Looking for advice

[LoriV]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the timeshare world, but have been reading everything I can find on the subject including threads here on TUG. SO glad I found you all before making the leap!
My fiance and I are considering buying a timeshare...
Here's what we were offered -

Kissimmee, FL
13 floating weeks per year, every year, deeded, $7400. It is a foreclosure from the resort. Obviously, we would not be able to use 13 weeks every year, but were told by our salesman that we could rent out the weeks we don't use. I'm thinking - rent out one week to pay our yearly mf, rent one week to pay for our rental car, rent one to cover theme park tickets, etc... Does this seem do-able??

Our goal is to ensure a big Orlando family vacation every other year and some smaller ones in between. We have three children so we would be in this for the long haul! Also, I would love to be able to give friends and family the gift of vacations!

We still have a lot of questions for the sales department, but I was hoping for some "un-biased" opinions!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[aliikai2]

I have never heard of anything like this

Having 13 weeks a year your annual fees should be in the $9000 range. I think what they really said was it floats 13 weeks a year then talked about which weeks you could pick 1 week from.
If something like this existed, and the yearly fees are only $700-$900 per year everyone here would own several. If you take a minute and think about this, if there are 13 weeks and you can make $1000's per year, why would the resort sell this? How could it possibly have been foreclosed?
Please re-read the offer and maybe call and ask the questions.

Greg

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the timeshare world, but have been reading everything I can find on the subject including threads here on TUG. SO glad I found you all before making the leap!
My fiance and I are considering buying a timeshare...
Here's what we were offered -

Kissimmee, FL
13 floating weeks per year, every year, deeded, $7400. It is a foreclosure from the resort. Obviously, we would not be able to use 13 weeks every year, but were told by our salesman that we could rent out the weeks we don't use. I'm thinking - rent out one week to pay our yearly mf, rent one week to pay for our rental car, rent one to cover theme park tickets, etc... Does this seem do-able??

Our goal is to ensure a big Orlando family vacation every other year and some smaller ones in between. We have three children so we would be in this for the long haul! Also, I would love to be able to give friends and family the gift of vacations!

We still have a lot of questions for the sales department, but I was hoping for some "un-biased" opinions!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Passepartout]

Welcome to TUG!

There are waaay ore questions here than answers. Like Greg, I question 13 weeks as a foreclosure. Also $7400 is a heckuva lot for timeshares today, where the average on eBay is $1 to $100 for a week and many times the closing is included.

Lori, you need to find out what's REALLY for sale, How much the MF is, because THAT'S far more important than the initial buy-in price. Find out what resort it's in Which exchange company it exchanges with, Whether it participates in a point program

Be sure of all the above before you commit to anything. Timeshares are very very easy to buy, but hard-to impossible to rid ones-self of and you are responsible for those maintenance bills every year. Those WILL increase, and they come due about the same time as your holiday bills every year.

All the best! Keep your money until you understand what you are buying.

To answer your questions as written, I think it's unlikely to rent any of these weeks to reliably pay maintenance, flights, or expenses to any degree. If the rents were that good and dependable, wouldn't the resort rent the weeks themselves? If it was a good deal, the former owner wouldn't have defaulted on them, causing the foreclosure.

Jim Ricks

 

[pacodemountainside]

Insist sales person put in writing so you can have an attorney review before signing! End of scam!

Never heard of 13 week time share contract. Personal residence yes, but MF around $15K.

Also, most Developers do not condone sales people pushing renting and you will NOT be able to get anything in written contract about renting.

How would you go about renting?

 

[LoriV]

Thank you all for responding so quickly!
The resort is Vacation Villas @ FantasyWorld 2. Trading company is II. I guess the 13 weeks was some sort of special promotion they were having. We went on an etourandtravel vacation and attended the timeshare presentation. After 2 hours of telling the salesman we could not make this decision on the spot, he said if we agreed to purchase another vacation, he would "lock in" that deal for us. We will be returning in spring of 2013.
99.9% positive he said 13 weeks/year, not 1 week with 13 specific weeks to choose from, because he talked about booking several at once for, say, a family reunion or something. MF would be x1, not x13. Around $500, I think.
Salesman said he and his wife rent out their extra weeks all the time on eBay.
I assumed the previous owner paid too much and defaulted on his loan?
We would try to get the price down even further than $7400.
Like I said, we still have a lot of questions to ask them and we will not buy unless and until we are confident this is a legitimate offer and we understand every angle!
Thank you

 

[djs]

Something is not right about that deal. There is just no way you are getting 13 weeks for a total of $500 in maintenance fees. Keep in mind that nothing except what's in your written contract means anything. If the offer is truly as you have said then tell the sales person you will take the contract with you and return in a few days after you have had a chance to read everything in it. If you then decide to go forward and sign the contract, make sure what you sign is what you reviewed.

One joke told here many times is "How do you know when a timeshare salesperson is lying?" the answer is "His/her lips are moving".

If the 13 weeks per year is true, tell him you'd like 4 packages so that you have all 52 weeks in a year covered, that way for an upfront fee of $30,000 + an additional $2,000 per year you would have a roof over your head for relatively short money.

 

[timeos2]

They are likely including bonus time or II/RCI use (which cannot be rented) to get to 13 weeks. No timeshare is a good value at retail price - saying its a foreclosure is a well known ploy.

Don't buy. There are owners willing to GIVE you that at this resort or far better ones. It is all sales pitch & scewed to sound like a great deal. But it isn't. Rent or buy resale for best value.

 

[Passepartout]

If the 13 weeks per year is true, tell him you'd like 4 packages so that you have all 52 weeks in a year covered, that way for an upfront fee of $30,000 + an additional $2,000 per year you would have a roof over your head for relatively short money.

Heck, I'd take just one of these packages and book Dec, Jan, and Feb. That would pretty well eliminate my participation in Winter where I live, and for little more than pocket change after the initial nut.

Did anyone mention that anything that looks too good to be true usually is.

Jim

LORI Send the salesguy here to TUG. Tell him that there are anxious buyers here with money burning holes in their pockets for his 'deal'. His commission dreams have come true.

 

[pacodemountainside]

Lori:

Jim beat me to the draw. Please PM e-mail address for your salesperson as I will take four. Who could turn down a year round, furnished, taxes paid, all maintenance and weekly maid service for $30K purchase price and just $2K for fully caring for it.
Know condo prices are depressed in Orlando area and this is out right robbery if not a Time Share Developer losing his shirt.

I want to beat Ron to this one.

I did check on II and there are actually two resorts. One is all 2 BRs (VVF) and the other studio, 1 and 2 BR.(VVT) Which were you offered and were there black out dates?

Also, plugged in red week studio I have on deposit with II and studios available now and and lots of 2 BRs after mid August for rest of year. So renting is dicey at best!

Did you get the standard this is our list price, but a savvy buyer like you knows a bargain so today since it is: Florida BuyTime Share Week, sales manager's birthday, get extra bonus if I sell just one more unit, etc. have I got a deal for you, then when you said no another guy came over with better deal. Big scence if you don't buy today you will never get a deal like this again. Then off to owners rep, sample guy, or Discovery Package in Wyndham lingo. He offers to freeze todays best deal effectively proving prior sales people were liars. Just $99 down and $199 a month for 12 months and you get to come to nice 2 BR unit in a year so we can beat you up some more. Oh yes, will also apply the $2,500 to purchase price.

Also, HOA makes up budget and typically a 1 BR unit would cost $500+ or - for an Interval, or $26K a year. If you are paying just $500 for 1/4 of year where is the other $25K+ going to come from?

 

[ampaholic]

-snip-

One joke told here many times is "How do you know when a timeshare salesperson is lying?" the answer is "His/her lips are moving".

Not a joke - VERY wise advise based on thousands of examples - DO NOT EVER TRUST A TIMESHARE SALESPERSON TO BE ON YOUR SIDE.

If the 13 weeks per year is true, tell him you'd like 4 packages so that you have all 52 weeks in a year covered, that way for an upfront fee of $30,000 + an additional $2,000 per year you would have a roof over your head for relatively short money.

Yea, a nice home where the help changes your sheet once a week and takes care of the pool and landscaping for 30K plus $2000 per year - now that I would jump on....

But that isn't what this is - promise.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Thank you all for responding so quickly!
The resort is Vacation Villas @ FantasyWorld 2. Trading company is II. I guess the 13 weeks was some sort of special promotion they were having. We went on an etourandtravel vacation and attended the timeshare presentation. After 2 hours of telling the salesman we could not make this decision on the spot, he said if we agreed to purchase another vacation, he would "lock in" that deal for us. We will be returning in spring of 2013.
99.9% positive he said 13 weeks/year, not 1 week with 13 specific weeks to choose from, because he talked about booking several at once for, say, a family reunion or something. MF would be x1, not x13. Around $500, I think.
Salesman said he and his wife rent out their extra weeks all the time on eBay.
I assumed the previous owner paid too much and defaulted on his loan?
We would try to get the price down even further than $7400.
Like I said, we still have a lot of questions to ask them and we will not buy unless and until we are confident this is a legitimate offer and we understand every angle!
Thank you

They can't sell you 13 weeks for only one maintenance fee. Can't be done and end of story. Either they lied or you misunderstood. Usually it ends up being both.

 

[RachelR]

Heck, I'd take just one of these packages and book Dec, Jan, and Feb. That would pretty well eliminate my participation in Winter where I live, and for little more than pocket change after the initial nut.

Did anyone mention that anything that looks too good to be true usually is.

Jim

LORI Send the salesguy here to TUG. Tell him that there are anxious buyers here with money burning holes in their pockets for his 'deal'. His commission dreams have come true.

Jim, I would love to see the salesguy's face when he gets that call.