BG Purchase on e-Bay

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

I have purchased a BG off of e-bay, but am having some small problems and I hope someone here can give me some insight.

The membership is a biennual odd membership with 16k points available, 8k EOY.

The estoppel letter lists 8k points will be issued to the account on 11/07/2010. This seems odd, as I thought a odd-year membership would have points come on the account in that use year (ie. 2009 or 2011). And it says issued, and not borrowed.

Also - because it is a e-bay seller, there is your usual $399 closing fee through their in-house closing company.

However, from what I understand the increase in the BG transfer fee was tied to having to use their in-house closing company (Resort Title Transfer). So there would be two closing companies?

Also, the seller is saying no deed is involved. Is that correct?

Thanks for all your help here and for those who answered my questions over on TUG.

-- Eric

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

First of all, I hope you got an older package on that 8000 every other year package with maintenance fees around $256. Even at that low rate, when you add the $129, you are paying $385 per year in fees for what amounts to as 4000 annual points. That is $.096/point. I rent them for less than that to non owners who don't pay anything upfront. If you got newer points, the situation will be even worse. You can correct this situation by adding some additional points of the right type.

Secondly, anniversary dates are on the first of the month. Not sure how you got 11/7. My guess is that may be the purchase date. If that is the purchase date, then the anniversary date is actually Dec 1.

Thirdly, when you have an every other year account, you usually only have at most 2 years worth of points in it unless they borrowed the next year's points and prepaid maintenance fees. But, with Nov 1, 2010 as the next earn date, the last points granted were on Nov 1, 2008, so the saved points would have expired. You should have at most 8000 points in it. My guess is they borowed the points ahead of time and the estoppel was requested prior to Nov 1, 2008. And, since that time, 8000 points have expired.

Fourth, if they only charge $399 for closing, then they are eating the difference in cost. Their loss, not yours. The transfer fee at Resort Title is $475 as of Feb 1, 2009.

Something is wrong with this deal. Not sure what it is. But, it is not as they have advertised. You can find great deals on ebay. But, it's really easy to make mistakes. That really isn't a problem because if you make a mistake, it's usually possible to fix. It just takes more money.

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

Boca,

Thanks for the quick response. Like you, I think something is not right here.

In regards to the closing costs, they are charging $399 for their closing, AND $475 for the Resort Title (BlueGreen) closing. Sounds like two closing.

The m/f are $401 - inclusive of the club fee - so $274.

I agree it sounds like I need 8k annual to do what I want to do (i.e. Hammocks or Hersey every other year). I assume that I do not get hit with another club fee, if I were to add another 8k contract to this one?

Good thing that e-bay timeshare sales are not binding.

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

I would run from this deal. This package is worth less than zero. I wouldn't take it if the seller gave it to me. Closing fees of $475 plus $399 are ridiculous. The actually closing is happening by Resort Title. The $399 is an admin fee that the eBay company is charging you.

If you have $275 maintenance fees, this will not combine with anything to reduce your fees. You will forever be paying maintenance fees higher than you can than simply to rent.

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

Thanks for your sage advice - you are the BG expert. I think that is what I will do.

Some how I think the two closings would be illegal, and sellingtimeguys need to change their contracts to show the fee as "Document Prep" or something. Disclosing it as Closing Costs with a $475 Resort Transfer fee is misrepresentation.

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

Some how I think the two closings would be illegal, and sellingtimeguys need to change their contracts to show the fee as "Document Prep" or something. Disclosing it as Closing Costs with a $475 Resort Transfer fee is misrepresentation.

Not illegal, just a ripoff. I assume that "sellingtimeguys" are handling the deal for a customer. They are serving as closing agents in that they get the buyer and seller to sign the right paperwork and get the paperwork to Resort Title who then officially "transfers" the "Owner Beneficiary Rights" into your name or names. Theoretically they will hassle Resort Title to speed up the process and try to make you feel good as you wait and wait and wait. In practice, I don't know how good they will be after the money has been paid.
Jim doesn't hassle Resort Title. Instead he works with them probably in the same friendly, cordial, and competent way he works with his customers and eases the load on Resort Title rather than increasing it. He has given you good advice and I am glad you are taking it. Unfortunately, the next highest bidder will get ripoffed by sellingtimeguys. But the old adage of "Due Diligence" applies to the other bidders.

Charles

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

It gets a little bit odder. Supposedly it is now a 16k biennual account, with a points award on 10/31/2010; and 16k points available now.

But the maintenance fees do not match up. Does anyone what the m/f would be on a 16k biennual account?

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

It gets a little bit odder. Supposedly it is now a 16k biennual account, with a points award on 10/31/2010; and 16k points available now.

But the maintenance fees do not match up. Does anyone what the m/f would be on a 16k biennual account?

Points are awarded on the FIRST day of the month. So, 10/31 is incorrect. If anything, it is 11/1.

The 2 most popular maintenance fee programs for 16000 bi-annual points for 2009 are:

1) $512
2) $606.80

This is excluding the $129 annual dues.

This company doesn't know how to verify an ownership. At this point, you have no idea what you are purchasing.

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

I agree. But I have also seen the estoppel letter from BG, and I am not sure that BG is in much better shape. The original information I sent was from the BG estoppel letter.

I also agree that the seller should be catching these errors. And this does happen on e-bay too often. The uneducated consumer is better served by working with an established reseller like Boca.

Footnote: In checking the point chart, the resort that this is tied to, does not have a week or season that would yield 16k points. Goes to Boca's point.

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

I agree. But I have also seen the estoppel letter from BG, and I am not sure that BG is in much better shape. The original information I sent was from the BG estoppel letter.

I also agree that the seller should be catching these errors. And this does happen on e-bay too often. The uneducated consumer is better served by working with an established reseller like Boca.

Footnote: In checking the point chart, the resort that this is tied to, does not have a week or season that would yield 16k points. Goes to Boca's point.

Bluegreen does make mistakes on the estoppels. I just had to correct 3 of them this week. The information they return isn't always the information you are requesting. You actually need to be very specific about the information requests. If the term that is on the estoppel is ambiguous or is called something not familar to the Bluegreen/Resort Title employee, they get the data from the account, but it is not always the info you think you requested. I can correct the estoppels and ask for clarification simply because I know when something doesn't seem right from experience. Anniversary date is a good example. That could mean the contract date or the earn date. We all know anniversary date as the earn date.

In any event, standard closing intervals going through Resort Title are about 4-5 months right now. Longer if it started in 2008. And, you can no longer reach a Resort Title agent on the phone. You need to leave a voice mail. This is because they have changed their program and eliminated many processors.

The good news is that Resort Title is now allowing me to facilitate closings. Since I know the nuances of how Bluegreen point packages are held in the various trusts, the documents I prepare for them are of the highest quality. And, they sail through the process as a result. I started this process in mid Feb. We just finished our first transfer in less than 6 weeks from start to finish. I expect a half dozen more to complete within the next two weeks. If we went straight through Resort Title, we would still be waiting for closing documents since it takes them about 2 months now to prepare the documents that we can compile in about an hour.

If anyone is making a purchase directly from another seller, let me know and I can help you with the transfer.

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

Now if you just offered those $1 deals like e-bay - you would be golden.

And I know - you get what you pay for.