Timeshare Newbie ?

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

Hi,

I am brand new to the world of timeshares and I was hoping to get some advice from a few of the experts on this site.

Last year we were "gifted" with an Every Other Year 1 BD Bora Bora Suite at Tahiti Village in Las Vegas. We were hesitant to take it as it meant a financial commitment every year but we figured we could always give it away to someone else if it didn't end up working out. We went in October of 2007 and had a nice time, however we don't see ourselves going back to Vegas for a long time. We have a 1 year old son and plan on having more children and we weren't too thrilled with Vegas as a family destination. So - my question to all of you experts out there - how hard (or easy) is it to trade our week to a different resort through interval international every time we want to use it? Is this something that is feasible and if so is it worth keeping the timeshare in Vegas if we never plan on vacationing in Vegas??

Thoughts.....

Thanks!

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

To exchange thru II, you need to join and membership costs the same and is only half as valuable with an EOY. Perhaps you should look into the independents/alternates, most of which have forums on this site.

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

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely look into some of the other trading alternatives. I was thinking I could join IIwith the 1 year membership and just renew it every other year (corresponding to the year that I have available at Tahiti Village). Does this make sense to do? It seems like it would work - but between the regular maintenance fees for the unit, the membership fee for II, and any fees associated with the actual trade (which I have no idea about) - it might not make financial sense.....

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

It makes more sense with II than RCI. With RCI you need to deposit a year out and make your plans for 1 to 2 years out. II with a closer timefram. A lot of the Independent exchange companies have no fees for membership and are worth looking into.

Toddlers mean kids and they add up to Orlando or other places in the forseeable future that have amusement parks, boardwalks, mini-golf.

Your timeshare with planning can get you to those places.

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

I was thinking I could join IIwith the 1 year membership and just renew it every other year (corresponding to the year that I have available at Tahiti Village). Does this make sense to do? It seems like it would work - but between the regular maintenance fees for the unit, the membership fee for II, and any fees associated with the actual trade (which I have no idea about) - it might not make financial sense.....

That's not the way II has you do it, you let your membership lapse and they may charge initiation fees to get back in.

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

hmmm... well it sounds like an Independent Exchange Company may be the best way to go. Thanks for all of the input everyone - I really appreciate it!

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

SFX (SFX Preferred Resorts the San Francisco exchange company) has a free Gold membership. They can be fussy about the resorts and weeks that they will accept. If you are considering them, it would be useful to give them a call or drop them an email and see if they would take your resort as an exchange. If you deposit during their promotions, you also get a bonus week that costs a few hundred dollars to use, but if you don't use it, there is no cost to you.

Good luck.
Sue

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

SFX doesn't list Tahiti Village in their online resort directory but it never hurts to ask. Mark at the Ask SFX forum here will answer any questions you have. I would also look at DAE or Trading Places. There are others also, just look on the Timeshare Exchange Companies section of the forum.

[rocky's mama Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rocky's mama]

New here

Hi. I'm new to this site. Actually new to online forums all together. Hopefully I don't screw it up too much.

I live in California. I have 3 daughters, and a bunch of questions about timeshares. I guess I will get right to it and see who can help me out.

We have one that we purchased at Tahiti Village. It has gotten just too expensive for us and I'm looking at options on how to get rid of it. I'm getting very frustrated though as I go forward. We were told that we could easily refinance it with a regular bank when we got home to lower our payments. LIE! It is deeded property and would go up in value like a normal piece of investment property. LIE! Also, we were told that if we later decided to sell the property we could use any real estate agency and they could sell it for us no problem. LIE! I tried that and was out more money. I'm now stuck with a way to expensive, depreciating as week speak, vacation property that we haven't even used since we purchased it. Does anyone have any advice as to what to do next??? I saw your forum about The Owner's Advocate which I was looking into. Now I don't want to touch it with a ten foot pole. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. But...please be nice. I'm new to all this!