Buying a Timeshare

[colemi3]

Hi All,

I think I goofed... I bought a timeshare at the Sheraton Vistana Cascades in Orlando section a few months ago. Great price... we were in Orlando last month and went and saw it.... really nice but then I get a refurbishment fee bill for $500 in the mail. I was considering buying another one at Eagle Trace in Massanutten .... how can I prevent that from happening again?

Thanks so much!!

Michele

 

[AwayWeGo]

Got To Use A High-Def Digital Crystal Ball & Even Then You Can't Always Tell Much.

I get a refurbishment fee bill for $500 in the mail. .... how can I prevent that from happening again?

There's no guaranteed way to ward off timeshare special assessments. They are truly the joker in the deck of timeshare ownership.

We own 4 timeshares -- 3 every-year & 1 EEY -- & we've been hit with special assessments 3 times. Two were smallish & 1 added up to just about the the equivalent of another year of annual fees.

In a string of good luck, however, we bought a (resale) timeshare the year after the previous owner paid a special assessment, then sold it off again right before management laid on another special assessment. That was just a fluke, however -- not any kind of special shrewdness on our part.

Keep in mind that by buying a timeshare resale for nickels on the full-freight dollar, you can pay years & years of annual fees plus an occasional special assessment & still stay way ahead in the game.

Buy Timeshares Resale. Save Thousands.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[DeniseM]

You can't prevent it, but assessments are often discussed here on TUG, so it's a good place to get the info. Also - In general, the older a resort is, the more likely it is to have a special assessment.

BTW - We have a very active forum for Starwood owners here on TUG - come check us out!