Will I make it out alive?

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

Originally Posted by charlie_m
BTW, there are sometimes instances that the sales manager will allow gifting without the tour. Anyone want to know how??

OK, I'm curious about this. When will they do this?


I've seen it done on the table early on in the process when a tour became loud and abusive over something or other. Once when the spouse didn't show up. A sales manager signed off on the gift and cut them loose.

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

[I]... the guy who played detective in "Perry Mason". FYI.

now you've got it- it was on TV quite a while ago.

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

You actually did good to get 7 k for the place. Orlando has thousands of resales on the market and they can be picked up pretty cheaply.

I'll have to check EBay and research the resale market before I'll even comment. However, I sold one of my timeshares last year (Vistana red week #25 Orlando near Disney) for $7K (paid around $10K). I took a loss but over the years did get its use. Even got some bennies from RCI in the form of hotel discounts when my wife and I went to Russia (no timeshares there).

I really had no idea that resales tanked that bad. I now own points with P.M. which I love for the flexibility but trade with II (fewer choices)

All I'm trying to do here is set the record straight about a business I worked in and no longer do, and offer knowledge from a point of view that few have access to. And defend a profession from smearing, even because of a few bad apples.

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

John knows what he is talking about since he has been on an HOA board and has been involved in effecting a management change at a timeshare. In this area of expertise, your credentials are in question.

I'm sure he does have certain knowledge sitting on an HOA board but my "credentials" contain knowledge of what goes on in the field. Before, during and after the "table". That includes the "sales training" otherwise know as The Morning Meeting. The top dog goes over the previous day's performance, cheers for the sales, about 30 minutes of "continuing education".....like for instance How to Break the Pact or the good old Intent Statement, but I'm sure you know all about that too.

BTW, I am a youngster....at 52.

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

Originally Posted by charlie_m
BTW, there are sometimes instances that the sales manager will allow gifting without the tour. Anyone want to know how??

OK, I'm curious about this. When will they do this?


I've seen it done on the table early on in the process when a tour became loud and abusive over something or other. Once when the spouse didn't show up. A sales manager signed off on the gift and cut them loose.

We own quite a few weeks in Vegas and I've always wanted to see Grandview so we signed up for a tour. They said there was no problem bringing the kids, but we were dismissed and gifted about 10 minutes after arriving. They just called out our names from the large strip mall type waiting room. I think that was a fluke, though. It has been my experience that the bodysnatchers in Vegas lay off those with small kids. We often joke how people should just push around a stroller if they want to be left alone.

BTW, I would have guessed your age incorrctly as well. Take it as a compliment.

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

now you've got it- it was on TV quite a while ago.

Very cute.....LOL

So what's the story on Westgate? They're building the Planet Hollywood and the project looks to be awesome. Biggest timeshare on the Strip.

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

Did you know that such timeshare purchasers do not get the same privileges as original owners?

This is not true in 99.9% of timeshare resales.

By the way, realtors make typically 3% on the sale of a home. So for a 300K property, that's 9 grand. Yet that doesn't seem to be a problem.

The commission is not the issue. The issue is that a developer sale timeshare is immediately worth half or less (with few exceptions) of what the person pays for it. This is not true in the case of a Realtor selling a house. Your comparison is not relevant. And I would fall into the camp that says salespeople tell half-truths, or at least omit important truths since I have never met a salesperson who volunteered the information that a timeshare immediately is worth vastly less the day after I buy it.

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

When I bought my last house, or actually, last two that I remember, they had to be appraised before I could get a bank loan. I knew the value of the house in the market, and it was confirmed by an independent party.

That doesn’t happen with timeshare. Salesperson tells you what they are selling is worth $XX. No one comes along and evaluates that figure and says that in the current market that purchase is worth $YY. There usually is no bank involved as they can finance right there in the office at a rate higher than a bank.

Another thing I don’t like about going to these updates or presentations is the background noise. I don’t hear that well to begin with, then the radio is loud, or the conversation level is loud and I can’t hear. I don’t like small talk (I don’t care about your family, you don’t care about my job and I don’t want to explain it to you, lets talk about the timeshare so I can leave and do touristy stuff).

Love my timeshare, but won’t go to any more owner update meetings or tours. Reason-salespeople.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

[QUOTE=charlie_m;229391]
I really had no idea that resales tanked that bad. I now own points with P.M. which I love for the flexibility but trade with II (fewer choices)
QUOTE]

I bought my first TS on eBay for $602. When the paperwork came through, I saw that the original owner had taken our a mortgage of over $8000 about 10 years before. So I got it for 7 1/2 % of the mortgage (not sales price). And we're talking about a gold crown resort. I have since seen identical weeks to mine going for $200-300! Not exactly a great investment.

Sue

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

CFI or Westgate (wastegate) is not what I would call an ethical developer. Their sales team in Orlando has probably turned more people off to timesharing than any other place. They usually pull some kind of stunt every few years to make their owners sorry they bought. The last classic was the ROFR stunt where they stopped sales insisting they had ROFR and in many cases they did not, and even tried to extort money from retailers with the ROFR story. One of the posters on this topic actually traded in there and bribed the onsite body snatcher to leave him alone. We have a small group of avid Wastegate haters here, including former and current owners.

[I]
So what's the story on Westgate? They're building the Planet Hollywood and the project looks to be awesome. Biggest timeshare on the Strip.

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

No resort manager that isn't working for the Developer/management company would ever do that. One of the big problems in timeshares is the developer hanging around as management long after they should be gone. If they are still there after 5-8 years the owners aren't #1 at that resort and had best look out. And make a management change ASAP.

I agree. There is way too much conflict of interest in developer management. That's why I only own at resorts where a homeowner-run HOA is in charge. As a consequence, I would never buy on a tour, only resale.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I'll have to check EBay and research the resale market before I'll even comment. However, I sold one of my timeshares last year (Vistana red week #25 Orlando near Disney) for $7K (paid around $10K). I took a loss but over the years did get its use. Even got some bennies from RCI in the form of hotel discounts when my wife and I went to Russia (no timeshares there).

I really had no idea that resales tanked that bad. I now own points with P.M. which I love for the flexibility but trade with II (fewer choices)

All I'm trying to do here is set the record straight about a business I worked in and no longer do, and offer knowledge from a point of view that few have access to. And defend a profession from smearing, even because of a few bad apples.

You actually did good to get 7 k for the place. Orlando has thousands of resales on the market and they can be picked up pretty cheaply.

If the ownership was at Sheraton Vistana Villages - it is a Mandatory Starwood resort that maintains value - 7K resale is realistic.

If it is Sheraton Vistana Resort - these are Voluntary and can be purchased on ebay for $100-800

See below from TUG ....

Resorts that are “SVN mandatory”
SVN membership mandatory for both new and resale buyers:

Harborside Resort
Vistana Villages
Westin St. John
Westin Ka'anapali
Westin Kierland Villas

Resorts that are “SVN non-mandatory”
SVN membership voluntary for developer buyers; not available to resale buyers

Vistana Resort
Broadway Plantation
Desert Oasis
Lakeside Terrace
PGA Vacation Resort
Mountain Vista
Westin Mission Hills

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

If the ownership was at Sheraton Vistana Villages - it is a Mandatory Starwood resort that maintains value - 7K resale is realistic.

If it is Sheraton Vistana Resort - these are Voluntary and can be purchased on ebay for $100-800

See below from TUG ....

Resorts that are “SVN mandatory”
SVN membership mandatory for both new and resale buyers:

Harborside Resort
Vistana Villages
Westin St. John
Westin Ka'anapali
Westin Kierland Villas

Resorts that are “SVN non-mandatory”
SVN membership voluntary for developer buyers; not available to resale buyers

Vistana Resort
Broadway Plantation
Desert Oasis
Lakeside Terrace
PGA Vacation Resort
Mountain Vista
Westin Mission Hills

The new sections of Vistana Villages and Westin St. John, as well as the new resorts in Princeville, HI and Lagunamar, Cancun are all voluntary (non-mandatory). Seems Starwood has caught onto Charlie's idea of not giving resale buyers full value. In this case, the distiction is significant, as SVN membership is quite valuable (hence the difference in the resale prices that Pat pointed out). In most others, it is not. For instance, I gladly gave up the right to trade my week in for Marriott Reward Points when I paid 60% of retail for my Manor Club week.

[Jim McLaren Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jim McLaren]

My only agenda is to speak up for a majority of colleagues that you and others seem to despise.

Like Pat, I think despise is too strong a word. But it's real close to the truth. I actually bought a timeshare based on what the salesman told me. When I got back to my room (deeply discounted because we went on the tour) and read the contract I had to wonder if a true word ever passed the salesman's lips. We rescinded the next day. Of the three timeshare presentations I've been to, I think only one wasn't chock full of lies.

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

If the ownership was at Sheraton Vistana Villages - it is a Mandatory Starwood resort that maintains value - 7K resale is realistic.

If it is Sheraton Vistana Resort - these are Voluntary and can be purchased on ebay for $100-800


Guess I lucked out....it was Sheraton Vistana Resort

And BTW, I can see that owners here are well educated and do know what they are doing, however I can bring certain knowledge to this forum about what goes on behind closed doors, as can anyone who has been in the business......so let's all chill out. Not all salespeople are bad; in fact to an extent everyone practices the art of selling on a daily basis although you may not realize that.