Harborside at Atlantis

[ltd]

I own a 1 bdrm unit in paradise island, bahamas. When I purchased it I thought I was getting a great deal. My husband and I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous resort. We would have full use of atlantis for free with all the comforts of home. Now we're only 2 years in and I'm thinking of selling. Starwood has a great program with no exchange fees within their resorts and a pretty descent point system. The maintenance fees are more than I thought they would be and I think we should get out before we invest too much $$$$. What would be a realistic asking price? We own week #45 but are able to float. The maintenance fees are over $800 a year.

 

[laxmom]

There is a 1 bedroom on Ebay right now so you might track it to see what it goes for. Also check the classifieds on TUG and maybe Redweek. We actually purchased an eoy 2 bedroom there and used our right of recision as we had just purchased our Barony the year before and our Grande Vista the year before that. That's alot of money in TS in short amount of time. I will own there someday though. It is a great resort. Wish I was in position right now to buy it but I am going back to school and you know how awful college tuition is. My dream to own at Atlantis will have to wait until I get the degree and job to support it!

Good Luck.

 

[ltd]

Thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to follow the one that's posted on e-bay.

 

[reddiablosv]

Itd, I am sorry, but unless you get lucky, I don't think that you have much in the way of resale value. If part, the reason for the poor resale value is the internal exchange system with starwood. If I am interpreting your post correctly, you week is worth 37K staroptions and week 45 is just about the easiest week of the year to exchange into at the Atlantis using the SVO staroption system. This means that anybody with 37K staroptions can get a unit like yours just about any year they like. Units at SVO mandatory resorts worth 37K staroptions or more, sometimes much more, with lower annual MFs than you are paying can be had on ebay quite regularily. Two are on ebay right now at Vistana Villages! Unfortunately for you, unless you are willing to almost give away your unit, it makes more sense to own elsewhere and trade into offseason Atlantis units at present. This will keep your resale value down amongst knowledgeable timeshare users and that is the majority of resale buyers. IMHO Ben.

 

[NTHC]

Early November on the rental market will bring about $1200-$1500 for a one bedroom. And although that is more than your maintenance, I am sure it would take many years to get back the upfront cost.

The resale market will not bring you anywhere close to what you actually think your property is worth.

My suggestion would be to use it and enjoy it....the same reason you purchased it for. And consider it a lesson learned in the timeshare world.

cindy

 

[rickandcindy23]

Renting is a great idea.

You will definitely get that much in rent.

 

[boyblue]

Is the unit fully paid for? If so you aren't in a bad position. Although you will not be able to get back near the purchase price you can get 50% above your MF each year without much trouble. Your best course of action might be to rent out the unit each year.

 

[funtime]

Enjoy what you have

If you read the tug boards you will find a lot of stories of folks that paid "too much" for their timeshare. Problem is that the cure is worse that the disease. Why sell it for pennies on the dollar? If you want to cut down on expenses, do not join any trading companies and rent your unit on www.redweek.com or www.myresortnetwork.com. See what they rent for on those sites. Take that money and rent where you want to go using the same sites. Or relax and enjoy your timeshare.
Last idea -- income cost averaging concept. Well if you consider that you paid too much for the first one, buy a relatively nice timeshare on ebay for 2,000 and use that one to trade while you rent out yours. Sheraton Desert Oasis premium one beds can usually be found for less than 2,000. You do have to know that it will be a volkswagon compared to your jaguar but that is the point. However, read the hotel timeshare section of this board to see the intricacies of the Sheraton system as the Desert Oasis trades through II not the Sheraton internal system. Also rest assurred a lot of folks covet your timeshare, they just do not want to buy it, so relax and enjoy!

 

[boyblue]

I used the ICAC it works! My first foray into TS cost me $9,600.00 (I know pittens compared to your Harborside) and I averaged that with my next auction purchase which was $1.00. I didn't feel so bad after that. Averaging eases the pain