Report Abuse

Timeshare Purchase, whats your honest opinion First, let me answer “Bruceb306’s, 7Dec2015)” question: Is there a resort where the board of directors (HOA and AOAO) actually run their resort? The answer is YES, its Carriage Place – Grand Crown Resorts in Branson Missouri. Carriage Place Resort is one of three loosely affiliated resorts that are collectively managed by Trading Places International (TPI). TPI has a multiyear contract with each resort’s HOA. TPI manages these resorts collectively under the Grand Crown label. The original developer no longer has control of the resorts or their HOAs. When inventory becomes available, TPI makes every effort to move the property onto a new qualified interests or current owners of one of the three resorts. Maintenance fees at these resorts are below the industry average. And they are just that, maintenance fees for maintenance and projected refabrication needs. At the annual owners meeting (owners week) there is a healthy representation from each resort that participate in their resort’s meeting as well as collective meetings that concern all owners regardless of their resort. Buyers may choose units utilizing the points system or the older weeks method of ownership. But either way you get a Deed and the vote and voice that comes with that deed. The deed is critical here in my opinion. You have a stake in the game with the deed. As “Dennisc283 ( 26Nov2015)” said in an earlier post,…… the (new) business models…flex, floating, registered,…. etc. are moving away from the deeded system. Or like donp196 (8Nov2015) mentioned, … stay away from… “Vacation Clubs”… and their Ponzi points scheme. I look at the current trends mentioned above more like buying stock in a company. If the company is doing poorly, your stock isn’t worth as much, and your vacation value may be reduced. And if the company go’s under, well so does your future vacation investment. Conversely, if the company does well your vacation value may also improve. But I kind of think those profits are going to go to the “preferred” stockholders of the company long before they go to the “common” stock holder or vacation customers. Our Resort wants and needs profits too. How else can we pay TPI for managing our resorts. However those profit needs aren’t carried on the back of maintenance fees. TPI is incentivized to manage the resorts in such a way as to make their own profits and excess earning are plowed back into the resorts. Back to the original question that started this string: “Timeshare Purchase, whats your honest opinion, “ from: Johnh1645 (8Nov 2015). I would stay away from the new models as Dennisc283 described above and in his post. Find a resort where you can buy a deed, and preferably a deed resale from the resort itself or an owner you know. As suggested in other comments of this string, purchase a deed from a resort you like and don’t mind visiting often. If your budget can take it, buy a deeded week that’s in the resorts highest demand period. That’s important when it comes to trading that time for other resorts and other times. It’s all about trading power. And if it's at all possible, look for a "mature" resort where the HOA owns the resort and has freedom to choose its own board of directors. Your deed will mean more and have a louder voice if you and your HOA run and control your resort. Also look up the exchange company or association the resort belongs to or is affiliated with to see what the resort's trading power is. Cross reference with other exchange organizations and do the same there. Bottom line advice: shop around, do your research, and talk to other owners of the resorts of interest.