To buy a So Cal resort?

[wwomant Member Find all posts View Profile Close wwomant]

Right now my parents very generously lets me use about a week a year with their DRI Club points and gives me access to their account. The caveat is that I must wait to book within 59 days (when points are 1/2 off), because this is how they book everything in order to maximize their points. They usually get 4 weeks for their 1 week at the The Point at Poipu annually this way. My parents have a flexible schedule, so it works out great for them. Although I LOVE staying at the beautiful resorts we can get through their TS (for FREE ), it's getting more and more difficult for my husband and I to to book the destinations we want, with our work schedules and kid's school schedules to work around, within that 59 day window.

I came to this board to learn how to best book what I want within the 59 days. And I learned incredibly valuable tips. But the more I read on these boards the more seriously I am wondering if I should buy a resale timeshare in So Cal myself so that we can have a little more flexibility in when we can go.

Here's what I would want in a TS:

1) To be able to regularly travel to So Cal in the summer w/o worrying if a trade will go through.

2) 1-2 bed (minimum of 5 max occupancy)

3) A decent trader for when we want to trade. When we trade it will most likely be to Maui or Orlando.

4) To be able to rent it out any year we don't want to use it.

5) Low MFs. Under $700.

6) Cheap. We're on a tight budget so I would need to be able to pick it up for next to nothing, which I see on Ebay isn't too hard these days.

7) Kid friendly resort.

Ideally I think I would get a 2 bedroom, summer week, in a So Cal TS.

I'd appreciate any feedback you have on this. Is it doable? Does #6 on my criteria (cheap) make the others impossible? Is it a good idea? Any suggestions on specific resorts we should consider?

Will a summer So Cal week, 1-2 bedroom, be a Tiger trader even if it's at one of the smaller resorts?

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Here's what I would want in a TS:

1) To be able to regularly travel to So Cal in the summer w/o worrying if a trade will go through.

2) 1-2 bed (minimum of 5 max occupancy)

3) A decent trader for when we want to trade. When we trade it will most likely be to Maui or Orlando.

4) To be able to rent it out any year we don't want to use it.

5) Low MFs. Under $700.

6) Cheap. We're on a tight budget so I would need to be able to pick it up for next to nothing, which I see on Ebay isn't too hard these days.

7) Kid friendly resort.

Ideally I think I would get a 2 bedroom, summer week, in a So Cal TS.

I'd appreciate any feedback you have on this. Is it doable? Does #6 on my criteria (cheap) make the others impossible? Is it a good idea? Any suggestions on specific resorts we should consider?

Will a summer So Cal week, 1-2 bedroom, be a Tiger trader even if it's at one of the smaller resorts?

If you are talking about a 2 bdr fixed summer week at a coastal SoCal timeshare, I think #6 makes the others unlikely. Fixed summer weeks are usually higher priced. That being said, if you have searches set up in ebay and you shop around the internet without fear of lowballing someone, you could get lucky. Coastal summer weeks are great traders, the size of the resort has no affect on trade power if you are talking about using RCI. The size of the unit has no effect, either.

I only have one request, get two and I'll pay you double next to nothing for one of them!

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

Maint fees in So Cal are pretty high...so you might have to adjust your thinking there. Plus, there is little possibility that you can "steal" a summer week. Well, you could...but then your maint fees are not going to fit your criteria unless you own EOY.

I wrestle with this same idea constantly and I live here!! It would be so nice to have a little drive to location at the beach-but the Maint fees scare me away. I'd rather own a Marriott for Marriott type Maint fees. JMO.

That said, I do own Worldmark. It's a points/credits system with several locations. We have a few locations in So Cal including Oceanside and San Diego. You could own enough credits to keep your MF's at a reasonable level and book your 2 bd...even 3bd sometimes. That part would require long range planning...a year out. But, even short term-there is bonus time. But-while your entry price won't be unreasonable-it also won't be "next to nothing"

Exchanging is really where it is at, at least through II (RCI often has that 1-4 rule, especially for the GPR resorts like Carlsbad Seapointe, Carlsbad Inn, etc) As long as you are requesting a year in advance and willing to pay "full credits" and were not picky about the resort-you could probably obtain summer weeks in So Cal.

It's a toss up. If you know you will return here year after year-you may have to just deal with the reality that is So Cal timeshares. Higher MF's and/or higher entry fee for summer weeks.

Winners Circle in Solana Beach still has maint fees at 626.00 annually-it's older and mostly 1bds...some 2bds. I know you can pick up a week here cheap-but it won't be summer.

Happy hunting!

[wwomant Member Find all posts View Profile Close wwomant]

Thanks for the feedback StressCadet and philsfan! I'm in no hurry to pull the trigger, so if we do decide to go for one I can definitely wait it out for a steal.

I see some So Cal listings have a floating week, 1-52. If I got one of those, what do you think my chances would be of regularly scoring a summer week if I were willing to book a year out (which I usually am)?

And I didn't realize that So Cal MFs were higher than other places. Interesting food for thought.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Thanks for the feedback StressCadet and philsfan! I'm in no hurry to pull the trigger, so if we do decide to go for one I can definitely wait it out for a steal.

I see some So Cal listings have a floating week, 1-52. If I got one of those, what do you think my chances would be of regularly scoring a summer week if I were willing to book a year out (which I usually am)?

And I didn't realize that So Cal MFs were higher than other places. Interesting food for thought.

Lots of people have the same wants as you do as far as summer weeks go. The bigger the resort, the better chance you have of getting a summer week, any summer week, but I would be scheduling my vacation based on the expectation that you would be able to reserve any certain summer week. I book two years out but I am only booking it to trade it so it's not the same.

[BILL_B Member Find all posts View Profile Close BILL_B]

One thing you have to be careful with on resorts that have 1-52 float periods is that a lot of them started out by selling fixed weeks and then when most of the prime weeks were sold they converted to floating weeks. In other words they may only have a few units available in the floating pool for the good weeks which makes it almost impossible to book one. So technically speaking they float 1-52 but for all intents and purposes you really only have off season availability.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

One thing you have to be careful with on resorts that have 1-52 float periods is that a lot of them started out by selling fixed weeks and then when most of the prime weeks were sold they converted to floating weeks. In other words they may only have a few units available in the floating pool for the good weeks which makes it almost impossible to book one. So technically speaking they float 1-52 but for all intents and purposes you really only have off season availability.

Great point. So if you're shopping around and you see fixed weeks and floats at the same resort that would be a bit of a red flag on the floats.

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

I agree, floating weeks can be hard to deal with as far as booking prime time. Another thing to realize with floating weeks is that you normally have to pre-book your week well in advance to get a decent time of the year.

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

Thanks for the feedback StressCadet and philsfan! I'm in no hurry to pull the trigger, so if we do decide to go for one I can definitely wait it out for a steal.

I see some So Cal listings have a floating week, 1-52. If I got one of those, what do you think my chances would be of regularly scoring a summer week if I were willing to book a year out (which I usually am)?

And I didn't realize that So Cal MFs were higher than other places. Interesting food for thought.

I own at Gas Lamp Plaza Suites in San Diego floating week 1-52. It is affiliated with both RCI and II and is a VRI resort and also trades with them. It is a Gold Crown resort and a top trader. I have owned it for 17 years and have never had a problem reserving prime summer weeks. I usually get the July 4th week as I use it for trading with San Francisco Exchange "SFX" so I want the best week for trading. We can reserve up to 2 years in advance and you don't have to prepay the M/F. My M/F are less than $500 /yr. I also use to own another Coastal California GC timeshare which was a top trader. It was also floating week 1-52 with M/F of $519 /yr. I never had any problem reserving prime summer weeks there. Typically, you will not have a problem getting a summer week if you reserve it 9 months or more in advance. We owned the one I sold for 19 years. Gas Lamp Plaza Suites would probably not be a good choice for you as it is an urban property and not very kid friendly. We sold our other one because most of our vacations now are non-timeshare. With the bonus weeks we received, we had far more weeks banked at SFX. than we could possibly use as my weeks do not expire. Now we are down to 10 banked weeks.

Personally, I far prefer the floating week 1-52 resorts for 2 reasons. I am assuming a total floating week resort. First I can get, and always have for almost 20 years, prime summer and holiday weeks without having to pay the high premium that a prime fixed week would cost. Second, I have the flexibility of choosing different weeks. The secret is to beat the crowd which typically don't reserve their weeks more than 6-7 months in advance.

In any event my point in posting was to show that the M/F are not necessarily that high and getting a summer week is not that hard as long as you reserve it several months in advance.

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

The MFs are higher than you want but check out the Riviera resorts in SoCal. There are three resorts right next to each other. Riviera Beach & Spa 1 & 2 and Riviera Shores. They are nice resorts across the street from an oceanfront CA state park in Dana Point. They can be bought for under $1000. They are also a part of Monarch Grand vacations.