Timeshare info

[Feliziano]

just curious, but does anybody here have a timeshare?
what company you with?
on points or weeks system?
plus let me know the pros and cons

Thanks in advance
you can pm me if you dont want to spread yuh business also 

[pecan]

look for timeshare on the secondary market (i.e eBay).  YOu will pay a hefty premium if you buy from the developer.

Depending on the resort, you can get it for less than 15% of the developer pricing.  For example, there is a Grand Cayman resort you can buy for $1.00 (yes I said 1.00) plus closing costs.  Maintenance fees are about $750 per year.

Another example is Shell Vacation Properties.  They have a wide range of excellent properties in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Canada.  Their points are superior to the weeks (I don't think they offer weeks anymore).  Depending on the locations, you can probably pick up 5,000 points (which is the equivalent of one week) for about $0.50 per point or $2,500 including closing costs.  Do not get caught up in a bidding war and bid more than $0.50/point. Another property will turn up.

I have a friend whom I consider to be an expert on buying an selling timeshares.  He wrote an article which was published in a national magazine.  I am trying to get a copy of it.

You can join RCI or Interval.  Or some properties have there own internal trading (for example Shell Vacations or Marriott).  Some propeties have excellent trading power - others don't.

When I get the article, I will send it to you.

[Tallman]

Steups. You cyar even go round de corner, but yuh lookin fuh timeshare  .

[Organic]

Steups. You cyar even go round de corner, but yuh lookin fuh timeshare  .

he better find one in de city... u knwo how de wildlife in de country does be dnagerous....gobble gobble gobble..lol

[weary1969]

D man band bout 2 b lifted so he seekin ways 2 enjoy himself

[capodetutticapi]

if yuh like orlando check out westgate.2 bedroom goin fuh 12-15k,taxes and maintenance bout 600/yr.

[pecan]

if yuh like orlando check out westgate.2 bedroom goin fuh 12-15k,taxes and maintenance bout 600/yr.

check this eBay posting - opening bid is $1.00

eBay Westgate Auction

There are a few more like it.  Let's see what it sells for (if anyone bids on it)

The opening bid for this one is $12,999.  I doubt that it will sell.

Westgate 12,900

Many ppl buy a timeshare then realize that they can't afford ir or it does not work for them.

Timeshare is not for everyone.

[ricky]

I would get something yuh could drive to, or else yuh tied down to a property that going to cost plenty to get to.
If you consider the yearly maintenance fee, and air costs to get to a place, I'm sure you could take your family to a 1 week all inclusive somewhere for the same price and then you not marrid to some place, not to mention your initial cost to buy.
And if you consider exchanging the thing for other locations that is another whole set of money itself

do the maths...they selling the average place for say $10-30K depending on what you looking at, and the $600/week from every owner
the taking in about $1million for each unit + 31K/year in fees
And them things have endless units probably 200-300 per complex.
and your maint fee going up all the time too
Time share only good for the developer boy

my advise....dont buy timeshare...unless you get it for cheap and it close enough you could drive.

[ricky]

Steups. You cyar even go round de corner, but yuh lookin fuh timeshare  .

he better find one in de city... u knwo how de wildlife in de country does be dnagerous....gobble gobble gobble..lol

he should buy a room in the house and call that a win lol

[assrancid]

Time shares are a waste of good money.

[TriniCana]

<taking notes>

when ah tell ya could learn something in here...me ain't lying nah

allyuh continue wid dis free education please and thanks

[weary1969]

Great education 4 true

[ricky]

what it comes down to from what i have seen
you are basically paying up front 10-30K (whatever you buy) in order to save 50% on a vacation retail price.
and the big thing is you tied to some piece of crap property

if you want to exchange it for a better spot, you have to pay the yearly fee to be a member of the exchange program + an exchange fee for each exchange so that totals about $300 per exchange
add it up with the main fee and you paying $900 for some kiss meh ass holiday before airfare pay
if you were to look, im sure you could rent most of dem place for a week for $1000-$1200 which ent much off what the "maintenance" and exchange fee is.
Its way cheaper to buy a week at an all inclusive, even if its 4 of allyuh moving cause with most of them all inclusive in cuba, mexico etc  the rooms and flight is pretty much same as a flight only price.

i know this cause my father bought one when we were small, he has since passed it on to us.   we lucky cause we got a great spot in the rocky mountains that you could drive to easy and he bought it when we was small so it only cost about 5K.  the only time i exchange it is if we in a area anyway of it have some screaming cheap airfare last minute and we able to go.

save money it does not.
i would never in a million years buy one unless you could get one for under 2K

[TriniCana]

allyuh excuse me eh, ah learning this ting

but this reminds me of what Michael Headley does to his place up in Syabia
he built one beautiful house up Toco and rents it out to companies for retreats or even throw a fete ever so often. The money he spent on building, i'm sure he received 2 folds over.

so this time sharing thing is basically the same if i read ricky's post correctly....
you purchase for x amount of dollars. you go vacationing, or rent out to folks.
you make back your money...might take longer dan others i'm sure

right

[Bakes]

what it comes down to from what i have seen
you are basically paying up front 10-30K (whatever you buy) in order to save 50% on a vacation retail price.
and the big thing is you tied to some piece of crap property

if you want to exchange it for a better spot, you have to pay the yearly fee to be a member of the exchange program + an exchange fee for each exchange so that totals about $300 per exchange
add it up with the main fee and you paying $900 for some kiss meh ass holiday before airfare pay
if you were to look, im sure you could rent most of dem place for a week for $1000-$1200 which ent much off what the "maintenance" and exchange fee is.
Its way cheaper to buy a week at an all inclusive, even if its 4 of allyuh moving cause with most of them all inclusive in cuba, mexico etc  the rooms and flight is pretty much same as a flight only price.

i know this cause my father bought one when we were small, he has since passed it on to us.   we lucky cause we got a great spot in the rocky mountains that you could drive to easy and he bought it when we was small so it only cost about 5K.  the only time i exchange it is if we in a area anyway of it have some screaming cheap airfare last minute and we able to go.

save money it does not.
i would never in a million years buy one unless you could get one for under 2K

Not all charge fees for exchanges... plus usually the only 'cost' of the exchange is a reduction in stay time.  If you have disposable enough income and travel a lot Timeshares can be a great way to save on vacations while still ensuring a quality stay.  The key is to buy a timeshare in a high-demand area (like Orlando) where it is still reasonably cheap.  Demand for your timeshare means that whenever you want to trade for another spot somewhere around the world you're likely to get the pick of the litter.

Hawaii is also very desirable but I would never advise anyone to purchase there... not when you can buy into Orlando (Timeshare capital of the world) for half the price, and still (most likely) be able to trade to Hawai'i whenever you want.

[TriniCana]

hmmm interesting, interesting

thanks Buljol for that lesson

[Bakes]

allyuh excuse me eh, ah learning this ting

but this reminds me of what Michael Headley does to his place up in Syabia
he built one beautiful house up Toco and rents it out to companies for retreats or even throw a fete ever so often. The money he spent on building, i'm sure he received 2 folds over.

so this time sharing thing is basically the same if i read ricky's post correctly....
you purchase for x amount of dollars. you go vacationing, or rent out to folks.
you make back your money...might take longer dan others i'm sure

right

Nah...all you purchase is the right to vacation at that spot for up to 2 weeks a year.  You could use those two weeks at your timeshare, or exchange it for a stay at another time share elsewhere around the world.  Each landlord (Westgate in the example above) would have a list of participating timeshares that you can choose from globally.  You can trade the entire two weeks, or just one week and reserve a week at your own place instead.

The value of your timeshare (demand) dictates what you can get in return...it's not a rent b/c you don't get cash for someone else staying there.  The value you get is a 'free' stay elsewhere (in exchange for giving up your right to stay at 'your' time share).

[Bakes]

hmmm interesting, interesting

thanks Buljol for that lesson

No problem.

Mind you.. me eh no perfesshunal eh, I juss get hassle enough whenever ah go on vacation.  Somebody always offering yuh free tickets or money tuh come listen tuh dem tempt yuh fuh 2 hours.  Ah would think by now ah would retain sumting

[ricky]

hmmm interesting, interesting

thanks Buljol for that lesson

No problem.

Mind you.. me eh no perfesshunal eh, I juss get hassle enough whenever ah go on vacation.  Somebody always offering yuh free tickets or money tuh come listen tuh dem tempt yuh fuh 2 hours.  Ah would think by now ah would retain sumting

yuh ent lie bake
you gettin first class 5 star thing
but from what i see, you could rent them place for about half of what the maint fee is
I went orlando a few years ago on an exchange, i think it cost me $250 to exchange plus the maint fee that pops pay so im guessing total was $800-900
when i reach dey renting the place for $150/night (1050 for the week)  Even if you ent have to pay the exchange fee it still only savin you about $400-500 and keep in mind them main fee going up the same as room rates going up so the gap will always be 40-50% i say

everything i see makes me believe all yuh doing is paying money up front in order to save 40-50% on a room dais all
so add in yuh 10-20K, that alot of years  of holiday yuh need until yuh get yuh money back

[Bakes]

hmmm interesting, interesting

thanks Buljol for that lesson

No problem.

Mind you.. me eh no perfesshunal eh, I juss get hassle enough whenever ah go on vacation.  Somebody always offering yuh free tickets or money tuh come listen tuh dem tempt yuh fuh 2 hours.  Ah would think by now ah would retain sumting

yuh ent lie bake
you gettin first class 5 star thing
but from what i see, you could rent them place for about half of what the maint fee is
I went orlando a few years ago on an exchange, i think it cost me $250 to exchange plus the maint fee that pops pay so im guessing total was $800-900
when i reach dey renting the place for $150/night (1050 for the week)  Even if you ent have to pay the exchange fee it still only savin you about $400-500 and keep in mind them main fee going up the same as room rates going up so the gap will always be 40-50% i say

everything i see makes me believe all yuh doing is paying money up front in order to save 40-50% on a room dais all
so add in yuh 10-20K, that alot of years  of holiday yuh need until yuh get yuh money back

ricky ah think is juss de Timeshare allyuh have boss.  Five years ago when ah first was given de shpiel they talk that exchange fee thing.  The last couple years I ent hearing nutten about that so ah think that is ah thing of the past.  The maintenance fee should definitely be taken into consideration, but even factoring in the fee you still come out ahead based on projected rental rates.  Now the hotel could always discount their rates so it is a gamble...at the time you purchase there's no telling what the going rate will be at the unit you plan on staying at years later.  Meanwhile you done locked into that purchase price.

By and large though I believe it works out in your favor... wifey is ah financial analyst and when mankind head was ready tuh buss she hold up de salesman in ah piece ah long talk parsing numbers.  And she wasn't even interested in buying...but she vet it tuh make sure the dollars made sense.  It does...but yuh have to be able to afford it (have enough disposable income), and vacation at least two weeks per year (where you'd actually stay in a hotel and not at family, friends etc.) for it to make fiscal sense.

[ricky]

hmmm interesting, interesting

thanks Buljol for that lesson

No problem.

Mind you.. me eh no perfesshunal eh, I juss get hassle enough whenever ah go on vacation.  Somebody always offering yuh free tickets or money tuh come listen tuh dem tempt yuh fuh 2 hours.  Ah would think by now ah would retain sumting

yuh ent lie bake
you gettin first class 5 star thing
but from what i see, you could rent them place for about half of what the maint fee is
I went orlando a few years ago on an exchange, i think it cost me $250 to exchange plus the maint fee that pops pay so im guessing total was $800-900
when i reach dey renting the place for $150/night (1050 for the week)  Even if you ent have to pay the exchange fee it still only savin you about $400-500 and keep in mind them main fee going up the same as room rates going up so the gap will always be 40-50% i say

everything i see makes me believe all yuh doing is paying money up front in order to save 40-50% on a room dais all
so add in yuh 10-20K, that alot of years  of holiday yuh need until yuh get yuh money back

ricky ah think is juss de Timeshare allyuh have boss.  Five years ago when ah first was given de shpiel they talk that exchange fee thing.  The last couple years I ent hearing nutten about that so ah think that is ah thing of the past.  The maintenance fee should definitely be taken into consideration, but even factoring in the fee you still come out ahead based on projected rental rates.  Now the hotel could always discount their rates so it is a gamble...at the time you purchase there's no telling what the going rate will be at the unit you plan on staying at years later.  Meanwhile you done locked into that purchase price.

By and large though I believe it works out in your favor... wifey is ah financial analyst and when mankind head was ready tuh buss she hold up de salesman in ah piece ah long talk parsing numbers.  And she wasn't even interested in buying...but she vet it tuh make sure the dollars made sense.  It does...but yuh have to be able to afford it (have enough disposable income), and vacation at least two weeks per year (where you'd actually stay in a hotel and not at family, friends etc.) for it to make fiscal sense.

bakes i gorn on about 5-6 exchanges, (and we vacation 2-3 times a year)  and just cause we hadda use them or lose them mentality
each time i check how much it would cost to book flight and hotel package in the same sort of place and it only slightly more money
and watch me, each place i go i ask them how much to get a place for a week for joe blow and its never been over $1500 for the week
just speaking from my experience.

i would actually say a time share is a better option for a family with limited money who wanted to be able to provide themselves a nice holiday once a year, and was able to get the the location via car.
the exchange fee is based on what chain you buy in.  its a free exchange if you exchange within their chain IE Marriott etc
if you not in a chain and want to exchange outside....welcome to fee world
and another thing, try to get a exchange for a decent spot at a decent time, its only shit spots with a 10000 timeshares, place like Cancun, Orlando, BC rockies (our spot) etc.
out of my 5 spots Ive been to wonderful  places like Cancun twice, Orlando, Aruba, Ilsa Margarita, Antigua.....all time share meccas...Actually Antigua is a great spot!
not to mention is only flickin anoying americans in all dem place lol

from what i know, how them exchange work is, you deposit your week and that allows you to exchange for another spot.  your week in your home resport is now empty.
that why its easy to get cheap rates in them place, with all the amount of ppl exchanging the villas sit there emptyn and they try to fill them up

[ricky]

i still state and a person who is involved in ownership (i pretty much look after it but pops still pays the fees  )
i would never never never buy one unless it cheap cheap and easy access
and when i talking cheap, i talking 2-3K, maybe up to 5K in some situations
and remember that $600 maint fee go keep going up and up

again, form everything Ive seen and done, all yuh doing is paying big money up front to get 30-50% off a room rate, that if you went ahead and booked yuhself in a package with all inclusive......works out to be even less...
.
just off the top of my head we paid $500 for 3 flights to cancun + about $300 in additional fees...now dont forget the yearly main fee....so total $2400 for our "free" vacation


now tell me....who cant find a place in Cancun for a week all inclusive for $800 per person? and in a similar type place cause all them time share ppl doing is giving up dey rooms to the tour companies.

simple maths if you buy a place for 20K add that to the $600 over 20 years
yuh paying $1600 per each week.  it go take yuh 20 years to see any return man and by then yuh main fee go be $1500
tell me a place like that yuh cant rent for $1600/week
of course when yuh buying they go tell yuh it worth all kind of $350 per night and thing....part of the sale...in fact it really is not.

[Bakes]

My head huttin' mih...




Lol... nah I hear yuh.  If money bunnin' yuh pocket den buy away.  I still ah ways from dat.

[pecan]

Which is why you should only buy on the secondary market.

Never buy from the developer.

Timeshare is a great way to stay in extremely nice accommodations.

No more cramped hotel rooms with four people squeezed in.

No more sub-standard rentals from people who own a townhouse and renting it out.

Furthermore, you can make money (albeit, a little) by donating weeks to charity auctions.  For example,

1) Buy a Shell Vacation Property for $1,400 (including closing fees on eBay).  Maintenance on this one is pricey (about $1,000)  but the resorts are fabulous.

2) Book a week in San Francisco's (because you are are owner, you get preferred bookings).

3) retail value for a 2 bedroom suite with kitchen in San Fran is about $2,000 to $3,000

4) Donate that week to a big fund raising auction. The people who buy will likely pay in excess of the retail value - after all, it is for a good cause.

5) Pick up a tax receipt for $2,500

6) If you are in the 50% tax bracket, you get a tax break in excess of your maintenance fees.  In addition, you get free advertising for your company / business (if you are self employed).

[ricky]

Which is why you should only buy on the secondary market.

Never buy from the developer.

Timeshare is a great way to stay in extremely nice accommodations.

No more cramped hotel rooms with four people squeezed in.

No more sub-standard rentals from people who own a townhouse and renting it out.

Furthermore, you can make money (albeit, a little) by donating weeks to charity auctions.  For example,

1) Buy a Shell Vacation Property for $1,400 (including closing fees on eBay).  Maintenance on this one is pricey (about $1,000)  but the resorts are fabulous.

2) Book a week in San Francisco's (because you are are owner, you get preferred bookings).

3) retail value for a 2 bedroom suite with kitchen in San Fran is about $2,000 to $3,000

4) Donate that week to a big fund raising auction. The people who buy will likely pay in excess of the retail value - after all, it is for a good cause.

5) Pick up a tax receipt for $2,500

6) If you are in the 50% tax bracket, you get a tax break in excess of your maintenance fees.  In addition, you get free advertising for your company / business (if you are self employed).

good in theory Pecan, but if you own a company and use it a $2500 tax break saves you about $400... add the $1000 to total $3500 you save $560.....and you puttin out $1000 to begin with?
(im going off the 16% Canadian corporate tax rate)
if you use it personally i could see a SMALL gain but who go buy this personally to do that if yuh in the 50% bracket to begin with? it have better ways to make money IMHO
i highly doubt feliz  was lookin to do that with it anyway 

you are 100% correct with your advice to buy on the secondary market...Feliz if you buy one, this is what to do.

[assrancid]

timeshares are NOT a good buy!

[pecan]

Which is why you should only buy on the secondary market.

Never buy from the developer.

Timeshare is a great way to stay in extremely nice accommodations.

No more cramped hotel rooms with four people squeezed in.

No more sub-standard rentals from people who own a townhouse and renting it out.

Furthermore, you can make money (albeit, a little) by donating weeks to charity auctions.  For example,

1) Buy a Shell Vacation Property for $1,400 (including closing fees on eBay).  Maintenance on this one is pricey (about $1,000)  but the resorts are fabulous.

2) Book a week in San Francisco's (because you are are owner, you get preferred bookings).

3) retail value for a 2 bedroom suite with kitchen in San Fran is about $2,000 to $3,000

4) Donate that week to a big fund raising auction. The people who buy will likely pay in excess of the retail value - after all, it is for a good cause.

5) Pick up a tax receipt for $2,500

6) If you are in the 50% tax bracket, you get a tax break in excess of your maintenance fees.  In addition, you get free advertising for your company / business (if you are self employed).

good in theory Pecan, but if you own a company and use it a $2500 tax break saves you about $400... add the $1000 to total $3500 you save $560.....and you puttin out $1000 to begin with?
(im going off the 16% Canadian corporate tax rate)
if you use it personally i could see a SMALL gain but who go buy this personally to do that if yuh in the 50% bracket to begin with? it have better ways to make money IMHO
i highly doubt feliz  was lookin to do that with it anyway 

you are 100% correct with your advice to buy on the secondary market...Feliz if you buy one, this is what to do.

you right -- the donation is not meant to make money on a personal level.  Rather, it is done as a hobby and at the same time, allows charities to benefit.  My friend owns 20 timeshare, all purchased for as little as $150 up to a maximum of $3,500 on the secondary market.  He uses about four weeks to vacation in place like. Some place he has been to:

Whistler ($750 cost versus a $2,500 rental value)
Tahoe ($750 instead of $1,500).
Cayman ($1,000 instead of $3,300)
Cabo ($1150 versus $5500).

Last year, he clocked over $30,000 in timeshare donations.  He personally feels that private citizens need to donate (on the other hand, he can afford to do so).

He has a reputation in town as a generous donor for nice resorts.  And it does not cost him anything (other than time in coordinating the weeks).  But he likes to do that.

An the charities benefit the most.



Yes, you can rent on your own, you can go to all inclusive, but it all depends on where you place value.

For me, a two bedroom suite with all the amenities for the weekly cost the same as two cramped hotel rooms is better.

[pecan]

timeshares are NOT a good buy!

It all depends on the person and what they place value on.

Without question, you can always find a cheaper vacation than a timeshare vacation.

Without question, if you buy it from the developer, you will pay more per vacation that a conventional vacation.

I personally think a round of golf is a colossal waste of time and money.  But many would disagree with me.  Play 8 rounds of gold a year at say $50 (with no cart) per round  = $400 plus 40 hours of time.  That $400 is the maintenance fee for some resorts.

But if you place value on spacious accommodations, time for the family to spend together and at the same time, have privacy with the option of group or independent activities, then the timeshare scenario is not necessarily a waste of money.

I have two timeshares:

One i purchased from the developer  - but from that, it forced annual vacations with the family including in-laws and parents.  And what we gained as a family cannot be measured in $$.  Prior to this, vacations were hit and miss, or time spent at home doing chores and the like.  Now we vacation together or take advantage of bonus weeks to vacation without the children.

I am now closing on a secondary market purchase which I will likely donate to charities.  It will be a neutral cost or costs me a little, the charity will raise about $2,500, and maybe I'll pick up business from the 'free advertising'.  We will see.

[ricky]

Pecan, one thing you hadda remember
these things selling on ebay etc cheap cheap for a reason!
people trying to ditch them cause they ent seeing the value
If they buy from a developer and selling it for so cheap , they rather take a hit then take on that maintfee etc

and i cant state it enough, you can get these same places for 50% off the rack rate........so dont pay attention to paying $750 for a $2500 place
in fact he paying $750 for a place he could have get for about $1000-1500
but if yuh fren buy them for $500-$3000 he doing ok and did a good move.


i applaud you with your gesture of buying one for charity, hope it works out well for you and your business


EDIT i would say 3-4K or under is the correct value for a timeshare
anything over is a waste!

[ricky]

Watch meh
allyuh want timeshare?

This is my place in Tobago

http://villaorca.tripod.com/villaorca/

Ill sell allyuh a week

Dec-Apr $10,000 US / week + $700 maintenace fee
May-Nov $5000 US/week + $700 maintenance fee

Sorry no Christmas, Jazz fest, and Easter, that going to the owner.

PM if allyuh interested 

PS sorry for the crappy site, my wife did it in about 2001 and it ent update since lol