The Lawrence Welk Resort in Temecula, CA appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Getting to the sales building requires a wiggling drive through the many different areas of the resort, appropriately enough. From what I could see, it was a golf country club with plenty of swimming pools and happy slides for the kiddies.
Linda was surprisingly nice and accommodating with us. It was apparent that she did not desire to pressure us into buying something we would not really use or could afford. The presentation took place in a large conference room with individual cafe style tables. Each salesperson had their own table, but the chit chat from nearby discussions made it hard to concentrate.
They offered complementary coffee, juice and light snacks so as to keep us pleasantly comfortable.
Down to the pricing. Last, but not least, the financial addendum came into play. Ownership is purchased in terms of "weeks" that can be used at the Temecula resort or "exchanged" for days at other locations around the world. Don't quote me on this, but for a 2-bedroom layout with 4 weeks of vacation opportunity per year the purchase cost is around $69,000. There are financing opportunities with Welk Resorts at 14.99% APR/APY(?). Also required is an annual "maintenance/home ownership association" fee of around $700.
There's plenty of room to negotiate, and the financial manager can move weeks and numbers and bedroom layouts around to suit your financial ability. But in the end, the price just didn't seem to make optimal financial sense.
After six hours, we declined. I felt guilty for asking so many questions, but they should not have left the hefty profiting till the very end. Next, Linda dropped us off at the "checkout/gift" counter where we sat with another very nice lady, Nicole, who explained which gifts we were entitled to for experiencing the presentation...[see next post]
