New to Bluegreen...Any insight??

I do understand that the companies have owners who place their units for rent and that is why they have nightly rentals, however, when you are an owner, paying out a $ 20,000 + mortgage not to mention the club dues and maintenance fees, you would think owners would have access to book the rental units, at least at a discounted rate. They charge us the exact same nightly rental rate that they do anyone who is a non-owner. It is just frustrating to be told one thing at purchase and then another when you actually try to use what you have bought.

You can book Bonus Time at low rates but sometimes this does not work because it cannot be done far in advance and space may not be available in the location you want. As you say, BG has offered for rent space which owners do not want to use in a particular year. Those owners, of course, want to earn as much as possible to cover their expenses and only get 65% of the rental as I recall. I've heard, however, the BG is discontinuing its rental department.

You CAN "use what you have bought". Make your reservations as early as possible. Enjoy using your points to make free "internal exchanges" within the BG system and avoid the expense of exchanging through RCI or II unless you simply must to get a location you need. Since BG does allow you to "roll over" points into the next year, you won't be forced to bank unused time with an exchange company to avoid loosing it. Be warned, however, that "rolled over" points cannot be used to reserve time that is higher than normal Red season. Only current year points can get you into "Leaf Season", for example.

Actually we do have to roll over all unused points to our next use year. We always have to do that by April 1. We bought a small point package which is not even enough to stay a week per year somewhere. We bought under the impression that we could use the points for mini-vacations at the locations as that is what was suggested to us for that particular point package. Of course what they fail to mention is that you can never get into the locations you want and of course, if you book for less than a week, you can only do that within 5 months of check in and by then everything is gone. Just wish we had never bought...

dreamtravelinc wrote:

Actually we do have to roll over all unused points to our next use year. We always have to do that by April 1. We bought a small point package which is not even enough to stay a week per year somewhere. We bought under the impression that we could use the points for mini-vacations at the locations as that is what was suggested to us for that particular point package. Of course what they fail to mention is that you can never get into the locations you want and of course, if you book for less than a week, you can only do that within 5 months of check in and by then everything is gone. Just wish we had never bought...

======= We did previously need to tell BG to roll over unused points but it is now automatic. As mentioned previously, the rolled over points cannot be used on higher than normal Red Season.

Sorry to hear that your package is so minimal. How many points do you have? You might get into Branson or off-season locations elsewhere. Are you able to travel outside summer? Not knowing what you own, it is hard to make suggestions, but you might be able to get a full week in low season in a small unit! You should seriously consider buying additional points on the (low cost) resale market so that you really can make use of what you have. There is a Bluegreen Owners site which can give you very useful information. I'll look it up and get back to you shortly. MD

======= I'm back! The owners site is bluegreen@yahoogroups.com. A regular contributer there is Jim (bocabum1999@yahoo.com). He is an authorized resale agent with Pinnacle which is BG related. Resale points purchased via Pinnacle DO count toward certain benefits such as VIP levels which usually do not come with resale points from other sources. He is obviously well regarded and trusted by other owners on the Yahoo site and can walk you through the process of getting enough points to be useful at a cost much lower that you paid per point from the developer. MD

deleted by jayjay ....

We have been owners at Oasis Lakes since it was built and in 1995 returned and were convinced by Bule Green to give up our fixed weeks 51 & 52 for points. What a big mistake and more money !

We now own 37,000 points and are Gold preferred members, but have not since returned to the US and do not intend to, therefore every year I have book weeks to the value of out points and bank them in the RCI Weeks system, which is a nightmare in itself.

Our weeks do give us 2 weeks in a 2 bed one year and 3 weeks in a 2 bed the following year at Oasis Lakes but can be used anywhere in Blue Green resorts.

As we holiday in Europe, in the main, being in the RCI weeks system we are treated as 2nd class citizens, because the points members get the best availability and our weeks at Oasis lakes do not seem to trade as well as they used to when we first bought. Fortunately for us, we now also own at the MacDonalds Dona Lola Resort, which I can highly recommend and this enables to get the peak summer weeks in Spain.

We have been trying to sell the BLue Green points, almost since we bought then and havent been successful. We have been told that the gold preferred status will transfer with them. And we arent asking anywhere near what we paid for them - So Ebay - here I come.

Anybody got any other suggestions !

dawns wrote:

We have been owners at Oasis Lakes since it was built and in 1995 returned and were convinced by Bule Green to give up our fixed weeks 51 & 52 for points. What a big mistake and more money !

We now own 37,000 points and are Gold preferred members, but have not since returned to the US and do not intend to, therefore every year I have book weeks to the value of out points and bank them in the RCI Weeks system, which is a nightmare in itself.

Our weeks do give us 2 weeks in a 2 bed one year and 3 weeks in a 2 bed the following year at Oasis Lakes but can be used anywhere in Blue Green resorts.

As we holiday in Europe, in the main, being in the RCI weeks system we are treated as 2nd class citizens, because the points members get the best availability and our weeks at Oasis lakes do not seem to trade as well as they used to when we first bought. Fortunately for us, we now also own at the MacDonalds Dona Lola Resort, which I can highly recommend and this enables to get the peak summer weeks in Spain.

We have been trying to sell the BLue Green points, almost since we bought then and havent been successful. We have been told that the gold preferred status will transfer with them. And we arent asking anywhere near what we paid for them - So Ebay - here I come.

Anybody got any other suggestions !

=====================================

I don't know if you caught it, but previously within this very thread (see above), a poster has identified the Internet site for a Bluegreen users group. It might be beneficial to you to post a similar inquiry there, as there might well be more collective insight and suggestions there (maybe even some prospective buyers) among current Bluegreen owners as to the actual value and/or marketability of your Bluegreen points ownership. Good luck.

ken1193 wrote:

dawns wrote:

We have been owners at Oasis Lakes since it was built and in 1995 returned and were convinced by Bule Green to give up our fixed weeks 51 & 52 for points. What a big mistake and more money !

We now own 37,000 points and are Gold preferred members, but have not since returned to the US and do not intend to, therefore every year I have book weeks to the value of out points and bank them in the RCI Weeks system, which is a nightmare in itself.

Our weeks do give us 2 weeks in a 2 bed one year and 3 weeks in a 2 bed the following year at Oasis Lakes but can be used anywhere in Blue Green resorts.

As we holiday in Europe, in the main, being in the RCI weeks system we are treated as 2nd class citizens, because the points members get the best availability and our weeks at Oasis lakes do not seem to trade as well as they used to when we first bought. Fortunately for us, we now also own at the MacDonalds Dona Lola Resort, which I can highly recommend and this enables to get the peak summer weeks in Spain.

We have been trying to sell the BLue Green points, almost since we bought then and havent been successful. We have been told that the gold preferred status will transfer with them. And we arent asking anywhere near what we paid for them - So Ebay - here I come.

Anybody got any other suggestions !

=====================================

I don't know if you caught it, but previously within this very thread (see above), a poster has identified the Internet site for a Bluegreen users group. It might be beneficial to you to post a similar inquiry there, as there might well be more collective insight and suggestions there (maybe even some prospective buyers) among current Bluegreen owners as to the actual value and/or marketability of your Bluegreen points ownership. Good luck.

Thanks for your reply, I have registered to go on this site at yahoo and will be posting on this site as soon as I can

I purchased BG in Mar.,07 and was told how one could purchase the low points and still be able to go to Hawaii, and that I could put my points up for rent with BG and actually pay for my ownership. Then I got hit with maintenance fees all at once in Dec. When I called about paying, I was allowed to put it on credit for three months equal payments but I had to call in every month for the payment. I was treated with total unconcern when I expressed my opinion about this payment being due on the worst time of the year and asked about putting it in the mortgage payments like other timeshares do. I was simply told "No". I also didn't see why I had to call in every month for an equal payment when they had all of my information. Then I received a letter from BG letting me know that they will no longer be doing rentals for owners because it is not profitable for them. I am so disgusted with BG that I have put it up for sale with Pinnacle Vacations. DON'T BUY. RS

timothyh28 wrote:

Hello! Just signed with Bluegreen and second guessing as this is our 1st exposure to a program like this. Are any of you owners with Bluegreen or had exposure to them? Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated! We only have 48 hours to bail!!

Hi. My husband and I became Bluegreen owners in 2002. We have 5,000 annual points and are owners at Big Cedar Wilderness Club near Branson, Missouri. We have used our points and bonus time A LOT!! Mostly at Big Cedar because it is only approx. 3 hours from home and we could usually just call up and get reservations for a quick get away. We have not endured any problems and actually really like the program. There are no set weeks --- just the use of points, or bonus time at a great rate. We had high hopes of taking great vacations and someday passing our deed on to our child. Unfortunately, we have to sell our deed due to falling on some unforseen circumstances. If anyone has any info. on how to sell, please let me know. Thanks.

pamelan36 wrote:

timothyh28 wrote:

Hello! Just signed with Bluegreen and second guessing as this is our 1st exposure to a program like this. Are any of you owners with Bluegreen or had exposure to them? Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated! We only have 48 hours to bail!!

--------------- Hi. My husband and I became Bluegreen owners in 2002. We have 5,000 annual points and are owners at Big Cedar Wilderness Club near Branson, Missouri. We have used our points and bonus time A LOT!! Mostly at Big Cedar because it is only approx. 3 hours from home and we could usually just call up and get reservations for a quick get away. We have not endured any problems and actually really like the program. There are no set weeks --- just the use of points, or bonus time at a great rate. We had high hopes of taking great vacations and someday passing our deed on to our child. Unfortunately, we have to sell our deed due to falling on some unforseen circumstances. If anyone has any info. on how to sell, please let me know. Thanks.

============ As suggested farther up the topic line, the Bluegreen owners site is bluegreen@yahoogroups.com. A regular contributer there is Jim (bocabum1999@yahoo.com). He is both a Bluegreen owner and an authorized resale agent with Pinnacle which is BG related. Resale points purchased via Pinnacle DO count toward certain benefits such as VIP levels which usually do NOT come with resale points from other sources. This gives Pinnacle an "edge" for getting sellers a decent price on the resale market and getting full benefits for buyers. An earlier poster mentioned that they are hoping to sell through Pinnacle, though I don't know whether Jim was their contact person. (I hope he appreciates all the free advertising I seem to be giving him lately!)

However, you might also try renting Big Cedar through RedWeek and try to avoid selling, since you are a happy owner. I should add that we ourselves are happy owners of 26,000 points. MD

dreamtravelinc wrote:

Actually we do have to roll over all unused points to our next use year. We always have to do that by April 1. We bought a small point package which is not even enough to stay a week per year somewhere. We bought under the impression that we could use the points for mini-vacations at the locations as that is what was suggested to us for that particular point package. Of course what they fail to mention is that you can never get into the locations you want and of course, if you book for less than a week, you can only do that within 5 months of check in and by then everything is gone. Just wish we had never bought...

============ This is a new reply to an old posting, but I hope dreamtravel will see it. The latest word is that Bluegreen is changing its policy on reserving partial weeks to allow owners to reserve less than a full week just as far ahead as they can reserve full ones. It should be a real help to those with small points packages. MD

Hi Adahiscout!

Thanks for the info. That will be great if Bluegreen follows through. It might restore some of my faith in them!

Glad to see you are still with us, dreamtravel. Yes, this new Bluegreen policy seems to be the real thing. I have not taken time to see if it is on the BG site yet. Maybe they will explain in more detail in their magazine. MD

Ok, My wife and I ave been owners for one year. In that time we have gotten a promotional package including tickets and hotel for 3 days 2 nights and a discount coupon book, that we actually used. We had a great time, and took advantage of their generosity. Ended up purchasing the smallest package they could offer. Came home and looked at Pennicle and wrote a letter to rescend the contract. Bought from pennicle for 3 times the amount of points. We have since gone to Branson for a week, made reservations for Gulf Shores Alabama for a week, I just made reservations for Big Cedar again at Branson for next week from the hotlist for 3,000 pnts, and we are planning to go somewhere in florida next Oct. We are loving this!

It seems to me that those who have the flexibility with dates and locations and well as having enough points to make reservations well in advance are happiest with the deal. Those who are not as flexible and have fewer points are not as happy with it.

If you are relatively flexible on the vacations you take as to when and or where then buy as many points as you can afford Through Pinnicle not at the review center. Take the tour, and walk away and buy from pinnacle. And buy enough points to actually do what you want.

Just my 2 cents, W

Good to hear W's confirmation of satisfaction with Pinnacle. Yes, more points do give a much more satisfactory flexibility and if you can't use them all in one year they will automatically roll over into the next year. Rolled points, however, are good on Red, White, or Blue weeks. They cannot be used for BG's High Red or Leaf Season. Some BG resorts are entirely R, W, & B but some new resorts stack new high demand seasons on top!

The new rule allowing partial weeks to be reserved just as early as full weeks is confirmed. The minimum reservation is 3 days. MD

I just came across this post and realized I was reading somthing I wrote three years ago. A little update. We have upgraded again and are now gold members with 40,000 points. We did buy authorized resale points both times. Bluegreen has just changed their policy. As of June 1st bluegreen will not authorize any package sold for less than 1.25 per point. You can still buy cheap resale, but no premier status. We are very happy owners who travel all the time. Blugreen forces us to take time out for our family, quite honestly I would not go on vacations if I didn't own timeshare. We have been to smokey mnts, pidgeon forge, Branson Missouri, both falls village and big cedar, gulfshores Alabama, daytona beach, Myrtle beach, Orlando. Most of these destinations multiple times. My kids call the resorts our little houses. They think we own little houses all over the country and in a wierd sort of way they are right. Still lovin it!

Glad we are all still around from this thread! We are getting Old with Bluegreen but still enjoy it very much. MD

georget81, I have been researching Bluegreen to see if it is right for us. The issue that you aren't able to book has come up in several forums. Is booking 11 months in advance always necessary? We often go by the spur of the moment as my husband travels for work we never know what part of the country he would be in and thought we could book close by him sometimes so we could spend family time together. We would use the resorts at least twice a year and mostly in the summer. Holidays don't really matter. Is this only an issue in peak seasons or all year around?

Lawanna

If you don't want to book far in advance then timesharing is probably not for you. There is a solution though. Check into renting from the owners instead. Check the rentals at this site and other sites. Many times you can rent from an owner for less than they pay in maintenance fees. especially close to their time slot.

Ownership has it's drawbacks. You have to pay a large fee to buy the unit and then there is the ever increasing maintenance fees and assessments. Down the road if your life changes and you find you can't afford the fees anymore you will find out how hard it is to transfer the property out of your name. Scammers will be swimming around like sharks asking you to pay thousands of dollars to get out of your ownership.

Do your homework and make sure ownership is what your really want.