New Members - Please Introduce Yourself!

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

My name is Nicki and my husband Kurt. We went to Virginia to a friend's wedding in April 2 years ago. We had been given invites to Massanutten resort by an uncle who owns there for two years before that and always declined. But this particular time we thought we'd take advantage of the free weekend since the wedding was only 40 minutes away, and yes my husband got sucked in by the developer, purchasing one week Upper and lower units locked, fixed week #43 which we can split into two, and also they gave us 2 "bonus" weeks, so we have up to 4 weeks of vac to use each year which is crazy!!!

I remember my family going through the whole sales pitch in Florida when I was in 9th grade and was exposed to it briefly on our honeymoon in Aruba. At first, we didn't understand how it would really benefit us and were curious to do the tour, but we hadn't done our research prior, so we probably didn't make the smartest choice b/c now we are a bit frustrated with it and are not sure we will get our money's worth, so that's why I googled for help and found YOU! I need to learn more so I can get the best of what we want for what we have. I am more conservative, so spending all this money is hard! I only look at the bottom line and just see $$$$$.

We have two small children, 18mon and 5 who will be starting Kgarten in the fall, so it is hard to vacation with them and now will be entering the school calendar as well! My husband loves the mountains and I love the beach, so I wish we wouldn't have bought so much time so I could still rent a condo at the beach and not feel guilty about the extra $ we're putting out!

On the other hand, in just two years we have had some nice vacations to our home resort Massanutten, VA, and then to New Bern NC, and Lodges at Cresthaven Lake George. We did have a 10 year anniversary trip planned without kids in July to St. Maartin, but realized we just can't put out that much money this year, so we cancelled.

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

Welcome.. You've found a great site to lean to use and exchange your ownership! Don't feel bad about buying from the developer- most people do with their first purchase!

Again- welcome and congrats on some great upcoming vacations!

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

New member, looking for first time share

Greetings!
My name is Ken LaVoie -- My wife Deb and I endured a pretty pleasant 50 minute spiel today, -- we were strong and united enough to say no, but we also felt, after talking to a couple of friends, that htere might indeed be some benefits to owning, at a reasonable price, as well as being a member of RCI.

We did leave today with 4 free round trip airline tickets (with restrictions of course), $50 home depot card, $300 grocery gift certificate and $100 "fun cash" to spend on any vacation booked using the 4 airline tickets. What we got, that might've been the MOST valuable was a crash course in how it all works, how it all comes together.

I'm going to regurgitate them all here in shorthand, and maybe you can let me know if I'm on the right track and maybe give some feedback on how best to approach the secondary market?

1. Okay, so you buy your points -- all resorts are graded by 4 basic things
-- location, time of year, number of people that it will sleep, quality of resort (0-5 star). You buy "points" and these 4 criteria are assessed together to determine how many "points" each week sells for, or is worth.
For our particular spiel we were offered 21,000 points for $10,900 financed at 15.9% (ouch!). This assumed a "4 sleeper" unit with annual maintenance of $295. A 40,000 point would be $395 per year. In addition, if you want to swap, there is a $138 fee to RCI to do so.

2. What is different about THESE new ones is that you can break up your week. So you can take 4 days in one place, 3 days in another. from what I can see, this is the ONLY difference between buying at a "spiel" and buying on the secondary market.

3. By being a member of RCI, you get to choose special deals from the "last call" inventory of unused weeks. These are available ONLY 0-45 days in advance, and cost the LESSER of 9,000 points or the lowest number of points that the resort charges -- so if the Palms Resort in Orlando is 21,000 points for a 2 BR in January, you still only pay 9,000 points. There is also a cash price alternative, usually $200-$300. So you can just pay that and STILL have all your points for another vacation.

4. On a side note, We live in rural Maine, 90 minutes from coast, and one advantage that I can see in owning locally is that if you want to take a cruise or another vacation that you cannot use your points for, you still have a "cheap" local vacation you can take any time at the coast of Maine -- just gas and groceries.

5. Are there any other fees, like for being member of RCI?

6. How does typical time share stack up agains DVC?

7. What is the typical fee increases? Maintenance and swap?

Thanks VERY much! I hope to be an owner SOON!

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

Welcome..

This area is primarily for new members to have a chance to say "Hi" and simply introduce themselves.

I recommend you post your question in either the "points" thread All Points Here - Timeshare Forums

or in the "rci exchange" thread
RCI - Timeshare Forums

Again- Welcome and I'm confident you'll find plenty of answers inside!

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

moved

Done!
I just posted it in the first one you mentioned.

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

Done!
I just posted it in the first one you mentioned.

Good job and welcome

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

New member, trying to learn from experts while shopping for best TS

Hi, my name is Eileen from Ontario, Canada.

We were in Orlando mid March, purchased from developer but cancelled before the deadline (still waiting for our refund). After that, I've join TUG, wmowners, and now here trying to learn and get answers to my questions before choosing the right ownership for us.

We have 2 daughters in High School, both didn't want to miss classes so our vacation time is limited to summer time. I'm an RN and we can only take 2 weeks vacation in the summer because we only really have 3 months of it in Canada per se. We need to share it amongst us (colleagues).

We want to look at all option possible before buying. We do like to buy HRA but not to exchange. We are looking for another one to compliment HRA and a good exchanger. I know you are going to say don't buy to exchange but I would be lying if I say ok because my main reason is not to be confined in one resort only if it's all possible. We are also looking for higher quality resorts if we have a choice but at the same time looking for the best bang for our buck.

I'm sure there's a lot to learn and I want to thank everyone in advance.

[Ra Shara Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ra Shara]

Hey ya....I am a timeshare newbe. My husband and I bought a 1 bdrm at the Grandview at Las Vegas about 2 years ago and have yet to use it. We have 3 boys and thought this would be great for family vacations. We are also members w/ RCI. The type of our timeshare is Triennial. We were told that meant we would get 1 week every year and 1 deeded week every 3rd year. But honestly not sure what exactly that means or even where to start so that my family could possibly start enjoying our timeshare. Help! I would appreciate any info. Thanx.

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

Timesharesaregreat most of the time.

Hi Everyone,
I've been a timeshare owner for about 8 years now. I purchased my first unit on ebay for $200 in Fort Lauderdale beach resort (a weeks unit). A few months later I purchased a second unit on ebay for $1500 on Hollywood beach (love this one at Enchanted Isle right on the sand 2 bedroom). Then I joined RCI and discovered points so I purchased a 2 bedroom on ebay again for $1500 with a trienniel use year with 24,000 points per year at Vacation Village at Parkway in Kissimmee, FL. Well as you can see I love to travel and instead of owning a second home on the beach I just use my points in Kissimmee and purchase last calls from RCI and II. Then about 4 years ago I joined DVC. This one I purchased from Disney but got an incentive of $1500 for my downpayment. (Should have bought DVC resale but I got caught up in the magic). And my latest acquisition is another week in Enchanted Isle 2 bedroom for 99cents on ebay. So in total I have about 6 weeks of vacations to use or exchange. As you can see I love timeshares. So far I use all my weeks and then some but at times it can get stressful taking all those vacations. Good thing I get 6 weeks off a year from my job.
I work as a nurse in a big teaching hospital. I also sell on ebay as a hobby and also sell real estate part time. Life's good. I hope to learn alot on these forums. Feel free to ask me any questions about my resorts or Miami in general since I live in Miami.

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

Welcome to all. ...Bring your questions and contribute your experiences and we'll all share our knowledge and learn from one another.

[schiff1997 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close schiff1997]

Hello to everyone from the beautiful Ottawa Valley. My name is Siobhan and my DH Rick and I have been timesharing since 1994. Traded our 17 ft boat,motor, trailer for a 2 bedroom ski week at CLub Vacances Toutes Saisons just outside Quebec City, even though we do not ski. Joined RCI then and up until about 5 years ago got amazing trades. So began buying resales off Ebay. Picked up a Celebrity Lake Buena Vista unit in 2005, successfully sold it in 2008. Also bought 2 float weeks at Silver Lake Resort Orlando, one 2 bedroom and one 3 bedroom. This is our home resort and the one we enjoy and use yearly during our school winter breaks. Just early last week picked up another unit on ebay at Cape Winds Resort in Cape Cod for $237, week 34, which we will use EOY, and trade the years in between.

Why did we start timesharing? Well, before we got our first unit in 1994, we would rent units from a local guy here (imagine at that time he owned 52 weeks at various resorts all over Florida, he started buying in the early 80's). Decided maybe we should look at buying our own unit. Also with my DH self employed, yes, it did force him into a yearly vacation, but now we are trying to set ourselves up for a 5 to 6 week, well south of the border trip yearly. We have one more at home our lovely DD is 15, so hopefully in the next 5 years we will be able to make this a reality. We also have 4 wonderful grandchildren, who absolutely love Mickey!!!!

Maintenance fees at times can be overwhelming, but our family vacation memories always make up them all. I am the vacation planner in our house. My DH just sits back and waits for me to tell him what day we leave!!! Gotta love him for that!!

I really enjoy reading these forums. There are so many experienced members on the boards. The insite and advise you can recieve is priceless!!! And can also save you a ton of money!!

Thanks

[heri0125 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close heri0125]

Hmmmm,

Name is Heri Gonzalez. I live in League City, TX (a suburb of Houston...though the irony is that I'm about equidistant to Galveston and Houston it would seem).

I hadn't posted before introducing myself but figure I could.

I currently own a "White" week with Silverleaf at Lake 'o the Woods in Flint, TX. I purchased from the developer and made tons of rookie mistakes. It was this site that lead me to understand so much more about timeshares and how to get stuff out of them. I've come to terms with the purchase and have actually enjoyed it in recent years (having family come out with me). Still, I only wish I would've held off and purchased from Hilton or some other outfit with that money...

That is, before I really looked into the whole re-sale side of things.

I'm in the process of purchasing a platinum 1 bedroom unit with HGVC for use with them. I've stayed with them in the past and feel they offer the most utility for what I'm after at this point in life. Perhaps years down the road I may look into expanding or possibly upgrading. But for now, I am hoping HGVC doesn't exercise their FRoR and I become a happy owner.

I tend to enjoy traveling to Las Vegas and Hawaii a fair amount. I am looking to travel to other places I've never been (some places random like Mount Rushmore and walking part of the Appalachian [sp?] trail)...also just looking to visit places I haven't been to in over a decade.

Thanks for all the help thus far!

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

Hello everyone, another timeshare newbie here.

My wife and I just bought a Gold 2 bedroom lock off at the Marriott Aruba Surf Club from Marriott... I wish I would have found this site first so I would have known to look resale first, it's a little late now. Hopefully this unit will be good for trading in the future so we can see some great places around the world once the kids are old enough to appreciate it.

We just started a family (1 year old daughter and another child due in Jan), so we figured this is a good way to take great vacations in the future and the timeshare units look much better for a family than a standard hotel room.

I've already learned a lot by reading the posts here and hopefully we will be able to use the tips we've learned already and will learn from everyone here to make the most of our purchase.

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

Hi Everyone

Hi there,

We have had our II timeshare for two years and love all the money it has saved us travelling. Ours is based in Tortola, BVI...only 12 units 200 meters from the beach! It's a quiet island and just peaceful and quiet!

I will be asking a lot of questions around resorts in other countries as it is hard to tell from the book what is close to the tourist attractions.

Glad to be here!

Lisa

[daviper1996 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close daviper1996]

Newbie in the Club

Hey, my wife Amy and I just returned from Ka'anapali beach club which was a part of the sampler package DRI offered us during our honeymoon back in 2008. We love hawaii and did end up buying points at a "presentation" and truthfully while long I did leave feeling and while I am still I keep reading more and more and am starting to think had I asked around here first they might have said to the timeshare resale.

I did not buy it for profit, but rather to start building a great foundation for furture family vacations. We also have our first baby on the way (girl) and that was a big part of our decision.

I am finding alot of great info on this site although I know I am still very green and very very confused ...

It sounds like perhaps I paid a bit to much but I look foward to learning, and sharing my experiances timesharing!

As for Ka'anapali Beach Club I really enjoyed it. I have stayed at the Ka'anapali Mariott before and it is beautiful, but for me I enjoyed the beach and pool more at KBC. The pool was more open and had a great time several nights with spontaneous volleyball games etc. I also enjoyed the beach not being so overly crowded and not having all the people walking around from Whalers village etc. We didn't mind the 1 mile drive up to Whalers when we were in the mood.

See you in the forums!

P.S. I welcome any and all advice.