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Re: Legacy Resorts

[Q=jlb] It's a shame there's not more action here, or more owners in older resorts. We have been timesharing for 30 years. We've owned at several resorts. We've bought resale, association foreclosures, direct from PCCs for "free", and have never been as pleased as the stand-alone, legacy resort we bought into last year. It is a place a confidante at RCI suggested more than 10 years ago. It is the first time a timeshare has put money in our pocket while giving us year-round benefits. Like I said, it's a shame there's no audience here.[/Q] It's funny how things work out. In 1999, we had a problem with an RCI exchange to Apple Valley Resort in Ohio. They cancelled it after confirming it, because a 1-in-4 rule had been enacted. That had been enacted because the resort was struggling and they had hired a marketing firm to try to bail them out. I still remember the exact words of a lady at RCI, "We have a legal department for people like you." That's funny looking back . . . and we were able to stay there that year any way by booking through another RCI member/friend in that area. We stayed there for half a dozen years. Anyway, five years later on another forum, I "met" an RCI person who had been involved in that situation, and we became Internet friends and confidantes, he keeping me abreast of things in the Kingdom of Proprietary Secrets. We used to exchange into SW Florida resorts in January, and I became quite knowledgeable about them. I even kept a database of availability, so, when RCI became Renting Condos Instead, I saw the availability go from as many as 18 choices to none (assuming you don't consider Lehigh Resort Club in crime-ridden Lehigh Acres to be a choice). My "RCI Inside Guy" suggested a homely little beach resort in Englewood, FL, one of those old converted motel places that SW FL has an abundance of. Well, we started trading into there, and found it to be a perfectly acceptable, extremely comfortable and friendly place, and, as a bonus, a bunch of retired high school coaches and referees from my playing days are there in January. So, here's the funny part. Apple Valley Resort, one of the legacy resorts, the place where we had the issue that eventually led to finding "RCI Inside Guy", went belly up, and the owners just recently got their shares of the sale . . . $1200 each, with a small amount more maybe coming later. But, we are now owners at the (legacy) resort in Englewood, FL, and it has already dealt with the Sunset Clause, and they handle delinquent weeks in an effective and profitable manner, and they have a fair and reasonable annual fee, and they have a rental program, and they have day-use, so they are our year-round beach club. Life is like a box of . . . . .