# Help with a refi for a timeshare loan.



## kl11487 (Jul 12, 2012)

Hey everyone, first post here so I hope this is okay to post about. I already searched but I couldn't find anything recent. In this day and age is there anyone who will refi a timeshare loan? I know most bank's won't as its a lot of risk/work, for little to no pay off. Tammac and First Again aren't accepting. I've also looked into 0% or low APR credit cards. I have a Discover More card that I had literally signed up for today that has 0% APR for balance transfers for 18 months. I had applied in hopes of doing a balance transfer, but I found out after I was accepted that Discover doesn't accept balance transfers from a timeshare loan (in the fine print it said "loans" an operator told me they meant auto loans after I called.) But it offers a 5% cash back on a lot of other essentials like gas so really no loss no foul. My credit rating is excellent, I believe it is 810 last I checked. To avoid applying for credit cards up the wazoo, does anyone have any suggestions for a credit card that I can do a balance transfer to? 

Details about my TS:
a 2/2 lock off
Week 1 at Orange Lake in Panama City, FL
I receive 115,000 Holiday Inn Club Vacation points every odd year
Price was $10600
Loan amount is 10316 at 15.65% APR over 10 years
So far I've made 2 payments of 209.40 to pay off the down payment of 1047. after the down payment is done It will  be 170.56 each month. At the end of 10 years assuming I pay bare minimum I will be paying 10152 in just interest alone. :/

Thanks for any help!


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## DeniseM (Jul 12, 2012)

When you get a mortgage on a home, the property itself is the collateral for the mortgage, and if you don't make your payments, they get their money back by foreclosing on the property, and selling it.

However, they won't give you a timeshare mortgage, because the resale value of a timeshare is usually about 5-10% of the retail price, so if you default on the payment, they can't get their money back - because the timeshare has almost no value on the resale market.  In other words, if they forclosed and took the property back, they wouldn't get any money out of it.

Your best bet is a home equity loan on your home - if you own a home.

If you have great credit, you might also be able to get an unsecured loan with your bank.

When you made this purchase, did you realize that the interest rate was almost 16%?


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## kl11487 (Jul 12, 2012)

Oh yes, it was a huge number, but since there's no prepayment penalty I figured I could get it refi'ed down. That was a mistake. I had taken advantage of a deal they were having at Orange Lake in Orlando 4 days 3 nights, free, sit through a 2 hour presentation get $200 cash back, and before we got into the presentation I swore up and down that I would be saying no and spending my $200... but that was before I learned that timeshares also operated on a point system and the system just seemed to make sense in the long run. I know that the APR is ridiculous, but from what I've researched it's around the norm for time shares. But I didn't think about how HARD it would turn out to be to get a refi. Just some buyer's shock I suppose. I can afford the $170.56 now, but if I can save money, I would much rather go that route and save some extra for graduate school.


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## ronparise (Jul 12, 2012)

As Denise has pointed out you wont get a loan using your timeshare as collateral,  because there is really no collateral. Its just not worth what you owe.   You can of course pay it off.

Either with a personal loan, or a loan against your home. or your savings


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## kl11487 (Jul 13, 2012)

Dang well thanks for the information. Do you know of any low APR credit cards that will accept a balance transfer from a timeshare loan?


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## geekette (Jul 13, 2012)

I don't think you can go the Balance Transfer route (it's not a credit card debt) and instead need some of those nifty cc checks.  

I got an RCI Elite Rewards cc however many years back, never used it, and they keep sending me these damned checks!  There are 2 offers - 0% for a year or 1.99 for 1.5 years.  They show up in my mailbox several times a month.

It's a BOA offering.

Discover has also periodically sent me these "for anything" checks and I used one to pay my Amex that paid what I owed Uncle Sam so am effectively financing at 0% the enormous sum I owed the IRS.  I also scored by getting in on the 'no fee' use of the check but it seems to me that even if you had to pay the one time 3 or 5% fee on the balance, it still beats the crap out of the interest rate you have.

Good Luck!


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## K2Quick (Jul 13, 2012)

Most credit unions offer unsecured loans.  The one I belong to offers variable rate loans for 8% and fixed rate loans for 9%.  One other thought would be to use any equity in your car.  If you happen to have a car that you own outright or have $10k in equity, you could take out a loan against the car - there are a lot of auto loan rates of around 3% these days.


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## kl11487 (Jul 13, 2012)

Oh wow, thanks for all the support and great tips guys. If you can't tell this is my first time dealing with any kind of loan or debt really so I'm still learning. I think an unsecured personal loan might be the way to go from my bank, Wells Fargo.

Still though, thanks for all the help!


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## bogey21 (Jul 13, 2012)

I haven't done one of those 0% Credit Card deals in the last few years but back when I did one of the options was to transfer the 0% advance directly into my checking account.  All I am saying is read the information that accompanies the 0% offer carefully.  It may still be an option.

George


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## geekette (Jul 13, 2012)

bogey21 said:


> I haven't done one of those 0% Credit Card deals in the last few years but back when I did one of the options was to transfer the 0% advance directly into my checking account.  All I am saying is read the information that accompanies the 0% offer carefully.  It may still be an option.
> 
> George



And that reminds me about the Personal Loans that Discover keeps pushing.  I think the rates are "as low as" 7% or so, still better than what OP is paying.


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## rrsafety (Jul 13, 2012)

kl11487 said:


> Details about my TS:
> a 2/2 lock off
> Week 1 at Orange Lake in Panama City, FL
> I receive 115,000 Holiday Inn Club Vacation points every odd year
> ...



A quick question, how did they frame the argument that it would be cheaper for you to buy this TS with borrowed money than it would be to just pay for a vacation each year? I'm interested in know what kind of math gymnastics they are playing....

(also, always make me laugh when these crooks let people borrow the down payment. Kind of negates the purpose of the down payment entirely.)


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## kl11487 (Jul 13, 2012)

Well with my head lost in the clouds of resorts in Hawaii, Japan, Australia, etc. they had mentioned that even though the rate was high at the time of the offer they threw out that I could refi with my bank and pay a lower interest rate. I bought it hook line and sinker... on some tropical beach, with a drink in my hand, under an umbrella, while getting a foot rub... and on and on.


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## antjmar (Jul 14, 2012)

K2Quick said:


> Most credit unions offer unsecured loans.  The one I belong to offers variable rate loans for 8% and fixed rate loans for 9%.


I think the above is the best option.

Do you own a home? If you do and have equity a home equity line of credit might be a good option.


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## rrsafety (Jul 14, 2012)

antjmar said:


> I think the above is the best option.
> 
> Do you own a home? If you do and have equity a home equity line of credit might be a good option.



I'd also recommend the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. His concepts on the wise use of money come in handy (especially when we have umbrella drinks in hand).


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## Rent_Share (Jul 14, 2012)

rrsafety said:


> I'd also recommend the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. His concepts on the wise use of money come in handy (especially when we have umbrella drinks in hand).


 
Seconds Thoughts - post removed


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## pacodemountainside (Jul 14, 2012)

Some thoughts:

I gather you are a college student with excellent credit score. Assuming your won't be needing  a car loan  or financing a house in next couple years and have credit cards in hand. So, you default and take a hit on credit. Just pay your car, credit cards, utilities  and other bills on time and it will come back. As other posters have pointed out  what you have is worth pennies on the dollar. Just book and use week before doing!

Or, if you want to go credit card  route find new credit card  with best transfer deal.  Pay off  Developer  balance by putting on olde credit card and then transferring balance to new one. Keep in mind there is  big upfront fee to transfer balances  and  0% interest rate is just for  1-2 years and then  goes to 12% or more.

Also, keep in mind that mortgage interest on  time shares mortgages is tax deductible per IRS Publiacation 936. To make  math easy say you are  in  33% federal and state bracket so your interest rate is  10%+.

Credit unions are pretty easy to join these days and do offer great unsecured loan rates and definately worth checking  out, but interest is not tax deductible.

Home equity loans can be  as low as 3.99% variable rate with no closing costs if one maintains at least a $5K loan balance for  say 10 Years


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## VacationForever (Jul 14, 2012)

BOA home equity loan is only 2.49% and has been at that rate for at least the past 4 years.  It is variable but until the Fed increases interest rate it will remain low.  My advice is of 2 extremes, bite the bullet and pay off in full so that you are not enslaved by the payment and interest or walk away from it.  A clarification here is that I have never defaulted on any loan in my life.  Lots of home owners or buyers are simply walking away and timeshare's worth is worse than a home's.


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