What timeshares have the lowest maintenance fees

What timeshares have the lowest maintenance fees?

triennial studios at no-name resorts without amenities.

Rayburn Country Club in Texas has low maintenance fees.

I used to own a Week at the CasaBlanca in Mesquite, NV. My recollection is that MF was in the $300 range. Nice Resort to boot.

George

decadude said:

What timeshares have the lowest maintenance fees?

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I own an EOY studio unit with $85.00 per year mf's. It is a fixed week unit at Falls Village, a Bluegreen managed property in Branson.

Gophesjo said:

I own an EOY studio unit with $85.00 per year mf's. It is a fixed week unit at Falls Village, a Bluegreen managed property in Branson.

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That would be amazing if you could get decent exchanges with that.

My plan is to do 2 for 1 deposits with Platinum Interchange so as to be able to exchange into a particular So Cal beach property studio every year for a total cost (at current rates of course) of $210 per year. Hoping the strategy works.

Gophesjo said:

My plan is to do 2 for 1 deposits with Platinum Interchange so as to be able to exchange into a particular So Cal beach property studio every year for a total cost (at current rates of course) of $210 per year. Hoping the strategy works.

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Seems like you did your homework and have a good strategy. I am learning quickly that this business is a slimmy business as far as most of the sales representatives go misrepresenting/swindling potential buyers.

Hope your strategy works I am in the market for a silverleaf timeshare but ONLY if endless escape and bonus time transfer and only on a week in the summer I KNOW I will use. Actually interested in owning two of these timeshares since a lot of the resorts are within driving distance and having two account where the bonus time and/or endless escape will transfer will give me more power to leverage using that time. Thanks goodness for this forum and estoppel letters.

Good luck in your search man!

decadude said:

Seems like you did your homework and have a good strategy. I am learning quickly that this business is a slimmy business as far as most of the sales representatives go misrepresenting/swindling potential buyers.

Hope your strategy works I am in the market for a silverleaf timeshare but ONLY if endless escape and bonus time transfer and only on a week in the summer I KNOW I will use. Actually interested in owning two of these timeshares since a lot of the resorts are within driving distance and having two account where the bonus time and/or endless escape will transfer will give me more power to leverage using that time. Thanks goodness for this forum and estoppel letters.

Good luck in your search man!

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I just did a search on the Tug Marketplace and there are 15 Silverleaf weeks for sale and all for very little $$

I am a member of Platinum Interchange also. For your deposit, you get a bonus week that can be used no earlier than 90 days prior to check in. I have never been able to use mine because the popular weeks in the popular areas are long gone before the 90 day mark.

jancpa said:

I am a member of Platinum Interchange also. For your deposit, you get a bonus week that can be used no earlier than 90 days prior to check in. I have never been able to use mine because the popular weeks in the popular areas are long gone before the 90 day mark.

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I've found that the best way to use those 90 day check in weeks is often at properties managed by PI, as they seem to have more inventory there at various times throughout the year. If I end up with one week at or near the beach, and then an off year week in the Socal mountains, each for $210, then I will still consider it to be a good deal.

bogey21 said:

I used to own a Week at the CasaBlanca in Mesquite, NV. My recollection is that MF was in the $300 range. Nice Resort to boot.

George

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We own at Grand Destinations in Mesquite which is owned by the same company. We own 2 weeks and the MF are still $300 per week which hasn't changed since we purchased. Have had some great exchanges. Mesquite is a great place to stay for anyone visiting Zion or Bryce Canyon.

Lynn

I'm really enjoying reading this post as its providing great info for my quest to purchase one more TS with very low MF's. This is a great thread and I appreciate all of the answers given...

LynnW said:

Mesquite is a great place to stay for anyone visiting Zion or Bryce Canyon.

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.....or if you are using your Week to attend the NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. You avoid all the traffic by getting to the track from the East and avoid all the traffic coming from Las Vegas and California.

George

interesting

I wonder about this too sometimes...but then I worry that if the MF are so cheap maybe they don't have enough reserves for maintenance etc...what do you all think about that? How does someone know if it's wise to take on a low MF TS?

kalima said:

I wonder about this too sometimes...but then I worry that if the MF are so cheap maybe they don't have enough reserves for maintenance etc...what do you all think about that? How does someone know if it's wise to take on a low MF TS?

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This is a great question and one that I did not think of as I was heading down this path. I'm wondering if you find TS's that are HOA controlled by their owners and look at the operating costs and previous years budgets to gain a sense of future MF's?

kalima said:

I wonder about this too sometimes...but then I worry that if the MF are so cheap maybe they don't have enough reserves for maintenance etc...what do you all think about that? How does someone know if it's wise to take on a low MF TS?

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Very few timeshares have adequate reserves. Even high maintenance fee premium timeshares like most Marriott's are not fully funded. There are so many variables to consider that a "low" or "high" fee alone provides zero information on the whether it's "wise" to own it.

No crystal ball...

Sugarcubesea said:

I'm wondering if you find TS's that are HOA controlled by their owners and look at the operating costs and previous years budgets to gain a sense of future MF's?

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After many years of timeshare experience and lessons, we now choose to own only at small, independent, HOA-controlled non-chain facilities where the maintenance fees are reasonable (...not necessarily "low" but at least still reasonable) and the on-site management has consistently proven to be reliable and competent.

Even with "adequate" financial reserves at a well managed facility, surprise and unwelcome "special assessments" imposed in addition to customary annual maintenance fees can and do still arise unpredictably. We're looking at just such a surprise SA right now ($350+ per owned week, coming soon to a maintenance fee bill near you) at one of our very well managed places. We can't / don't strenuously object; in the bigger, overall facility picture the ownership is still of great "value" to us.

Looking only at "very low maintenance fees" in considering a timeshare is a naive bit of tunnel vision, IMnsHO. Far more often than not, very low fees are clearly indicative of a poor maintenance / upgrade program and grossly inadequate financial reserves --- and if the place is run down, then it likely also has little desirability for actual use or decent valuation for "exchange". As in so many other things in life, it's "pay now or pay later"; there are few real "bargains" --- and no free lunch.

Sugarcubesea said:

This is a great question and one that I did not think of as I was heading down this path. I'm wondering if you find TS's that are HOA controlled by their owners and look at the operating costs and previous years budgets to gain a sense of future MF's?

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The Quarter House is a good example. It's HOA controlled, so there is no "management fee" or padding of expenses. There have been no maintenance fee increases for I believe the last 7 years. Are reserves adequately funded? Probably not if looking at a snapshot, but it's ok with budget surpluses every year and no fee increases.

It may sound weird but if the QH needed a special assessment I would be more than happy to pay it.

Really not meaningful by itself.

Unit size, type and season.

Cash funded realistic reserves.

Extra charges for parking, ammenties, etc.

Insurance-deductibles, betterment, flood, hurricane, etc.

Developer subsidies.

Management.

Resort condition.

Loans.

Up front cost.

theo said:

After many years of timeshare experience and lessons, we now choose to own only at small, independent, HOA-controlled non-chain facilities where the maintenance fees are reasonable (...not necessarily "low" but at least still reasonable) and the on-site management has consistently proven to be reliable and competent.

Even with "adequate" financial reserves at a well managed facility, surprise and unwelcome "special assessments" imposed in addition to customary annual maintenance fees can and do still arise unpredictably. We're looking at just such a surprise SA right now ($350+ per owned week, coming soon to a maintenance fee bill near you) at one of our very well managed places. We can't / don't strenuously object; in the bigger, overall facility picture the ownership is still of great "value" to us.

Looking only at "very low maintenance fees" in considering a timeshare is a naive bit of tunnel vision, IMnsHO. Far more often than not, very low fees are clearly indicative of a poor maintenance / upgrade program and grossly inadequate financial reserves --- and if the place is run down, then it likely also has little desirability for actual use or decent valuation for "exchange". As in so many other things in life, it's "pay now or pay later"; there are few real "bargains" --- and no free lunch.

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Thank you, This provides me with a lot of good insights... Can you tell me the best way to locate - small, independent, HOA-controlled non-chain facilities where the maintenance fees are reasonable?

pacodemountainside said:

Really not meaningful by itself.

Unit size, type and season.

Cash funded realistic reserves.

Extra charges for parking, ammenties, etc.

Insurance-deductibles, betterment, flood, hurricane, etc.

Developer subsidies.

Management.

Resort condition.

Loans.

Up front cost.

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That's a scary one.

Sugarcubesea said:

Thank you, This provides me with a lot of good insights... Can you tell me the best way to locate - small, independent, HOA-controlled non-chain facilities where the maintenance fees are reasonable?

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I would go through the II and RCI resort lists notating the management company names. Sometimes you know the exclusions by name (Westagate, Marriott, etc..), sometimes by the web link, and others you may have to clink the link. Once you have a good candidate list you can look up fees by checking redweek and such.

It's tough to rely on old threads because smaller properties may switch management companies several times.

Saintsfanfl said:

I would go through the II and RCI resort lists notating the management company names. Sometimes you know the exclusions by name (Westagate, Marriott, etc..), sometimes by the web link, and others you may have to clink the link. Once you have a good candidate list you can look up fees by checking redweek and such.

It's tough to rely on old threads because smaller properties may switch management companies several times.

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Thank you, that is great advice...

Be aware of small resorts that recently went independent. There might be very few but I would think that these situations are a recipe for failure and may result in the hiring of another "chain" management company. There needs to be a self managed track record.