TimeShares..experiences with purchasing/ good/bad?
 

We're back from our road trip to Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Vegas, while in Vegas we sat through a Timeshare talk for free show tickets. I'd like to hear about any experiences with purchasing Timeshares. We didn't buy, they wanted commitment right on the spot! They seem like a good idea.

I think they are a terrible idea. I almost bought one, and then I did the math. You have annual maintenance fees, assessments, and you are stuck to one pace to vacation every year. If you want to trade, that'll cost you extra.

We felt it wasn't worth it. ((b))

Run like hell - the resale value of time shares is terrible. If you really want one you can look for a resale. Laws of ownership are also sketchy.

If you are really interested in a timeshare, the one piece of advice I would give you about purchasing is to NEVER, EVER purchase one from directly the resort. If you do, you are paying a premium for their slick brochures, salesmen commissions and all the freebies they give out to lure people in. Of course they want to close the deal while you're there, so they can take advantage of your "vacation elation". There are many people out there trying to unload the timeshares they bought on vacation.

You were smart to come home and think about it. If you are considering a timeshare, you should do a lot of research. The Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net has lots of great articles and advice to determine whether a timeshare is right for you and how to go about purchasing one. They also have reviews of most of the resorts, history of resale prices, as well as classified ads for people trying to sell their timeshares. Ebay is also a good source for the timeshare resale market.

The salesperson probably showed you a catalog of properties all over the world that you can trade for. Be aware of this also. If you want to travel during the popular holiday periods, it is very difficult to get the trade you want. The TUG2 website will explain all of this and more to you. Get informed, do the math, then decide.

Thanks, will go to the Timeshare user group website. Doesn't sound like such a good idea anymore, but will research.

My parents bought two different weeks over 25 years ago and paid somewhere in the area of $10,000 each. There were many years where they paid the maintanence fee but never used the weeks or if they were used it was just for the weekend and not the full week. They were having a hard time just giving them away for the closing cost. Finally they sold them BOTH for a $1,000 and were very HAPPY to get that. These were BEAUTIFUL units at North Shore Lake Tahoe!

If you find you are interested again, my father-in-law has some timeshares he would like to unload too!

Utahtea

Too funny Utahtea! ^0^ looks like there are a couple threads on Timeshares, next time I'll make sure to do a search first. Thanks everyone for your input

I wouldn't poo poo a timeshare so quickly. If you are someone who travels a whole lot (at LEAST a couple times a year) and spends a lot on hotel rooms they might be they way to go. You MUST buy one in a place that is desirable (NOT Vegas) Hawaii, Bahamas, and St John are the best because then you have more trading power. And you DON'T have to go the same place every year and there aren't fee's to trade, only certain trades cost, and the cost is a whopping 129$ and the condo's are fabulous, much better then a tiny hotel room. We pay yearly dues that are far less then what we pay in hotel costs. And they may be bad resale, but you don't buy them to resell them, you buy them to use them. We talked to our financial advisor before finalizing ours and he said it is a good deal as long as you travel a lot (we do). We bought ours in the Bahamas and already have it traded for Maui in January, at no additional cost.

We know of a couple whom we are friendly with who just purchased a time share last year. I haven't heard them complain much so far. There's is in Puerto Rico. They went last year and they are going again this year. They seem to think it was a good deal.I have only heard negatives about them from most people.

We purchased our first time share in Ft. Myers Beach 10 years ago for $4000 for a fixed week in Feb (Presidents week, so our children are on vacation). Another unit came available the same week and the week before - we ended up buying all 3 weeks and have never regretted it!

With a family of 5, the 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living rm, dining rm, full kitchen and lanai are the best way to vacation. My in-laws own several weeks in Orlando, so we sometimes trade with each other. We have also traded for condos in Sedona, AZ, Cape Cod, Williamsburg, VA, White Mtns in NH and others and have had amazing units each time. We are always guaranteed a 2-bedroom unit which saves us from hotel hassles.

My advice - purchase in an area you where you want to spend time. Also, learn to use the system (RCI or II). We have also rented out weeks we couldn't use, which helped pay maint. fees. Our resort (Tropical Sands) was not high-pressure at all. In fact, they simply hand out flyers with available weeks and prices. FYI, my in-laws have owned their time shares for 20 years and absolutely love them! With some research you can make out pretty well.

P.S. We were renting a unit there for a week for $1100 when we bought - in 4 years we definitely got our $4000 back!

BBear, I'm curious as to what companies you have used to rent out you timeshare. So far I've rented mine out to friends which has worked extremely well. I have never gone through a company and I was wondering what other people's experience are with this and which ones are good/bad companies.

I think the best way to beat a timeshare presentation and a hard sell is to say that you never sign any type of contract before your attorney reviews it. Usually, they make you decide on the spot and say that the offer is only good for today. You can agree that everything else looks good (to avoid lengthy debates even though the financial numbers always don't work).

There is not a sensible person in the world who can look you in the eye and honestly tell you that buying a time share is a "good real estate investment".

But if that's what it takes for you to make a committment to travel, and if you like the possibilities along with the restrictions that they give, then go for it. Many people are unable to save in other ways and carefully manage their travel budget. Having the requirements of buying a place that then allows them to go somewhere every year is a good thing for them. No one can argue with people who feel they get their money's worth out of them, and there are lots of people out there who feel that way. And that's the bottom line of the whole thing -- you feeling like you get your money's worth of travel value, not what other people think.

Agree with Patrick.

Never ever purchase a time share for money reasons.

Purchase a timeshare for vacation reasons only in a destination you don't mind visiting year after year after year.

BBear had the most compelling reason to purchase.

Like a previous poster said, if you are interested look on E-Bay. Resale if you must buy, is the way to go.I bought mine on E-Bay for $450.00.( certain companys "dump" them on E-Bay when they are in inventory to long) Of course this does not include the closing costs involved.Maintanance fees are $450 a year. I figure we are saving at least half of what it would cost at the resort. It is a Sheraton resort in Puerto Vallarta. It had 17 years left on it, and the original owners paid $10K. We used it this past April and loved it. ( bought site unseen) We are looking foward to going again in March.A company called Hoiliday Resale i believe, is reliable. They "dump" on E-Bay and also have re-sale on their web-site Good luck.

Hi - before we bought our timeshare weeks we talked to both our accountant and our investment guy. Both of them own timeshares. As they both basically said: you do not buy a timeshare as a financial investment - you buy as an investment in quality vacations. If you do it right - they are the greatest!! sue

We own one timeshare, bought on impulse from the salesman on site in Florida many years ago for at least 4 times what we would have paid if we had known what we do today from experience and belonging to tug2 (recommended in another post). We pay $550 to $800 a year in mant and taxes plus special assessments.
Nevertheless, swe don't regret getting into timesharing simply because it has opened us up to vacationing in some fabulous places (through trading) that we would never have thought of going before.

Some people in our local area, Williamsburg/Virginia Beach, buy timeshares here because they can use the facilities year-round and then trade their weeks. We have friends that purchased in Va Beach and are able to use the showers etc when they go down for the day.

When we lived in Alaska we bought timeshare weeks in Hawaii over 15 years ago and have never regreted the purchase. We go to Hawaii every year for a month and we love it there. It's a vacation we use each and every year We bought the timeshares because we wanted that Hawaii month. It was, and still is, an investment in a vaction. I must also say that the value of my Hawaii weeks has not gone down. If anything, they are a bit higher in value than when we bought. Still not a money maker, but not a loser either. As some have said, not everyone who buys a timeshare is unhappy.

Before we purchased a "vacation ownership" in Hawaii, My hubby & I would talk about going on a really nice vacation, but it never happened. There was always a house project to work on, or a bill to pay. We finally said "yes" to a very inexpensive weekend in Tahoe from a telemarketer. We declined purchase there, but bought the Hawaii trip they offered. It didn't take long for us to understand the value of getting away from it all to paradise. We returned home, refinanced and signed up for a mile earning credit card. We now own two, with the plan of leaving them to our kids one day. We will be able to use our weeks to send them on their honeymoon trips. Now, we never plan to miss a summer of vacation bliss! We have all ready created amazingly wonderful, lasting memories from our trips. I agree with travelinfamily, buy in a highly desirable place. It's easier to trade to other spots, than to Hawaii or the Carribean.