I need help from all the Bonnet Creek/Wyndham owners....

[KristyBDJ]

Hello all,
I recently started looking into the idea of buying points resale through EBAY or a resale website. We actually haven't stayed at any Wyndham properties but my SIL owns with them and they love it. We have always been an onsite deluxe resort family but with our 5th baby about to be born it just doesn't seem realistic anymore. Anyway, I thought instead of spending $1000 to rent at BC for our next trip I would rather put that into a resale purchase to use every year. Ok, long story short I'm looking for advice on what and how to buy. Do I need to worry about certain weeks if I'm buying points? i.e. red week and such.
What are some things to watch out for on EBAY? How do I find the best resort in terms of maint. fees etc? I figured I would buy at the cheapest place to save money and use the points at BC each year instead. As I said, my SIL owns with Wyndham but she bought from them and so knows nothing of the resale process. Tell me as much as you can! TIA!!
PS: Sorry I'm so long winded, it's my curse!

 

[TotoToo]

Find the amount of Wyndham Points you want RESALE (which will run $.01 per point or less as in FREE for transfer costs) - don't worry what resort they are based at UNLESS you want the 13 month priority (otherwise it is 10 months) and then learn how to maximize their use for BC or any other Wyndham resort. BC is SO big that getting the unit/size/date you want isn't tough at 10 months and, if you can wait, you can save points by taking last minute discounts.

DO NOT buy Wyndham (or any other system/ timeshare) retail. Buy resale and enjoy a great ownership experience. Check TUG, Timeshare Forums, Red Week and others and BID LOW. Asking price means nothing. Make an offer you feel is a great value. Right now buyers hold all the cards. Play your hand with low bids & if you get turned down look for the next offer. They are all around. Sellers are in the thousands while there are only a relative handful of willing buyers. Get a deal. Have fun.

 

[Brian Noble]

If you are *only* looking for Bonnet Creek, *and* you are a little bit flexible, I think in many cases you are better off renting reservations from folks who bought a big pile of high-priced points from the developer. This lets you take advantage of the discounts they get at the 60-day mark, without having to invest your own capital. At current market rates, this can be a little cheaper than using even resale points.

However, if you are interested in Wyndham generally, a nice chunk of (resale!) points is a really good bargain. We're very pleased with it, despite a few nuisance fees, etc. Go to the Owners' site and read the Primer: forums.atozed.com

Also, if you are interested in timeshare, it would be wise to join the two largest discussion boards: TUG (www.tugbbs.com) and TS4M (www.timeshareforums.com)

 

[KristyBDJ]

ok, so I registered with TUG and have been wandering around over there as well as on EBAY. Explain to me how so many people are listing free timeshare "resales". I get that there would still be some costs involved with closings or title transfers and whatnot but FREE...am I just dense or something?

 

[cjdj4]

Hello all,
I recently started looking into the idea of buying points resale through EBAY or a resale website. We actually haven't stayed at any Wyndham properties but my SIL owns with them and they love it. We have always been an onsite deluxe resort family but with our 5th baby about to be born it just doesn't seem realistic anymore. Anyway, I thought instead of spending $1000 to rent at BC for our next trip I would rather put that into a resale purchase to use every year. Ok, long story short I'm looking for advice on what and how to buy. Do I need to worry about certain weeks if I'm buying points? i.e. red week and such.
What are some things to watch out for on EBAY? How do I find the best resort in terms of maint. fees etc? I figured I would buy at the cheapest place to save money and use the points at BC each year instead. As I said, my SIL owns with Wyndham but she bought from them and so knows nothing of the resale process. Tell me as much as you can! TIA!!
PS: Sorry I'm so long winded, it's my curse!

My DH and I purchased 175K Wyndham points at the end of August. We went with the points is points POV. Our home resort is Cypress Palms, but we intend to go to BC and eventually check out some other places, too. We purchased on Ebay. The points sold for less than $100 and then we paid about $450 in title stuff. We purchased from a private seller. I asked a lot of questions and got verification from the seller that she did indeed own the property free and clear. I also did about 3 months worth of research on places like TUG and I followed sales on Ebay. I wanted annual points and I knew what I was willing to pay for maintenance fees.

The woman who sold us her points was ill and could no longer travel. She did not want the hassle of renting it out or paying maintenance fees for time she wasn't going to use. She decided to cut her loses and sell for pennies in order to free herself. Right now, my in-laws are considering doing the same thing as they are getting older now and cannot travel as much as they used to.

The process itself was painless, but it did take a long time. I had read in several places that from purchase til the property was in your name with Wyndham would be aboit 4-5 weeks. It took much longer. The title process was quick - about 5 weeks- Wyndham was slow. They got the title info October 5th, but did not change us over until Dec. 8th. Part of the deal was for us to have all of 2010 points which expire 12/31/10. We were thinking when we bought that we might be able to use our 2010 points for Thanksgiving. Obviously that did not happen But we got 2 two days stays - one weekend at Cypress Palms and we just got home from BC (we live in FL). And we were able to bank the rest in RCI. It worked out ok in the end

Obviously, I am long winded, too

 

[Upatnoon]

ok, so I registered with TUG and have been wandering around over there as well as on EBAY. Explain to me how so many people are listing free timeshare "resales". I get that there would still be some costs involved with closings or title transfers and whatnot but FREE...am I just dense or something?

It's because timeshares have maintenance and other fees that you have to pay every year. The owners don't want to pay those fees, so they are willing to give their timeshares away to escape those fees.

I've found that it is cheaper to rent reservations from current timeshare owners than to own a timeshare myself and pay fees.

 

[TotoToo]

ok, so I registered with TUG and have been wandering around over there as well as on EBAY. Explain to me how so many people are listing free timeshare "resales". I get that there would still be some costs involved with closings or title transfers and whatnot but FREE...am I just dense or something?

There are so many free "sales" being offered as many people simply want to be out of the obligation to pay the annual fees. Thats why as a buyer YOU hold all the cards. If you can USE the week / points, it is or is worth a top demand time and the fees make it a good value to you then a purchase of a resale week or points at free or little purchase cost can be a great deal. Free does NOT necessarily mean the ownership is worthless (but be very careful - high fee, low demand times ARE essentially worthless - don't take those even for nothing) but that the owner really wants to move the ownership to a new home. Points are much better than weeks for use at multiple resorts rather than one as they usually do not require exchange fees (within the system so be sure that like Wyndham it is comprehensive in locations you want) and as long as you have enough you can reserve the prime times/resorts/units.


Also be sure you will use the time not have to try to rent it or the cost isn't worth it. If you are only an occasional user and don't plan to use it every year (or whatever time frame it is good for) then simply renting can be a viable option. Many rentals are also depressed in pricing as owners try to recover something for their annual fees but that usually doesn't apply when you need top demand weeks/resorts. Those you often have to own to get costs down to annual fees or less. It's also why any purchase should only be a prime time use as they alone hold a semblance of ongoing value and thus the ability to sell it (or "free it") when you are done using it and want to move the fees to a new owner. Weeks are god only if you want a specific resort, unit, view, date every use period as otherwise you have to hope for a trade & pay all the related expenses that can nearly add up to a second annual fee in many cases. Never buy a fixed week timeshare to trade. A float week ownership is best for areas with near year round demand such as the Orlando area, Hawaii & the Caribbean among a limited few.

 

[Purseval]

The fact that there are so many "free" offerings should be an indicator as to just how difficult one of these things is to get rid of once you own it. So think hard before you decide to become an owner. The nice thing about picking one up for free is you aren't out much capital if you decide it isn't for you. Somewhere along the line somebody paid full price for that free timeshare. That they were willing to lose thousands or even tens of thousands speaks volumes aboout their true worth.

 

[MickeyMickey]

ok, so I registered with TUG and have been wandering around over there as well as on EBAY. Explain to me how so many people are listing free timeshare "resales". I get that there would still be some costs involved with closings or title transfers and whatnot but FREE...am I just dense or something?

The reason they are free is because basically they are worth nothing. We have stayed at Bonnet Creek 4 times and have always been able to rent the week for less than our maintenance fees would be without being tied down.

You say it would be $1,000 a week to rent, what would be your annual maintance on your purchase? what about somewhere along the line there is a one time assessment to update the resort for several thousand dollars.

We have always rented at Bonnet Creek and other places for a great rate, and will never buy and wouldn't even take a free timeshare. Think long and hard about why they are giving these away and how tied down you are by the annual fees.

 

[swilshire]

Renting only works well in over capacity places like Orlando and in the off season. If you are tied to school schedules like we are, buying can make more sense. Just buy resale as mentioned and do your research before you leap.

We have used timeshares all over the US and in five other countries. It's a great way to travel with the family. We just got back from the DVC in Vero Beach and our cost was WAY less than renting would have been.

Sheila

 

[TotoToo]

The reason they are free is because basically they are worth nothing. We have stayed at Bonnet Creek 4 times and have always been able to rent the week for less than our maintenance fees would be without being tied down.

You say it would be $1,000 a week to rent, what would be your annual maintance on your purchase? what about somewhere along the line there is a one time assessment to update the resort for several thousand dollars.

We have always rented at Bonnet Creek and other places for a great rate, and will never buy and wouldn't even take a free timeshare. Think long and hard about why they are giving these away and how tied down you are by the annual fees.

It's not that they are worth nothing it's that he value is in the use NOT in resale. In fact many today are available for little more than the closing cost so your "investment" (purchase price) is near zero and should be easy to resell at a similar level (free for closing). Meanwhile you will have an annual cost of $900 - $1500 (depends on exactly with resort is the base and how many points you opt for) that represent your "rent". You have far more control and can opt for the best times / units /resorts by careful use vs the higher rents charged during those better, higher demand periods. Or you can stretch the points into 5 to even 8 weeks with full understanding of how the Wyndham points system works. It can be far more efficient than renting if done right.

You pay for ownership but can control costs - you pay for the convenience of renting too. Think about which style works better or you.