opinion on time share?

[loretta lowerison]

Hi. I have been looking into getting a timeshare for a while. I love to travel and really dislike hotels. I stayed at a timeshare in June and found it wonderful. We went to a presentation but find the sales techiques very discomforting. We want to do more research before making a decision. Does anyone have an experience? By the way, I am thinking of a resale unit.
Thanks
Lorie

 

[braddillman]

I think you're doing the right thing. We own a unit on Int'l Drive and we love it. But I wished I'd bought resale instead of from the developer -sigh-. The company (now Bluegreen) are trying to give different benefits to resale owners than those who bought direct (likely to defend their prices). Something to check into before you buy.

I think DVC is slightly different from other timeshares - on the one hand, very much in demand, but OTOH limited trading capacity I think. Not a big deal if you just rent your DVC to someone else, and use that cash rent somewhere else. Personally I dislike that DVC is just a lease that reverts to Disney after x years.

I have a family of 5 and we save a great deal by not eating at restaurants. The best part is the extra space compared with a hotel room. We don't get the extra magic hours, but I've heard they're crowded (I've no idea, never been to EMH).

We like US/IoA slightly better than WDW, and staying on-site doesn't seem like a big deal. I've heard advice that even if you're on-site at WDW, consider renting a car (to save time, avoid delays) - so much for savings.

Summary:
+ lots of space
+ can save money used properly
- up front cost
+/- no Disney immersion
+ flexibility

 

[siobhan1997]

Buy resale , we have bought 3 now. Our last unit we bought a 2 bedroom at Silver Lake Resort for a bid of only $1.00 plus closing costs. It floats 1-52 weeks.

 

[calgarygary]

Hi. I have been looking into getting a timeshare for a while. I love to travel and really dislike hotels. I stayed at a timeshare in June and found it wonderful. We went to a presentation but find the sales techiques very discomforting. We want to do more research before making a decision. Does anyone have an experience? By the way, I am thinking of a resale unit.
Thanks
Lorie

Lorie there is a great site to educate yourself about timeshares. It's called TUG - Timeshares Users Group. The site features a forum where everyone is very helpful. You have already made an important decision - buy resale. Now I suggest you spend lots of time over at tug to educate yourself so that you can make a ts decision that best meets your needs.

By the way, if you do plan to purchase, you will find buying in Orlando, unless that is where you want to vacation all of the time, is a bad decision - the city features high maintenance fees with poor trading power, a bad combination.

 

[iluveeyore]

We love our DVC and we went to three timeshare presentations before DVC - no pressure and soooo wonderful - you can use your points anywhere in the world at 'Disney' caliber places as well, but we're still enjoying Disney (would love to try DVC at Vero Beach and Hilton Head soon too, and can't wait for Hawaii). We just love the options of DVC being able to stay at different resorts within WDW every year - they truly are a vacation in themselves, and some years (like this coming Nov.) I just stay at a DVC resort and don't even visit the parks.
Make sure you look into it first before deciding on one - you can check dvcfriends.com for more info.
Happy hunting!

 

[mommylo]

We own DVCs as well as HGVC (Hilton Grand Vacation Club). The 2 systems have a lot of similarities and the locations are the ones we would likely stay. TUG is a very good place to get opinions. Ultimately, you have to a lot of research yourself. OP was right, resale is the way to go. DVCs and Hilton both have ROFR (right of first refusal) in place so for the sellers there is some price protection. Good Luck in your decision.

 

[calgarygary]

Unless you are absolutely committed to being onsite, DVC is definitely not the way to go as the purchase cost, even through resale is extremely high. You can purchase excellent resorts that will give you access to Orlando's best timeshares (including Disney in off season) at a fraction of the cost of DVC.

 

[MikeyNS]

Unless you are absolutely committed to being onsite, DVC is definitely not the way to go as the purchase cost, even through resale is extremely high. You can purchase excellent resorts that will give you access to Orlando's best timeshares (including Disney in off season) at a fraction of the cost of DVC.

Good to know I made a wrong decision. (kidding!).. but DVC *does* hold its value, even though a lot of people don't like to say it.
I could easily get my money back, plus some of the maintenance fees, if I sold our points right now. I guess I bought at the right time though. The whole timeshare thing is such a hot topic!

 

[calgarygary]

Good to know I made a wrong decision. (kidding!).. but DVC *does* hold its value, even though a lot of people don't like to say it.
I could easily get my money back, plus some of the maintenance fees, if I sold our points right now. I guess I bought at the right time though. The whole timeshare thing is such a hot topic!

If you want to stay mainly onsite (as per my earlier post) then of course you did not make a wrong decision. Yes, DVC holds its value, but other systems only lose their value relative to developer pricing not resale pricing. I own Vistana Villages (yes I went against my own advice about owning in Orlando but the price was just not going to be beaten) and can trade most anywhere that DVC will pull including some regular DVC sightings. The current eBay pricing for an annual 2 bedroom at Vistana Villages is apx. $4-5k. Sufficient points for a 2 bedroom DVC would likely cost close to 20k. If staying onsite is worth an extra $15k + the associated carrying costs of the $15k then DVC is a good decision. For me, the carrying costs of the extra $ would pay for the maintenance fees and still have enough $ towards tickets left over that exceed any discounts offered by DVC.

 

[sammi]

Always buy resale!

 

[braddillman]

I think the best way to compare resale vs. resale is by maintenance fees vs. what you get for those fees.

It's hard to argue something that costs $1 + closing costs won't hold its value when resold.

However, would you rather pay $500, $800 or $1,000/year in fees? And what do you get for those fees?

As long as everyone is honest and you get similar value for you fees paid, higher fees would mean a better resort (more staff, bigger pool, whatever). Those things cost money. If you aren't paying higher fees, don't expect more from your resort. This could be a good argument in favour of DVC (remember I own on Int'l Dr, not DVC).

Obviously watch out for the converse: paying higher fees without getting the benefits of a better resort.

I'm OK with the fees I'm paying ($600/yr I think) for a 2BR, brand new pool. I still wished I'd bought resale, but I'm not going to beat myself p for having made a mistake, and I can't get what I originally paid the developers. I have thought about selling mine and buying another, but I'm not sure I'd get value for my fees paid.

If no one has suggested this already, try renting someone else's timeshare at a place you're considering before you commit. You can also get good deals by agreeing to sit through a 2-hr developer sales pitch but WATCH OUT - that is how I ended up buying mine. I bought it because it made sense at the time... but buying resale would've made even more sense for all the same reasons.

I still haven't made up my mind about DVC... I think the individual tastes and situation makes a big difference. Right now my non-DVC works well.

Finally (gee I love my own voice ) consider points vs. weeks. DVC has points, so do others. I originally bought 1 week every two years, but upgraded to points for 1 week/year (planning for 2 weeks every 2 years to save airfare). There are lots of advantages of points, and I expect they'd be easier to resell (from my own justification, anyway). However that could mean re-sale weeks are getting cheaper than points - because people prefer points and won't pay the same for a fixed or floating week.

I like points because I can travel through the week, say arrive Tuesday and leave the following Thursday, to get even better deals on flights. Can't always do that with weeks.