Is now a good time to buy MVC timeshare?

I've never owned a timeshare before and have been looking to dip my toes. Is now a good time to buy? I'm really only interested in MVC.

No, I suggest you rent a MVC timeshare using Redweek for a couple of years and test out your real interest in timeshare. Renting is the safest and most cost effective way to timeshare vacations.

Owners of units rented out pay the annual maintenance fees and then rent out for around 1.5 to 2.0 times the maintenance fees. Their initial timeshare cost is never recovered and they may even pay someone to rid themselves of the timeshare.

Don't get sucked into purchasing points as the program has about double the annual maintenance fees (for the same use) and the initial outlay is outrageous (and an immediate write-off).

I suggest you stay away from resort presentations as they are very high pressure and you will buy the dream only to regret it later. Be ready to rescind and know how to do this.

Finally, you can have the timeshare experience on your terms, at a substantially lower cost, and with no "forever" commitment to timeshare fees.

So Dennis what do you suggest if you made all of those mistakes and let the Marriott sales people pressure you into a purchase and here it is four months later regretting paying that retail price for your points? Especially when you really could not afford it.

sgarcher wrote:

So Dennis what do you suggest if you made all of those mistakes and let the Marriott sales people pressure you into a purchase and here it is four months later regretting paying that retail price for your points? Especially when you really could not afford it.

I'm sorry, there is not much you can do after you have signed to purchase except rescind within the rescission period. Once signed, I see no good options and several bad ones. I doubt one can get any relief from any timeshare company.

Please read my earlier post about just staying away from this high pressure scheme called timeshare. I cannot think of a more devilish assault on uninformed customers.

Think about this - If you knew upfront that your initial cost would be gone upon purchase of the timeshare (or points), would you buy? Further, would you knowingly sign a 10 year note at 10.99% or 13.99% interest to buy a timeshare knowing that the timeshare (or points) has no residual value? "Imagine" walking out of a presentation with a $30,000 10 year note to finance a worthless asset.

If we were to start over, we would just rent what we need each year. If you must buy, just buy great weeks at great resorts in the resale market - that you can use, rent out, or trade.

Rent. We thought about buying MVC resale at one point too and it just doesn't make sense. You can rent practically anywhere anytime, you're not locked into maintenance fees and there's zero upfront cost or risk. We've been very happy renting from owners.

janee97 wrote:

Rent. We thought about buying MVC resale at one point too and it just doesn't make sense. You can rent practically anywhere anytime, you're not locked into maintenance fees and there's zero upfront cost or risk. We've been very happy renting from owners.

Smart idea. Often, you can rent from an owner for less than the maintenance fees. Even if you have to pay a couple hundred bucks more than the maintenance fees, consider that a small price to pay for getting out of your ownership if the time ever came where you wanted to get out of ownership.

We own 10 Marriott timeshares and I guess our children will inherit them or let them go when we are gone. It has always been a burden to pay the annual maintenance fees and then make sure we don't waste the weeks. I think our kids like this better than we do, but they aren't paying the maintenance fees yet.

I did notice that good deeded Platinum Marriott Newport Coast weeks are now listed at $6,500 per week on Redweek. These are down about $3,000 over the past couple of years. My question is "why the big drop" in price for these great weeks?

For those considering a Vacation Club Points purchase, getting enough points to buy one of these Newport Coast weeks would cost over $50,000 up front with well over double the annual maintenance fees compared to just buying the week.

I own 2 platinum 3 bedroom Marriott timeshares on HHI. My daughter owns a 3 bedroom platinum in CA and my son also owns a 3 bedroom platinum at HHI. I think 3 years ago may have been the low point, at least on the timeshares I was looking to buy. I think they have gone up a bit, but not by too much. You mentioned Newport Beach, I thought of buying there but I think it is not a good one to buy unless you invest in at least 2 weeks, and that might not get you a platinum summer week. With only one HHI platinum, I was able to get the 4th of July week by calling at 9am 12 months from the check in date. If I want to go to Newport Beach, I can rent my HHI week and then use the money to rent a week. The weeks I purchased rent for at least $1000 over the fees. I think owning a timeshare is not a financial investment, but an investment in having a wonderful family vacation. I know my grandchildren love to go to HHI and S Lake Tahoe every summer.

These are just my feelings.

Part of the dream portion of the sales presentation is committing to the vacations. Once your in, it forces you to put vacations a the front of your conscious. If you reflect on that and use the ownership and learn the system you will eventually recoup the investment in the form of vacations. If you use it a lot you will be ok.

sgarcher wrote:

So Dennis what do you suggest if you made all of those mistakes and let the Marriott sales people pressure you into a purchase and here it is four months later regretting paying that retail price for your points? Especially when you really could not afford it.

tadk2 wrote:

Part of the dream portion of the sales presentation is committing to the vacations...If you use it a lot you will be ok.

That's the key. You have to use it and use it a lot in order to get your money's worth. However, many people's circumstances and finances do not permit them to travel often enough to get their money's worth. There's a lot more cost to a vacation than just the maintenance fees on your timeshare.

We purchased a timeshare at Crystal Shores, Marriott timeshare in Marco Island, Fl. pre-construction several years ago. At the time it seemed a fair investment but now it's just a burden and we're looking to sell it but we will never recoup what we paid. For the first few years we did the week exchange and went to other Marriott timeshare resorts and it felt great but it was an exchange of week for week. They have now changed everything to points so some places need more points that our week's worth. Again, back then we didn't know about RedWeek and how you could just rent from someone who own's a place. Trying to rent our place takes time and expertise and the maintenance fees just keep going up. We would not recommend purchasing, rent instead.

So how about this scenario? I'm 54 years old with 15 year old twin boys. I work as an outside sales representative with great job flexibility and live in the Seattle area. Because of the extensive travel I've done throughout my career, I'm a lifetime Platinum member with Marriott.

For the past 10+ years, I make a point of going to Hawaii at least once a year, sometimes twice. While I would never purchase a timeshare directly from Marriott, I'm strongly considering purchase one week directly from a seller on Redweek. Why? Because I want the flexibility of being able to select the week I travel every year. Yes, I can always rent someone's TS, and I have with great success, but it's more costly and challenging to find the exact week I want.

For the properties I'm looking at, I can purchase a 2 bed / 2 bath oceanfront at a Marriott (or Westin) property on Oahu or Maui for $8-12K with annual dues of $2,300 or so. Without question, I'll never be able to make back the down payment, but given my frequency of usage, I'll be able to chip away at the number if I can save $500-$1000/week each year by not renting someone else's timeshare. Hawaii is a different destination than lower 48 properties, as owners don't typically rent their weeks for less than $3500.

I'm still not ready to pull the trigger, but it's tempting me. Your opinions are appreciated.

tadk2 wrote:

Part of the dream portion of the sales presentation is committing to the vacations. Once your in, it forces you to put vacations a the front of your conscious. If you reflect on that and use the ownership and learn the system you will eventually recoup the investment in the form of vacations. If you use it a lot you will be ok.

sgarcher wrote:

So Dennis what do you suggest if you made all of those mistakes and let the Marriott sales people pressure you into a purchase and here it is four months later regretting paying that retail price for your points? Especially when you really could not afford it.

sgarcher you seem to be interested in my insight, so here it goes again. I don't think you can dispute these facts.

Our timeshares are being used to our advantage and we are just fine. But in retrospect, we would do it in a different and less expensive way. My comments are just directed to others for consideration as they make their decision.

1. What can I really do with under 5,000 Vacation Club Points? This is a $50,000+ initial expenditure, plus $3,000 in annual maintenance fees, plus 11%+ in interest. Keep in mind that you could rent a good high season week at OceanWatch or Newport Coast for $3,000. And by the way, you can get the rental week you want.

2. Why not buy a resale week for $10,000 with $1,500 in annual maintenance fees that can be used or rented out. Remember, "cash" from a rental is a much better currency than "points."

3. Consider what your Marriott vacation club points purchase is worth when you walk out the door - from $50,000 to less than $10,000 in 90 minutes. But, that's only if you can sell it.

We have loved our Marriott MVC membership. Our home location is Singer Island but we have added points over the years and we never stay there. We have gone all over the world or going on 3-4 shorter vacations annually here in the U.S. Our problem now is that we can't find enough time to adequately get away due to high school age kids and my spouse's job demands in the last two years. We are looking to sell. Yes, we know we won't get more than 30% of what we invested, but we don't really care. We didn't do it for the investment, we did it for the memories and being able to bring our parents to places they never could have gone to or to be able to see their grandchildren at places like DisneyWorld or skiing in Tahoe. It's all been worth it but now we need to rent or sell.