New to Timeshare...just bought one! Now what?

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Well, though we don't know what we are doing, we purchased a timeshare at the Yachtsman in MB. I will post what we got and maybe someone can suggest where we go from here, or what we should do now that we "almost" own it (it's going to closing but will take a few weeks). I guess, once we close, we need to join RCI but don't know whether we join "weeks" or "points" or what we do once we join. While we would like to go over to Myrtle Beach...probably next spring, our may purpose is to be able to swap it for time in other locations. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Float Unit: 2 BR/2 BA
Annual Usage
Float Week: 9-14, 44-47
Clipper Unit
Unit N607, Week 9 & 10

Thanks

Since Joe L thinks that the fact that I didn't post that this TS cost me $1 on ebay (and they paid the closing costs), I am trying to scam someone...not sure how he figures that but...now I posted it...so, can someone help me to figure out what I have and what I can do with it? I did get a reply from RCI that I would join as a "Weeks" member.

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

If your unit is not at a Points resort, you will have to join as a weeks member. RCI will verify your week with the resort and then you can deposit with them. Because you own a floating week, you will have to reserve a week and then deposit it into RCI. After it is banked, you can go online and play with it. RCI will mail you a directory of resorts also, so you can peruse through there.
Once you are able to see the exchange ops here, you should hunt for them with your RCI account. This will give you an idea of how your week will trade. Because it is off season, you won't be able to see alot of the sightings, but if you hang around enough you will learn that there are certain times that resorts deposit a large amount of weeks at once (bulk banking). When that happens, the supply/demand balance shifts a bit and sometimes you can pick up a really exchange with a mediocre trader. There are other valuable hints you can learn from the experts on this site (alas, I am not one of them but I use their knowledge to maximize my exchanges).
Also, there are other exchange companies besides RCI that you can use. You can check out the forums here. Dial an Exchange (DAE) is one of them, Platinum Interchange another.
Good luck with your new purchase and enjoy your upcoming vacations.

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

Unfortunately, off seasons weeks do not trade well. Would you like to visit Myrtle Beach in November?

A possibility for you would be to find out how far ahead of time you have to reserve float time at your resort.
Is it one year from check-in or two years? Once you find out, try and reserve the week before or after Easter - many times week 13,14,15. This would probably be the best week u can reserve in your season.

Deposit as soon as you have your reservation and start searching online. As far as getting a bigger unit then what u own, you never know. In certain overbuilt areas, this could be possible.

Try to think of TSing as the best gets the best, and the rest get the leftovers.
People who own summer Myrtle Beach are going to be able to trade for summer Hilton Head, Summer SoCal beach weeks can trade for summer Myrtle Beach. People who own in New York City can trade for London.

There is just not that much demand for off season Myrtle Beach, so expect to get other locations off season and you will not be disappointed. Hilton Head in November, Orlando in May and November, Lake Lure in January....

Expecting to trade your off season week for high season locations, it is probably not going to happen.

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Thanks Jackio & GrayFal. RCI confirmed that it's not a points and that I will have to join Weeks, once we close. I'm a little confused...you mention that "Because you own a floating week, you will have to reserve a week and then deposit it into RCI." but I know the contract is for Weeks 9 & 10 but it also mentions float weeks 9-14, 44-47. What does that mean? I assume that once I join, I can still use my "weeks" at any resort? Supposedly, Weeks 9 & 10 are the beginning of Red season, but I'm not sure what that gets me.

As far as reserving far ahead, we won't need to do that. I will be retiring March 1, 2010, which is why we decided to get in to T/S. We want to be able to travel and I understand that with RCI, if we reserve "last minute" (within the last 45 days??), we an get a place for as little at 9,000 points? Is that for a week or a night??

Like I said, we paid $1 and they are paying the closing costs, so all I will have invested for the first year is the maintenance fees of about $550 for each week. If I can trade that for multiple weeks at other places....that's great for me. We are planning on going to the Orlando area in mid-March for a motorcycle rally and were hoping to be able to get a place there for the one week. Any suggestions would be great. I think they said it would take about a month for all the paperwork to finalize.

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

Caps

thanks jackio & grayfal. Rci confirmed that it's not a points okay, you do not have points so forget any reference to points and that i will have to join weeks, once we close.

I'm a little confused...you mention that "because you own a floating week, you will have to reserve a week and then deposit it into rci." but i know the contract is for weeks 9 & 10 but it also mentions float weeks 9-14, 44-47. What does that mean? [color="red"]
what this usually means is...your 'deeded' weeks are 9 & 10 but you can also 'float' weeks 9-14, 44-47.
You must call the resort and ask them if u r guarenteed those weeks or do you have to call and reserve them every year. I own several marriott weeks and the week number that is associated with my ownership is for deeding only - i can reserve anytime during my floating season and i am not guarenteed the week number that is on my deed.[/COLOR="red"]

I assume that once i join, i can still use my "weeks" at any resort? No, you can not use your week at any resort. You must have the trade power to be able to get into another resort - but you will have two weeks deposited to make two exchanges into another comparable resort/comparable time.

Supposedly, weeks 9 & 10 are the beginning of red season, but i'm not sure what that gets me. Yes, that is true but week 13 would be the better week to reseerve - people would want to visit the end of march more then the end of february, right?

As far as reserving far ahead, we won't need to do that. I will be retiring march 1, 2010, which is why we decided to get in to t/s. We want to be able to travel and i understand that with rci, if we reserve "last minute" (within the last 45 days??), we an get a place for as little at 9,000 points? Is that for a week or a night??
FORGET THE POINTS STUFF - NOT YOU, BUT - AN IMPORTANT AND USEFUL THING FOR YOU IS THAT AT 45 DAYS, MOST TRADING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET SOME GOOD LAST MINUTE TRADES. YOU MIGHT FIND THIS TO BE THE MOST VALUABLE WAY TO USE THESE TWO TIMESHARES - AND THEN WHEN U BUY THAT GREAT TRADING TIMESHARE AFTER YOU READ AND LEARN HERE = THAT WILL HELP YOU WITH MORE DIFFICULT HIGH SEASON TRADES.

Like i said, we paid $1 and they are paying the closing costs, so all i will have invested for the first year is the maintenance fees of about $550 for each week. If i can trade that for multiple weeks at other places....that's great for me. We are planning on going to the orlando area in mid-march for a motorcycle rally and were hoping to be able to get a place there for the one week. Any suggestions would be great. I think they said it would take about a month for all the paperwork to finalize.

YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET ORLANDO FOR MID MARCH NOW AS THERE ARE MANY TS THERE...BUT IF NOT, MAKE A HOTEL RESERVATION THAT U CAN CANCEL AND KEEP LOOKING DAILY.

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

As far as reserving far ahead, we won't need to do that. I will be retiring March 1, 2010, which is why we decided to get in to T/S. We want to be able to travel and I understand that with RCI, if we reserve "last minute" (within the last 45 days??), we an get a place for as little at 9,000 points? Is that for a week or a night??

Like I said, we paid $1 and they are paying the closing costs, so all I will have invested for the first year is the maintenance fees of about $550 for each week. If I can trade that for multiple weeks at other places....that's great for me. We are planning on going to the Orlando area in mid-March for a motorcycle rally and were hoping to be able to get a place there for the one week. Any suggestions would be great. I think they said it would take about a month for all the paperwork to finalize.

You get week resort, so no, you don't get those 9,000 point type deal. But in last 45 days, you can get whatever is there.

1 month probably is recording of deed and transfering at the resort. You will need to open a RCI account, and RCI need to verify the week after that done. So it maybe another month.

But you should still has chance for Orlando resort. The worse case is you can rent from RCI.

You will need to make reservation for 2 weeks. if you are at Jan when RCI is set, then I will try week 44, so get a little bit higher trading power.

It kind of high MF for 2 weeks, but it is the same reason why you can get from eBay with $1. You can look at the area to see how much the rental price will be, if it is cheaper to rent a hotel, it usually means you may in some tough situation. But since you will be flexible enough, try 45 days trip should not be a problem. And with bad economic still ahead, you may see some great exchange opportunity. But it usually is not a good purchase, and may cost more to sell ( think about the person that sold you this, (s0he will handle the closing cost and resort transfer fee). But seems like it is a done deal, so try to enjoy them as much as possible.

Jya-Ning

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Okay...I think I'm slowly getting this but still have some questions (btw...thanks for being so patient with me and answering my questions!...guess I should have found this site BEFORE I bought!!).

GrayFal wrote:"I assume that once i join, i can still use my "weeks" at any resort? No, you can not use your week at any resort. You must have the trade power to be able to get into another resort - but you will have two weeks deposited to make two exchanges into another comparable resort/comparable time."

Do you mean I can ONLY use my weeks to exchange for other weeks at the same resort? If I join RCI, can I then deposit them and exchange them for weeks at other resorts or am I stuck at just this one (their webpage says:

If you checked "EXCHANGE"....
Thanks to the Yachtsman's new Pre-Banking service, a number of weeks throughout your season have already been "Bulk-banked" in the RCI SPACEBANK to make them especially attractive for exchanges. When you check the "Exchange" box on the Request Card, you are automatically in the pool to receive one of these valuable weeks. The supply of Pre-banked weeks is limited, and only owners who return their Request Cards by the Return Date have the best chance of getting one. For more information about how you can maximize your trading power by use of a Pre-banked week, see the section below titled "Exchanging your Unit."

GrayFal wrote: "what this usually means is...your 'deeded' weeks are 9 & 10 but you can also 'float' weeks 9-14, 44-47."

Okay, so I need to call them to see if I'm guaranteed weeks 9 & 10 or if I have to reserve them but my weeks can be exchanged for other weeks within my "float weeks"? Their webpage (Yachtsman Timeshare Resort) talks about "Fairness Points" and other items that I'm confused about.

Okay, lets see if I understand this...I can only exchange my two weeks at Yachtsman for other two weeks at Yachtsman within my float weeks but if I join RCI and deposit my weeks, I can exchange them for other weeks at other resorts but because my weeks aren't very popular, even though they are RED weeks, I won't be able to trade for any desirable weeks at the other resorts, unless I find a good last minute deal? If I have this wrong, would any of you be willing to talk to me by cell phone (I'm in the Memphis, TN area) so I can understand this better since apparently the forum thing isn't getting through to me? Thanks again for being so patient with me.

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

Yachtsman

I owned a small 1BR (Sloop) at Yachtsman but recently sold it. I had the same float week period you have. It is considered white time with the exception of week 13/14 being red. Actually I would consider those weeks to be light pink.

Making reservations for Yachtsman is a bit different than most resorts. Around July the resort sends out reservation cards. You select your top 6 choices of dates that fall within your float period. The card must be returned before Sept 1st and if sent later you may not get any of your top choices. They work on a rotating priority system using points. When you have lots of points you have a better chance of getting your #1 pick. Then next year you will have less points left. Different weeks within your float period use different points. The week you end up with and the points for that week is subtracted from your total.

This is hard to explain. Took me a couple of years to fully understand the system. That said, I always requested the week before Easter which used the most amount of points and got my 1st choice every year. Your results may vary with a 2BR unit.

The 1st 3 years I rented out the week just coverng maintenance fees. This year 2009, I had the week before Easter but it didn't rent. I ended up deposting the week just 3 weeks before check-in with RCI. Even though Yachtsman said unit sleeps 4, with RCI it is a 3/2 unit. I figured it would trade poorly being small plus a late deposit but ended up getting a 1BR oceanfront unit at Morritt's Grand for Feb 2011 I have priority for exchanges with Morritts Tortuga Club as an owner but not at the Grand. Really excited about the exchange.

In regard to week 9 & 10, that is probably the weeks selected by the previous owners for 2010. After your transfer is complete with the resort you could call and see if different dates are available. As other posters have mentioned weeks 13/14 would be better dates for trading. I don't know how well the resort trades with II.

Good luck with your future usages. There was a special assessment a couple years ago so shouldn't have one any time soon. I think maintenance fees are resonable considering the resort is oceanfront.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Never have actually stayed there as we had more weeks than we could use, but it got good reports from renters.

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

Weeks 9 & 10 should be the "deeded" weeks. Virtually all deeds in timeshare are for specific weeks - this shows your ownership in the county records.

With RCI you would deposit one, or both, of the weeks after you have obtained your actual reservation with Yachtsman. Once it's deposited in RCI(banked), you then have two years to trade that week for whatever it's trading power will get you - this could be any resort around the world that is affiliated with RCI. One week gets one week, no more. In some cases you might be able to get a larger unit than yours is, or you might get a smaller unit somewhere, just depends on the trading power and the time of year you're looking for. Banking your week is no charge with RCI, you pay the exchange fee when you use the banked week to make an exchange reservation.

Once you deposit your week with RCI, it's gone as far as Yachtsman is concerned (you've used it for trade with RCI). It will be in RCI's inventory for another trader to use.

If the resort you will own at is part of a group of resorts the entire group may have an internal trading policy between the resorts. You might check into that.

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

Thanks for the information. I retire on March 1, 2010 and on/off season doesn't really matter to me. We just want to be able to travel on our motorcycle and stay at a variety of places. Last minute generally should work for us too. We do want to go to Myrtle Beach as my wife has never been there (I haven't been there since 1975) but it's a bit of a trip from the Memphis area. We also want to be able to go to motorcycle rally's and try to stay at a place other than a hotel.

We will probably try to go over to MB next year, just to see the place anyway. Of course, we will be late getting our bids in as it will be at least another month before we close but maybe there will be something open we can use.

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

I owned a small 1BR (Sloop) at Yachtsman but recently sold it. I had the same float week period you have. It is considered white time with the exception of week 13/14 being red. Actually I would consider those weeks to be light pink.

Making reservations for Yachtsman is a bit different than most resorts. Around July the resort sends out reservation cards. You select your top 6 choices of dates that fall within your float period. The card must be returned before Sept 1st and if sent later you may not get any of your top choices. They work on a rotating priority system using points. When you have lots of points you have a better chance of getting your #1 pick. Then next year you will have less points left. Different weeks within your float period use different points. The week you end up with and the points for that week is subtracted from your total.

This is hard to explain. Took me a couple of years to fully understand the system. That said, I always requested the week before Easter which used the most amount of points and got my 1st choice every year. Your results may vary with a 2BR unit.

The 1st 3 years I rented out the week just coverng maintenance fees. This year 2009, I had the week before Easter but it didn't rent. I ended up deposting the week just 3 weeks before check-in with RCI. Even though Yachtsman said unit sleeps 4, with RCI it is a 3/2 unit. I figured it would trade poorly being small plus a late deposit but ended up getting a 1BR oceanfront unit at Morritt's Grand for Feb 2011 I have priority for exchanges with Morritts Tortuga Club as an owner but not at the Grand. Really excited about the exchange.

In regard to week 9 & 10, that is probably the weeks selected by the previous owners for 2010. After your transfer is complete with the resort you could call and see if different dates are available. As other posters have mentioned weeks 13/14 would be better dates for trading. I don't know how well the resort trades with II.

Good luck with your future usages. There was a special assessment a couple years ago so shouldn't have one any time soon. I think maintenance fees are resonable considering the resort is oceanfront.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Never have actually stayed there as we had more weeks than we could use, but it got good reports from renters.

Wow, this is GREAT advice from an actual owner at this resort - Thanks Vicki!

OP, no wonder you are confused about weeks/points - this is certainly 'different' then usual.

The other thing u should be aware of that as an RCI member u will now have access to HUNDREDS of rentals offered by RCI at very reduced prices which will also fit into your retired lifestyle.

Once u r on the RCI website you will see what I mean.

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

Thanks for the information. I retire on March 1, 2010 and on/off season doesn't really matter to me. We just want to be able to travel on our motorcycle and stay at a variety of places. Last minute generally should work for us too. We do want to go to Myrtle Beach as my wife has never been there (I haven't been there since 1975) but it's a bit of a trip from the Memphis area. We also want to be able to go to motorcycle rally's and try to stay at a place other than a hotel.

We will probably try to go over to MB next year, just to see the place anyway. Of course, we will be late getting our bids in as it will be at least another month before we close but maybe there will be something open we can use.

Woo hoo! Didn't notice you were in Memphis also. I also ride. Currently have 3 bikes of different types.

You should be able to do some reading up on the RCI website, before you join, as to how it works - I would encourage that. www.rci.com At the bottom click on 'About RCI', then click on 'RCI Weeks Overview' towards the top of that page.

From the RCI home page you can also click on the Member Benefits tab, then click on 'more info' under the RCI Weeks section.

[Geordie97 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Geordie97]

According to the RCI webpage, the Yachtsman is a Points Resort (I think!).
The Yachtsman (#1031) They also show that weeks 9 & 10, which are the end of Feb/beginning of March are RED season. So...what does all that mean??

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

Don't know anything about the Yachtsman, but some resorts are both "points" and "weeks", depending on the contract that you purchased, so don't get too excited yet.

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

The other thing u should be aware of that as an RCI member u will now have access to HUNDREDS of rentals offered by RCI at very reduced prices which will also fit into your retired lifestyle.

This is what I value RCI for -- the opportunity to get "Last Call" vacations (a week's worth reservation for under $300). I've only been watching "Last Call" for a few weeks so I may decide it's not worth bothering with, but right now there are a lot of places available we wouldn't mind going.

According to the RCI webpage, the Yachtsman is a Points Resort (I think!).

I'm guessing that means points in addition to weeks - all the offered reservations under "Extra Vacations" are a week long.