newbie here

[newbie33 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close newbie33]

Just wanted to intro myself and ask a question at the same time

I looked at timeshares before (usually right after going to presentation) but stopped and then started again... now looking at Tahiti Village 1st phase 2br floating annually asking $12,500
What is my trading power with II on the unit like that? Vegas once in a blue moon is just fine with me.
Your opinion please, good deal - not so good deal. What can i hope to sell it for if i have to?

Thanks a lot!

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

A TS at Tahiti Village that you're thinking of buying for $12,000 is worth about $3000 if you went to sell it next year. Unless you buy a Marriott or Hilton in LV, you lose over 70% of your money the minute the ink is dry on your contract.

Most of the time the smart play is to buy a TS from a current owner ( buy resell) and save at least 50% but much of the time you can save 90% or more.

If you want a TS in Vegas, you have many choices.

You could buy in the Hilton TS system and get a 2 bed TS during the peak season for about $4000. ( 7000 HGVC pts) You could buy in Worldmark ( used to be sold by TrendWest) for about $3000 and get about 7000 pts. Both these TS systems have TS in Vegas, but also have TS in many other places where you can spend your TS points to reserve at great resorts.


You could buy into many other TS systems ( Shell, Monarch Grand, Wyndham, Diamond & Marriott) The resale prices vary on these systems from ~$1000 to $12,000 (~ $12K for the marriott)

Many of these systems, allow you to do internal trades to the other resorts in the same system and not have to use the exchange companies ( like II & RCI) . Most people find doing internal exchanges is much easier than trades with the exchange companies.

The best advice you can get is to take your time, find out what system would work best for you, then look into buying it resale. Saving yourself at least $10,000.

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

It would benefit you greatly to determine what your vacation priorities are for the next 5 - 10 years. Where/when do you want to go, size of accomodations, etc., in order to buy the best fit for you. Are you really looking to just trade out all the time? You might be able to find a mini-system with resorts in locations you want to go to, and bypass the exchange companies (and save money in doing so).

Once you've pinpointed the best For You, then it's just down to researching prices, and then you will know a good deal when you see it.

[newbie33 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close newbie33]

definately not in a hurry

thanks a lot for your suggestions!
yea, i am never in the hurry to spend my (belie me) hard earned money. Unfortunately i am not that much up-and-up on the point system at least even less then with timeshares in general. As i understand THEY (point issuers) can raise the bar at will charging more as far as maintenance and require more and more points for the same "property". With deeded timeshare at least i see what they charge right now. According to the salesman (i know ) TV maint fees guarantied to go up only if owners approve it.
the 12k timeshare at TV i was looking at, was a resale(on-line) . At the sales office at TV they tried selling the same thing to me for 45k. To be honest that's about what i told them their timeshare was worth $3,500 but they could not do it.....
If i could buy it for 3k i would be glad to, just don't know where to find it.
Our ultimate (traveling) goal is to take a short 3-4 day vacations around the country and maybe Canada, but 3-4 weeks vacation is planned in about a year or so. That's why I was aiming for the trading power.

thanks again,

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

It may be hard to find TV right now for realistic resale pricing because of all the hype of national radio and tv ads. Consolidated resorts is/was a selling machine before the election financial crisis.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Vegas has a lot of TS and a lot of Casio hotel also, TS owner will have disadvantage against Casio simply because people will pay more tips there. Do you really want to be owner of it if you just use it once in a blue moon? Even if you want to own a piece in that town, there are a lot more choices there. You don't need to own TV.

The point you need to get to TV at current building will stay the same. If they build new one, it will sure need more points to get to. If TV does get transferred to owner, the MF does need owner's approval. But even when they transfer, the developer sometimes still gain majority of control, besides, some owner in the board will always take the management company's word for it, so you almost guarantee you will see the MF up with the inflation national, inflation local, the developer's financial goal whichever can be easily get HOA approval.

Jya-Ning

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

Points systems vary widely. I'm not impartial by suggesting you look at Bluegreen. If you buy thru an authorized reseller, you can get benefits that extend your ownership in some great ways.

For example, Select Connections offers resorts in Canada, plus some western resorts that the core Bluegreen network does not offer. While it requires a trading fee, it's far less than what RCI or II charge.

Bluegreen points are fixed, so your 18000 points (or whatever) will always be worth 18000 points, you will always have priority on your owned week at one year out. As they bring new resorts into the system, those resorts have higher point values, but your 18000 is still going to work in those resorts, you just may not be able to stay a full week.

No trading fees in-network. No guest certificates to buy. Pay your maint, use your points - it's really that simple.

Points systems are great for people that rarely do the 7 night thing. You can maximize your points in Bluegreen by staying Sun - Thurs and avoiding the high-point nights of Fri and Sat. Instead, you could use Bonus Time for those nights (cash, starts at, I think, $59/night).

Maint fees will go up no matter where you buy. But the interesting thing with Bluegreen is that the more points you own, the less maint per point you pay.

I think one of the best aspects of Bluegreen is that you can determine how much trading power you need. If your next vacation is going to need very high trading power, maybe you book Charleston, SC for deposit. If your next trip is to somewhere with lots of resorts (overbuilt, lower trading power needed), you can use a lot fewer points on the week you deposit. It's up to you.

There is a Bluegreen forum here, there is a Yahoo Group, and there is bluegreenonline.com to help you get started.

There are many systems to look at. I think the key is to get into the system that has resorts in the places you want to visit, in order to avoid the exchange companies (and their fees) as much as possible.

GOOD LUCK!

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Point system purchase on resale...

My recommendation is simple:

Perform your due diligence with several of the branded point programs and pay attention to the following:

1. Affiliate resorts located where you want to travel
2. Misc fees that are charged such as reservation fees, housekeeping fees, club dues, etc
3. Any possible usage restrictions you may face as a resale buyer

Spend time and review threads in that point system's forums- and if you aren't comfortable on your own- connect with a reputable resale agent to assist you.. Points are one of the best way to obtain flexibility and choice with your vacations- but you need to be aware of all the rules and fees that you will have to work with.

Good luck and welcome to the Resort Lifestyle!

Rich