Don't buy a timeshare. It's the worst deal they can do.

[ScoopKona]

For me, I am just not comfortable about the "unknown" with TS into the future but YMMV.

Even in hopelessly corrupt Florida, there are teams of accountants who do nothing but comb through HOA documents looking for crimes to prosecute. Since all of this is (nominally) public information, the timeshare owner is paying "the going commercial rate." But not "that rate plus line the corporate pockets and improve profit outlook so the CEO can exercise stock options and buy a nesting-doll yacht."

If you do an apples to apples to apples comparison of renting hotel rooms, owning a vacation house and owning a good resale timeshare, the timeshare has outperformed the other two for decades.

I have easily saved six figures compared to hotels. And I own a measly single week in South Florida. Since it trades like a monster, I used to get 3-5 weeks every year. They just nerfed the system and I'm only going to get 2-4 going forward. That's still $2K in total annual expenses for anywhere between 14 and 28 days of vacation. I can't even get a Motel 6 for that.

The "usual gang of idiots" will now scour the Internet and find a Motel 6 which still rents for $6 per night. "Ha! You're wrong! Take that!"

But my point stands -- for the right person with the right timeshare, the numbers are a no-brainer. Another person could have the exact same thing and hate it -- because they have utterly unrealistic expectations. Motels-dot-com convenience with resale timeshare costs. Doesn't exist.

 

[LannyPC]

But my point stands -- for the right person with the right timeshare, the numbers are a no-brainer. Another person could have the exact same thing and hate it -- because they have utterly unrealistic expectations.

That's probably because of the unrealistic expectations that the TS sales person planted in the buyer. Because the buyer's expectations are not as easily satisfied as the sales person made them out to be, the buyer (now owner) comes on here and vents such as starting this thread.

 

[Volkyro]

I do not own a TS and have no desire to but many of my work colleagues have TS and all of them regret that decision. At the same time, I am sure there are people in TUG that have done very well with TS because they put in a lot of time and effort doing their research. Congrats to those that do, job well done. I work in cybersecurity and I get paid 350k/yr. On top of that I do security consultant on the side for $300/hr, 10 hours per week, I just do not have the time to spend on gathering information about TS to help me make an "informed" decision whether or not I should purchase TS.

Yet you found time to join this forum in order to do what exactly? Gloat about your salary or enlighten everyone here about what a terrible financial decision they've made? Absolutely no one cares. You obviously have plenty of free time to waste regardless of what you claim.

 

[rapmarks]

Yet you found time to join this forum in order to do what exactly? Gloat about your salary or enlighten everyone here about what a terrible financial decision they've made? Absolutely no one cares. You obviously have plenty of free time to waste regardless of what you claim.

Yes I own a timeshare, but I never paid for a times, does that mitigate the terrible financial decision

 

[4TimeAway]

One has to understand his/her financial situation...

TUG has many people that offer their thougths, but timeshares are a waste of time. We are going on nicer vacations as we learn. Personally, I don't think anyone needs a timeshare.

FOMO and optimization is the major time suck on timeshares. It has been just under a year for me and I think I'm finally getting how I can best use timeshares for myself. There are tools that offer similar savings without the commitment, buttimehares have grown on my wife and me.

They are not that much money and having vacations to look forward to months in advance has be well worth it to us.

Even paying retail can make sense for some people, it is just those are not the people who generally pay retail. It was going to be $60,000 for a nice week in Vegas in a 2 bedroom and resale worked better for us. That said paying $250/night for a nice 2 bedroom in Vegas is much cheaper than a hotel. The FOOD savings is real consideration for us, even if its only $200/day... or $100/day.

I know people who have 5 cars, talk about a waste of money....

 

[Deniee]

Don't buy a timeshare. It's the worst deal they can do.

I own two timeshares: one in the USVI (1BD) and another one in Orlando, Florida (2BD).

In 2003 I bought the USVI Westin timeshare for 40,000$ and 20,000$ for Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando timeshare.

Now they want me to pay 1,800$ and 2,900$ maintenance fees for Orlando and USVI Westin, respectively.

Booking offers you the same units for a much cheaper price. We are being deceived and stolen from.

I just want to sell this timeshare that unfortunately has downgraded to less than half of its price.

The only way out is to sell it back to Vistana but they only accept it back with the maintenance fees all paid.

They are playing with our investment.

Financial terrorism. Scam companies

 

[Eggrollcreative]

buying resale or even getting one free does not protect you from maintenance fees, assessments and other costs that can be quite unpredictable…blows me away the parking, housekeeping and other fees that keep adding up, some from local governments. Yet every time i sit through another presentation I feel impressed all over again that it’s a good deal…hilarious. Getting older has not been kind to my brain.

 

[jp10558]

It has been just under a year for me and I think I'm finally getting how I can best use timeshares for myself. There are tools that offer similar savings without the commitment, buttimehares have grown on my wife and me.

I think this varies quite a bit. For instance, I signed up for TravelZoo and plunked down my $40 I think for the year, and while they do have some interesting international trips, the "great rates" for hotels in the US are not much of a deal to me. So - please please share the alternate tools to get similar savings to the timeshares, because I am failing to find them for my situation - specifically 2BR somewhere.

 

[jp10558]

buying resale or even getting one free does not protect you from maintenance fees, assessments and other costs that can be quite unpredictable…blows me away the parking, housekeeping and other fees that keep adding up, some from local governments.

What is the alternative? I find that I was paying extra fees to hotels also, so parking or "resort/amenities fees" aren't special. Honestly, I'd much prefer having any "mandatory" fee just be part of the nightly rate, but we all know how everyone moved away from that to show lower prices in the aggregator sites while actually costing the same or more.

Yet every time i sit through another presentation I feel impressed all over again that it’s a good deal…hilarious. Getting older has not been kind to my brain.

Yea, I think the salespeople are good. It's just knowing about resale takes the wind out of those "deals". But, the resale / ongoing costs so far do seem like quite a deal compared to other options I've tried.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have watched this thread with amusement. I do have a few timeshares that aren't worth the paper they are written upon. One in particular is sucking up our retirement money by charging $2,000 in special assessments. The resort is Blue Ridge Village in Banner Elk, NC.

One SA was supposed to fix everything structural and build a new clubhouse, fix a pool that was not built correctly, and rebuild rock walls that were sagging. They are trying to force us out, is my opinion. I wish Bluegreen would have taken back the timeshare when I asked before all of this SA nonsense happened. To say they need $1,200 per week owned, and then send another bill for $750 the year after that one was paid in full, it's starting to look like the SA's will never end. I realize I got the timeshare free, but what is in store for our future with this particular resort? More and more SA's, as this is looking like a pattern.

Our fees at Hono Koa are rising due to lack of paying owners. Does management sales' team sell anything at all? Doubtful. They should be offering free timeshares to exchangers, the way our fees are rising. I know people aren't paying their MF's because of the large # of weeks sitting online available for booking the oceanfront units (of which there are only 4 OF). Used to be nothing available for whale season. Now you can just take your pick. We were invited to a breakfast yesterday at Kahana Beach by the 'concierge' to talk about the activities on the island. They will never get me to a meeting, unless I go and complain loudly that our fees are now $50 short of $3,000 on our timeshare weeks X 3. They like to quote fees that don't include the $400+ in property taxes. The property taxes went up $100 per week for 2023. I can only imagine what the increase in taxes will be for 2024.

The fees have gotten out of hand since Covid. Housekeeping of our two bedroom unit takes the housekeepers about 20 minutes. There are four of them that come in, each with their own duty. The guy that mops the floor should probably have cleaner shoes because as he is leaving our bathroom, he leaves giant dirty footprints on the floor. We own three weeks and they come in at the end of each week and do basically what they used to do during a mid-week clean/tidy. They took away mid-week tidy because of Covid in 2021.

We were promised new furniture, but the 20-year-old furniture is still here, and it's not only uncomfortable, the fabric is an outdoor fabric. To sit on it, you really need a beach towel. The cushions are so ridiculously flat that the sofa (it's a sofa sleeper) is unbearable, unless you sit on a pillow. The excuse for the lack of new furniture is the fire. Apparently containers are not able to get into the harbor.

They did regrout the bathroom tile. The bathtub in the second bathroom is old and chipped. The new kitchen cabinets look great. I will say that.

Our friends that also own here are worried about an SA for all of this new furniture, cabinets and blinds. We weren't worried until they said it. Now, we are worried.

The view cannot be beat. It's a gorgeous 180 degree view of the ocean. There aren't many timeshares that are this close to the ocean.

 

[LannyPC]

Yet every time i sit through another presentation I feel impressed all over again that it’s a good deal…hilarious.

Not that I'm defending what TS sales people do (in fact, I despise their sales methods), but isn't that their job, to make potential buyers believe that they are getting the sale of the century, and that these buyers better jump at this deal today before some other lucky shmuck comes along in the next 24 hours and scoops it up?

 

[bnoble]

Exactly so. And that's why I tell people who've never done one but are convinced that "they will just say no" that they should avoid attending a presentation at all costs. The person on the other side of the table does this all day every day, and their ability to feed their children depends on them doing it well. They are better at this than you are.

 

[davidvel]

Even paying retail can make sense for some people, it is just those are not the people who generally pay retail. It was going to be $60,000 for a nice week in Vegas in a 2 bedroom and resale worked better for us. That said paying $250/night for a nice 2 bedroom in Vegas is much cheaper than a hotel. The FOOD savings is real consideration for us, even if its only $200/day... or $100/day.

We bought our Marriott TS for a few thousand dollars over 15 years ago. We pay about $2,500 a year in MF+tax+dues. We are going to Vegas this week in a 3BR that costs over $5,000/wk on Marriott .com and about 4K on Redweek if you can find a 3BR. We got the week by trading our studio which I consider to be 1/3 of our 2BR. So the cost for the week is just over $800.

We like our timeshare.

 

[4TimeAway]

I think this varies quite a bit. For instance, I signed up for TravelZoo and plunked down my $40 I think for the year, and while they do have some interesting international trips, the "great rates" for hotels in the US are not much of a deal to me. So - please please share the alternate tools to get similar savings to the timeshares, because I am failing to find them for my situation - specifically 2BR somewhereThese are the ones that seem to checkout for me.

Everyone wants 2 Bedrooms, but sometimes you can get them. Most systems seems to be dump sudios and 1 bedrooms, but you can go fishing and sometimes catch one!

I've used GPX for a Cabo Azul week. There were no resort fees. WOW!
You have to be an owner. Marbrisa got us in.

Others have recommended afvclub.com
You need to be military or have a parent in the military, but they don't ask for the DD214.
They have two systems one is a certificate that can be upgraded. I have not used, but seem legit.

Another one I recenly heard of was sfxresorts
Its a membership deal, but might be worth a shot. Some TUGusers say its works.

I'm ignoring II and RCI... I'm sure there are alot more, some jsut seem like scams and I can't vouch for any of the above except GPX.

 

[jp10558]

Everyone wants 2 Bedrooms, but sometimes you can get them. Most systems seems to be dump sudios and 1 bedrooms, but you can go fishing and sometimes catch one!

I've used GPX for a Cabo Azul week. There were no resort fees. WOW!
You have to be an owner. Marbrisa got us in.

Others have recommended afvclub.com
You need to be military or have a parent in the military, but they don't ask for the DD214.
They have two systems one is a certificate that can be upgraded. I have not used, but seem legit.

Another one I recenly heard of was sfxresorts
Its a membership deal, but might be worth a shot. Some TUGusers say its works.

I'm ignoring II and RCI... I'm sure there are alot more, some jsut seem like scams and I can't vouch for any of the above except GPX.

Ok, but aside from afvclub.com, which I can't use as I don't have any military connections, the others require you to have a timeshare to exchange or at least get membership. So I'm really confused by the original claim that you can avoid the commitment - you need at least one timeshare week to use those sites, but then once you have that, sure you can get good cash rates via extra vacations or use the MFs to great effect with savvy exchanges. These exchange companies are a huge part of the value IMHO of timeshares, without them sure - it's very limited.

 

[4TimeAway]

Many people have parents who were in the military and qualify. If you don't, I totally understand.

You own a timeshare so you qualify for some of the others, and I hear membership can continue after you sell your timeshare. think the consensus on TUG is that having a timeshare can be a good option for those that want to learn to use the system, have some flexibility, can plan ahead and can afford it. DON'T BUY RETAIL, unless you are 100% sure it is right for you. DON'T TRUST SALESPEOPLE.

For a non-owner something like sfxresorts could work.

There are other travel hacks like Hotel Amex Cards, free bonus nights when using points, etc.

 

[Mowogo]

We bought our Marriott TS for a few thousand dollars over 15 years ago. We pay about $2,500 a year in MF+tax+dues. We are going to Vegas this week in a 3BR that costs over $5,000/wk on Marriott .com and about 4K on Redweek if you can find a 3BR. We got the week by trading our studio which I consider to be 1/3 of our 2BR. So the cost for the week is just over $800.

We like our timeshare.

Even Vegas travel hackers get amazed when I casually mention some of what I am able to do in Vegas with timeshare ownership. Major events and conferences require some advance booking, but I’ve had no problems securing exchanges for F1 or during CES where Excalibur is running $300 a night. And that is not even counting leveraging Extra Vacations/Last Call deals.

 

[GTLINZ]

The whole original premise that timeshares are never a good deal is absurd. Many of us are glad we have owned and used our timeshares to build memories.

With our kids grown we usually do shorter stays in a studio and usually eat out once a day because even a studio has a mini kitchen - but we are happy with 2 meals a day and some grazing. We get a lot out of what we own, and leverage Interval getaways which during non-peak are usually well below the MFs. We spend far less than we would renting. We don't travel to "exotic" locations as much anymore and have a few places we frequent and see family while there. We did get to go to a lot of really cool places we likely never would have gone to without owning timeshares. But at this point we prefer to go where we can drive to. I am very glad we got into this 20 years ago.

But the value of ownership, as lamented in this and other threads, is declining. Some ownerships are likely not worth it anymore (and many never were).

It seems the original OP has not returned (unless i missed it) and just wanted to stir things up, But we TUGGERs love a good discussion and sharing information.

 

[jp10558]

Many people have parents who were in the military and qualify. If you don't, I totally understand.

You own a timeshare so you qualify for some of the others, and I hear membership can continue after you sell your timeshare. think the consensus on TUG is that having a timeshare can be a good option for those that want to learn to use the system, have some flexibility, can plan ahead and can afford it. DON'T BUY RETAIL, unless you are 100% sure it is right for you. DON'T TRUST SALESPEOPLE.

For a non-owner something like sfxresorts could work.

There are other travel hacks like Hotel Amex Cards, free bonus nights when using points, etc.

As far as I can tell, sfxresorts is an exchange network, so would still need a timeshare to exchange into it?

 

[jp10558]

But the value of ownership, as lamented in this and other threads, is declining. Some ownerships are likely not worth it anymore (and many never were).

I still maintain that value has to be relative, and so many people haven't stayed in hotels recently to see how much they've gone up. Much of our "not worth it" is from the perspective of already having a timeshare and then getting RCI deals, but just separate from that I have not had luck finding super cheap rentals on Redweek or the like.

 

[GTLINZ]

I still maintain that value has to be relative, and so many people haven't stayed in hotels recently to see how much they've gone up. Much of our "not worth it" is from the perspective of already having a timeshare and then getting RCI deals, but just separate from that I have not had luck finding super cheap rentals on Redweek or the like.

Agreed - literally everything is getting more expensive. But you have to have at least one ownership to have access to RCI or II or SFX. And I believe that Hyatt will not longer allow a reservation to be put into SFX. I bought Hyatt to get into not only the internal system but also Interval.

 

[austdav]

Magic Tree in Kissimmee FL. $600mf-2bd / $525-1bd You can buy right from the resort and they do a Quick deed. 1bd. are free. 2bd harder find, sometimes have to wait. But probably around $1500. They haven't raised mf in 20 years. and have good reserves. I have traded into sheratons, hiltons and others at less than half of their mfs. Traded to key west this year. They dont care what trading co. you use. ii rci sfx 7across etc. My grandkids love this resort. they are 13 and the twins are 10 and asked if we could stay both wks here next yr. Everything is free from putt-putt to game room.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

They haven't raised mf in 20 years. and have good reserves.

How is this possible?

 

[austdav]

How is this possible?

This is a stand alone timeshare, not a company. Most point systems are run by company's on a stock exchange. Therefore they care more about their shareholders than they do their owners. The more money they make off their owners the better for their shareholders. So they constantly come up with fees. The president of the board here at magic tree owns 10 wks the last i knew. She does not want fees to go up. I started with 1 week and now have 3 all within the last few yrs since i found this place. I own hilton 1bd also. The Maintenace is 2x the mf for my 2bd here. I have owned marriot and hyatt in the past, never again. These are floating weeks but i have never not been able to get my wk. Everything at resort is free to owners. They let owners stay certain months of the year for $2200 for the month. jan, may, august, sept, oct. but not guaranteed. They have a deed back program for 2yr mf. at most. Im pretty certain you wouldnt pay that on a 2bd. because they go fast. You really can't loose. If you have more questions feel free to ask or call the resort at 407-396-2300. The same people are their most of the time so they are very helpful.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

This is a stand alone timeshare, not a company. Most point systems are run by company's on a stock exchange. Therefore they care more about their shareholders than they do their owners. The more money they make off their owners the better for their shareholders. So they constantly come up with fees. The president of the board here at magic tree owns 10 wks the last i knew. She does not want fees to go up. I started with 1 week and now have 3 all within the last few yrs since i found this place. I own hilton 1bd also. The Maintenace is 2x the mf for my 2bd here. I have owned marriot and hyatt in the past, never again. These are floating weeks but i have never not been able to get my wk. Everything at resort is free to owners. They let owners stay certain months of the year for $2200 for the month. jan, may, august, sept, oct. but not guaranteed. They have a deed back program for 2yr mf. at most. Im pretty certain you wouldnt pay that on a 2bd. because they go fast. You really can't loose. If you have more questions feel free to ask or call the resort at 407-396-2300. The same people are their most of the time so they are very helpful.

Yeah but in 20 years, even with the most conservative board imaginable, inflation necessitates some kind of increase just to keep the resort maintained and not falling apart. Add in rising insurance costs, rising payroll costs, etc., I am still failing to see how this is possible. I feel like there’s got to be something else missing from this equation. Congratulations on owning here though.