New Sale or Resale: which is better?

You might email the reseller below (copy and paste url) with your question. He deals in many high end timeshares such as Hilton, Mariott, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hilton-HGVC-Flamingo-7000-Points-Timeshare_W0QQitemZ290055974859QQihZ019QQcategoryZ15897QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

benjaminb13 wrote:

I wll be purchasing a HGVC resort resale in Jan. 2007- 7000 points a year - platinum Part of the package was that the unused 7000 points available from 2006 would carry over into 2007, allowwing me to use up to 14000 in 2007. When the seeler informed HILTON the 2006 points would be transferred into my name in 2007- HILTON said he can not do this- I need some advise

Best advice I can give is to make sure you buy right (less than half the original cost of the timeshare), and only buy a resort with REASONABLE Maintenance fees. That is the ONLY way a timeshare can be a 'decent' deal, but still not a 'good' investment.

amyw123 wrote:

I am looking to buy a beachfront timeshare in southern California (near where I live.) I want something on the sand where my family and I can hang out and relax.

I know some of the timeshares are listed as beachfront, but when I mapquest the address, there is a street that has to be crossed.

Anything to watch out for in buying resale? We have never had a timeshare before. Thanks in advance

This is a good article. We were given a tour and a sales presentation at a resort we visited. I wish I read your article first. Thankfully, we did not jump at their offer. We have seen units in the same resort at 18% of what they were asking.

Jim S.

kyliec wrote:

We wrote an article about this topic that was circulated in a newsletter a few months ago. I thought we'd receive more feedback, but we really didn't hear much. Here is that article:

http://www.redweek.com/help/timeshare-resale-vs-developer-direct

Does anyone have anything to add or take away from that assessment?

Thanks, Kylie

An excellent article and true. The only problem I have encountered with resales is they are bare bones and usually do not include things the developer initially offers as a come-on, like free membership to RCI or II, an exrtra week one time only or whatever, but then I found out later that in several cases the developer had LIED about the perks so there may not be much reason to buy from him anyway.

Rarely are developer incentives worth the thousands of dollars in extra cost.

catharine2 wrote:

An excellent article and true. The only problem I have encountered with resales is they are bare bones and usually do not include things the developer initially offers as a come-on, like free membership to RCI or II, an exrtra week one time only or whatever, but then I found out later that in several cases the developer had LIED about the perks so there may not be much reason to buy from him anyway.

jayjay Rarely are developer incentives worth the thousands of dollars in extra cost.

jayjay is right. The best perks take years to put together and perfect. You would need to go with a developer who has been around a while. with this, the system becomes rather complex and then you need to educate yourself on how to use them in order to get the maximum benefit. It has been proven though that with the proper usage you can break even down the road and then I suppose even get ahead. we are talking years down the road though

We don't buy timeshares for the investment. We buy them for other reasons and you have to decide whether the bare bones purchase meets those other reasons or not.

Jeff

Why is there such a big variation on pricing in the used market? I was looking at listings for the same place - they ranged from $1k to $17k. Some were every year, some were odd or even years. Even if I double the price for every year, there is still a big swing. Is there any reason to stay away from the lowest price, assuming that there are no unpaid fees, taxes to be paid?

Jim S.

Many people start their asking price at what they paid which is unrealistic in many cases. There is no difference between the highest price and the lowest price except for what the buyer expects in return.

jims306 wrote:

Why is there such a big variation on pricing in the used market? I was looking at listings for the same place - they ranged from $1k to $17k. Some were every year, some were odd or even years. Even if I double the price for every year, there is still a big swing. Is there any reason to stay away from the lowest price, assuming that there are no unpaid fees, taxes to be paid?Jim S.

jayjay wrote:

Many people start their asking price at what they paid which is unrealistic in many cases. There is no difference between the highest price and the lowest price except for what the buyer expects in return. Are there cases where back fees and taxes are due, and are not in the asking price? Are there other questions I should be asking before I commit to purchase?

jims306 wrote:

Why is there such a big variation on pricing in the used market? I was looking at listings for the same place - they ranged from $1k to $17k. Some were every year, some were odd or even years. Even if I double the price for every year, there is still a big swing. Is there any reason to stay away from the lowest price, assuming that there are no unpaid fees, taxes to be paid?Jim S.

For the resale buyer there's a phrase called doing your 'due diligence'. What this means is that you need to check with the resort to make sure that all fees are paid up to date by the seller and that there are no special assessments.

No, there is no reason to stay away from the lowest price assuming there are no unpaid fees, taxes or special assessments. You can also check with the resort that everything is correct in the seller's ad (unit #, location of the unit, season designation, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms etc).

Many people suggest requesting an estoppel letter from the resort, but I was always able to get the pertinent info myself from the resorts over the phone. Most resorts are cooperative if you tell them you are buying a resale from one of their owners.

jims306 wrote:

Is there any reason to stay away from the lowest price, assuming that there are no unpaid fees, taxes to be paid?Jim S.

reguardless of which you purchase even on binnial units there is an expense of tax, maintainence and assessments each and every year. I must pay an assessment OF $290.00 even on the years I do not use it. Plus they are impossible to sell and listing them with someone for resale is just a money losing situation. I bought a timeshare at Coconut Palms Beach Resort for $10,000 and can't get $2,000 for it. So be careful in whatever you do.

arthurt23 wrote:

reguardless of which you purchase even on binnial units there is an expense of tax, maintainence and assessments each and every year. I must pay an assessment OF $290.00 even on the years I do not use it. Plus they are impossible to sell and listing them with someone for resale is just a money losing situation. I bought a timeshare at Coconut Palms Beach Resort for $10,000 and can't get $2,000 for it. So be careful in whatever you do.

You are indeed correct that many timeshare weeks can't even be given away in this down economy and the $1 timeshares on Ebay by postcard companies have devalued ALL timeshares, even the socalled name brands (Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, 4 Seasons, etc).

We are considering purchasing BlueGreen Vacation points at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri. We have used RCI weeks there 3x in the past 2 years and love it. We almost bought from the developer but passed the urge off and declined. We are now researching the best deals and methods. Any thoughts or suggestions on buying points for Bluegreen on a resale market? Any experiences - good or bad?

gregoryy5 wrote:

We are considering purchasing BlueGreen Vacation points at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri. We have used RCI weeks there 3x in the past 2 years and love it. We almost bought from the developer but passed the urge off and declined. We are now researching the best deals and methods. Any thoughts or suggestions on buying points for Bluegreen on a resale market? Any experiences - good or bad?

You can probably find answers to your Bluegreen questions on www.tugbbs.com under the forum 'All Other Timeshare Systems' which lists Bluegreen.