Trading power of Palm Beach Resort and Beach Club

Hello,

I'm new to timeshares and this board. My husband's parents want to give us their timeshare at The Palm Beach Resort and Beach Club. It is for the week of July 4th. We would just have the yearly maintance fees of about $700. I'm wondering if anyone may have some information about this resort and also how much trading power it might have with RCI. I am able to travel during the off season but I think I prefer vacations at more of a "resort" property than a condo like property. Maybe one of the gold or silver crown options. Could July 4th week at this property trade for an off season week at a more resort like property? Thank you in advance for any help. I'm new to all this and just trying to figure out how it all works.

valeried50 wrote:

Hello,

I'm new to timeshares and this board. My husband's parents want to give us their timeshare at The Palm Beach Resort and Beach Club. It is for the week of July 4th. We would just have the yearly maintance fees of about $700. I'm wondering if anyone may have some information about this resort and also how much trading power it might have with RCI. I am able to travel during the off season but I think I prefer vacations at more of a "resort" property than a condo like property. Maybe one of the gold or silver crown options. Could July 4th week at this property trade for an off season week at a more resort like property? Thank you in advance for any help. I'm new to all this and just trying to figure out how it all works.

According to the RCI directory, Palm Beach Resort & Beach Club is resort #0616. The resort number itself indicates that it's an older place, certainly well over 20 years old. There is no "rating" indicated. No on site amenities indicated beyond an outdoor pool. There are 1BR units and 2BR units there, but your post does not identify which of those two possibilities your in-laws own. The difference between the two obviously and greatly affects the trading power of that week.

Personally, I do not know whether the July 4 week is a popular one at a place like this and RCI "trading power" is frankly always a little bit of a mystery anyhow. That disclaimer clearly stated up front, unless July 4 is actually a popular week here, you just might encounter some difficulty trying to "trade up" from an unrated resort into a Gold Crown resort, unless it's in "off season" for that Gold Crown facility.

$700 is in the high range of annual maintenance fees (for non-Keys Florida, anyhow) --- and a 20+ year old facility might well also be looking at "special assessments" before too long (unexpected fees which are imposed *in addition* to annual maintenance fees, to cover major refurbishing and upgrades, or storm or hurricane damage, etc.).

Clearly there are some internal family dynamics for you to also consider, but unless you actually like this facility for what it is and for where it is and for when it's available, you might want to give some serious thought as to whether this "gift" is really right for you at all. That $700 per year annual maintenance fee is a figure well on the way to paying for a week's rental at a whole range of other actual resorts in Florida, maybe at a different place every year, without any of the time, effort (or uncertainty) of annual trading (with an exchange fee of $164, subject to future increases) payable to RCI for each and every such exchange. That now makes your annual ownership cost a minimum of $864 if you "exchange".

No judgement of any kind rendered or intended here, just some factual info and other food for thought....

Thank you so much for the response. I was worried the "gift" may not really work out for us. As you noted "family dynamics" may dictate that we have to accept it anyway. If we had to take the property and then found it didn't work out for us would it be possible to get rid of it (ie. donate or sell for nominal fee) or could we be stuck with it for years with no way out of the maintance fees?

valeried50 wrote:

Thank you so much for the response. I was worried the "gift" may not really work out for us. As you noted "family dynamics" may dictate that we have to accept it anyway. If we had to take the property and then found it didn't work out for us would it be possible to get rid of it (ie. donate or sell for nominal fee) or could we be stuck with it for years with no way out of the maintance fees?

Valerie: Once you take deeded ownership, of course, the maintenance fees (and any special assessments) will become and remain your responsibility until the deed is formally transferred to the next owner's name, by whatever means (sale or donation) that may occur.

I don't know this particular resort, or even this general area on the Florida East Coast quite frankly, so the "marketability" or dollar value of that week is simply a complete unknown to me. If you look at for sale listings on various timeshare related websites (RedWeek, MyResortNetwork, even eBay (where timeshares are a sub section of real estate) you *might* find comparable listings for this resort, which then might give you some more substantive insight. If you follow a listing and it sells (or doesn't sell, for that matter), you then have a more clear picture on both marketability and/or value.

Donation of a timeshare week is a tricky and uncertain business. Unless a charity can turn a timeshare week into cash, quickly and expediently, it's not a "donation" to them but, instead, an unwelcome financial burden (for the exact same deed / maintenance fee reason I cited previously). Accordingly, the response from charities such as Donate for a Cause (represented in the acceptance/ rejection decision making process by Resort Closings, Inc. of Bozeman, MT) is "no thank you", more often than not. And, be aware that even though they maintain an extensive, published list of "will never accept" timeshare facilities, the fact is that they also routinely reject MANY others which do NOT appear on that "will never accept" list. In short, don't assume that donation is a "sure thing" option. It may well NOT be.

Good luck. I hope some of this input has been of help to you.

P.S. You might also consider calling the resort directly (on a weekday, during normal business hours, NOT on a Saturday) and inquire if they have a resale office on site. If so, this would help you gain some (likely biased, by it's still info...) input on resale demand or value of that particular week and size of unit. Resort phone # is (561) 586-8898, at least according to the RCI directory.

This was originally a Radission managed property. It is right next to an older Best Western....and the property directly S of that was once a giant resort complex called the Coloniade Resort ( Sp?)

Currently on the old Coloniade (Sp) property is a pretty new timeshare development called Ocean Point managed & developed by Marriott. A few miles up the beach, Marriott is developing another T/S complex. ( The Ocean Points 5 building complex goes as far S as the Palm Beach inlet).

The area is in flux.....supposedly changing for the better. Imminent domain is playing a big part in this improvement.

The resort is currently managed by Daily Management, which also manages many units on the Ft Lauderdale Beach (Silver Seas), Pompano ( Canada House is one). and even Weston, which is just west of Ft Lauderdale ( Check website in narritive below)

The maint & tax fees in S Florida are very high. The Silver Seas ( circa approx 1950...an old apartment hotel on the beach) has fees of $780 for a one bed one bath sleep 6....it is an elevated building. Included in that fee is approx $180 a week for Broward RE Taxes. ( Next door is Marriott Beach Plach...a 2 bed 2 bath L/O is taxes at just over $200 a week....total incl maint fees is approx $1000 a week.....Ocean Point ( super Palm Beach County taxes) is over $1000 a wee for a 2 bed 2 bath L/O...higher for a 3 bed 2 bath L/O.

I have seen weeks where you are talking about from the PCC posted on e bay for $1.00 with no bids...but the time may not have been so great.

For free from parents, I would take it & try it. I would read revies & how to use t/s on the www.tugbbs.com site, because you will need to know the ins & outs of the timeshare world.

I know several on tug who bought here and are unbelievable happy....USING their week.

July is red time...but not the brighest of red time....it is HOT on the beach. The water will be very warm.....wonderful for many.

Here is the link to Daily Resorts management company. If a list comes up...simply click the one you are interested in. I think Daily has been try to convert some of their units to points. I would advise against this...if RCI points, they charge $199 for the paper work & some resorts ask that of their owners.....but most resorts make it into another money grab...and charge in the thousands......

Here you go:

"... Palm Beach Shores Resort

Greetings from beautiful Palm Beach Shores Resort and Vacation Villas!

Have you seen us lately? Our beautiful “pink palace” has had a complete exterior paint job and we look fresh and new.

As many of you know we sustained over one Million dollars damage last October 23rd when Hurricane Wilma blew through town. We were closed for 5 weeks due to having no air-conditioning. I am happy to report we have a brand new roof, flat and tile, new chilled water pipe system (that controls our air-conditioning system) all with new pipe insulation on the roof. Many of the sliding glass doors that were bent have been replaced, and many pieces of glass in the sliding glass doors that had seals broken from the wind which caused a dirty foggy appearance have been replaced, The Tiki bar roof , the musician bandstand and the pool towel hut received beautiful new thatch roofs, and several of our exotic bird’s cages were replaced, and all of this was paid by our property insurance carrier with the exception of $100,000 due to us buying a wind buy back policy that reduced our deductible from $473,000 to $100,000!

In 2005 we replaced all the bedroom carpet in all of our units. This year we have installed DVD players in all the units and I am happy to report all units have received new beautiful, comfortable sofa beds.

We will soon be upgrading to high speed Internet access in the guest units, which will be complimentary with additional wireless hot spots in the public areas as well as the pool area.

Your team here at the resort has had quite a busy year and can’t wait to welcome you back to your “ home away from home..." ( excerpted from Daily info)

pbsr@dailymanagementresorts.com

BTW.....there were assessments for help with insurance due to the storm mentioned (Wilma)