New to Bluegreen TS

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

My wife and I purchased a BlueGreen TS today after listening to the presentation. It was a no pressure interesting presentation. But, after researching here and other sites, I see that I can purchase timeshares much cheaper. The package we purchased includes 5000 pts with an additional one time 4000 pts after one year. Three one week vacations from RCI (285.00 charge per week), lifetime membership to RCI paid. Travelers Plus for one year. Unlimited Bonus Time (subject to availability). The resort that it is tied to Mountain Run at Boyne #184/49F. This was 13,000 or so. I think I have 5 days to rescind and am considering it. Is this worth it? The unlimited bonus time is what interested me, but after a couple a couple hours reading, I'm not sure. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. - HD

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

BLUEGREEN POINTS TIMESHARE THE FOUNTAINS FLORIDA 12,000 ANNUAL | eBay

I know that isn't the same resort, but I wanted to give you an idea of what is out there.

What is that you want from your timeshare? First big rule with TS purchases is to buy where you want to stay. Trading is okay, but you pretty much will always get less back than what you put into any system.

I read where you said you get lifetime membership in RCI. That will save you on membership fees, but you will still have to pay exchange fees whenever you exchange.

Unlimited bonus time is a nice feature that comes with a lot of the TS. The downside is that it is based on availability and often you won't be able to check for availability until a just a couple weeks before check in date. Did they tell you what the rates are for bonus time? One of my resorts charges $129. per night, another $79. per night. Sometimes I can get those same rates elsewhere without having any owner priority.

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

Rescind ! Do some research and then decide if you want in to timesharing. If you decide to go for it, buy resale and save thousands.

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

It is 59.00 1BR, 69.00 2BR & 79.00 3BR. I also get hot weeks for 294.00 3BR, if I understood correctly. I live in central NC, so I can drive to a lot of the resorts.

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

Help rambler and welcome to 4Ms

I am a happy Bluegreen owner and I suggest u rescind TODAY and then do some more research.

Presley gives u good advice but not specific to Bluegreen.

All Bluegreen owners get a free RCI account. You are correct with the cost of the bonus time and as u know it can be booked at 45 days. The RCI bonus week at $285 can be purchased by you as an RCI member, it is no actual bonus, it is part of anyones RCI membership to buy these "last call" weeks.

You are also correct that in order to get bonus time at ALL Bluegreen resorts, you have to purchase "qualified" points, otherwise bonus time is restricted to the resort where u are deeded.
There are MUCH cheaper ways to get qualified points then paying full freight from BG

5,000 is also a VERY small amount to own, it would be difficult to get more then a few days mid week with this. Also, BG maint fees are (almost) always calculated by a base fees of $320 plus $0.045 per point making ownership of only 5,000 points VERY costly.
My battery is running low....brb with more info, but basically
RESCIND TODAY and do more research!!!

Edit here are the Maint fees for different point values, you can see how owning 'only' 5,000 is not a good buy. Consider eating around 15,000 points for almost free resale - you can look for points based at the resorts you might like bonus time at.

5,000 points = 320 +225=545 $10.45 per 1K
10,000 points = 320+450=770 $7.70 per 1K
15,000 points = 320+675=995 $6.63 per 1K
20,000 points = 320+900=1220 $6.10 per 1K
30,000 points = 320+1350=1670 $5.50 per 1K
40,000 points = 320+1800=2120 $5.30 per 1K

[sbkyoshi Member Find all posts View Profile Close sbkyoshi]

Rescind ! Do some research and then decide if you want in to timesharing. If you decide to go for it, buy resale and save thousands.

Agreed. You should definitely rescind at least until you have a better idea of what ownership you want, what exchange company you would rather go through, etc.

Mainly because not all ownerships are created equal. I'll tell you right now that making an RCI exchange and paying 285 is insane, even if they are paying your annual dues.

Look into each company and try to find an ownership that will allow you to avoid RCI as much as possible while still getting where you want to go.

There are several companies that allow you to travel within the Vacation Ownership Program (Orange Lake, Disney, etc) without having to pay any exchange fees.

Also research benefits with resale ownership too. I know Wyndham strips accounts of most benefits when a resale transaction has been made, but I've also seen resale accounts from different companies that have all of the same benefits as a developer sale.

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

BG is a good system and there is no need to own where you want to go because "internal exchanges" are simple and free. The RCI component is fine, but don't get too excited about it.

Bonus Time and Traveller's Plus are good programs that I like to use and keep current. But there are cheaper ways to get the same.

Rescind. BocaBum on this board is an authorized reseller of BG and in talking to him you can determine whether BG is a good fit for you, and if so, get in way cheaper.

Meanwhile, figure out how many points you REALLY need. You can go low on points and supplement with Bonus Time, but, beware, BT is "last minute" (within 45 days) and always Cash. I like to use BT for weekend stays because they "cost more points" than during the week.

RCI offers Last Call so you can get weeks without using your points. Also short timeframe.

Bottom line, does BG have resorts in places you want to go? If so, keep looking into BG. I've owned for over a decade and feel I need no other ownership.

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

Hi

I've been a Bluegreen owner for 5 years. I really like the system and feel I get great value out of my points.

I think it would be hard to make 5000 points work, and the price you paid is well beyond what you need to pay.

Rescind now, and think about two things before you purchase again.

1) How many points will you want to use each year? If 5000, I'd rent from other owners as the MF at this level of ownership is too high to justify owning.

2) Where would you ideally be deeded? It really only matters because if you buy resale, you'll only get bonus time at your deeded resort. (If you buy lots of points, it matters less because you'll be using points instead of bonus time.)

Best of luck, and welcome to bluegreen!

Anita

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

BLUEGREEN POINTS TIMESHARE THE FOUNTAINS FLORIDA 12,000 ANNUAL | eBay

I know that isn't the same resort, but I wanted to give you an idea of what is out there.

What is that you want from your timeshare? First big rule with TS purchases is to buy where you want to stay. Trading is okay, but you pretty much will always get less back than what you put into any system.

I read where you said you get lifetime membership in RCI. That will save you on membership fees, but you will still have to pay exchange fees whenever you exchange.

Unlimited bonus time is a nice feature that comes with a lot of the TS. The downside is that it is based on availability and often you won't be able to check for availability until a just a couple weeks before check in date. Did they tell you what the rates are for bonus time? One of my resorts charges $129. per night, another $79. per night. Sometimes I can get those same rates elsewhere without having any owner priority.

With BG, you own points that can be used to stay at an BG resort - so u are not exchanging, you are reserving.
And yes, you do have to pay to make an RCI exchange but with free membership, you can always check to se if there is something of interest, as a BG owner, u do not have to have anything deposited to search or exchange....a pretty good deal.
BG bonus time is inexpensive and the same price per night at all resorts/day of the week, another good thing.

Agreed. You should definitely rescind at least until you have a better idea of what ownership you want, what exchange company you would rather go through, etc.

Mainly because not all ownerships are created equal. I'll tell you right now that making an RCI exchange and paying 285 is insane, even if they are paying your annual dues.

Look into each company and try to find an ownership that will allow you to avoid RCI as much as possible while still getting where you want to go.

There are several companies that allow you to travel within the Vacation Ownership Program (Orange Lake, Disney, etc) without having to pay any exchange fees.

Also research benefits with resale ownership too. I know Wyndham strips accounts of most benefits when a resale transaction has been made, but I've also seen resale accounts from different companies that have all of the same benefits as a developer sale.

$285 is not an exchange fee, it is a one time fee for a last call/sell off week - whatever the heck RCI calls them. To make a RCI exchange with BG points, it is the same fee all RCI members pay.

And this is a company like DVC that allows you to reserve at any of their resorts using points, no exchange fees.

And unlike Wyndham, there are no reservation fees, guest cert fees, or other nickel and dime charges, there are a few differences with resale but nothing like what Wyndham has done to resale owners....it is a very nice ownership.

Just do not pay retail

[sbkyoshi Member Find all posts View Profile Close sbkyoshi]

And this is a company like DVC that allows you to reserve at any of their resorts using points, no exchange fees.

And unlike Wyndham, there are no reservation fees, guest cert fees, or other nickel and dime charges, there are a few differences with resale but nothing like what Wyndham has done to resale owners....it is a very nice ownership.

Just do not pay retail

I'm just suggesting looking at all companies before getting into TS in general. I would never suggest buying Wyndham resale. Not because I work for Wyndham, but because, like you said, a WVO resale owner would get charged for every little thing they do with WVO, while a developer owner typically pays 0.00 for reservations.

I would say make a bucket list of places you want to vacation and find an ownership that will offer you as close to, if not the same thing that you just purchased.

Research Research Research

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

I'm just suggesting looking at all companies before getting into TS in general. I would never suggest buying Wyndham resale. Not because I work for Wyndham, but because, like you said, a WVO resale owner would get charged for every little thing they do with WVO, while a developer owner typically pays 0.00 for reservations.

I would say make a bucket list of places you want to vacation and find an ownership that will offer you as close to, if not the same thing that you just purchased.

Research Research Research

Gotcha

[hac Member Find all posts View Profile Close hac]

My wife and I purchased a BlueGreen TS today after listening to the presentation. It was a no pressure interesting presentation. But, after researching here and other sites, I see that I can purchase timeshares much cheaper. The package we purchased includes 5000 pts with an additional one time 4000 pts after one year. Three one week vacations from RCI (285.00 charge per week), lifetime membership to RCI paid. Travelers Plus for one year. Unlimited Bonus Time (subject to availability). The resort that it is tied to Mountain Run at Boyne #184/49F. This was 13,000 or so. I think I have 5 days to rescind and am considering it. Is this worth it? The unlimited bonus time is what interested me, but after a couple a couple hours reading, I'm not sure. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. - HD

Our first Bluegreen purchase was developer as we didn't know much about the resale market at the time and also were very interested in bonus time. We already owned Marriott so wanted something we could use more easily for weekend getaways. Marriott was just a weeks program at the time.

Bluegreen has a great mix of properties - from typical large and luxurious resort style properties like the Fountains - to smaller boutique style properties in cities like New Orleans and Charleston.

We bought the minimum for points - 8000 every other year - so 4000 annual. We just about never used points - on weekends we found we got really good value by using the bonus time. The first year or two we owned we used no less than 20 bonus time reservations. Sales staff were always amazed when we told them we didn't use points much - just bonus time. Bonus time has gone up, but it is still a good deal.

The OP lives in NC. NC has several Bluegreen resorts - only word of caution is I think they are mostly - if not all - week reservation properties only. So, probably wouldn't have enough points for a prime season weekend. And, I doubt bonus time is available at the week stay only resorts. Someone else can probably confirm that as I don't think I have tried. I have found these properties on average to be harder to get into as they have existing fixed week owners.

That being said - Charleston, Savannah, Williamsburg, Gordonsville, and Tennessee might still be reasonably close - depending on NC location - and they do offer bonus time and I have had good luck getting it at all the properties - except Savannah which is very new.

Good luck on your decision. If it works for you - it is a great program. I could justify the maintenance fees a lot more when I was using all the bonus time, and Bluegreen's fees are not bad compared to some of the other vacation clubs - in fact they didn't go up for us last year which is pretty much unheard of at the other properties we own.

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

I went ahead and wrote the rescission letter and am going to send it certified mail return sig tomorrow. Should I overnight this or is the postmark for tomorrow enough? I am still looking into timeshare, except I'll be going 2nd market this time. Much reading ahead.

[sbkyoshi Member Find all posts View Profile Close sbkyoshi]

I would suggest overnighting it. Also, make sure that the address you're sending it to is to the correct one. I can't tell you how many times I've heard other reps talking about their deals being "Okay" because their new owners didn't send their rescind letters to the right department in time. Doublecheck with their corporate office that you're sending the rescind letter to the right place.

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

I still haven't received my deposit of 1670.00 back. Does anyone have any idea who to contact in regards to this?