Timeshares?
- Thread starter sinwagon
- Start date
BlackSheep
New Member
dn0121
New Member
Ebay has them cheap too. I love my time share. Up front costs suck but using it allows you to take nicer vacations and you can budget your money easier knowing that there is a set cost each year.
Mine is also in Vegas at the Polo Towers next to MGM on the strip. I bought the 2 week one so I usually use 1 week and trade or rent the other to a friend or
co-worker. I goto Vegas in a few weeks and can't wait! I have to check out what time shares are available for trade around here now that I am here. Never been to Ocean City so we may try that instead of renting the other week this year.
Mine is also in Vegas at the Polo Towers next to MGM on the strip. I bought the 2 week one so I usually use 1 week and trade or rent the other to a friend or
co-worker. I goto Vegas in a few weeks and can't wait! I have to check out what time shares are available for trade around here now that I am here. Never been to Ocean City so we may try that instead of renting the other week this year.
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If you qualify you might want to try http://www.afvclub.com
awpitt
Main Streeter
sinwagon said:
The answers to all of your questions depend on you. Timeshares work great for some and not at all for others. You’ll probably see a few responses here about how bad timeshares are. The best thing for you to do is plenty of research before you talk to any timeshare folks.
1. Are they worth it?
That depends on what you like. If you like white sandy beaches, blue water and umbrella drinks you definitely don’t want to buy a timeshare in the mountains; however, if you like skiing, the mountains might be for you. Don’t get roped into buying something that you’re not going to use. Most of the sale pitches emphasize the ability to “exchange”. This means that you can exchange the use of your home resort for another resort within their network. This is a nice option but why buy something if you’re going to exchange it every year? The best thing to do is to buy into a resort where you know you’re going to want to come back each year. You can still exchange if you want to try something different one year but it’s nice to have a home resort where you just can’t wait to come back to each year.
2. Where can you find the best one?
Again, this depends on you. What’s your favorite type of vacation? Your answer will help determine what timeshare resort is best for you. One thing you should try to avoid is a fixed week. Most timeshares are bought based on a certain week out of the year and that’s the week you return each and every year. The problem is that as you life changes, things come up and that might not be the best week for you any more. Or maybe your employer won’t let you off that week. It’s best to look at places that are based on floating weeks. If you haven’t guessed yet, my wife and I own a timeshare. Ours is in the Bahamas and it’s based on floating weeks. In this case, we can use any week between mid May and the end of August and then another window of three weeks around the Thanksgiving timeframe. This works real well because each year we decide when the best time is for us and then we call and lock our week for the year. The only down side to our timeshare is that we either have to fly or float to get there but we’ve found that if you plan ahead, there are plenty of cheap fights. Plus, the resort itself is way way worth it. This year the four of us are flying straight from DCA to the Bahamas for $800 round trip.
3. What is a reasonable price?
Best way to figure this out is to search the Internet for resale units and see what places are being listed for. You can buy a resale or directly from the resort’s developer. If you buy from a developer, the best thing to do is find a resort you like then contact them for more info. They’ll usually respond by sending you an offer for some sort of free weekend to spend at the resort in exchange for sitting through a two hour sales pitch. If you like it, buy it. If not, just say no (that’s the hard part) but either way, you get a nice cheap mini-vacation. We’ve been on two trips to Orlando this way. Sat through the sales pitch, said no and took the kids to Disney, on their dime.
4. How exactly do they work?
Like I said earlier, you usually buy one week out of the year, hence the term timeshare. Some resorts work based on points but they still equate point values to weeks. They come in either fixed weeks (i.e. week 25) or floating weeks which allow you to pick a different week each year. This is much more flexible based on my own personal experience. It’s very important to make sure you understand your home resort’s exchange value. This is where you might want to consider spending extra dollars so you own a resort/week that will be in high demand. This way, if you ever want to exchange, you’ll have free choice of all the sister resorts that you might want to try in future years. If you buy a cheaper low demand resort/week, then you’re going to find that you’ll have fewer choices when it comes time to exchange your week for another week at a different resort. Remember, once you buy a timeshare, it’s yours so you’ll want to spend a little extra up front to make sure you’ll have the most valuable resort/week in the future. That’s what we did when we bought our timeshare in the Bahamas. It’s at http://www.harborsideresort.com and we love it. Our unit is very high demand. I think it’s beat only by the sister resort in Hawaii as far as exchange value is concerned.
My fingers are tired from typing so I hope this info helps. Remember, you’ll hear from people who love timeshares and people who hate them. The important thing is what’s right for you.
Ken King said:
Same group as above (RCI) but for all government active and retired employees. One week for $299 based on availability.
http://www.getravelop.com/html/ge_index2.asp
L
lugebob
Guest
I have the week of 4th of July at the Grandview in Vegas. If anyone is interested in renting or buying me out let me know.
Our lifestyle is not compatible with timeshares, as we found out. I cannot plan ahead, nor do I like to stay in one place for a week at a time.
Our lifestyle is not compatible with timeshares, as we found out. I cannot plan ahead, nor do I like to stay in one place for a week at a time.
SoMDMama82
New Member
My parents own a few timeshares with Fairfield (I think they recently have been bought out by Wyndham).
Anyway, these timeshares are really neat. They do it based on a point system. I know they own 2 in Williamsburg and one (I think) in Atlantic City. They don't own a particular "property", just kind of own a piece of the company. I've never stayed at the places where their timeshares are based, I've been a lot of other places though. They have places all over the world, and even on cruise ships. It's more like, as long as their are vacancies, you can go there. They also are partnered with RCI, so you can use their resorts also, of course for a little bit more "points'. You can Will the properties to your children also, and keep them in your family forever. The resorts I've stayed at are georgous. They have gulf, skiing, beach, mountain, etc. resorts to stay. We've LOVED it! Pricing is based on how many "points" you wish to have each year. And I know for sure they've used them for some weekend get-aways before, but I think if you stay at an RCI is has to be a week-long trip. Hope this helps....oh, here is their website: https://www.fairfieldresorts.com/ffr/index.do
Anyway, these timeshares are really neat. They do it based on a point system. I know they own 2 in Williamsburg and one (I think) in Atlantic City. They don't own a particular "property", just kind of own a piece of the company. I've never stayed at the places where their timeshares are based, I've been a lot of other places though. They have places all over the world, and even on cruise ships. It's more like, as long as their are vacancies, you can go there. They also are partnered with RCI, so you can use their resorts also, of course for a little bit more "points'. You can Will the properties to your children also, and keep them in your family forever. The resorts I've stayed at are georgous. They have gulf, skiing, beach, mountain, etc. resorts to stay. We've LOVED it! Pricing is based on how many "points" you wish to have each year. And I know for sure they've used them for some weekend get-aways before, but I think if you stay at an RCI is has to be a week-long trip. Hope this helps....oh, here is their website: https://www.fairfieldresorts.com/ffr/index.do
Timeshares may be great, depends on how and where you want to spend your vacation time.
Are they a good deal....maybe...maybe not...just remember
If you paid $25,000 for a timeshare
at 5% interest....you no longer have the 25K and you've lost $1250 a year in interest on the 25K that you could have used for a vacation while keeping your money.
The maintenance fee, whatever it is, let's say $600. Timeshare salesman explain this as a yearly fee, but to my way of thinking it's a weekly fee, because you only have use of it for a week......if you have two weeks, double it...
So from my perspective, using my example
You can buy the timeshare, enjoy it
or
keep your 25K, earn $1250 interest on the money, save the maintenance fee expense charged (ex. $600.00)
and use that $1850.00 a year on a vacation...
Are they a good deal....maybe...maybe not...just remember
If you paid $25,000 for a timeshare
at 5% interest....you no longer have the 25K and you've lost $1250 a year in interest on the 25K that you could have used for a vacation while keeping your money.
The maintenance fee, whatever it is, let's say $600. Timeshare salesman explain this as a yearly fee, but to my way of thinking it's a weekly fee, because you only have use of it for a week......if you have two weeks, double it...
So from my perspective, using my example
You can buy the timeshare, enjoy it
or
keep your 25K, earn $1250 interest on the money, save the maintenance fee expense charged (ex. $600.00)
and use that $1850.00 a year on a vacation...
awpitt
Main Streeter
zimmie said:
We didn't take out a loan for ours so interest is a non-issue. You're right about the maintenance fee. The place needs to be maintained plus it covers insurance. Ours was $400 this year. The adavantage we have, that you didn't mention, is that this is ours for life and it's making money. Someone buying in 5 or 10 years from now will not be able to purchase a place like ours for what we paid. We get to use it 'til we die then the kids get it, unless we sell at future prices. Plus we have the option of staying at a different resort each year if we want. We can choose from Starwood's collection...
http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/resorts/index.jsp
or from Interval's resorts which is sort of like RCI...
http://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1500
So, we'll pay our maintenance fee at go on vacation at yesterday's prices.
awpitt said:
Then enjoy it!...As long as you think it's a good deal, thats all thats important..........You apparently listened very intently to what the timeshare salesperson said.
Actually the interest I was talking about was not the loan interest, but the interest on the money paid for the purchase of the timeshare. Yours is among the minority of timeshares if it's increasing in value....most don't, there is a huge resale market for them......and I'd be very careful about estimating what something will be worth five or ten years from now. Here's a website if you want to buy more at auction.
http://www.bidshares.com/auctions/index.cfm?fuseaction=search
awpitt
Main Streeter
zimmie said:
Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Yes, I did listen very intently to what the timeshare salesperson said and I did quite a bit of research before hand which is why we bought where we did because, as you said, most timeshares don’t increase in value and we wanted one that would. While there are no guarantees, it’s a good bet that the two billion dollars that was just invested to expand the facilities at our resort will have a positive impact on the future value of our timeshare.