Buying a timeshare...

[signal]

I live in Florida, timeshare capital it seems. You can get timeshares for FREE. People will give them away to get out of them. Of course, you have to pay the yearly maintenance, which is typically at least $350-$500/yr for a typical week (or more), plus you could be subject to special assessments and other things owners are responsible for..........

 

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[Beachkid23]

Well we just got back from our vacation off seven days. Had a blast it was a fun time! I did not find anything to resell except for a 2 gramish
14 K earring but I don't know where it went. Then after driving 12 hours we got home our bathroom toilet was running the whole entire time and leaked all over the place. The wall is soaked. The wooden garbage can was full of mold ! I wonder how much our water bill will be from this one!!! I think next time we will stay here and family can come visit. Driving from Greenville South Carolina in the Fort Myers Florida with three kids was not as fun as I thought it would be!! Glad to be back and we had a great time so instead of going out to garage sales tomorrow I will be doing my bathroom and probably cutting out the walls instead!

 

[Peyton Manning]

iffn they give you a gift to listen to the spiel, run!!

 

[Citiboy289]

Just some information on things to look for in the Timeshare world

If you must have one consider looking on E BAY they go really cheap $100 is not unheard of there
ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU ARE BUYING A DEEDED TIMESHARE ---- Deeded timeshares are like a piece of real property they never expire You actually hold a deed for you share of the building. Kind of like holding a share of stock in a company
Find one that is managed by an owners association not a CORPORATION , that way you as an owner of your share have a vote on any assessments or dues increases, also as a " share holder " you get discounts on use on other than YOUR weeks
Lastly buy one that has a high RCI rating makes swapping it out very easy for better places
We picked up one on E BAY for $147.00 use it every year, visit the place at least an additional 2 - 3 times a year and our DUES are $500.00 per year , owner managed board of directors who run for the office
Ours is a 4 hour drive from our home makes getting there a breeze

 

[s.tan]

Timeshares can be a nightmare or a viable option to vacationing as long as you understand that they are NOT an investment and you should not buy one expecting its value to go up (regardless of the charts the salesperson shows you of how much they have increased in value over the last 5 or 10 years. The developers have just raised the price each year). So Rule #1 Timeshare is NOT like true real estate (deed or no deed)!

We have 2 (1-deeded, 1- not), have enjoyed them both for the last 8 years and still use them but then, we didn't end up buying them from the "developer". We bought them on the secondary market from a broker for a fraction of what the original sales price was. One timeshare that would have cost $32 000 we bought for $8 000. The advantage of timeshare we feel is that if you are careful in your selection, it does open up the options of vacationing at different places within that timeshare's "family" of properties rather than being tied down to one destination as you would be if you purchased, let's say, a condo somewhere. So Rule #2 is to select a timeshare that has a variety of properties in places that you would want to vacation in.

Salesmen will tell you how you can trade through RCI or Interval International but there are costs associated with doing any trade; there is no guarantee that you will get the dates you want, and if it is somewhere you need to fly to, like Hawaii, then how can you book airline tickets? The second problem with trying to trade is one that we should be all familiar with, and that is you must have something of equal or better value to trade or no one will want to exchange with you... so Rule #3 is the timeshare you choose must be a desirable one to the open market.

The #4 rule is to select a timeshare that also has properties close to your city of residence so that you can use up your points/time on a few short, lower transportation cost driving vacations so you don't lose/let your points expire. If you don't use it, the annual maintenance costs will quickly begin to haunt you!

Before we bought the first timeshare we wanted, we did go to a few sales presentations to see what they were all about; but you have to try to go in with the mindset that you are only going on a fact finding mission. I know that its easier said than done and we actually did use the 7 day buyers remorse clause (check the duration for buyers remorse in whatever state you live in!) on the first occasion after I did some research and found out about the secondary market.

Our second timeshare was purchased after we saw a particular timeshare property in Hawaii that we fell in love with. The cost to purchase at the property was $32K (that's a downpayment on some actual investment real estate!) but because the property is part of a timeshare family, we purchased a deeded cheaper property within the family (on the secondary market) and currently trade into our desired destination, annually. Coincidentally our deeded property is in Florida where timeshares tend to be cheaper since there are more timeshares and therefore more competition, but we have never gone to stay at our own deeded property.

The bottom line is that timeshare is not for everybody. You have to consider the cost as non recoverable and treat it like the cost of an annual vacation. If it works out cheaper that what you would spend on a vacation annually over time, then you are ahead. If it allows you to stay in better accommodations than what you would normally be able to afford, then you are ahead. If neither of these two criteria are met, then don't be suckered in by the sales pitch or pressure tactics. Be firm and tell them that it doesn't work for you, get up, thank them, and go. If you give in to the pressure, you will more then likely regret it later.

I don't know if this will help anyone but I thought I would just share our reasons for owning timeshare .... and BTW, just like everyone else, we've sat through some high pressure, guilt filled presentations. We don't go to presentations anymore; even the owner's updates that promise a gift in compensation for your time ... the promise of a gift should always be a warning that an attempt is going to be made to try to sell you something.

 

[dejapooh]

Just some information on things to look for in the Timeshare world

If you must have one consider looking on E BAY they go really cheap $100 is not unheard of there
ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU ARE BUYING A DEEDED TIMESHARE ---- Deeded timeshares are like a piece of real property they never expire You actually hold a deed for you share of the building. Kind of like holding a share of stock in a company
Find one that is managed by an owners association not a CORPORATION , that way you as an owner of your share have a vote on any assessments or dues increases, also as a " share holder " you get discounts on use on other than YOUR weeks
Lastly buy one that has a high RCI rating makes swapping it out very easy for better places
We picked up one on E BAY for $147.00 use it every year, visit the place at least an additional 2 - 3 times a year and our DUES are $500.00 per year , owner managed board of directors who run for the office
Ours is a 4 hour drive from our home makes getting there a breeze

Mind telling us what company that is? I wouldn;t mind getting in on a good deal of a time share, and that price sounds about right for me.

 

[dejapooh]

Thanks... Very helpful...

Timeshares can be a nightmare or a viable option to vacationing as long as you understand that they are NOT an investment and you should not buy one expecting its value to go up (regardless of the charts the salesperson shows you of how much they have increased in value over the last 5 or 10 years. The developers have just raised the price each year). So Rule #1 Timeshare is NOT like true real estate (deed or no deed)! We have 2 (1-deeded, 1- not), have enjoyed them both for the last 8 years and still use them but then, we didn't end up buying them from the "developer". We bought them on the secondary market from a broker for a fraction of what the original sales price was. One timeshare that would have cost $32 000 we bought for $8 000. The advantage of timeshare we feel is that if you are careful in your selection, it does open up the options of vacationing at different places within that timeshare's "family" of properties rather than being tied down to one destination as you would be if you purchased, let's say, a condo somewhere. So Rule #2 is to select a timeshare that has a variety of properties in places that you would want to vacation in. Salesmen will tell you how you can trade through RCI or Interval International but there are costs associated with doing any trade; there is no guarantee that you will get the dates you want, and if it is somewhere you need to fly to, like Hawaii, then how can you book airline tickets? The second problem with trying to trade is one that we should be all familiar with, and that is you must have something of equal or better value to trade or no one will want to exchange with you... so Rule #3 is the timeshare you choose must be a desirable one to the open market. The #4 rule is to select a timeshare that also has properties close to your city of residence so that you can use up your points/time on a few short, lower transportation cost driving vacations so you don't lose/let your points expire. If you don't use it, the annual maintenance costs will quickly begin to haunt you! Before we bought the first timeshare we wanted, we did go to a few sales presentations to see what they were all about; but you have to try to go in with the mindset that you are only going on a fact finding mission. I know that its easier said than done and we actually did use the 7 day buyers remorse clause (check the duration for buyers remorse in whatever state you live in!) on the first occasion after I did some research and found out about the secondary market. Our second timeshare was purchased after we saw a particular timeshare property in Hawaii that we fell in love with. The cost to purchase at the property was $32K (that's a downpayment on some actual investment real estate!) but because the property is part of a timeshare family, we purchased a deeded cheaper property within the family (on the secondary market) and currently trade into our desired destination, annually. Coincidentally our deeded property is in Florida where timeshares tend to be cheaper since there are more timeshares and therefore more competition, but we have never gone to stay at our own deeded property. The bottom line is that timeshare is not for everybody. You have to consider the cost as non recoverable and treat it like the cost of an annual vacation. If it works out cheaper that what you would spend on a vacation annually over time, then you are ahead. If it allows you to stay in better accommodations than what you would normally be able to afford, then you are ahead. If neither of these two criteria are met, then don't be suckered in by the sales pitch or pressure tactics. Be firm and tell them that it doesn't work for you, get up, thank them, and go. If you give in to the pressure, you will more then likely regret it later. I don't know if this will help anyone but I thought I would just share our reasons for owning timeshare .... and BTW, just like everyone else, we've sat through some high pressure, guilt filled presentations. We don't go to presentations anymore; even the owner's updates that promise a gift in compensation for your time ... the promise of a gift should always be a warning that an attempt is going to be made to try to sell you something.

 

[s.tan]

Thanks... Very helpful...

Paragraphs would be nice (my eyes tend to get crossed in big blocks of text, no matter how well written and interesting).

Oops! Sorry! Didn't check the final text appearance. Its fixed now, hopefully.

 

[meanpc]

We did one of those Bass Pro timeshare trips this past summer. Got an awesome two condo suite at a really nice place for $50 a night in prime time in the Smoky Mountains. The sales pitch was about 2 hours. They brought the pressure, I said no about 10 times then we left. We paid $250 for five nights, then they gave us $100 worth of Bass Pro gift cards. Totally worth it if you don't have a problem with the pressure sales thing. The company was Blue Green. I would absolutely never consider buying a timeshare. There's entire industries built around helping people get rid of the damn things!

 

[s.c.shooter]

We have one in Orlando. Been paid for for years. We always swap it out for somewhere we want to go and also we can go to their site and purchase extra vacations for a fraction of what it normally cost to go to a resort. For us it has worked out great!

 

[Beachkid23]

So we came back from our timeshare experience to have a flooded bathroom from a water leak. Followed by a water bill that totaled $965. So not only did I not buy a timeshare I cannot afford the other stuff as well to get repaired but I guess that's what insurances for.