Wanting to buy Wyndham timeshare- have questions

[kkmcan]

My inlaws own a Wyndham timeshare which we use quite often. They have always made it known that our family and dh's sisters family is welcome to use it anytime. We are asking to use their points more and more and feel like we don't want to use up all their points so won't be asking the rest of this year(his parents run out of points every year (700,000)so we try not to hog them)

I thought about my dh and I buying a small contract off ebay (100,000 pts) and they seem really affordable but I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience buying one that way. My inlaws bought theirs directly through Wyndham and paid a fortune.

Here's my questions:

1) does it matter which resort we pick to be our home resort? we are in Arizona so I figured one we would use often would be beneficial. We won't be making it all the way to Orlando more than once every 3 years or so. But we do visit Disneyland several times a year.

2) What is an even or biennual year?

3) Anything else I should know about when purchasing a contract? I realize there are maintenance fees and some of them are not that bad.

thanks for any input on this!

3)

 

[puffkin]

I am interested in responses too as we are considering the exact same thing. I tried looking on TUG boards...but I just get too bogged down with all the information over there!

 

[Detailor]

If you didn't discover the TUG forum, that's the place I'd suggest that you ask this question. The Timeshare Users Group has a Wyndham-specific sub-forum and the folks over there are pretty freely willing to help newcomers to the timeshare world. In fact someone from New York using the name disneygirl77 has just asked this question at a current thread. I would have guessed that disneygirl77 was puffkin, the previous poster on this thread, if one wasn't from NY and the other from PA.

FWIW, I think that ebay can be a good way to get into timesharing as long as the bids don't get very high. Buying on the re-sale market makes a lot of sense but be careful not to spend very much, the value of timeshares has gone down a lot over the past few years. And my advice is to take your time. I bought my first timeshare in 2001 or 2002 after at least four years of research and consideration. You may also want to consider buying outside of the Wyndham system and exchanging into WBC through an RCI exchange.

Dick Taylor

 

[JimMIA]

I am interested in responses too as we are considering the exact same thing. I tried looking on TUG boards...but I just get too bogged down with all the information over there!

With all due respect, if you're not willing to slog through all the detail, then don't buy ANY timeshare. You REALLY need to understand all the ins and outs of how a timeshare works before you can make any rational decision about whether it is right for your family.

If you don't have the time or patience to research, analyze, process, and calculate...don't go down this path. Timesharing is not for everyone, and there is nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned cash hotel reservation.

 

[brucerob62]

If i were you i would keep renting..The maintenance fees are a killer..I can get a 2 bd for aweek for the same price as the maint fees usually off ebay or other sites. Its not worth it to be stuck with something you wont be able to get rid of. IN my opinion

 

[JimMIA]

If i were you i would keep renting..The maintenance fees are a killer..I can get a 2 bd for aweek for the same price as the maint fees usually off ebay or other sites. Its not worth it to be stuck with something you wont be able to get rid of. IN my opinion

For many, many families, I agree this is the best strategy...particularly if you are interested in visiting an overbuilt buyers market like the WDW area. Choices are everywhere, and there are substantial savings to be had.

AND...if you decide not to go on vacation one year, you don't owe anyone a penny.

Before anyone gets involved with anybody's timeshare (including Disney's), I would strongly urge them to ask the question, "Do I REALLY want the longterm committment to a timeshare?"

For many families, timeshares are great. But for many others, other options work out better.

 

[NHLFAN]

My suggestion if you are interested in Wyndham is to :

• Do your homework to make sure timeshare ownership is for you
• Buy a contract via resale into a resort that has low maintenance fees (Sedona might be a good choice as it's close to you and it's currently at $4.21/k pt including reserve fund & property tax)
• Points are points except you can't book until 10 months out at resorts you don't own
• Keep in mind, for every 77k points you get (1) booking transaction per year so for 154k points you get (2) transactions plus the yearly program fee is still $98. This really comes into play if you can't plan your whole year of stays during one call, and can use the extra points
• I perfer "annual" contacts because I use my points every year
• Do your homework to make sure timeshare ownership is for you

Hope that helps...

 

[JimMIA]

Do your homework to make sure timeshare ownership is for you

Yep -- that's the most important decision you will make.

Buy a contract via resale into a resort that has low maintenance fees (Sedona might be a good choice as it's close to you and it's currently at $4.21/k pt including reserve fund & property tax)

Good suggestion, although you should be a little wary with newer resorts which are still in active sales (Bonnet Creek, National Harbor, Canterbury, and many others). Annual fees are often low during the active sales phase, but then go up dramatically once the resort is sold out.

Also be aware that there are actually two components to the MF's -- the resort's operating costs (mentioned above) and the annual program fee. The program fee is paid every year, even if you have a biannual contract -- which means the total MF's for a biannual contract will be more than for an annual contract, even though they might be quoted as the same. In addition, the larger the contract, the lower the program fee.

Check the details closely. Here's a link to the Wyndham member's directory: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/memberdirectory11-12/#/1/OnePage

Ignore the glitz and go to the nuts and bolts stuff at the back of the book to learn about the various fees. Go to TUG for info on Wyndham MFs.

Points are points except you can't book until 10 months out at resorts you don't own

This is rarely a problem -- unless you're trying to get a really high-demand time and resort -- like Daytona during race week, New Orleans during Mardi Gras, etc.

 

[Brian Noble]

With all due respect, if you're not willing to slog through all the detail, then don't buy ANY timeshare.

Quoted for truth.

As for owning vs. renting: Jim said this, but if you are mostly going to Bonnet Creek, a large resort with tons of availability, it's probably better to rent from a high-point owner. But, that's not true of all Wyndham resorts. At some of the others, owning will end up being a better deal than renting from an owner at market rates.