RCI Owners?

[kathy884]

Good places to find rentals from owners of timeshares are the TUG2.net classified ads section (there is also a last minute bargain basement section, but we usually do planning further out not last minute) and Redweek.com. We didn't want to be locked into a timeshare and maintenance fees, but love the larger vacation units, so I joined TUG so I could read the reveiws about the timeshare units I might want to rent and have done about a dozen timeshare rentals to date (high season -- spring break, Christmas, and summer as we are tied to the school schedule). Joining TUG was a great idea too (a wealth on information and so many nice/helpful people are members).

 

[swilshire]

Because we really like the idea of DVC, we will either continue to rent or buy into RCI so we can exchange into DVC when we want to travel.

Don't buy Orlando if you want to exchange into Orlando DVC. There is a regional block.

I will be out of town through Saturday, but you can PM or email me over the weekend and I can offer some suggestions. We have been owners for about 15 years and have learned a lot from our TUG membership.

We have exchanged into Disney Hilton Head and Vero Beach and have another exchange coming up in June to the DVC at Wilderness Lodge.

Sheila

 

[DCTooTall]

Some general rules of thumb to consider when buying timeshare.

1. Buy into someplace you would plan to stay at. As in, don't buy just planning on using it exclusively to trade thru the RCI/II exchange programs. There are timeshare programs out there like Wyndham or DVC where trading within resorts in the system are handled almost the same as your home resort... but with external exchange programs like RCI/II there are additional fees involved which make it much harder to come out ahead in the long run.

2. DVC is notoriously hard to trade into. Disney will also hit you with an additional trade-in fee at the resort on top of the fees you paid to the exchange company to complete the trade.

3. While your regular maintenance fees are a good thing to know, you must be aware that those fees will tend to go up year after year as the resort ages, repairs become more expensive, and inflation impacts the resort's running costs. You should also be aware that there are things known as "Special Assessments" that may occasionally be charged to cover larger repair or capital projects outside of what is covered under the normal resort budget which is funded by your annual dues. (Typical items might be roof repairs, resort remodels, or damage caused from natural disasters/storms). Traditionally older resorts are more likely to see special assessment charges than newer resorts.

4. Do NOT expect to ever "make money" on the ownership of the timeshare. The reason you see so many $1 units for sale is because people are trying to get rid of the annual maintenance fee responsibility. You should compare what the annual costs are for you to use the timeshare unit (maintenance fees and any additional charges that come from using it the way you plan to), to what it would cost you if you rented accommodations from others who own. Especially in the Orlando area which is overbuilt, it can often be cheaper to rent timeshare accommodations than it is to own it yourself.




Now, there are exceptions to every rule, and when you are familiar with timeshare, the different programs out there, and the exchange programs like RCI/II, it is possible to really get a lot out of your timeshare ownership, But don't expect to be able to just find a place on Ebay, purchase it, and have everything just come together overnight allowing you to get the perfect ownership experience.



And one other thing I'd mention....

When looking to buy your first Timeshare contract, I would not recommend buying someplace just because it's RCI or II. Pay attention to the actual resort you are purchasing. If you have a resort that's part of RCI, but the local HOA is a joke or the local management company stinks, You could end up with a major liability that's almost impossible for you to get rid of or use.

 

[ccgirl]

Forgive me if this sounds horribly naive, but I am confused as to how they are selling timeshare deeds for $5?

So, for $5 (plus a closing cost), you can get XXX points at a timeshare? I assume you'd have to pay the maintenance fees when you buy as well, and those are usually what? $400 a year, depending on point level and resort?

It just sounds way too good to be true. What am I missing here? If they are deeded, you get those same points every year for life and just have to pay the maintenance fee (and I assume property taxes of some sort)?

There are MANY deals like that. People don't want to pay their maintenance/taxes anymore or, due to financial situations, cannot pay them any more. Personally, I haven't seen M&T as low as $400 and, if they are, it is probably not a very desirable week/location and would not trade well.

Thanks, I just joined TUG, so I will have to go over there and read up some also. How do you know what your trading power is? The one we are looking at is any red week(1-52) at the home resort or 50,000 exchange points.

Also thanks for the link to that thread! Also helpful!

On the RCI website it tells me what my trading power is. Again, this is a weeks resort so it will be different for points. BTW, just because it is a red week, it does not necessarily mean it is a good trader. For example, my timeshare in Hawaii has a trade power of 28. It is a small studio red all year long, 1 week. There are tons of properties in ORlando that are only a trade power of 13 even though they are still "technically" a Red week they would not be able to be traded into Hawaii since the trade power is not high enough. I hope that makes sense.

I agree not to puchase a timeshare due to their association with a timeshare trading company as that can change. For example, DVC now trades thru RCI but a few years ago it was Interval International. I happen to own a resort that is associated to RCI and one that is associated to Interval International.

As far as where to buy, I have one that I purchased strictly for trading - Hawaii. It is just so cost prohibitive to travel there. However, obviously Hawaii is in VERY high demand so I get fantastic trading from it. The other one (Gatlinburg, TN) we go every other year and trade every other year. That one is a bit more difficult to trade. While we NEVER have problems getting at timeshare in Orlando, we can have difficulties trading into New England in the summer (Cape Cod, NH etc).

As others mentioned, there is an exclusion area with RCI. If you want to trade into DVC, the resort you are trading cannot be within a 30 mile radius of Orlando.

Personally, I did not purchase DVC as I did not want to be limited to the DVC resorts. I actually enjoy staying at other properties as well. For the cost, I could purchase a timeshare (the Hawaii one) at a MUCH lower price with the taxes/maintenance 1/3 of what I would pay for DVC. Obviously, I take a chance if I want to trade in to DVC that the location/week/unit size we want would be available. However, Orlando is saturated with timeshares so if we can't get a DVC we just stay off property. We only own a studio in Hawaii but are able to trade that for a 2BR (including DVC) due to its extremely high trade power.

Again, this is weeks. With points, I am not positive how it works. Even though I own weeks I can get up to 3 vacations with my 1 week if I plan it properly. Some weeks/resorts in Orlando are a trade power of 9. Since I have a trade power of 28, I could stay there for 3 weeks. Does that make sense?

Hope this helps.

 

[tlenzendorf]

Thanks everyone. I really am grateful for everyone's thoughts and opinions. I think for now we will stick with researching and renting/trying out resorts. With there being such a large saturation of time shares we can afford to be picky and wait.

 

[chalee94]

I would STRONGLY advise you to slow down and take your time.

this is great advice. TUG generally advises people to take 6 months or so to research what they are doing before making their first offer on a timeshare. ( i took over a year myself.)

timeshares are easy to buy but can be very difficult to sell.

it's terrific to not have to cram a family into a small hotel room, but as others have said: compare the rental market to the annual maintenance fees for the timeshare to make sure the value is reasonable. trading power and trading options will come and go...be very careful about buying just to trade out.

i would suggest you take a look at RCI weeks ("points lite") rather than the true points side. for something that would be easier to trade and possibly easier to eventually sell, look for something with higher demand: a fixed summer or holiday week, on the ocean, in an area where there have been fewer timeshares built (orlando and vegas should be out) and things like that...and something you would want to use from time to time - ideally within driving distance of where you live (gas prices are going up)...

 

[skylizard]

Some general rules of thumb to consider when buying timeshare.


2. DVC is notoriously hard to trade into. Disney will also hit you with an additional trade-in fee at the resort on top of the fees you paid to the exchange company to complete the trade.

Very true. And it's only going to get harder and harder to trade into. So don't buy into RCI thinking that you'll always be able to trade into DVC.

 

[littlestar]

Take your time and do plenty of research - I'd study the TUG boards for probably a good six months before buying anything. You don't want to get stuck with something awful that becomes a huge liability (like huge special assessments or bad management that ups your maintenance fees to something ridiculous). Some resorts are experiencing defaults because of the economy and the owners that are still paying maintenance fees are making up the difference for the ones that can't pay!

RCI (Resort Condominiums International) is an exchange company located in Indianapolis, IN. Timeshare resorts are usually affiliated with RCI or II (Interval International). Interval International is located in Miami, Florida. RCI and II are the two largest exchange companies. Some timeshare resorts are affiliated with both RCI and II (dual affiliated).

Now days there's a lot to be said for just renting where you want to go - less risk. We've actually downsized our timeshare ownerships in the last year. I just don't want the risk in this economy. Maintenance fees have to be paid whether you vacation or not when you own a timeshare. I'm actually down to only one dual affiliated every other year traditional weeks timeshare - I keep it to have access to RCI and II's cash deals (Getaways and Last Calls - which are their low priced cash weeks for mostly off season travel).

 

[ccgirl]

Take your time and do plenty of research - I'd study the TUG boards for probably a good six months before buying anything. You don't want to get stuck with something awful that becomes a huge liability (like huge special assessments or bad management that ups your maintenance fees to something ridiculous). Some resorts are experiencing defaults because of the economy and the owners that are still paying maintenance fees are making up the difference for the ones that can't pay!

RCI (Resort Condominiums International) is an exchange company located in Indianapolis, IN. Timeshare resorts are usually affiliated with RCI or II (Interval International). Interval International is located in Miami, Florida. RCI and II are the two largest exchange companies. Some timeshare resorts are affiliated with both RCI and II (dual affiliated).

Now days there's a lot to be said for just renting where you want to go - less risk. We've actually downsized our timeshare ownerships in the last year. I just don't want the risk in this economy. Maintenance fees have to be paid whether you vacation or not when you own a timeshare. I'm actually down to only one dual affiliated every other year traditional weeks timeshare - I keep it to have access to RCI and II's cash deals (Getaways and Last Calls - which are their low priced cash weeks for mostly off season travel).

Bolded is a great point! You can pick up a week in a 2BR timeshare for a few hundred dollars - without having to trade your week/points. Florida is often there as is Vegas.

 

[swilshire]

DVC is notoriously hard to trade into. Disney will also hit you with an additional trade-in fee at the resort on top of the fees you paid to the exchange company to complete the trade.

Not any more. I was never able to get them during school vacations when they were with II, but since they've switched to RCI, I could probably go there any non-holiday week of the year with no problem if I had more weeks to trade and more vacation time. No guarantees that will last, of course, but so far, so good.

You're right that they hit you with a $95 fee for the week, but I can live with that.

Sheila

 

[ccgirl]

Not any more. I was never able to get them during school vacations when they were with II, but since they've switched to RCI, I could probably go there any non-holiday week of the year with no problem if I had more weeks to trade and more vacation time. No guarantees that will last, of course, but so far, so good.

You're right that they hit you with a $95 fee for the week, but I can live with that.

Sheila

I agree. I have been able to get one too. Not always my first choice but OKW and SSR always seem to have availability. In fact, my studio trades for a 2BR. THe $95 a week is not bad. Some of the international resorts have $200 or more for the week. Right now I see availability for all resorts thru November. (they haven't deposited the weeks resorts after that time yet)

 

[jenmcnitt]

Someone mentioned Vegas as timeshares to potentially stay away from so I just wanted to let others know that my 2BR-Lockout at the Grandview usually has a RCI week trading value of around 26 when I deposit it early.

Most timeshares in FL though seem to have trading values in the teens or less due to the saturation.

Now that RCI has put up the trading value numbers up on their website for week trades, it is much easier to navigate what your going to get with your week deposits.

I also like the fact that I'm an owner at an actual resort instead of a Points program where you do not have ownership in any particular resort.

 

[antopad]

Someone mentioned Vegas as timeshares to potentially stay away from so I just wanted to let others know that my 2BR-Lockout at the Grandview usually has a RCI week trading value of around 26 when I deposit it early.

Most timeshares in FL though seem to have trading values in the teens or less due to the saturation.

Now that RCI has put up the trading value numbers up on their website for week trades, it is much easier to navigate what your going to get with your week deposits.

I also like the fact that I'm an owner at an actual resort instead of a Points program where you do not have ownership in any particular resort.

This isn't true with RCI. I recently purchased 3 weeks, deeded at Gatlinburg. We are in the points system. We can use our week(s) in Gatlinburg (where we do have ownership), or trade out with points. I'm waiting to trade into DVC for July 2012.