Need advice on 2nd vacation purchase to compliment DVC

[jazzmanmgt]

I am looking for some advice on making a purchase to suppliment my DVC vacations. I currently own DVC points and would like to do DVC every other year. I am looking to purchase another timeshare for the off years, which would also be good for exchanging. I have looked at Marriott, Embassy and Hilton, but all are pretty high priced even as resales. I am a member of TUG, but need to narrow it down a bit since they have sooo many listings and reviews. I live in CA and am starting to investigate a few in Lake Tahoe (The Ridge) and in Palm Springs area. Was wondering what others have as a second, what locations are in demand and solid for exchanging, and any recommendations you might suggest. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...This group has always given such good advice!
Mike

 

[spiceycat]

I can't afford both Marriott and DVC - so I did what was suggested on tug I got a SA and it trades very well to Orlando, also the places in Ga I wanted to trade too (II does not trade to GA).

this one was just for trade.

I also got a timeshare in Panama City Beach - Landmark Holiday Beach Resort - it is much older timeshare - I brought it because I have a nephew that really loves the Panhandle area - and I tried several times with my Westgate - to trade there - it took me this long to realize that II had very few timeshare in that area - even the new Marriott is not really in that area and I would not trade to Club Destin (not on the beach) - so I found a reasonally buy on tug and I brought it - no regrets - my nephew adores the place and to be honest so do I - the views are wonderful!!!

now I listed it with II (it is also exchange thur RCI) after I brought it because at the time there was no extra charge for during so - since then II has been trying to get me to exchange it - just about every month I get something from them - so I know when I trade it - I should get a good exchange - but I don't think I will for a while.

I also have a Westgate that I am trying to get rid of - not because the resort isn't wonderful - but I just don't like the staff and especially the salespeople at Westgate - it has traded to Marriott's Manor Club at Ford's Colony in Williamsburg, Va - but Williamburg like Orlando is a simple trade. Also traded to Shore Crest Vacation Villa in Myrtle Beach, SC using Westgate.

I would get something close to you - Ca is a hot place and alot of people seem to want to trade there. another reason that the PCB was a good buy for me - it is only 4 hours away - not the 9 to 12 hours that WDW is.....

forgot - buy something that you want like to use occasionally - or get something cheap like my SA.

 

[jazzmanmgt]

Thanks for the info Pat, this is gonna take a bit of work.!

 

[RobDoc]

TUG is a great resource- another is Timesharing Today (www.tstoday.com). I'd agree that finding something nearby that you might occasionally use yourself would be wise, but you don't necessarily need to limit it geographically.

We own 8 weeks at non-DVC timeshares in addition to our DVC ownership. We have not paid more than $2500 for any and have paid as little as $500- so they are out there if you do some looking. We use these primarily for trade and have been able to do so thru RCI without any problem. One of our's is a 3 hour drive- all others are much farther- but the distance isn't important since we just trade the weeks anyway. We've exchanged to Branson, Williamsburg, Massanutten (VA), Bayse (WV), WI Dells, Gull Lake (MN) and many others. We own in IN, WI, GA and TN.

Many timeshares have suffered from owners "dropping out". This commonly happens when owners feel they have gotten their worth from ownership and aren't concerned with travelling as much (and their heirs/families aren't interested/able to enjoy the resorts). They just stop payng their dues (since there is not a great market for most timeshares - excluding DVC- they are unable to sell for what they feel it's worth) and allow the owners association (the developer has been long gone for years and the owners are now responsible for managing the resort) finds their maintenance fees dwindling. Many of these owners groups are now selling these reclaimed weeks at a great discount (we've bought for as little as $500)- since their true motivation is to get the annual fees anyway.

Since DVC has artificially propped up the resale market with ROFR, this won't happen to DVC until Disney allows the resale prices to drop- and they will at some point in the next 38 years.

The timeshare in IN that was $500 has now started to rise in value since they have just passed legislation to allow a casino in the town- about 800 yards from the resort. Property values have skyrocketed along with resale value.

Now is a great time to take advantage of the ability to find low cost resales at nice locations.

Enjoy!

 

[Dean]

There are many options and once again, one size does not fit all. You must decide where you want to own a timeshare, if you will use it part of the time, is it worth paying to belong to an exchange company, if so which exchange company, what season, what unit size, what price vs quality, and many other potential factors. You should know much of this already. There are many possible approaches, I'll outline a few thoughts and you can expand as much as you need to.

Buy South Africa, get cheap RCI membership and trade like the dickens.
Buy a CA or similar medium quality but high demand resort like Aquamarine or similar and use some and trade others.
Buy a Marriott somewhat off season week and trade through II or just use it and not join II or RCI.
Buy something moderately priced like MX and then use the getaways, especially through II.
Buy something top notch like a top Marriott and just use it and not even join an exchange company. You can always do direct exchanges, use ownertrades.com and/or even use the smaller independent exchange companies exclusively.

I went through this exercise a number of years ago. I decided to go with II exclusively because I thought, and still do, that they had the better options overall that would fit my needs. RCI has more options though. II’s getaways tend to be a better deal though. I bought Marriott, first a trading unit and later a top unit to use. I’ve since sold the trading unit and moved more to just using what I own. If you like MX and the beach, I might have a thought about one specific choice for you. Email me directly if you want that info and I’ll provide it privately along with my thinking on it.

Worldmark and maybe Club Intrawest also come to mind for your neck of the woods and are somewhat flexible systems. Lisa P. can likely offer so insights from another perspective as well. I could go on and on but will stop here. I'll be happy to add any follow up info that I can.

 

[Lisa P.]

jazzmanmgt, I tried to answer a similar question posted on TUG. It's important for you to figure out what you want from the timeshare. Where do you want to vacation with it in the next 5+ years? Do you intend to use it for full weeks or shorter vacations? Do you need to travel during popular school breaks? Is "top of the line" luxury important to you or just a really nice, comfortable place to stay? Family friendly or adult-oriented?

If you want to vacation in the Tahoe area and Palm Springs, then look at Marriott (which offers resorts in both these places). Their properties are among the more upscale in timeshare. See if they offer resorts in most of your desired destinations. Then buy a resale week which would trade into them.

WorldMark is another good choice (also with resorts in Tahoe and Palm Springs), if you want a wide variety of west coast locations and points flexibility for shorter stays, especially if not in primetime.

We love our Fairfield points but I don't see anything in your posting above which would suggest it would be a good choice for you. While it's growing elsewhere, it's current resort list is most heavily concentrated in the eastern U.S.

Once you've identified your travel destination "wish list" and your typical expected usage (full weeks vs. partial; primetime vs. school year), it'll be much easier to narrow the field a bit, even identifying whether you'd probably enjoy II or RCI more. Once you do narrow your selections down, look at the TUG reviews for where you are considering a purchase. And ask on those forums for feedback on the best way to get what you want, specifically. HTH!

 

[jazzmanmgt]

Webmaster Doc, Dean, Lisa P, Many thanks for taking the time to offer advice and suggestions. Its because of folks like you that I am a happy DVC owner now! If I continue to struggle with this decision, I might just take the $$$ and add more DVC points...! Again thanks for taking the time to help.
Mike