I'm Confused

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

Hi folks,
I'm an elementary teacher from Wisconsin and went to my first presentation in Wisconsin Dells a few months ago when I was at an amusement park. I had never heard of resales, literally knew nothing about timeshares. When I went to the presentation, I was shocked by the anger that my salesman displayed whenever I questioned the value for the product. He also became irate when I asked him to cut to the chase and tell me what the cost was because I didn't want to know anything else until I heard that. We ended on a sour note, but I left fascinated by this whole timeshare business.

Now my question/comment...I somehow found this site and as I am trying to navigate and learn what's up, it's like a foreign language is spoken with acronyms. Is there a publication (article, book, whatever that explains everything in fairly simple language).

I have gone to various resale sites and the cost for many of the weeks still seem rather outrageous to me. Some have large number of points with them and I don't understand what that means.

Being a teacher, virtually the only time I can travel is during the summer, spring break and winter break, around Christmas, which are high demand times obviously. Right now I'm trying to find something in Myrtle Beach South Carolina to simply rent and I don't know if this is possible. Some of the rents that are being requested seem rather outrageous also or perhaps I just don't know the market, which is most likely true. I would like to ultimately purchase a timeshare, but I definitely don't want to be locked into a certain week. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have been reading at this site for several weeks before posting and I would like to compliment everybody on the civility that is found here. Of course there are a few moments, but unlike other sites, there is a very helpful tenor here that as a newcomer I find appealing.

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

[SIGN]Welcome to TS4Ms[/SIGN]

For major holiday weeks, you'll have to either spend bigger money for a fixed week, pay to rent, or gamble on a 'floating' week that you might get lucky enough to reserve a year out for the holiday if it's not blocked from your float season. For summer, there is more flexibility, you could buy a week that 'floats,' during the summer, or 'high' season.

First question would be "where would you like to go," followed by "would you be happy going to the same place each year, or at least two to three years out of four..." or "would you rather buy something with good trading power, and trade it to go somewhere different most of the time (much more likely in summer than over christmas...)".. keeping in mind that good trading power may entail a larger cash outlay, in terms of investment plus exchange fees...

I'm no points expert, but peruse the points forum and ask more questions... it's a LOT to absorb!

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

I would like something in Myrtle Beach. Does that have fairly decent "trading power?"

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

I would like something in Myrtle Beach. Does that have fairly decent "trading power?"

Prime summer, weeks 25-33, decent quality, yes. Try to get something that is "dual affiliated" with both RCI and Interval International so you have more options going forward. Gold Crown or 5* status will also allow you to use SFX. And there are other independents, too.

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

I went on ebay and saw one guy has about 30 timeshares listed and the starting bid for most is just a dollar. Is it really possible to pick up a timeshare for so little and what's the downside. If it is an annual deeded property with a fixed week, does that still allow one to trade. What if I had a week in February and wanted to trade within RCI for something in June, is that ok or would I have to find somebody willing to trade with me first. How does it work?

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

I went on ebay and saw one guy has about 30 timeshares listed and the starting bid for most is just a dollar. Is it really possible to pick up a timeshare for so little and what's the downside. If it is an annual deeded property with a fixed week, does that still allow one to trade. What if I had a week in February and wanted to trade within RCI for something in June, is that ok or would I have to find somebody willing to trade with me first. How does it work?

It isn't against the rules, but it is very hard to trade an off-season week for a prime season week through most exchange companies. And what would be the incentive for a direct trade, in which owners expect like-for-like exchanges in terms of demand? You can swing an off-season week for something better if you're willing to wait until last minute. A lot of work, and no guarantees. No guarantees in exchanging, period; not for the faint of heart, and takes work. I would strongly urge your first purchase to be something you would like to use yourself, and for trading buy something high demand in terms of location and week... once you learn the game a little better, you can start playing the tougher odds.

[Htoo0 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Htoo0]

Before making a purchase you might try looking for rentals. They may be cheaper than buying and you get a feel for the resorts before getting serious about buying. The downside of getting a timeshare on the cheap is why it's being sold. High maint. fees, special assessments, etc?

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

If you like the Dells and Myrtle Beach, I would look at a company called Bluegreen...Welcome to Bluegreen Online.

We can help you find good resale packages, and they have good properties in Wisconsin and MB, among others.

[dgonza Member Find all posts View Profile Close dgonza]

OK to answer your ebay question. Yes it is safe to buy on ebay as long as you do your homework and look at the sellers credibility etc...... I bought my timeshare on ebay for $152 + Closing costs + transfer fee + Maintenance fees = $1,333. It is a fixed deeded week #25 (middle of June) in Orlando that I can use every year. This year, I did an internal exchange and used it for week #23. Hence, just because you have a fixed week does not mean you have to go at that same time every year. So if you bought a fixed week in Feb then yes it is possible to trade for a more desirable week.....notice I said "possible" If you own in a high demand week then you will have more trading power to trade for pretty much anytime you want. The key here is availability. Everything is based off of availablity.

If you want to vacation somewhere other than your home resort, then there are exchange companies (interval international, Rci..etc) that you can join and go anywhere in the world.....Again its based on availability.

Good luck with your search. You have come to the right place to get answers.

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

I went on ebay and saw one guy has about 30 timeshares listed and the starting bid for most is just a dollar. Is it really possible to pick up a timeshare for so little and what's the downside. If it is an annual deeded property with a fixed week, does that still allow one to trade. What if I had a week in February and wanted to trade within RCI for something in June, is that ok or would I have to find somebody willing to trade with me first. How does it work?

Many of those $1 eBay auctions are legit, but are for timeshare weeks that aren't worth owning. For many timeshares, the annual maintenance fee is more important that the selling price. If a timeshare week has a maintenance fee of, say, $700 but could be rented for $500, you would probably be better off renting and not owning. This is the case for many off-seaon timeshares. (In a very few cases, it would be worth buying the timeshare even if you could rent it for less than the annual fees. This might be true if, say, the resort offered day use privileges to owners that you thought you would use a lot.)

Some of the $1 timeshares on eBay are worth owning -- I've bought a couple -- but you need to know a lot about timeshares to tell which ones. Also, watch out for inflated closing costs. A "$1" timeshare is $500 or more once you pay closing fees. Also, many people on eBay "snipe" (bid at the last minute, or more like the last 6 seconds) so prices often go up dramatically right at the end of an auction.

RCI doesn't require that someone reserve your week before you can make a trade, but they do use "trading power" -- they make an assessment of how desirable your week is, and only offer you weeks that they consider equally or less desirable. Most of the exchange companies use some form of trading power in deciding what trades can be made. However, different exchange companies have different ideas of what constitutes a desirable week, so sometimes a timeshare that trades poorly in one system will trade well in another. I have several timeshares like that.

You asked about an introductory article -- I am hoping to start a website with timeshare information. It's not up yet, but I can email you some of the articles that I've written for the website. Look for a "PM" (private message) from me -- check the upper-left corner of your screen where it says Private Messages.

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

Your post was full of very helpful information and I look forward to the articles. Question: What is considered a "reasonable" closing cost? Would week 20 in Myrtle Beach be considered decent and would I be most likely able to trade for other locations?

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

Can somebody recommend a luxury timeshare, oceanview, in Myrtle Beach, for possible rental. I would like to get the feel of things before making a purchase.

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

Your post was full of very helpful information and I look forward to the articles. Question: What is considered a "reasonable" closing cost? Would week 20 in Myrtle Beach be considered decent and would I be most likely able to trade for other locations?

Timeshare closing companies typically charge $250-300 for escrow services. This does not include the resort transfer fee which can be another $100 or so. Often the escrow fee is split between the buyer and seller though that will not be true of a really cheap resale. I would expect that week 20 will be somewhat off-season and may not have very high trading power.

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

Additional detail....

Re: >> RCI doesn't require that someone reserve your week before you can make a trade, but they do use "trading power" -- they make an assessment of how desirable your week is, and only offer you weeks that they consider equally or less desirable.<<
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I think that it's both relevant and important to point out to a "newbie" that RCI will NEVER actually REVEAL any details or info on their "internal" assessmentof the "trading power" of any given week. With RCI, it's "deposit now, hope later..". In my opinion, that's simply unacceptable.

Consider other exchange companies which allow you to "search first" (yes, there are several), so that you don't give up a thing until / unless you see something worthwhile to actually exchange for. Stay away from the RCI-like "man behind the curtain" approaches to trading power / exchanging.

Just my personal opinion and $0.02 worth.