RCI timeshare?

[tinker&belle]

I have a good friend who was gifted an RCI timeshare. They are not interested in keeping it due to the maintenance fees. She is interested in giving it to me since she knows we like to travel. I know we would be taking on the yearly maintenance fee but am wondering if there are other fees involved? Also I believe we can use it on DVC properties; is that correct? I am trying to gather info before making this decision.

 

[chalee94]

there are the fees for the timeshare itself.

there is also the consideration of how difficult it might be to unload the timeshare (to get rid of the maintenance fees) once you can't use it any more. a name brand timeshare like a hilton might have some resale value - but some you might have to pay to get out from under.

then there are the RCI fees. RCI is a timeshare stay broker - you can deposit your week and RCI gives you credit for trading out for a different timeshare. RCI charges fees for annual membership as well as fees for each exchange.

a lot of info generally on the TUG board:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242241

DVC is currently affiliated with RCI - so that is at least theoretically possible - but it used to be affiliated with Interval International. it could eventually go back, so there is some risk there. It also depends a lot on how valuable your week is - DVC weeks tend to be very expensive to get in RCI and many/most weeks will not have enough trading power to pull a DVC week.

in the last year or so, DVC has been depositing mostly 1BR villas and mostly only SSR. and less than they did a few years ago. so your exchange options can be difficult to predict - and you will definitely need to plan in advance (or else be super flexible and be able to drop everything to travel at the last minute).

if your gifted timeshare is within the larger orlando area, there is a risk that you would be blocked from trading into orlando timeshares like DVC.

there are also hilton timeshares and bonnet creek (i think the sheraton vistana resort also trades a bit in RCI) near disney that are very nice options if DVC exchanges don't come through...

 

[starry_solo]

Are the maintenance fees up to date or would you be responsible for paying those?
What about the mortgage?
There are transfer fees (several hundred dollars) that the companies charge to change their records to show who owns it.
There is also a recording fee to transfer title to you (charged by the county where the timeshare is located)

Timeshares are usually not worth it.

 

[Anthony1971]

You need to do your research...
pay to join TUGG and ask about the timeshare you are being offered you will get a lot of good info...
a lot of timeshares as above people pay thousands to get rid of...others do have value and some a lot of value.....but those in general do not include RCI... again RCI can have trading power and some resorts are ok but for the first time timeshare owner you may regret taking it.... I would think what is being offered is one that is than desirable as they likely would not give it to you if it could be sold...
You may be better served looking into a resale with a better name company should this be the route you choose...
if you do not wan to pay for TUGG there are some great people on the DVC boards that own at other resorts and have a lot of knowledge... But post it in the Misc. board and ask about RCI trading not about your resort direct otherwise it will get deleted... look for Dean to post on your tread and PM if you can... he will let you know what you are being offered... but first find out the name of the resort, the unit size and if it is a set week or converted to the points system..
hint if it is a set week it is NO period...

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Go onto TUG2 and do your research. It's easy to get a free timeshare, but tough to unload one. Yes, you can get DVC in RCI (and quite easily), but some timeshares are worth more in trade than others. What is the timeshare?

 

[manning]

Since your friend didn't pay anything for it why not just sell it for whatever he/she can get. There would not be any money lost.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

if you do not wan to pay for TUGG there are some great people on the DVC boards that own at other resorts and have a lot of knowledge... But post it in the Misc. board and ask about RCI trading not about your resort direct otherwise it will get deleted... look for Dean to post on your tread and PM if you can... he will let you know what you are being offered... but first find out the name of the resort, the unit size and if it is a set week or converted to the points system..
hint if it is a set week it is NO period...

I don't totally agree with this. Some fixed weeks are awesome traders, some are dogs. I am currently looking to buy a fixed summer week in the Outer Banks, NC. It is a place we'd love to go each summer, but it is really hard to trade into. Conversely, it is a super trader if you trade out.

I've owned a fixed summer Wyndham week in Williamsburg, Va since 1985. I have used the heck out of that thing. We have gone on so many wonderful trips over the years that we couldn't have afforded any other way.

OP, you need to know the resort name, if it is Points or fixed week (which will give you a certain number of Trading Power Units or TPUs), and the yearly maintenance fee. Trading is RCI is $200 a trade now. You can get a 3 year membership for $249.

Next, you need to figure out what your cost per Point or TPU will be. Add up your maintenance fee, the cost per trade, RCI membership fee and divide by the number of Points or TPUs you will own. Then, check RCI to see what the places you want to trade into will cost in Points or TPUs. If it costs less for you to trade into them using your Points or TPUs than it would to rent, then take the timeshare. I often get 2 or 3 vacations out of my 1 timeshare week ( a lock off unit that I deposit as 2 units). It really makes timeshare trading cost effective for me. Timesharing can be great if you know how to maximize the system and get the most bang for your buck!

PS - My parents bought the timeshare for me with some money I inherited from my great grandma. It cost $3000 in 1985. I have saved waaaaay more than that and made some spectacular family memories in the process.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I don't totally agree with this. Some fixed weeks are awesome traders, some are dogs. I am currently looking to buy a fixed summer week in the Outer Banks, NC. It is a place we'd love to go each summer, but it is really hard to trade into. Conversely, it is a super trader if you trade out.

I've owned a fixed summer Wyndham week in Williamsburg, Va since 1985. I have used the heck out of that thing. We have gone on so many wonderful trips over the years that we couldn't have afforded any other way.

OP, you need to know the resort name, if it is Points or fixed week (which will give you a certain number of Trading Power Units or TPUs), and the yearly maintenance fee. Trading is RCI is $200 a trade now. You can get a 3 year membership for $249.

Next, you need to figure out what your cost per Point or TPU will be. Add up your maintenance fee, the cost per trade, RCI membership fee and divide by the number of Points or TPUs you will own. Then, check RCI to see what the places you want to trade into will cost in Points or TPUs. If it costs less for you to trade into them using your Points or TPUs than it would to rent, then take the timeshare. I often get 2 or 3 vacations out of my 1 timeshare week ( a lock off unit that I deposit as 2 units). It really makes timeshare trading cost effective for me. Timesharing can be great if you know how to maximize the system and get the most bang for your buck!

PS - My parents bought the timeshare for me with some money I inherited from my great grandma. It cost $3000 in 1985. I have saved waaaaay more than that and made some spectacular family memories in the process.

Awesome post!! I'm an avid timeshare trader, and the timeshare that I get the most bang for my buck out of is my fixed week! I bought it off of Ebay years ago for way under 1K and I've been trading it ever since. It gets me a bonus week in Interval every year too.

I trade in RCI also, but not in TPUs. I use Wyndham points that I literally just paid closing costs for (coincidentally, also in Williamsburg lol!) to either deposit into RCI for trades or to use directly. I like that flexibility so that is something to consider. That's why the OP needs to look on TUG2...so much to learn about this subject, and you really need the expert info you can get over there.

 

[chalee94]

I don't totally agree with this. Some fixed weeks are awesome traders, some are dogs. I am currently looking to buy a fixed summer week in the Outer Banks, NC. It is a place we'd love to go each summer, but it is really hard to trade into. Conversely, it is a super trader if you trade out.

i agree with you. my non-DVC timeshare is a fixed summer week in NC. as you have noted, it tends to be a great trader since lots of people with school schedules are forced to travel in the summer. (it also works well with my schedule, so that if i needed to use that week instead of trading for something else, there would be no trouble with that either.) but it is true that a fixed January week at the beach would definitely be a dog for trading.

my non-DVC timeshare will trade in either RCI or Interval International - but the value i get from II is so much better (based on reports from TUGgers that have checked RCI's trade power calculator) that i have never bothered trying to use RCI. the marriotts and sheratons near WDW have generally been terrific. (and the non-WDW options have been pretty good as well. i've been fortunate to stay in a number of different marriott timeshares around the country and in the caribbean.)

 

[BigAlsGal]

Only things I can think of as far as money is:

Yearly maintenance
RCI membership usually $100 a year
Trading fee $150
Some places you trade to have extra fees like parking and safes.

I think that's about it.

You need to look at the resort you're getting. Is it a gold crown resort? Is it a red week(most desirable weeks)? If someone is giving you a gold crown resort/red week I would take it. They're pretty easy to trade. If it's some low rate place in the middle of Idaho take a pass.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

i agree with you. my non-DVC timeshare is a fixed summer week in NC. as you have noted, it tends to be a great trader since lots of people with school schedules are forced to travel in the summer. (it also works well with my schedule, so that if i needed to use that week instead of trading for something else, there would be no trouble with that either.) but it is true that a fixed January week at the beach would definitely be a dog for trading.

my non-DVC timeshare will trade in either RCI or Interval International - but the value i get from II is so much better (based on reports from TUGgers that have checked RCI's trade power calculator) that i have never bothered trying to use RCI. the marriotts and sheratons near WDW have generally been terrific. (and the non-WDW options have been pretty good as well. i've been fortunate to stay in a number of different marriott timeshares around the country and in the caribbean.)

As is mine I love that trader! I've also only ever deposited it in Interval since I get so much value for it there...we love Marriott.

 

[a742246]

As others have said, I would join the TUG boards and ask specific questions over there. Be prepared to give the following info:
Resort name, MF's, week of the year you would have, and the location.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

We are in the same boat as you. A family member wants to give us there rci share. Fees are $850/ year and it is a week based share, they wouldnt switch to points we rci offered and it was better to stay with the week for them. Our only problem is it's based in Orlando and they can't stay at dvc places. However, we've been wanting to go other places and this makes it very easy and much cheaper. They just spent two weeks in Hawaii last year in a 4 star resort ocean view for $1100. We are still looking into it but we will probably take it over.
Our friends have rci and have book dvc every year for the last 6 years.

 

[hsmamato2]

ask yourself WHY your friend wants to give it to you..... once you lock in,you're stuck. Unless you plan to really learn how to use that baby (as a couple of pp's here have) then you'll be just like your friends at some point, looking to unload a timeshare contract that no one else wants. Why? B/c your needs have changed,and you don't want to pay fees into a contract you're not fully using. And no one is willing to pay for the contract,so you either find a person who wants a "gift" or pay a 3rd party company to buy it off of you. (I had use of a couple fo timeshare contracts a few years back....had a lot of fun learning how to max them out for great trips) but I wouldn't really want to own one after all of that. Ebay is chock full of timeshare contracts for less than $50..... it works well for some people, but it pays to know ahead of time what you want to do with your money.

 

[tinker&belle]

Thanks for the information everyone. Although I believe she was really trying to be generous we have decided we would rather have more flexibility with travel plans.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Thanks for the information everyone. Although I believe she was really trying to be generous we have decided we would rather have more flexibility with travel plans.

That is probably very wise. That said, a well-researched free timeshare can get you a LOT of awesome, very economical travel if you want to look into that in the future. I think that just taking a random free one probably wouldn't have worked out too well though.

 

[MinnieForMe]

We inherited a 3 bedroom timeshare in Williamsburg. Would I ever buy one? No way. However, we have used it a ton over the past 15 years. It is very easy to transfer it to the Orlando/Kissimmee area but much harder to trade into someplace like Aruba. Personally, we tend to rent the weeks we need from other timeshare owners when we want someplace and can't get a trade. I feel it's easier to rent a week from an RCI or Interval owner through TUG or VRBO than to actually own.

We pay maintenance fees of around $800 a year. This is cheap compared to newer properties.
RCI membership fees - can't remember as we did a 3 year subscription.
Then, if we transfer to another location it's a $229 fee.

Finally, our timeshare management decided that a new roof was necessary so we got a special assessment of another $1000 last year. Honestly, I don't think we're saving any money by owning a timeshare. I can rent the same property for less on a broker like endlessvacations.com.

Really research before you make your decision unless it's a location that you plan to use every single year!