Why would I want to buy when I can rent?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

As an example RCI Points can grab some GREAT last minute deals for +/- $300/week INCLUDING the exchange fee. It's a matter of finding a cheap resale to enter the game.

and THIS is the place to learn the "get started part".

I think you will find most of us are thrilled with our ownerships of all types and flavors. The reason being that we have learned the nuances and get the very most for our money.

We have a lot of "specialists" on this site representing almost all the clubs. I have found that as in most walks if life I do not have to KNOW a system but I need to know where to GO for the information.

Wyndham, BlueGreen, DRI, RCI, II, mini-systems. They are all here as well as the Disney, Marriotts, etc.

Bear in mind that the sytems evolve and change constantly as do your vacation needs over time. Finding the right one is the biggest challange.

To give you an idea of how well this strategy works, I was able to book a unit at the Kona Hawaiian Resort in a 2br unit for March 20 due to an exchange opportunity that Lawren told me about just today. I had some free Wyndham points that were extra from a package I bought and sold. I deposited those points into RCI late last year and I got that unit today. It only cost me $164 for the exchange fee. I didn't even have to pay for the points. If I did have to pay for the points, it would have cost me another $250. Not bad for a 2 bedroom unit on the Big Island of Hawaii for Spring Break.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

To give you an idea of how well this strategy works, I was able to book a unit at the Kona Hawaiian Resort in a 2br unit for March 20 due to an exchange opportunity that Lawren told me about just today. I had some free Wyndham points that were extra from a package I bought and sold. I deposited those points into RCI late last year and I got that unit today. It only cost me $164 for the exchange fee. I didn't even have to pay for the points. If I did have to pay for the points, it would have cost me another $250. Not bad for a 2 bedroom unit on the Big Island of Hawaii for Spring Break.

I literally just got off the phone from confirming a 2Bedroom SCal coastal for Easter next year for myself with another trading company. Thru their Premier system. No annual membership fee, no exchange fee. Although my maintenance fees are higher <everything is higher than free> than Jim's example my final cost is similar.

Once you learn the game it gets really fun!

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

Once you become a site contributor here or have 30 qualified posts you will be able to see our daily "exchange opportunity" forums where we list everything available for all the exchange companies, including Last Minute/Bonus stuff.

It's really important to note that not everyone has the same access to the weeks posted on sightings. Different owners "see" different things available---those giving up "better" weeks can obtain "better" weeks in return, in general.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

Back to your first question: Should I rent?

The answer is you can rent from the developer like Marriott & Hilton. But that isn't a cost effective way since they charge big bucks for even their last minute opening. ( still mostly true even if you try Priceline or Hotwire)

You can rent from the exchange companies. They have several websites which they put last minute TS (and other resorts) up for rental at great prices and it available to anyone. ( sometime they give TS owners a slightly better price)

You can rent from a TS owner who wants to rent their week. There are many sites like redweek, my resort network, here on TS4Ms ads and others, which have ads from TS owners trying to rent their week. If you want to plan ahead you'll great good deals ( and good airfare) but you can get some killer last minute deals ( but airfare could kill you)

Hope that helps

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

To give you an idea of how well this strategy works, ...

Ok BocaBum99, you have me confused :-) First you mention how bad my idea is (which is great, I want to hear that stuff!). But then you quote lawren2 and mention what a good idea it is. From my viewpoint, I see the same strategy here. What am I missing here?

As an example RCI Points can grab some GREAT last minute deals for +/- $300/week INCLUDING the exchange fee. It's a matter of finding a cheap resale to enter the game.As an example RCI Points can grab some GREAT last minute deals for +/- $300/week INCLUDING the exchange fee. It's a matter of finding a cheap resale to enter the game.

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

You can rent from the exchange companies. They have several websites which they put last minute TS (and other resorts) up for rental at great prices and it available to anyone. ( sometime they give TS owners a slightly better price)

Do you have a URL for any of these websites, I've been looking around for a good website that has good deals for rentals, but I've yet to find one! Thanks!

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Do you have a URL for any of these websites, I've been looking around for a good website that has good deals for rentals, but I've yet to find one! Thanks!

You get much better deals with bonus weeks as a timeshare owner and member but here are three independents that we work with to take a look at:

Trading Places International - HotDeals

DAELive.com Timeshare, Vacation Ownership & Points Clubs Exchange Service

Platinum Interchange : Hot Weeks Rental Getaways!
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None of these companies have a membership fee.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

Do you have a URL for any of these websites, I've been looking around for a good website that has good deals for rentals, but I've yet to find one! Thanks!

Below regular market rentals are mostly last minute left overs. What type of area, unit size ect are you looking for and what do you condider a good deal.

Most two bedroom rentals at fairly good resorts now in most cases have maintenance fees of $550 to $650 so exspecting a rental for decent times at decent resorts under $500 or $600 is more of a last minute distress situation.

If you check ebay you will see some with over $1,000 yearly maintenance fees.

You want a quick and easy answer about timeshares and there are well over 4,000 differant ones and some have 2 to 5 differant types of programs giving you 8,000 to over 10,000 timeshare programs to pick from.

You may be better off forgetting to buy a trader and buy something within 1 day drive or less from your home that has day use prilviages to duck exchange membership fees and exchange fees.


Bruce

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

Ok BocaBum99, you have me confused :-) First you mention how bad my idea is (which is great, I want to hear that stuff!). But then you quote lawren2 and mention what a good idea it is. From my viewpoint, I see the same strategy here. What am I missing here?

You are confused. Boca's strategy is not at all the same as yours. But do note that he's coming at it from a very different situation.

I am significantly confused in what you plan to do with that owned week. Doesn't sound like to plan to use it or trade it. What happens to it?

IMO, the problem with your strategy is relying on an exchange company. I understand you want very low maint fees, but these don't always coincide with trading power that will help you. A few posts back you asked about a guarantee. There is none beyond your right to occupy what you own in the week you own it. There are probabilities and supply and demand and other factors that you can estimate pretty well (usually). But no guarantees. Ownership is the only way to get a guarantee.

You can deposit your time and hope for an exchange. You can check last minute availability in the systems/exchange co's that you belong to. Or you can stay on the non-owner side and try to ferret out the great public rentals offered thru the exchange companies, public websites, private owners, etc.

Really, there are a ton of options. But I think buying cheap just to be an owner is not a great strategy. You will own real estate and be subject to special assessments, increasing maint fees, taxes, insurance, etc., when, from the sound of it, you have no interest in ever seeing that property but want to use it as an entry. Nothing wrong with this, of course, but do not make the mistake of thinking that ownership won't have fee increases. Do consider that it can be very difficult to sell a timeshare. As you work on your entrance strategy, consider the exit also.

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

You are confused. Boca's strategy is not at all the same as yours. But do note that he's coming at it from a very different situation.

I am significantly confused in what you plan to do with that owned week. Doesn't sound like to plan to use it or trade it. What happens to it?

IMO, the problem with your strategy is relying on an exchange company. I understand you want very low maint fees, but these don't always coincide with trading power that will help you. A few posts back you asked about a guarantee. There is none beyond your right to occupy what you own in the week you own it. There are probabilities and supply and demand and other factors that you can estimate pretty well (usually). But no guarantees. Ownership is the only way to get a guarantee.

You can deposit your time and hope for an exchange. You can check last minute availability in the systems/exchange co's that you belong to. Or you can stay on the non-owner side and try to ferret out the great public rentals offered thru the exchange companies, public websites, private owners, etc.

Really, there are a ton of options. But I think buying cheap just to be an owner is not a great strategy. You will own real estate and be subject to special assessments, increasing maint fees, taxes, insurance, etc., when, from the sound of it, you have no interest in ever seeing that property but want to use it as an entry. Nothing wrong with this, of course, but do not make the mistake of thinking that ownership won't have fee increases. Do consider that it can be very difficult to sell a timeshare. As you work on your entrance strategy, consider the exit also.

Very good advice, I think you read me like a book! I have no idea what I'll do with that week, I guess I'd have to trade it into RCI and just never use it, unless by some rare chance I can get a decent trade out of it. I really was thinking about owning something cheap for to sole purpose of having an RCI membership and having access to the last chance deals.

I think you are right too about putting too much faith in the Exchange company, I'll get burned the minute I can't find a last minute deal I'm after.

So here's my budget, I have $600 to spend a year on a place for my main vacation. Do you see any ownership opportunities to get a week vacation at a decent resort in Sept at the beach sticking to that budget, or should I just try to find a rental with my money?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Ok BocaBum99, you have me confused :-) First you mention how bad my idea is (which is great, I want to hear that stuff!). But then you quote lawren2 and mention what a good idea it is. From my viewpoint, I see the same strategy here. What am I missing here?

My apologies for the confusion. The devil is in the details and there are 2 details that you are missing. More on this later as I don't have time right now for a full response. The bottom line is that you need to learn a lot of the details of how exchange companies work before employing your strategy.

Here are the two missing points.

Point 1: Palm Aire is a terrible place to own. It has among the highest maintenance fees and taxes in the whole Wyndham system. It is cheaper to rent points from another owner than to own at that particular resort.

Point 2: Wyndham is only good for trading back into Wyndham. If you want to go anywhere else, there are dozens of FAR SUPERIOR and CHEAPER ownerships.

BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT BUY at Palm Aire.

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

BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT BUY at Palm Aire.

That was really just the first thing that I found on eBay around the range I was thinking. But those thoughts are definitely good to know!

I think I was opting for Wyndam properties because you get a free RCI membership with it. Dropping $124 on RCI's membership fee is painful when you are on the type of budget I'm on! Remember I'm trying to keep my total costs for this vacation at around $600!

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

After freeing myself from ownership and all its problems and fees I only rent from timeshare places ! There are some really good last min. deals !

[Lisa P Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lisa P]

Remember I'm trying to keep my total costs for this vacation at around $600!

What is your purchase budget, your sunk cost? It's a rare thing indeed to find a decent quality week that's virtually free with no closing costs involved. People don't just give away something that valuable. You probably need to consider a minimum of $500, to cover the cheapest of decent weeks including closing costs.

Next, lots of folks own points in systems that permit trading up through the external exchange companies. They/we are able to get multiple exchanges from the equivalent of a week's worth of points. There's only one annual exchange company membership and this expense is spread over those several weeks of vacation time or it's included as part of the maint fees. This allows for averaging down of your costs for multiple weeks of vacation time. But it's harder to do when a single week owner only wants to vacation for one week per year and keep costs very low while trading around to different destinations every year.

Example: I have a 2BR red week w/annual maint fees of $590. It trades through either II or RCI. Annual membership is ~$80/yr. II's exchange fee = ~$140. This is a strong trader, could easily be used to plan for summer or spring break at the beach, etc. If I used it to trade for a single week's vacation, my annual cost for a prime week would be ~$810. Sounds higher than what you want, right? But II gives us a bonus week AC and we can redeem it for an extra week at a nice resort for ~$200/$250/$300 for a Studio/1BR/2BR in the same year, usually slightly offseason or at an overbuilt destination or in a quieter place, like the mountains. At the most, this brings my cost for TWO weeks to $1110. The averaged cost is below your $600/week.

Similar opportunities exist w/points programs where you can stretch your points but it still generally requires one to average the costs over more than one vacation. To do what you want with a much smaller points package will be difficult and you'll really need to hunt around and educate yourself on the various programs to figure out how to do it.

BTW, most of those last minute rental weeks are available as exchanges as well. Sometimes it's cheaper to just rent them. But if you have a week/deposit which you're letting go to waste anyway, it's cheaper to pay the exchange fee and get it that way.

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

That was really just the first thing that I found on eBay around the range I was thinking. But those thoughts are definitely good to know!

I think I was opting for Wyndam properties because you get a free RCI membership with it. Dropping $124 on RCI's membership fee is painful when you are on the type of budget I'm on! Remember I'm trying to keep my total costs for this vacation at around $600!

I just read every post on this thread and I am wondering - are you 'pulling our leg'?

Do u really vacation at a resort for a week in a 1 or 2BR unit for $600???

I think almost all the posts have suggested to you that CHEAP is not necessarily good.

If you can get a rental in the area u want every year for that price, you should continue to do so.
Good Luck