Possible to live in Timeshares for less than $60/night

[alaskantraveler]

I am thinking of this from the prospective of a retiree or digital nomad. Seems most timeshare ownerships have yearly maintenance fees that exceed $700 so you are already at $100/night. I'm not sure I have seen any timeshares with maintenance fees at $420 or less per year. This seems to make ownership not work if you are trying to get the cost under $60/nt.
You can occasionally find last minute rental deals going for $500 or less per night, but these are very scattered and last minute so cant be depended on. I'm not trying to say that timeshares are only worth $60/night, I'm just trying to figure out if retirees or digital nomads could utilize timeshares as places to live at a reasonable cost. There are people who live in hotels full time for under $50/day mostly by leveraging various hotel promotions and credit cards. They stay two nights in a cheap hotel to get a free night in an expensive hotel, etc... Any strategies out there for getting timeshares at $60/night or less? As an additional resources is there any source out there that has a comprehensive list of timeshares and their associated maintenance fees?

 

[Passepartout]

There are several TUGgers who have lived full-time in TSs. They post(ed) a lot and freely answered questions. I can't say there are any doing it now, because I just don't watch those kinds of things. Type Full Time in the search window at the top of the page. You can read the how-to's to your heart's content.

And if you find any of those 'stay 2 nights in a cheap hotel to get a night in an expensive one', feel free to PM me.

Jim

 

[bizaro86]

If I was trying to do that, I think I would end up with multiple II accounts, and use their accommodation certificates for last minute deals. I think it would be relatively easy to string stays together, but you'd have to be willing to travel every week.

 

[SmithOp]

There are deals from the exchange companies for off season weeks, under $300 a week. RCI Last Calls and Interval Accomodation Certificates and Getaways.

There are several full timers here on TUG although I think they take short breaks during high season when its more difficult to find deal weeks.

I have an Interval week booked in Sedona in a 2 bedroom, $249. Its week 50, not much demand but it works for me.


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[JohnPaul]

I'm not sure I have seen any timeshares with maintenance fees at $420 or less per year. This seems to make ownership not work if you are trying to get the cost under $60/nt.

Although I've never been there (I use the RCI points) we own at Oakmont Resort in Pigon Forge, TN (think Dollywood). It is a fixed week that usually falls over the 4th of July. The unit is two bedroom. From what I've seen and read, the resort is not fancy but well kept up. Maintenance fees are $410 per year. (I didn't really trust it but i think it's gone up $5 or $10 in the 8 years we've owned.)

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I am thinking of this from the prospective of a retiree or digital nomad. Seems most timeshare ownerships have yearly maintenance fees that exceed $700 so you are already at $100/night. I'm not sure I have seen any timeshares with maintenance fees at $420 or less per year. This seems to make ownership not work if you are trying to get the cost under $60/nt.
..... Any strategies out there for getting timeshares at $60/night or less? As an additional resources is there any source out there that has a comprehensive list of timeshares and their associated maintenance fees?

Wyndham Points - with a well thought out plan .

There have been TUG forum hypothetical discussions & the occasional - "I met someone who ... "

Wyndham's structure has some " TS cost arbitrage opportunities " built in .

1) points are points at the 10 month mark
2) some resorts have a lower annual dollar cost per point -example : Canterbury Manor in SF ( if used there - the point cost per week is high )
3) Some resorts have a lower point per week / day cost - example : Fairfield Bay , Arkansas
4) Wyndham point chart cost vary by season / quiet season (ie) January in Myrtle Beach .
5 ) If your from Minnesota - Myrtle Beach , Branson , Fairfield Bay - are still warmer than your home climate
6) Wyndham Studios have the lowest point cost - but are probably the size of a smallish apartment & have kitchen facilities
7) Wyndham has lots of resort choice & locations .
8) ebay : sells lots of Wyndham resale contracts including ones for a million points or more . and the resort transfer cost is reasonable ($ 299)
and is per contract .
9) The points charts are permanent ( the MF cost per point can go up /but not the points needed : to book xx at xx in season xx .

$ 60 per night is certainly possible for off season- but perhaps not for all months .

There is a thread started today / Sept 11 2018
"New Wyndham Timeshare Owner - stated by Old Irish - that gives all kinds of info / although not specifically targeted to your concept .

 

[montygz]

I am thinking of this from the prospective of a retiree or digital nomad. Seems most timeshare ownerships have yearly maintenance fees that exceed $700 so you are already at $100/night. I'm not sure I have seen any timeshares with maintenance fees at $420 or less per year. This seems to make ownership not work if you are trying to get the cost under $60/nt.
You can occasionally find last minute rental deals going for $500 or less per night, but these are very scattered and last minute so cant be depended on. I'm not trying to say that timeshares are only worth $60/night, I'm just trying to figure out if retirees or digital nomads could utilize timeshares as places to live at a reasonable cost. There are people who live in hotels full time for under $50/day mostly by leveraging various hotel promotions and credit cards. They stay two nights in a cheap hotel to get a free night in an expensive hotel, etc... Any strategies out there for getting timeshares at $60/night or less? As an additional resources is there any source out there that has a comprehensive list of timeshares and their associated maintenance fees?

You can get many weeks for just the exchange fee $239, or $34 a night, through various offers. There is a sale constantly going on RCI. You can find many timeshares for less than $700 a year that will give you access to those deals.

Also, timeshares and hotels are different experiences. Hotel rooms are tiny. Timeshares have full kitchens, washers and dryers, and just more space. If you have a family, you want space and timeshare have it.

 

[breezez]

II and RCI last minute deals/getaways are the only realistic way to stay that low. RCI Points account and look for 45 days before checkin bookings.

I am not a Hyatt member, but if you bought a Platinum or Diamond 2bdr. You could get around 10 (4) night mid week stays in a studio at some of the resorts. By the time you add reservation fees and hotel for weekend you might exceed 60 bucks. Since I am not a Hyatt member I have no idea of the feasibility to get mid week stays.

Wyndham if your a VIP you get can get some pretty low cost stays, YMMV

You can stretch TS points programs by booking Sunday-Thursdays at resorts when they have lowest costs and Friday and Saturday in Hotels when they have lower prices.

I do think you could do it pretty easy for about $4K a month meals included.

 

[Jan M.]

Yes it is very possible to get stays for less than $60 a night.

In May we stayed the week of May 20-27, Memorial Day weekend, at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in a two bedroom unit I booked through RCI. It cost us $42.92 a night for the maintenance fees on the number of points used and the exchange fee. Two weeks ago we stayed at Caloosa Cove in Islamorada in the Keys in their largest unit, a one bedroom with two queen beds, for the same cost of $42.93 a night. Both those stays were discounted point stays that I booked 1-4 weeks prior to check in.

We have a 13 night stay at Wyndham Grand Desert booked with our Wyndham points at the end of this month. That will cost us $50.33 per night. I should add that we own enough points to be platinum with Wyndham so I got a discount on the number of points needed for this reservation because I booked it within 60 days of check in. At the end of October I have a 4 night stay booked at Bonnet Creek over Halloween when our granddaughters will be here. $22.60 a night but again I got the discount and we aren't staying over the weekend so didn't need the higher point Friday or Saturday nights.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I have an RCI sale week in a two bedroom unit at Silver Lake resort in Orlando. The cost was $30.43 a night. I pay the extra to get the platinum benefits with RCI so got a discount on the cost of that week.

We use RCI a lot and if I tried to factor in the annual dues for RCI and their platinum, the most it would add is maybe $1.50-$2.50 a night. Sorry I don't remember how many weeks we've used this year nor guess how many more we are likely to use to give a more accurate figure. I renewed both RCI and the platinum for the maximum number of years to get the biggest discount on them.

 

[vacationhopeful]

My one resort has 2/2 lockoff units. The studios are basicly a hotel room with a mini-kitchen (ie NO sofa nor oven nor balcony) but a King Bed, TV and internet plus a small table for 2 persons.

Now you can RENT the 1bdr side for $1000+, pay the $880 MFs and stay in the Studio with $120 towards your 'drinks" at the pool's Tiki bar.

And that is my Winter Snow Bird Vacation plan ....

PS Great public transportation (bus with weekly pass ... including the airport route) . And several short walks to bars and dining plus a 3 block walk to the Galleria Mall (in suuny and warm Ft Lauderdale).

 

[Passepartout]

I am thinking of this from the prospective of a retiree or digital nomad. Seems most timeshare ownerships have yearly maintenance fees that exceed $700 so you are already at $100/night. I'm not sure I have seen any timeshares with maintenance fees at $420 or less per year. This seems to make ownership not work if you are trying to get the cost under $60/nt.
You can occasionally find last minute rental deals going for $500 or less per night, but these are very scattered and last minute so cant be depended on. I'm not trying to say that timeshares are only worth $60/night, I'm just trying to figure out if retirees or digital nomads could utilize timeshares as places to live at a reasonable cost. There are people who live in hotels full time for under $50/day mostly by leveraging various hotel promotions and credit cards. They stay two nights in a cheap hotel to get a free night in an expensive hotel, etc... Any strategies out there for getting timeshares at $60/night or less? As an additional resources is there any source out there that has a comprehensive list of timeshares and their associated maintenance fees?

Here https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...-year-continuing-fulltime-timesharing.151903/ is a fairly lengthy thread that was started by a couple who lived 7 years (and as far as I know are still full-timing at least part of the year). They discuss the strategies- like Last Calls, using points to maximize stays, even the mundane like packing 'stuff' containers to move from one place to the next- remember, you're moving every week or two, and you don't want to have to buy condiments and napkins every week.

Happy reading!

Jim

 

[bnoble]

I'm spending a week in Northern lower Michigan in a 1BR for $200 in mid-December this year. That's not a high demand time of year, but the snow should be there reliably and I expect to be able to ski at least a few days. So, not the mud season of November or April, but not peak summer by any stretch, or even one of the winter holiday weeks. That was through an unusually good RCI extra vacations sale, with a Platinum 10% discount thrown in.

If you are willing to amortize weeks at low-demand areas in shoulder seasons, you can probably weather the periods where it's harder to get good deals (e.g. holiday weeks, peak summer, etc.) and get your annual costs reasonably low.

I've recently "rebooted" my life and moved from a 4BR 2+0.5+0.5 BA house to a 1BR apartment. I'm finding that I don't really need much, and the idea of living somewhere inexpensively and doing this sort of thing whenever I can is starting to sound appealing. But, I'm not quite ready to not have a backup space somewhere more permanently. Maybe in retirement I'll give it a try.

 

[rod]

Although I've never been there (I use the RCI points) we own at Oakmont Resort in Pigon Forge, TN (think Dollywood). It is a fixed week that usually falls over the 4th of July. The unit is two bedroom. From what I've seen and read, the resort is not fancy but well kept up. Maintenance fees are $410 per year. (I didn't really trust it but i think it's gone up $5 or $10 in the 8 years we've owned.)

I have been an owner at Oakmont for several years, and while it is not fancy, it is at a convenient location and has been well maintained over the years. We have stayed there 11 years, exchanged our week 4 years, and rented our week 11 years.

Annual Maintenance Fee
____Oakmont Resort____

1991 ............ $159

2001 ............ $240

2011 ............ $385
2012 ............ $390
2013 ............ $395
2014 ............ $405
2015 ............ $405
2016 ............ $405
2017 ............ $410
2018 ............ $410

 

[aandmrun]

There are still some one bedroom timeshares that have maintenance fees of less than $600 per year. Most are older resorts. We have a one bedroom in Park City that is less than $400 a year. There is, however, another cost that you have to factor in and that is the travel expenses from one resort to another. If you are driving, there is gas, food and at times hotels that you have to stay in between getting from one place to another. Also, if you travel by airlines, that could add up to a higher expense. We enjoy our timeshares, but do like to have a home to come back to with all our stuff. Timesharing is relaxing for us and we would not want to be stressed about "having" to move around so frequently.

 

[alaskantraveler]

Yes it is very possible to get stays for less than $60 a night.

Thanks for the response. Its good to know, that deals are out there, with a little more frequency. I guess it takes spending the time to learn the ins and outs of different programs and how to work them to your advantage.

 

[alaskantraveler]

There are still some one bedroom timeshares that have maintenance fees of less than $600 per year. Most are older resorts. We have a one bedroom in Park City that is less than $400 a year. There is, however, another cost that you have to factor in and that is the travel expenses from one resort to another. If you are driving, there is gas, food and at times hotels that you have to stay in between getting from one place to another. Also, if you travel by airlines, that could add up to a higher expense. We enjoy our timeshares, but do like to have a home to come back to with all our stuff. Timesharing is relaxing for us and we would not want to be stressed about "having" to move around so frequently.

Thanks for the response. One idea that I thought of would be to have a small RV, 22 ft or less (which means it can park where any large pickup can park). Use this during your down weeks. I feel like there are some areas in Mexico, or Florida where it may be possible to string together multiple weeks in the same general area, so you might spend 1-2 months in Mexico or Florida. As for travel, credit card churning can help subsided the cost. I do this already and have a stash of 3 million airline and hotel loyalty points.

 

[SmithOp]

Thanks for the response. One idea that I thought of would be to have a small RV, 22 ft or less (which means it can park where any large pickup can park). Use this during your down weeks. I feel like there are some areas in Mexico, or Florida where it may be possible to string together multiple weeks in the same general area, so you might spend 1-2 months in Mexico or Florida. As for travel, credit card churning can help subsided the cost. I do this already and have a stash of 3 million airline and hotel loyalty points.

I live near Huntington Beach, I ride my bike there several times a week. There are a lot of regulars that live in RVs. They buy a $200 annual beach parking pass for daytime at the beach, then park in Walmart lot at night.


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[Carol C]

I might have to live in timeshares fulltime if I get displaced by Hurricane Florence! So thanks for starting this thread. I hope Joan of Ron and Joan weighs in...she's my role model for fulltime timeshare living, although scaled back after doing it for several years. She has a blog, so look for her posts here on TUG. (P.S...Hi Joan...say hi to Ron too!)

 

[PamMo]

I think getting your housing costs down to under $60/nt requires planning around low season/high supply areas using II Getaways, Accommodation Certificates, and RCI Last Call specials. We were adventurous nomads for all but a few weeks in 2017. We visited our kids on both coasts, but the rest of the time was spent mostly in timeshares while we wandered around the country. We spent a couple of months in our home resorts (Maui, Kauai, and Cabo) and traded into others (summer in Park City and Tahoe, fall in New England). Those costs were balanced out by using incredibly cheap II and RCI last minute deals. We took advantage of off season $129-199/wk bargains in Williamsburg, OBX, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Orlando, Pigeon Forge, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Sedona, Phoenix/Scottsdale, Branson, etc. If you keep your eyes open and are very flexible in your travel plans, there are some really great bargains out there! If keeping costs low is of primary importance, you have to plan out where you're going, and then compromise. Fortunately, we had lots of time and were happy and curious about exploring new places we had never thought of before. We didn't need top shelf resorts (we LIKE them, but location was more important), and were pleasantly surprised with some of our low budget finds. Every single one of our timeshare stays beat the worst hotels/motels we stayed in to fill in gap days in our yearlong adventure.

 

[PamMo]

I might have to live in timeshares fulltime if I get displaced by Hurricane Florence!

I hope not, Carol! We're saying prayers for all of you in the path of this storm. Stay safe and dry!

 

[TravelTime]

I am sure it is possible to live in timeshares but this seems like a last resort. You would be better off buying an RV and living in that. At least you would have a home and a place to keep your stuff full time. The idea of having no address and no place to call my own sounds terrifying.

 

[breezez]

Carol my prayers are with you guys, we live in Florida and understand your situation oh so well. Don't risk your life if your in harms way. Get out if your in the path you can replace a house, just not the people in it!

 

[dayooper]

I might have to live in timeshares fulltime if I get displaced by Hurricane Florence! So thanks for starting this thread. I hope Joan of Ron and Joan weighs in...she's my role model for fulltime timeshare living, although scaled back after doing it for several years. She has a blog, so look for her posts here on TUG. (P.S...Hi Joan...say hi to Ron too!)

Stay safe, Carol. Our prayers go out to you for you and your family’s safety.

 

[vacationhopeful]

There are many CHEAPER places to live than where YOU or I live now .... but TOO many of us are attached to the "possessions of our life".

I downsized my home over 18 months ago. Since then, I have been sitting on my "sample" LR furniture and eating off my "sample" DR set. My bedroom furniture is several 2"x 4" cubes with a chest of drawers for intimate appearal. I am working 'with' my 3rd realtor to sell my OLD residence while planning the 'playbook' to list & sell my current abode. As for my "sample" furniture collection .. that was stuff I brought when trying to sell another townhouse several years ago .. realtor on that unit 4 months into the listing, said empty houses do NOT sell .. lower the price by $20,000+... so I brought about $500 "USED" furniture for "staging", blew up an air mattress for MBR and used the pots from the NEW front yard brushes as the air mattress 'legs'. Oh, that townhouse didn't sell either... but today I am collecting $1675 rent per month and the place is PAID OFF. I decided I had LOST too much rent ... and guess what, that professional realtor's advice changed from an empty house does not sell to "we need to lower the price for it to sell" AGAIN!

My reply to these 'professional realtors' usually begins and ends with "where is the paperwork to LOWER your commission rate?" And I immediately start looking and interviewing ANOTHER new realtor ... they all say, that is the standard commission and I remind then, commissions are set if the contract price is the full listing price.

PS ... the funny event ... So I had a 'drip' in "the staged TH" in the MBR bath. Sent my everyday repairman over with the key to stop the 'DRIP, DRIP'. I get a cell phone call .. him screaming that he just ran out of the townhouse and it had people living there. And I screamed, "WHAT PEOPLE?" He went on the say no one was home but all their furniture is there. "Oh, that. That is my staging furniure." 10 years working with me ... he never seen no 'staging' furniture anywhere before. It was delivered by the USED furniture store for $50.

PSS .. the every possible buyer's comments after I did the staging ...from at least 8 sets of possible buyers was an inquiry to MY realtor asking "Is the property owner interested in SELLING the HIGH-TOP dining table and 6 chairs?" My reply "Buy the townhouse and I will leave the dining hightop table and chair set." AND still NO OFFER

PSSS . I didn't tell the realtor WHERE I brought the used furniture.

 

[Carol C]

Carol my prayers are with you guys, we live in Florida and understand your situation oh so well. Don't risk your life if your in harms way. Get out if your in the path you can replace a house, just not the people in it!

Thank you. I have another post about my evacuation on the Cat 4 Florence thread in TUG Lounge. I have coined a new word for my forced travel... Evacu-cation!