Are you over 65? Do you timeshare more or less?

[rapmarks]

That is one of the "challenges" I recently discovered when heart issues put me in the hospital for a week in late March. I was, serendipitously, staying at my "home base" resort for a few weeks; checked out of the resort according to schedule, so they never knew I was gone for a while. The process is still new to me, but I guess the cardiology office PA will call my 90-day prescriptions in to whatever pharmacy is near me at the time I give them the info. of a nearby pharmacy. I will adapt my timeshare reservations to fit the scheduling for any periodic office visits.


A William Hooke Tall Aspen serigraph travels with me. Other than that, my Art rotates with each new resort.

It’s great you have medical issues straightened out.
I have this problem because of having two homes.
In 2023 I really got screwed around in my northern home where I had doctored for over thirty years. My cancer came back, I had three doctors look at this big lump the size of an egg growing on my cheek bone and tell me not to worry about it. Finally went back to Florida and my cancer had metastasized. So in 2024, they did not want me going north until I found doctors they could communicate with. I set up with a different practice and I feel so much safer going north now.

 

[rapmarks]

I have 16 tpus expiring May 31. If anyone is planning a combine, and could use these, there is a way to transfer them for a fee. I kept looking for something to use them, but nothing ever came up

 

[Pennytx]

I have 16 tpus expiring May 31. If anyone is planning a combine, and could use these, there is a way to transfer them for a fee. I kept looking for something to use them, but nothing ever came up

Sent you a pm
Penny

 

[silentg]

We are settled in our 55+ community after living in our family home for 38 years. We moved to a different county of Florida and already enjoy the change. Once my husband recovers from back issues, we will become more active in the community. I probably will start some activities sooner. I love living in Florida.

 

[FunnyFarm]

Wifey is 71 and I am 68 on 4th of July.
I believe the son and DIL have zero interest in our timeshares.
We will need to divest some in the next couple years.

Flying back to Kauai (our former home) and rental cars are getting expensive, inherited a big dog from Mom's death so boarding is $70/day as well.
Worldmark is getting difficult to get reservations at the drive to locations here in the NW in the summer, so we end up burning points in off season.

We love it when we are gone but it is getting harder to break free.
Still working self-employed at our age so vacation means no income or working from the resort which kills much of the reason to be gone.

Wife is a hoarder so I will be lobbying on the divesting for a while before it happens.

Not to mention a barn and 2 garages full of stuff to divest before the kids get a major clean up job.

 

[Panina]

Just to show how we are all different. You could not pay us to live in Florida. I have lived in Florida twice - once as a child and once as an adult. I have also lived in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. We visited Florida for several weeks a few years ago. Never again. Patti's Sister and BIL live in Melbourne Beach. We do not like the weather, the Noseems, Lizards (gators) big enough to eat your dog, Hurricanes, etc. We have talked about living in the Carolinas and Texas (West Texas Hill Country).

There are very few areas of Florida I would live in. Whereas I timeshared in Florida often I never thought I would live here. I just thought it was too hot in the summer. Ultimately I got use to the heat. When I split from my ex it was the furthest state south from him thus I selected it. I do love the Carolinas as I lived there with my ex and truthfully I would go back but my fiancee prefers Florida. Whereas he would move if I insisted I like it here so I will stay.

 

[Panina]

@WinniWoman , we have now come to that conclusion. Florida has new rules for condos and as of 2024, Florida law requires all condos over three stories to conduct mandatory building inspections and a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) every 10 years. Additionally, HOA associations can no longer waive or reduce reserve funds, ensuring they are fully funded to cover future repairs. Condo's that we wanted to purchase in have seen their HOA fees, double and triple year over year along with very large assessments.

I will now have 8 weeks in Florida when I retire and that will get me away from the winter in Michigan, so we are going this route as it will be much cheaper than owning in FL

An alternative to a condo that is affected would be a smaller home in a thriving 55+ community or buying a condo that is in a building that is 1 or 2 stories high. There are plenty.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I am surprised people can get upscale timeshares for so little. I thought my maintenance fees were lower than many at 1000 a week. I know when I communicated with Cindy about little Sweden, while I was paying 1000 it was costing her 1500 maintenance for the same thing through shell. So if I traded my week it was running around 1400 and poster spends $385. He is doing great

Living in Wisconsin, I've driven by Little Sweden many times. I can't imagine it being worth $1,500/week to stay there. Simply WOW!

 

[Pennytx]

Living in Wisconsin, I've driven by Little Sweden many times. I can't imagine it being worth $1,500/week to stay there. Simply WOW!

Memories can make a lot of places worthwhile
We stay at a particular resort in Branson … maybe not the best … but we love the staff, they treat us well .. and the memories are priceless

 

[rapmarks]

Living in Wisconsin, I've driven by Little Sweden many times. I can't imagine it being worth $1,500/week to stay there. Simply WOW!

You are not seeing the timeshares that are two bedroom townhomes and are 1900 square feet. You are seeing the check in building with a few one bedrooms
They rent theses for $429 a night. There are two indoor pool complexes, a free nine hole golf courses, and many amenities. Door county is a pretty high demand place.

 

[WinniWoman]

I

Wifey is 71 and I am 68 on 4th of July.
I believe the son and DIL have zero interest in our timeshares.
We will need to divest some in the next couple years.

Flying back to Kauai (our former home) and rental cars are getting expensive, inherited a big dog from Mom's death so boarding is $70/day as well.
Worldmark is getting difficult to get reservations at the drive to locations here in the NW in the summer, so we end up burning points in off season.

We love it when we are gone but it is getting harder to break free.
Still working self-employed at our age so vacation means no income or working from the resort which kills much of the reason to be gone.

Wife is a hoarder so I will be lobbying on the divesting for a while before it happens.

Not to mention a barn and 2 garages full of stuff to divest before the kids get a major clean up job.

I suggest not waiting. Downsizing gets harder and harder as you age.

We are your ages now and did it 5 years ago and can’t imagine doing it now.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Living in Wisconsin, I've driven by Little Sweden many times. I can't imagine it being worth $1,500/week to stay there. Simply WOW!

Door County is a very tough exchange for late spring, summer and fall before the weather gets bad, very tough to get. The large units are so nice, though.

We exchanged into The Rushes and really liked it, as it really reminded us of Val Chatelle (our resort in Frisco, CO). It has a garage for the car, a real fireplace, lots of living space, a great kitchen, and beautiful grounds on a lake. The week cost us a lot to stay there via exchange through RCI. It was 36 TPU's (for me that's $1,400) + exchange fee of $279 back then (2021). I was trying to use up the trading power we have. Still have 440 TPU's to spend.

We loved the natural area around the resort and hiked it several times while there with the gentleman who loves to talk about the plants and wildlife. I forgot his name.

 

[rickandcindy23]

You are not seeing the timeshares that are two bedroom townhomes and are 1900 square feet. You are seeing the check in building with a few one bedrooms
They rent theses for $429 a night. There are two indoor pool complexes, a free nine hole golf courses, and many amenities. Door county is a pretty high demand place.

Yes, very in demand place. Just try to get a trade into the area, any resort. It's practically impossible. Another place a person should own to get the week they want or need. I would go back every year, and we may do that in about five years when the youngest grandkids get older.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Wow! I know how badly you wanted to live in Florida or at least buy a snowbird home there? Naples I think it was?

Anyway, you have that cute lake house in Michigan and I think your plan is perfect- use your 8 weeks of timeshares in Florida during Michigan’s coldest months and enjoy Michigan in the warmer weather.

I have a retired friend in St. Petersburg and she is experiencing exactly what you talked about with her condo. A $25,000 assessment! She’s paying that off each month. Plus her monthly HoA fees went up by like $500! Crazy!

@WinniWoman ,

I did so badly want to have a 2nd home in Florida to snowbird the winter months and then be at our Michigan small condo lake house in the summer. I love Naples, Florida and that will never change but family and friends that bought there in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021 are now having to sell as they can no longer afford the assessments and high HOA fees. My best friend was paying $320 a monthin 2021 and in 2025 she is paying $1,210 a month

 

[Sugarcubesea]

An alternative to a condo that is affected would be a smaller home in a thriving 55+ community or buying a condo that is in a building that is 1 or 2 stories high. There are plenty.

@Panina , we keep looking but we want to stay in Naples and finding a nice place with an HOA under $400 a month has been a challenge

 

[Pennytx]

@WinniWoman ,

I did so badly want to have a 2nd home in Florida to snowbird the winter months and then be at our Michigan small condo lake house in the summer. I love Naples, Florida and that will never change but family and friends that bought there in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021 are now having to sell as they can no longer afford the assessments and high HOA fees. My best friend was paying $320 a monthin 2021 and in 2025 she is paying $1,210 a month

I had a two bedroom high rise condo in vero beach I loved
Maintance was $506 a month
Jumped to $1400
I sold it just because of that
Miss it dearly but I can travel and rent cheaper with less hassle

 

[Sugarcubesea]

We are settled in our 55+ community after living in our family home for 38 years. We moved to a different county of Florida and already enjoy the change. Once my husband recovers from back issues, we will become more active in the community. I probably will start some activities sooner. I love living in Florida.

@silentg , I am so happy that you are settled in your community and happy congrats on the move and enjoy all of the activities...

 

[Pennytx]

Door County is a very tough exchange for late spring, summer and fall before the weather gets bad, very tough to get. The large units are so nice, though.

We exchanged into The Rushes and really liked it, as it really reminded us of Val Chatelle (our resort in Frisco, CO). It has a garage for the car, a real fireplace, lots of living space, a great kitchen, and beautiful grounds on a lake. The week cost us a lot to stay there via exchange through RCI. It was 36 TPU's (for me that's $1,400) + exchange fee of $279 back then (2021). I was trying to use up the trading power we have. Still have 440 TPU's to spend.

We loved the natural area around the resort and hiked it several times while there with the gentleman who loves to talk about the plants and wildlife. I forgot his name.

440 t p u …. Jealous

 

[WinniWoman]

I had a two bedroom high rise condo in vero beach I loved
Maintance was $506 a month
Jumped to $1400
I sold it just because of that
Miss it dearly but I can travel and rent cheaper with less hassle

What amazes me is you were actually able to sell it!

 

[Pennytx]

What amazes me is you were actually able to sell it!

Oh I sold it for a lot
One of the very few penthouses in vero beach
I was very blessed that way

 

[rapmarks]

@Panina , we keep looking but we want to stay in Naples and finding a nice place with an HOA under $400 a month has been a challenge

Ours went up to hust over $400 a month, but we are paying for the restaurant, golf courses, and cable and internet in addition to all the amenities

 

[Pennytx]

Ours went up to hust over $400 a month, but we are paying for the restaurant, golf courses, and cable and internet in addition to all the amenities

It’s all too crazy
The cost are just too much

 

[rapmarks]

Door County is a very tough exchange for late spring, summer and fall before the weather gets bad, very tough to get. The large units are so nice, though.

We exchanged into The Rushes and really liked it, as it really reminded us of Val Chatelle (our resort in Frisco, CO). It has a garage for the car, a real fireplace, lots of living space, a great kitchen, and beautiful grounds on a lake. The week cost us a lot to stay there via exchange through RCI. It was 36 TPU's (for me that's $1,400) + exchange fee of $279 back then (2021). I was trying to use up the trading power we have. Still have 440 TPU's to spend.

We loved the natural area around the resort and hiked it several times while there with the gentleman who loves to talk about the plants and wildlife. I forgot his name.

But RCI only gave me 27 tpus for my June Little Sweden week.
So when I traded I had two combine two of those weeks to get a trade. I had about $2600 in, and someone here offered me $100 for my 56 tpus .

 

[moonstone]

We bought our original timeshare in 1982 when we were in our mid 20's, and before starting a family, and used that week plus Last Calls and Extra vacations to take 1-3 timeshare vacations a year until we retired in 2013. We also camped for 1-2 weeks a year in our trailer, sometimes near cities where there were no timeshares. In 2010 we got 77K RCI points to add to our FL beach week. We spent 4-6 weeks away from home every year until the winter of 2015-16 when we started going to Belize for 3 winter months. We still took timeshare vacations in the spring, summer & fall except during Covid (2020) in addition to being away in Jan., Feb. & March.

In the fall of 2022 we started spending the 6 winter months in the south (2 in our condo in FL, 2 in Belize & back to the condo for 2mos) but still worked in a few timeshare stays during the spring, summer & fall. We are lucky that the HOA fees on our condo have not risen very much and it passed the inspection with just a very few small repairs/adjustments needed that wont affect our fees. The insurance is the biggest cause of fee increases since we bought, as we are just a block and half from the ocean. Our oldest DS wants us to sell and get a small bungalow inland from him (Apollo Beach FL) so we wont have any HOA fees, insurance will be cheaper and we can see them more. We think we would miss the ocean sounds, salt air and walking on the beach. Something to think about.

We haven't booked anything for this year yet as I was waiting on a surgery date for a new knee. I got the date (June 20th) on Friday so now we are planning for a few weeks away in late Aug. or into Sept. as I dont think I'll be ready to sit in a car for hours or do much walking until early August. We are driving back to Florida at the end of October but if we still have some timeshare time to use up we may book a week somewhere part way down. Since we spend just 4 winter months in the USA that gives us 2 months of time that we can go back during the rest of the year without going over our legal stay limit. We have stayed at a few timeshares in Quebec and one near Ottawa ON, but the airfare to go out to BC and or AB is more than the airfare to many parts of the USA from Toronto, so we will likely keep heading to timeshares stateside.

I can see us giving up the points timeshare in the next few years as the maintenance fees have almost doubled since Diamond took over the resort. We can just rent or use Last Call and Extra Vacations for additional trips.


~Diane

 

[Panina]

@Panina , we keep looking but we want to stay in Naples and finding a nice place with an HOA under $400 a month has been a challenge

I think maintenance fees below $400 a month for a condo is a hard find and if you do find it, it won't stay that for much longer.