Original Message:
Re: BUYING DEVELOPER vs RESALE (typical scenario) (by Peter C.):
Depending on how long the timeshare has been owned, or the policies of the timeshare company/resort, units at the same resort can be weeks or points based, or both.
Wyndham Vacation Resorts (Formerly Fairfield) originally sold all units as weeks units. Later the company decided to make a points based system. They sell/sold paoints tied to deeded resorts from then on and offered weeks owners the chance to pay a fee to move into the points system. Many didn't and now WVR has two types of owners.
Diamond Resorts (formerly Sunterra) has a similar story. To make matters more complex, they tie their points to "Club" membership which is stripped from the owner when sold. So DRI causes owners to become weeks owners (there are exceptions to this but the end result is the same) until the resale buyer pays DRI to convert back into Club.
Marriott and Westin have hybrids. Their points systems work differently and in some cases Westin owners seling their units cause the new owners to be weeks owners. Marriott has a points system but generally you still have to reserve in terms of weeks for timeshares. When Marriott owners sell, the new owner is only a weeks owner.
Then there's RCI Points. You can buy a timeshare where the resort participates in the RCI Points program, which I like A LOT more than the RCI weeks program. However, just becasue the resort participates you can't depend on this to ensure the unit you are buying participates in the RCI Points program. You must verify with the owner very specifically their unit participates vs is eligible. Being eligible means you can pay the resort to convert into the RCI Points program. Currently participates is what you want to verify.