What should a person look for in a timeshare?

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

We were asked to go on a tour with Gold Key and we almost purchased a timeshare 807 Caribbean West time share for week 47. The room would have been a lockout and on the back end of the building overlooking the street. We backed out of it because we are new to time sharing and we weren't sure if this would have good trading power at that time of year and where it was located in the building. The building itself is beautiful as the rooms are as well with many amenities. We just did not want to be stuck with a timeshare we could not use. Also how is II to deal with. What should a person look for in a timeshare?

Does anyone have experience with owning in Virginia Beach and particularly owning in Ocean Beach Club?

Thanks

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

dndcmd,

Welcome to TS4M's!

I don't have any personal experience with owning in VB, but will share some general thoughts on purchasing a timeshare. Perhaps someone who owns in VB will give their thoughts, as well.

Currently, the timeshare market is bottoming out. If you are planning on buying a timeshare, you should purchase it on the resale market, not through the developer. You will save thousands of dollars, and whatever small perks you lose, will mean nothing compared to the savings. Take a look on ebay, and see what timeshares in VB have recently sold for. That will give you an idea of what you can expect to pay on the resale market.

If you do purchase a timeshare, buy where you'd like to vacation, during the season that you'd like to vacation.......VB is a popular summer destination. Weeks 22 thru 34 are most likely the highest demands weeks, and would be the weeks that would trade well with II. Once you're out of the "platinum season," your trading power diminishes greatly. Holiday weeks within the "platinum season," would have the strongest trading power possible, and would be the best week to own, for trading purposes.

Good luck to you in your decision. I suggest that stick around, and read all that you can before making a purchase. It's very easy to purchase a timeshare, not so easy to get rid of one!

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

I own at Ocean Beach Club. It is a great resort,but week 47 is not a prime week. Take the time to learn more about what you would want in a timeshare. ArtsieAng gave you great advice.

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

If you are sure that you want to buy a timeshare then the advice given is good. Buying resale is definitely the way to go. If you want to exchange it then you definitely want a prime summer week. You are not restricted to using II. There are several very good independent exchange companies like SFX, DAE, etc.

Maintenance fees are the big albatross of owning a timeshare. They are escalating at many resorts due to owners defaulting requiring the resorts to raise the M/F to cover the non-payers.

Personally, I would look at renting a timeshare before buying one, especially if you want an off season week like 47. Often the rent is less expensive than the maintenance fee and you have no obligation. Do a search for "Timeshare rentals Virginia Beach".

I just realized that week 47 could be a holiday week ( Thanksgiving ). I am not familiar with Virginia Beach so am am not sure if that would raise the trading power significantly.

Just remember one thing. It is a buyer's market and the deals will always be there. Take your time and make sure what you really want.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

an exit strategy

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

We were asked to go on a tour with Gold Key and we almost purchased a timeshare 807 Caribbean West time share for week 47. The room would have been a lockout and on the back end of the building overlooking the street. We backed out of it because we are new to time sharing and we weren't sure if this would have good trading power at that time of year and where it was located in the building. The building itself is beautiful as the rooms are as well with many amenities. We just did not want to be stuck with a timeshare we could not use. Also how is II to deal with. What should a person look for in a timeshare?

Does anyone have experience with owning in Virginia Beach and particularly owning in Ocean Beach Club?

Thanks

Welcome to Timeshare Forums.

You have some good advice already. Also remember that it is easy to buy from a developer but you will lose a lot of money if you have to sell suddenly and certainly if you bought from a developer. Lately, people have been giving their timeshares away and even paid the closing costs just to get rid of the yearly maintenance fees that keep rising year after year.

I would wait buying until the economy starts turning around so rent where you like to go and take it from there. JMHO.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I would wait .

Good exit strategy.

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

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

Thanks for all of the comments and advice. I made a mistake, my week would have been week 42 and not 47, and would have put us in the middle of Oct. We do like Virginia Beach and it is only 7 hrs away. We would have paid $16,700 for a city view 2 BR lockout week 47 not a very popular time. It is absolutely a beautiful resort. I took Angela's advice and looked for resales and to my surprise they had some at this resort in a better week (week 22 and 25) for almost half the price $8,900

.


Has anyone ever dealt with this Timeshare Resales by My Resort Network

I am skeptical though, why would someone sell a timeshare for so little. This is a new resort, the newest in VA. The Developer (Gold Key) is staring to build another one and after that they told us that they will no longer be allowed to build anymore timeshares in VA, as per the township decision.

Also, the developer told us it did not matter what time of the year we purchased, nor did it matter where the Unit was in the building OF, OV or City view ( I see that many timeshare owners speak of this as being so important and it does make sense). Also, they said they have done away with the coloring system. I was skeptical of what they told us, it sounded too good to be true!! This is why we bailed out of the agreement while we could. Is it better to purchased a time share that has a longer High Season then Virginia Beach? (FL, CA)

Thanks again for all of your advice, it is greatly appreciated. We know so very little about timeshare and again I welcome your comments and of course I am doing some research before we do any purchasing. Are there any websites any one would recommend or other reading materials.
We are in no hurry!

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

If you must buy, buy low (best time is now it's a buyers market)
Never buy from a developer, buy on the secondary market (eBay). Timeshare depreciation is worse than automobile depreciation.
Buy where and when you want to vacation most years
If you want to vacation other locations occasionally, buy into a mini system. (If you don't know the term, your not ready to buy)

If you don't need to buy don't (i.e. don't need forced saving to make that vacation happen), there will be better deals renting timeshare weeks over ownership for the next couple of years (again see eBay).

Finally it is important to remember the purchase price is finite. But the annual maintenance fees go on for as long as you are an owner. With that in mind compare maintenance fees when making a selection.

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

Thanks for all of the comments and advice. I made a mistake, my week would have been week 42 and not 47, and would have put us in the middle of Oct. We do like Virginia Beach and it is only 7 hrs away. We would have paid $16,700 for a city view 2 BR lockout week 47 not a very popular time. It is absolutely a beautiful resort. I took Angela's advice and looked for resales and to my surprise they had some at this resort in a better week (week 22 and 25) for almost half the price $8,900

.


Has anyone ever dealt with this Timeshare Resales by My Resort Network

I am skeptical though, why would someone sell a timeshare for so little. This is a new resort, the newest in VA. The Developer (Gold Key) is staring to build another one and after that they told us that they will no longer be allowed to build anymore timeshares in VA, as per the township decision.

Also, the developer told us it did not matter what time of the year we purchased, nor did it matter where the Unit was in the building OF, OV or City view ( I see that many timeshare owners speak of this as being so important and it does make sense). Also, they said they have done away with the coloring system. I was skeptical of what they told us, it sounded too good to be true!! This is why we bailed out of the agreement while we could. Is it better to purchased a time share that has a longer High Season then Virginia Beach? (FL, CA)

Thanks again for all of your advice, it is greatly appreciated. We know so very little about timeshare and again I welcome your comments and of course I am doing some research before we do any purchasing. Are there any websites any one would recommend or other reading materials.
We are in no hurry!

Mostly salesman bunk

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

-snip-

Also, the developer told us it did not matter what time of the year we purchased, nor did it matter where the Unit was in the building OF, OV or City view ( I see that many timeshare owners speak of this as being so important and it does make sense). Also, they said they have done away with the coloring system. I was skeptical of what they told us, it sounded too good to be true!! This is why we bailed out of the agreement while we could. Is it better to purchased a time share that has a longer High Season then Virginia Beach? (FL, CA)

Thanks again for all of your advice, it is greatly appreciated. We know so very little about timeshare and again I welcome your comments and of course I am doing some research before we do any purchasing. Are there any websites any one would recommend or other reading materials.
We are in no hurry!

Q: Do you know how you can tell if a timeshare salesperson is lying? A: Their lips are moving.

Imagine the predicament they are in - trying to sell something for 20 times it's fair market value? Can they level with you about this and still get a sale?

eBay is the most buyer driven market, period.

There are only a few rules of thumb that (almost) always apply to timeshare purchasing:

1. Buy Resale - the money you save could send your first born to college
2. It is a LOT easier to buy a TS than to sell one, so choose ones you will be pretty sure to get use out of.
3. The right TS for you may be cheap or it may be somewhat expensive (who knows) - but the wrong TS for you will always be expensive.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Q: Do you know how you can tell if a timeshare salesperson is lying? A: Their lips are moving.

Imagine the predicament they are in - trying to sell something for 20 times it's fair market value? Can they level with you about this and still get a sale?

eBay is the most buyer driven market, period.

There are only a few rules of thumb that (almost) always apply to timeshare purchasing:

1. Buy Resale - the money you save could send your first born to college
2. It is a LOT easier to buy a TS than to sell one, so choose ones you will be pretty sure to get use out of.
3. The right TS for you may be cheap or it may be somewhat expensive (who knows) - but the wrong TS for you will always be expensive.

4. Don't.

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

.


Has anyone ever dealt with this Timeshare Resales by My Resort Network

I am skeptical though, why would someone sell a timeshare for so little. This is a new resort, the newest in VA. The Developer (Gold Key) is staring to build another one and after that they told us that they will no longer be allowed to build anymore timeshares in VA, as per the township decision.

I strongly recommend "My Resort Network". I have both sold and rented timeshares through them. You will be dealing directly with the owner of the resort as they are just a timeshare listing company but an honest one.

Actually that is a very high price for a resale. Resales typically sell for 0-10% of the developer price. It is a buyer's market. Many owners just want to get our of their timeshare and will give it away. The main reason is to get our from under the mandatory maintenance fees.

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

I stayed in there in the last week in September using a bonus week from II for being a good customer. It was $209 for the week (2 bedroom lock out city view) without using any banked weeks. Even though I agree it was very nice I wouldn't give up any of my weeks to exchange off season only bonus weeks so I can't see it getting good trading power.
If the week and view (view really doesn't matter if you are exchanging but it does if you are buying to use) doesn't make any difference ask them then in that case you would like an ocean front high floor for week 26-31 for the same price. I bet they are charging at least double. If you take your time you could probably find even a better summer week for the $3000-$8000 range. The summer weeks in Virginia Beach unlike many places do retain value as in 10-40% of developer prices but the off season weeks are are worth less than $500 or have a negative value in that you may need to pay someone to take it from you.

Just because an area has a longer high season doesn't mean it would be better. There are other factors involved like how saturated an area is with timeshares. If you want Virginia Beach in the summer you should buy or rent Virginia Beach in the summer. It would be a difficult trade for anyone and nearly impossible for someone trading in an off season week.

Thanks for all of the comments and advice. I made a mistake, my week would have been week 42 and not 47, and would have put us in the middle of Oct. We do like Virginia Beach and it is only 7 hrs away. We would have paid $16,700 for a city view 2 BR lockout week 47 not a very popular time. It is absolutely a beautiful resort. I took Angela's advice and looked for resales and to my surprise they had some at this resort in a better week (week 22 and 25) for almost half the price $8,900

.


Has anyone ever dealt with this Timeshare Resales by My Resort Network

I am skeptical though, why would someone sell a timeshare for so little. This is a new resort, the newest in VA. The Developer (Gold Key) is staring to build another one and after that they told us that they will no longer be allowed to build anymore timeshares in VA, as per the township decision.

Also, the developer told us it did not matter what time of the year we purchased, nor did it matter where the Unit was in the building OF, OV or City view ( I see that many timeshare owners speak of this as being so important and it does make sense). Also, they said they have done away with the coloring system. I was skeptical of what they told us, it sounded too good to be true!! This is why we bailed out of the agreement while we could. Is it better to purchased a time share that has a longer High Season then Virginia Beach? (FL, CA)

Thanks again for all of your advice, it is greatly appreciated. We know so very little about timeshare and again I welcome your comments and of course I am doing some research before we do any purchasing. Are there any websites any one would recommend or other reading materials.
We are in no hurry!

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

"They will no longer be able to build any more timeshares in the area" is one of the salesman lies that is particularly popular in Virginia. Ask for a money back guarantee in writing and watch the story change.