Timeshare Ownership...opinions?

[vi edit]

I have no doubts that there are cheaper ways to vacation. Or not vacation at all. But the same can be said for eating out, having your oil changed at a dealer, or paying for a haircut.

I'm cheap, I want well accommodated places to stay, I hate hotel rooms, and because I'm cheap I tend to poo-poo traveling and it's been something that has driven my wife batty. I went with a timeshare to sort of address those on different levels.

1) It pretty much forces me to use it. Since I am cheap, I'm not going to let it go unused. But then again I no longer look at the daily cost and constantly try to compare prices from one place to another. I just look at what I have and click on the room size I need for the stay.

2) The Hilton locations are *very* nice. It's a true apartment in most of them with a full kitchen, living room and separate master bathrooms. I have young kids so it's great being able to have full cooked meals there in the room for breakfast and dinner between running out and about for the day.

With the Hilton Grand Vacations I had decent flexibility. Hawaii, Scotland, Vancouver, San Diego, downtown NYC, Orlando, Vegas, Myrtle, Gulf Side of Florida, and a few others are areas Hilton has properties. Plus with the RCI exchange I can hop into a about 4000 different properties fairly easily.

There's other perks...open season can get me rooms in places pretty cheap. If I know I'm traveling somewhere in less than 30 days I can grab a room. That gets me a real nice place in Vegas for $80 a night. Which isn't a terrible rate. Same thing for Florida, I can hit the Seaworld resort and get a 2BR place for $115 a night.

The other nice thing is that I can reserve for family members. Sometimes I just want a place for my parents to be able to get away to and if I have points left over I can get them a couple nights in Vegas "on the house" without being money directly out of my pocket.

It's not going to save money for me, but ultimately it removes analysis paralysis and just makes me commit to something. Which is about 90% of the battle for me

 

[vi edit]

Be careful about ownership now... there are rarely ownership periods and they now deed for life and spew you bullshit about leaving it to your children and their children's children until the universe explodes.

Wife made us go to a presentation in Vegas a few years ago and then had us buy one for 10k bi-annual. We paid it off in a year and really, now that it's paid off we're benefiting from cheap vacations but my calculations were that we'll only break even in about 40 years of bi-annual usage. We went with weeks over points but the new gimmick now is to call saying it's 'urgent' that we call them back and when we do they ask to switch from weeks to points which is much better for us in every way possible- except it'll cost 5000$ to switch (AKA-we sold all the timeshares now need new scams to get money out of former suckers)

Best bet- get it used, the one we bought for 10k you can get for 1$ from desperate sellers. If I had waited on the purchase then researched I probably would still have bought because most resorts are head and shoulders above hotels, we're talking 800-1000 square feet, full kitchens, etc. We're going to Orlando just next week in fact to a Hilton Grand Vacation Club resort that we exchanged for and those places are sweet. Having it paid off and excluding that initial expense, I figure we're paying about a third of the price it would cost to rent there via Expedia.

Oh, and as to the people who are interested during sessions, they are all planted there by the vendor.

A lot of VERY good points here.

There is a lot of fear about long term viability of the contracts. Many of the Hilton Properties have a poison pill built into them that appears to allow some state legislature to dissolve them in 2025/2026. The Vegas properties were looking to have something similar in them in 2050 something. I deeded at Myrtle Beach and could not see anything similar to the Vegas or Florida wording.

As for the rest of the post, yes Hilton Grand Vacation is what we bought into and we were convinced of it by doing one of the sessions. Learned about Tug and checked the resale market and saved about 85% off the price that way. I paid $7000 for my property in Myrtle with 7000 annual points. That would have cost close to $35000 if I had bought outright.

We stayed at the Seaworld resort and it's got some very nice rooms in the 2 & 3 BR models. Also very cool pool area and the poolside bar and grill actually wasn't terrible. Right across the street from seaworld. We toured the Par Solei property and that is *REALLY* nice. Will have a small waterpark built up soon and the rooms all looked very nice. Bad part is that it's way off the path from anywhere. Nothing is close. By most accounts the Tuscany location is quite nice too.

 

[NoTine42]

What are the maintenance fees? What are the up front costs? Not sure if I have ever seen a timeshare come out. Buddy of mine made the mistake of buying one through Disney for 16K about a decade ago. He has a mortgage payment + 2400 in maintenance fees\year. For 2400 bucks he can easily find housing, possibly right on Disney properties if he looks at the right time. He loves it because he is on the property. But they go every two years. So for 4800 + mortgage costs he gets on the property every two years for a week.

/facepalm

Something is probably wrong with those Disney numbers. The most expensive DVC dues at WDW are $6.30/point which would mean 380+ points/year. If you banked those points to travel every other year you could book a 2,000 sqft grand villa for a week (like this)

More likely, they did a typical ~160 point contract with annual dues are nearing $1000, and staying in a nice 2 bedroom villa.

And while you can't guarantee future resale pricing, 5-10 year old DVC timeshares are currently selling for more than purchase price.

 

[cyclohexane]

Scam. The point of a vacation is to go to different places, not to lock in overpriced hotel for a lifetime in Vegas.

 

[Genx87]

Be careful about ownership now... there are rarely ownership periods and they now deed for life and spew you bullshit about leaving it to your children and their children's children until the universe explodes.

Wife made us go to a presentation in Vegas a few years ago and then had us buy one for 10k bi-annual. We paid it off in a year and really, now that it's paid off we're benefiting from cheap vacations but my calculations were that we'll only break even in about 40 years of bi-annual usage. We went with weeks over points but the new gimmick now is to call saying it's 'urgent' that we call them back and when we do they ask to switch from weeks to points which is much better for us in every way possible- except it'll cost 5000$ to switch (AKA-we sold all the timeshares now need new scams to get money out of former suckers)

Best bet- get it used, the one we bought for 10k you can get for 1$ from desperate sellers. If I had waited on the purchase then researched I probably would still have bought because most resorts are head and shoulders above hotels, we're talking 800-1000 square feet, full kitchens, etc. We're going to Orlando just next week in fact to a Hilton Grand Vacation Club resort that we exchanged for and those places are sweet. Having it paid off and excluding that initial expense, I figure we're paying about a third of the price it would cost to rent there via Expedia.

Oh, and as to the people who are interested during sessions, they are all planted there by the vendor.

I always like when they try to sell people on the benefit of passing along maintenance fees to children. Gee, thanks mom and dad. Just what I need, $1400+ year in costs. Good deal for the timeshare though. New customer without having to sell anything.

 

[Anubis]

Scam. The point of a vacation is to go to different places,

to you they may be, but not to everyone

most people I know go to the same place or the same 2-3 places all the time, both with and without timeshares

 

[Feneant2]

We toured the Par Solei property and that is *REALLY* nice. Will have a small waterpark built up soon and the rooms all looked very nice. Bad part is that it's way off the path from anywhere. Nothing is close. By most accounts the Tuscany location is quite nice too.

Kind of derailing the thread but anyways...

HGVC has a 4 years lock on them so you can't exchange more than once to a single resort in 4 years. I say that because we stayed at the Tuscany resort 2 years ago and LOVED it- couldn't recommend it enough. Beautiful resort, across the street from a grocery store, minutes to Disney, tons of restaurants and best of all a gated access right into the outlets next door. Doesn't sound like much but go there and try to find a place to park... we spent an hour gridlocked in their parking garage last time.

This trip I booked Parc Soleil which is supposed to be much nicer than the Seaworld resort- except you're in the middle of nowhere. I wish now I had exchanged into Seaworld regardless of condition since you are on I-Drive, can take the trolley, etc. From Parc Soleil we'll be spending our days driving to get anywhere. I don't know that being able to see the fireworks (depending on your room location) at Epcot and Magic Kingdom will make up for being isolated- I checked it on Google maps and there is absolutely nothing nearby.

 

[RossMAN]

From what I understand, you should spend time at TUG to fully understand the system(s) that interest you.
http://www.tug2.net

A lot of new people incorrectly assume they are buying a good trading timeshare.

Thanks for the link, I just browsed their forums which are active and helpful.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Update. I bought the timeshare back in November and am waiting on the closing company to complete everything. It should be done this week. I'm looking forward to booking a week there....it's tough making it through Winter.

 

[Homerboy]

Never really understood it.
Then again never really cared to look into it.


Just booked a beach front property in Myrtle Beach (with pool and hot tub) for a week at $2,300 (splitting between two families).

I'd rather do something like that, than be locked in.

 

[vi edit]

Never really understood it.
Then again never really cared to look into it.


Just booked a beach front property in Myrtle Beach (with pool and hot tub) for a week at $2,300 (splitting between two families).

I'd rather do something like that, than be locked in.

Most of them are going away from the "locked in" sort of thing and going points based. I'm with Hilton Grand Vacations and I get 7000 points a year.

That gets me 6 nights with a 3BR condo on the beach at Myrtle a year. Or Two different 5 day trips at a 2-3BR condo in Orlando. Or one trip to Orlando, 3 nights in vegas, and another 3 or 4 days in Sandestin, FL.

Hilton has about 50 properties across the continental US, Hawaii and internation you use. Or you can trade out 4800 of your points and pay $200 for a week at an RCI property. If you keep on the search you can nab one of the Disney Vacation club condos that go for about $4,000 a week on the open market.

There's lots of options there.

http://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/explore/

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yeah. In 2005, I bought into a points resort on a 5 year contract. If the resort I just purchased didn't offer a floating week option, I wouldn't have done it. Like I stated, the maintenance cost is approximately half of the normal cost of a unit in the same resort if booked through hotels.com (I checked). So they obviously have availability throughout the year that they sell. That gives me a little extra confidence too that I may be able to rent out a second unit for the same week I'm using mine if want 6 bedrooms for a family reunion some time.

vi_edit, I looked at HGV, but the entry costs were too steep for what I saw. Do you have yearly dues to pay HGV to allow you to trade? RCI and others charge a yearly membership fee. I used to pay them $99/year...then $129/year to be in their points program. I don't want to pay those fees since I only have one timeshare and plan on using it. I'm curious about looking into HGV or Disney, but was put-off by the complexity and potential devaluation since they are the ones that set the trading value.

 

[Exterous]

I paid $7000 for my property in Myrtle with 7000 annual points.

That gets me 6 nights with a 3BR condo on the beach at Myrtle a year.

Even $7000 sounds like a fair amount to me, let alone $35,000 even with the 7000 points a year. I guess I can see it if you have to stay in the same room at the same property year after year but with a little bit more work that would pay for numerous weeks internationally. Flight and hotels for 2 weeks for 2 people in England and Scotland cost me under $500 total. The upcoming 7 flights and 2 weeks of hotel stays involved in our Australia trip cost us $715 and most of that was because we chose to stay at two Amex FHR properties.

Regardless I think I would be much more cautious now than previous years. While I doubt there is an exact tie in 2015 was the best year ever for airlines and hotels making great deals hard to come by and I can't really think of a reason this wouldn't affect time share pricing.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=5
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Article/17358/STR-US-results-for-week-ending-26-December

 

[rh71]

I don't get the vacationing at the same place every year thing. Even Disney World my kids love we have been twice in 3 years and don't plan on doing again until another 5 years. See the world with your time. Be excited for what's new to come.

airbnb / vrbo for us. Still super cheap.

 

[poofyhairguy]

airbnb / vrbo for us. Still super cheap.

That is what would make me nervous, staying at other peoples houses with your kids. Because you KNOW they are going to break something in that person's house, and whatever it is will be expensive to replace.

 

[OutHouse]

I'm with Hilton Grand Vacations and I get 7000 points a year.

i guess i missed it, but what do you have to do to get those 7,000 points per year?

 

[OutHouse]

That is what would make me nervous, staying at other peoples houses with your kids. Because you KNOW they are going to break something in that person's house, and whatever it is will be expensive to replace.

ive used vbro many times when my kids were pre-teens and teens and they understood that they were in somebody else's house and treat it as such.

 

[Scarpozzi]

i guess i missed it, but what do you have to do to get those 7,000 points per year?

Yes. Is there not a maintenance fee on the property? Most I've seen range from $700-1,500 per year.

 

[Ns1]

HGVC on the secondary market sounds very interesting.


my parents/relatives got burned by RCI growing up.

 

[Gunbuster]

Timeshares and directbuy club should have a reciprocal customer list share agreement. Easy $$$$

 

[Stopsignhank]

We have used VBRO many times and it has been great. Even when staying at a condo style resort you get to pick the room that you want to stay at.

 

[vi edit]

i guess i missed it, but what do you have to do to get those 7,000 points per year?

It was a $7000 upfront cost. Then it's around $1200 a year after that for my taxes and fees. With HGVC you are best of buying a shitload of points in one shot so you don't get murdered in fees. 3400 points a year or 7000 points. It still costs the same in fees every year. It's just the upfront cost. I pay that with a Hilton amex and get 4x the points which is close to a cheap hotel stay for a night.

I'm actually looking into an every other year deal to add another 5000 points to my pool at some point. I only have to pay one club fee between them and taxes are half the cost. Then bank points from year to year for really big trips. I can do that for about $1200 out of pocket and $400 a year in fees.

It's not budget traveling but Hilton resorts are very nice and usually very family accommodating.

 

[vi edit]

And yes, I have used VRBO a ton of times and love the service. Have really not been disappointed with it.

We just wanted to travel a bit more and the HGVC deal really let's me budget out travel a bit better and not think about nightly costs. Just pay a fee a year and get what we want.

 

[Ns1]

hm...HGVC really doesn't look to shabby esp. since you can dump your points into HHonors and stay at the various Hilton properties.

 

[Fingolfin269]

We have a DVC timeshare (Disney Vacation Club) we bought a few years ago when the resale market was at complete bottom. Talk about an absolute steal. It's low points so our maintenance fees are low every year. If we don't use them I can sell them no problem because DVC points are super high demand. Etc. Was a no brainer.

If only I knew then what I know now I would have bought about 5 more of these contracts.