Where Not To Own Timeshare

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

I do not own at Branson, but Branson is a lot, lot more than "just Country Music". Have you been to Branson?

Bruce

Never been there. Just what I've "heard" from others. Kinda reminded me of Orlando with timeshare glut. I guess there is the Ozarks and lots of lakes but from Maryland I heard too many "West Virginia" jokes.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

There are many excellant shows in Branson, which many are not "Country". Some of the shows in Branson are very similar to the ones in LV.

The Branson area offers things that LV does not like Silver Dollar City.

We enjoy both places, but own 3 RCI Points resorts in LV because they are IMHO more cost effective for renting out. We do not own anything in Branson as we get some great resorts with our II exchanges for far cheaper that the maintenance fees. The same thing pretty much holds true for exchanges into the Marriot, etc in LV while we rent out our LV Points resort.


2 are presently rated Gold Crown and our 2 bedroom Summer Bay that was not Gold Crown will be supposely ungraded to Gold Crown later this fall when they move accross to the other Koval.

We bought Summer Bay a little bit on speculation last year for its' new location and ungraded buildings. We have been offered more than we paid for it even when you include the closing cost, but we will at this time not sell it at below our asking price.

Bruce

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

For me, a resort has to meet several tests before I am interested in buying it. I view owning something as a risky proposition, because selling is hard, but renting where you want to go is easy. I do not want any ownerships to carry with them more risk than necessary.

1: The resort must be within a single day's drive, and must be one I am willing to stay at, at a time I antipate regularly vacationing. If a mini-system, there must be at least one acceptable option within that range. From SE Michigan, that places some significant constraints. This eliminates the risk that any particular air market becomes expensive.

2: Ownership costs have to be less than available rental costs. I compute annual ownership costs as 7% * acquisition price, plus MFs. This rules out a surprising number of resorts (including some very nice ones). Even if renting is a little more expensive than buying, that rules out ownership, because owning has more downside risk (in the form of fee escalation, assessment, and changing vacation habits).

3: It has to be in an area that I can't easily exchange into 2BR units at the same or better resorts during peak times for less cost with my current portfolio. The area should have a favorable demand/supply curve for owners in at least one exchange system. This means that if my vacation preferences change (as my kids grow, for example) I have better odds at exchanging into newfound preferences rather than facing the need to sell a current holdings in favor of buying something else.

Together with these rules, fixed weeks face a much higher level of scrutiny than mini-systems or floats---our travel plans are beholden to school and work calendars, and also require some coordination with family members for one non-timeshare vacation each summer that is our first summer vacation priority. So, the flexibility of floats or a mini-system is a strong plus for our particular circumstances.

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

For me, a resort has to meet several tests before I am interested in buying it. I view owning something as a risky proposition, because selling is hard, but renting where you want to go is easy. I do not want any ownerships to carry with them more risk than necessary.

1: The resort must be within a single day's drive, and must be one I am willing to stay at, at a time I antipate regularly vacationing. If a mini-system, there must be at least one acceptable option within that range. From SE Michigan, that places some significant constraints. This eliminates the risk that any particular air market becomes expensive.

2: Ownership costs have to be less than available rental costs. I compute annual ownership costs as 7% * acquisition price, plus MFs. This rules out a surprising number of resorts (including some very nice ones). Even if renting is a little more expensive than buying, that rules out ownership, because owning has more downside risk (in the form of fee escalation, assessment, and changing vacation habits).

3: It has to be in an area that I can't easily exchange into 2BR units at the same or better resorts during peak times for less cost with my current portfolio. The area should have a favorable demand/supply curve for owners in at least one exchange system. This means that if my vacation preferences change (as my kids grow, for example) I have better odds at exchanging into newfound preferences rather than facing the need to sell a current holdings in favor of buying something else.

Together with these rules, fixed weeks face a much higher level of scrutiny than mini-systems or floats---our travel plans are beholden to school and work calendars, and also require some coordination with family members for one non-timeshare vacation each summer that is our first summer vacation priority. So, the flexibility of floats or a mini-system is a strong plus for our particular circumstances.

Excellent Post, Thanks for sharing that

[charlie_m Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie_m]

There are many excellant shows in Branson, which many are not "Country". Some of the shows in Branson are very similar to the ones in LV.

The Branson area offers things that LV does not like Silver Dollar City.

We enjoy both places, but own 3 RCI Points resorts in LV because they are IMHO more cost effective for renting out. We do not own anything in Branson as we get some great resorts with our II exchanges for far cheaper that the maintenance fees. The same thing pretty much holds true for exchanges into the Marriot, etc in LV while we rent out our LV Points resort.


2 are presently rated Gold Crown and our 2 bedroom Summer Bay that was not Gold Crown will be supposely ungraded to Gold Crown later this fall when they move accross to the other Koval.

We bought Summer Bay a little bit on speculation last year for its' new location and ungraded buildings. We have been offered more than we paid for it even when you include the closing cost, but we will at this time not sell it at below our asking price.

Bruce

good for you, hold out for your price if you don't have to sell
BTW, your thought on the Planet Hollywood Westgate despitr thr delling prsctices.......thanks in advance

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

good for you, hold out for your price if you don't have to sell
BTW, your thought on the Planet Hollywood Westgate despitr thr delling prsctices.......thanks in advance

It was not the Planet Hollywood Westgate but the Westgate a bit past the Rio. Not great but pretty nice and roomy.

Bruce

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

Regarding the flagship I really think it all depends on where you live. We live in NY and got a free Flagship week several years ago and it has worked out great. Anywhere in Atlantic city would cost over $200 per night during the summer for a weekend stay. Since owning at the Flagship we have never stayed there during our week ( a whole week in AC is way too much) but have been invited 5 or six times to come to Flagship for the weekend during the summer ( had to do "an owners update"). Had a great time each weekend going to shows, gambling and just walking the boardwalk and timeshare pitch was real easy once I told them how I got my week.

In adddition we have traded our week several times during flexexchnage to very nice resorts such as;

Westin Kierland Scottsdale ( got a large 1BR for our studio)
Marriott Grand Vista Orlando ( got 2br )
Club International de Cancun ( got 2BR )

Regular exchanges also worked out well for standard resorts during winter weeks to the Carribean.

Pelican Resort St. Marteen
ESJ Towers (3 times) Puerto Rico ( We love the location and winter weeks in Puerto Rico even at ESJ Towers run over $250 per night plus tax).



So I think with our zero investment, close proximety to NY ( easy drive ). Reasonable maintenance and very enjoyable exchanges I would not say that this is a bad timeshare to own.

Just another example of what is trash for some, works for others.
Those are NICE trades!

[tonik Member Find all posts View Profile Close tonik]

But why own it??? Why not just rent from an owner?

No matter how good the resort it, it's a bad timeshare to own if you could get the same thing for significantly less money by renting, and if you are going to get creamed when you try to sell it.

Because if you buy a timeshare for a really good price, you can come out way ahead. For an example, I bought a studio in Vero Beach FL for $1 + $400 or so in closing cost. The annual mf is in the $400 range and it's deeded for life. Just traded that for a trip to Cabos at The Grand Mayan Cabos, a $440+ a night resort for 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. I traded my little Fl beach studio for
this resort during the spring break in 2010 (yes, you do have to plan ahead). If I rented through the website, it would have cost $3,080. What I paid was basically for my MF fee of a little over $400 plus $168 exchange fee through RCI equaling $568. This was a savings of $2,512.00. Now, I did have to pay for the initial closing fee and also I had to join RCI for $100 but still, that's quite a savings. Check out the Grand Mayan Website:
Grand Mayan Los Cabos - Cabo San Lucas Mexico Luxury Resort

Additionally, I bought a Fairfield plus points timeshare so I no longer have to pay RCI annual membership fees as it's included in the Fairfield/Wyndham package.

I own 3 timeshares; therefore, my mf equals almost $2,000 per year. In the past, when I went to Destin FL and rented a nice condo for a week, I would pay $1,800 - $2,000 for just one week; Now, I am getting 3 weeks for the price of one week and getting great deals on the resorts.

Love owning timeshares as I love to travel.

As far as the all inclusives in Mexico, I agree with one of the posters because when I was checking Mexico for my vacation, most really nice resorts (like the LeBlanc even Portal REAL) was charging $200 pp per day which translates to $400 per couple per day.

So far, I am learning quite a bit from this site. The places that does not trade well would be: Orlando, Branson, AI Mexico, Las Vegas, Williamsburg, Massachusets and a few others mentioned in the post.