always very crowded.
We sometimes have second thoughts about keeping it or selling it. But you read so many horror stories about trying to sell it. Companies take your money and then it never sells or you can only sell at a fraction of the cost you purchased it for. And all the yearly fees add up. Sometimes I think that we can rent this properties for less than our yearly fees so why did we buy?

I would love to hear other people's experience in selling their TS. Or what financial benefit they see from keeping it? I am still very torn and not sure if this was a smart purchase or not. HELP. I would love to hear other peoples stories . Thanks.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Welcome! You will probably find that your best option is simply to continue to use the ownership.. Hopefully, you'll find this site helpful!

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

Thanks

Hi, and thanks for your response.
I haven't had too much time yet to explore all the different pages on this website. I am sure I'll find a lot of useful information.
Thanks Again. Carmen

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

I would love to hear other people's experience in selling their TS. Or what financial benefit they see from keeping it?

I've been watching TS prices for over a year, and in general they have tanked. Right now is not the time to sell it, IMHO, even if that's what you eventually decide to do. That's assuming the yearly fees aren't killing you, of course. But if your main problem is buyer's remorse (which seems to be the case), IMHO it's too early for that.

I don't know Interval International very well, but I would guess that you could trade into Orlando every year and probably Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Williamsburg, Wisconsin Dells, and other places with lots of timeshares where there's a lot of things for kids to do. There are also resorts that are more isolated but have a lot to do on the resort property in peak season - Massanutten, Smuggler's Notch, etc. If you guys spent your Orlando vacation on the resort then maybe that's your style, and if it is, timeshare is a good way to go.

So far everywhere we've gone matched expectations, however I research places pretty well before going there. There are reviews here, at TUG, and sometimes other places on the internet that can give you a fair idea of what you're getting into (I've seen reviews warning that the pool is too small for the resort, for instance), which might help avoid another Williamsburg experience for you.

Any vacation choice you make is going to have positives and negatives. No one can say what works best for you. I prefer owning to renting because I can be sure of the vacation with more lead time (OTOH, if we wanted something quick, we might take advantage of RCI's "Last Call" option sometime, where you can often get a week's worth of vacation on short notice for under $300). For me there are also fewer worries with owning and trading than there are with renting, because there's no "middleman" and I can deal with the resort or RCI direct if there are any problems when I get there as an owner rather than as someone in a more temporary relationship, if you see what I mean. If the person I'm renting from messes up, the buck stops there; if the resort or RCI messes up, I've got more options to contact to get things straightened out.

Ultimately, what matters is whether you can make time share work for you, not whether it works for anyone else. It's true that right now renting can be cheaper than owning for some people (it isn't for us, because it's much tougher to find places that sleep eight for rent than it is through RCI) - in five years that may have changed and you'll be glad you own. Apparently you'll also have three 13-year-olds, and may want the bigger places that are easier to get as an owner. If you've had it less than a year, I'd give your TS a longer trial before bailing, anyhow.

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

Not a real newbie, but a newbie in some ways.

Hello,

I got into timesharing back in 2002 with Epic Resorts. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I liked the idea of traveling the world. Epic was a points based system and was sold in 2004 to Sunterra and then three years ago Sunterra sold to DRI. I love timeshares. I hate hotel rooms now. I have three kids and it makes it easier. There is lots of room and a kitchen to cutdown on meals out thus saving money. I own 30,000 points with DRI so I can basically go where I wish at any time.

I also own a two bedroom with Marriott at Ko Olina. This is a great place and we love to visit it all of the time. This is a beautiful property.

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

New to all of this...

Hi all. I have recently been introduced into the world of timeshares and am pretty lost (but getting a better understanding everyday).

A little bit about my backstory:

My in-laws own 4 timeshares and asked me if I would take them to an appointment they made with a Timeshare Acquisition company. The acq. company sought them out and did everything they could to get them to join them for one of their 'no obligation' seminars. They're getting older and apparently want to get rid of their timeshares. I did a quick background check on the acquisition company and think they are just preying on older timeshare owners. I had them cancel their appointment since they were going to have to pay around $2,500 to 'rid' themselves of their TS's.

Now I don't know much about TS's but I think paying someone to 'take them off of your hands' is a little extreme. Since we want to protect them I told them that I would look into selling them rather than giving them away.

I believe the four timeshares are (2) Marriot Vacations, (1) Havasu Dunes, and (1) Shell Vacations Club.

If anyone would be kind enough to point me in the right direction on how to value them as well as put them on the market I would be more than greatful.

I have all of the files and can provide more information if needed.

Thanks again and I really appreciate your help, and so do my in-laws. They've worked hard for what they have and it makes me mad to hear that there are those companies out there that want to fleece anyone they can!