Post reply

Re: Buying timeshares (even resale) (by Mike N.):

suzannes39 wrote:

atishr wrote:

jayjay wrote:

Before buying a timeshare week, I would research all rental sites on the internet first. The only reason, in my opinion, to buy a week is if you can only vacation in a red hot season such as summer, holidays or winter ski season. The reason I say this is because there are SO many rentals sites on the internet now (such as Redweek) as opposed to just a few years ago, that it doesn't make sense to buy if you can rent for the maintenance fee or a little more. The costs of timesharing have skyrocketed just in the last 6 years ... maintenance fees have risen (some with special assessments attached on top of maintenance fees), exchange company membership, exchanges, guest certificates and other related timeshare costs have risen.

If you can rent for the same as owning without the hassles of owning ... then in my opinion that's the better option. It's much easier to BUY a timeshare than to SELL a timeshare.

I am appreciative of all the info I have gleaned from this thread. I'd appreciate comments and critical analysis of the purchases I'm about to make in the following week. My husband and I purchased an annual deeded 2bd/2ba unit in the west village at Orange Lake in Orlando. The unit sleeps 8 is not a lock-off. The unit is in the newer 2500 block tower (not the older bungalow style). We paid $12,500, our maint/taxes are aprox. $630.00. We purchased week 17. We now have the option of converting from weeks to points through the Global Access System (sanctioned through Orange Lake) at a cost of $1,999.00. Our week 17 will give us 75,000 rci points. There is also an in house fee of only $40.00 to trade to any other week or unit(ie. studio or 1 Bd to stretch our points out) to any other Orange Lake property. We belong to RCI and go every other year to Orlando but never yet in week 17 so we end up paying the RCI exchange fee which is over $150. Can't see the disadvantage to buying the conversion to points, we can pay cash, so there will be no interest or financing involved.

Also we have an opportunity to by a 2Bd/2Ba @ Cliffs @ Peace Canyon in Las Vegas with 38,500 RCI points. The cost is $1200 (including closing,registration with RCI points) with annual maint/taxes of $446.00. We are able to fly to Vegas for considerably less than Orlando and enjoy getting away in the winter for a break. After reading the comments of the glut of TS in Vegas and Orlando and negative implications we are gratefully anticipating your knowledgeable comments. We are new to TS and only wished we had learned of Redweek sooner. Our offers sounded great to us, are we correct? What pitfalls have we not counted on? Is the Cliffs due for a heavy assessment fee? The maint.fees are so low we thought it seemed like an opportunity. Thanks in advance. Maddy

The one disadvantage I see with converting your unit is that, (according to other posters) since RCI controls your home week, you would not be able to rent it for an amount greater than the exchange and guest fees nor could you deposit your week with another exchange organization such as RedWeek. If never thought to rent your unit and you plan to use the points to travel then this should not be a big issue. Here's some info regarding RCI Points. I’ll let you decide whether they are pros or cons. 1. There are three reservation periods when booking an RCI Points resort ranging from 10 to 13 months in advance of your check-in day. a) Home Week Period (for owners of Fixed Time) - 12 to 13 months in advance check-in b) Home Group Reservation - 10 to 11 months in advance of your check-in c) Standard Reservation Period - Reserve at any other available RCI Points Resort 10 months or less in advance of your check-in day.

2. You can book any available RCI Points resort for any number of nights. Exchange fees vary but the max is $129 for a 7+ night reservation. A word of warning, you will be charged a “housekeeping” fee by the resort upon check-out. Personally, I do not feel a 1 or 2 night stay is cost effective when you add up the fees and the “value” of your points.

3. Unlike a RCI weeks resort deposit where you have to deposit first, you can go online and view all available resorts 10 months prior to your check-in date.

4. You can reserve a unit at any available RCI weeks resort up to 2 years in advance.

5. Reservations at any RCI weeks resort within 45 days of check-in are 7500 or 9000 points (domestic/international). However, I’d rather book a Last Call Vacation, ($199 to $249) rather than use my points plus pay a $164+ exchange fee.

6. You can carry over unused points, borrow from next year’s points, or buy points if needed.

7. The dues range from $124 (1 yr) to $319 (3 yrs). I believe this is higher than the annual fees for a “weeks” member.

8. If and when you ever re-sell, the unit may revert back to original status and the new owner may need to pay the conversion fee again.

Where you thinking of converting your Orange Lake property AND buying the Las Vegas property to get almost 115000 points or were you looking to just do one transaction?

Seeing you already have a unit that will get you 75,000 points for $2000 (I assume the MF will not increase). It doesn’t make too much sense to take on an extra $446 of maintenance fees to get just 38500 points. You can still go to Orlando periodically or with 75000 points you can visit Las Vegas in the winter and have plenty of points remaining to travel somewhere else.

Go to The Answer Place link at rci.com; do a search for ‘points’. The result will provide a ton of info.

Good Luck