How old were you all when you bought your first timeshare?

[towel]

Just curious. My fiancé and I almost went through with The Villa Group, but are in the process of canceling our contract (within 5 day cool off period). I’m glad I came across this website before we were fully locked in!

We’re not opposed to this in the future, but we got a wedding to pay for first!

 

[alwysonvac]

We’re not opposed to this in the future, but we got a wedding to pay for first!

And you'll want to spend some time researching and buy resale

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Welcome @towel to TUG. Congrats on saving money and allowing cooler heads to prevail by cancelling your contract. Can you let us know how much money Villa group wanted so TUG can keep track of cancellations?

Timeshares are a luxury item. I you need a loan to buy you should not buy a timeshare.

If you haven't paid for your wedding, haven't paid for your first home, have or plan to have kids go to college, or haven't contributed significantly to your retirement plan you should not buy a timeshare.

Only when you have everything in financial order should you consider a timeshare. And it should be a resale timeshare because these cost a fraction of the developer cost.

 

[heitmullerj02]

Yes always buy resale, pay cash. I have 3 all resale. I bought mine to get a workaholic husband to take a vacation. An he did for 15 years but we were in our 40's when we purchased and yes its a luxury.

 

[Snazzylass]

When I bought, I joked, "there goes my plastic surgery money!"
Yeah, my mom said she'd always get her eyes done. Neither of us did & we don't need it.

Anyway, my sister had worked for RCI in the early days when it was just growing - 1984? As a result my mom bought one. So, I felt like I had a good understand of how to maximize my benefits. Get a good understanding of the product and do your research. Yes, I'd cancel now.

 

[cohenru]

ALWAYS, buy resale. It is true that some owners expect to recoup their investment and may ask for $50, 000—as an example-. However, there are many other deals from owners who, for whatever reason, want to sell their property. Look around and do not fall in love with one place. There are so many choices.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We were about 26 or 27 when we bought our first timeshare in CO. We still own, but we own two better weeks now, and we way overpaid for that first week. Now those weeks are $1, but the fees are very low.

Tried to rescind, company wouldn't let us and no internet to help us research. The company said we couldn't rescind because it was not sold to us while sitting in our home. I don't think that was true back then, anymore than it is true today.

Research, Rescind, Resale are the correct steps.

Welcome to TUG.

 

[jp10558]

I had been interested in a timeshare for about 10 years before I almost bought one on vacation, but because of a earlier work event had my credit locked, and couldn't figure out how to unlock on my phone with the salesman. Whew - dodged a bullet there. IDK if I agree with all the "timeshare is a luxury so only buy when you can pay cash and have already fully funded everything else you could ever imagine." Unless you're also never going to go on any vacation till that happens - which for most people is going to be never then ... if you can buy resale and get it cheap / free or at least a low interest rate - and you do the math and it's going to save you money over paying for hotels "more responsibly" then... I say it can be a good idea even if you haven't 100% funded retirement etc. You just want to be saving vs the alternative (and I'd always recommend trying to do vacations).

 

[stmartinfan]

By the time we bought, we were in our mid 40s, in our second home, with two solid careers and 2 kids. We bought from a developer but could easily handle the $8000 cost from our available cash back in the mid ’90s. We've used it almost exclusively to travel to our home resort for nearly 30 years and have made wonderful memories. It was a luxury purchase made possible because we're big savers and generally watch how we spend our money.

 

[mjm1]

We bought our first unit when I was in my early 30’s and my DW was in her late 20’s. Both of us worked in high stress jobs and we wanted to make sure we took vacations. The first one we bought was a mistake through a developer, but it wasn’t a lot of money and we kept it long enough to get our value out of it. We are landers, so we used it every year and traded via II most of the time.

Congratulations on finding TUG and cancelling your purchase. Definitely do research and decide which system and locations work best for you. Then buy resale.

We didn’t consider a timeshare to be a luxury item, because we knew we would be taking vacations. We liked the idea of having a unit with a kitchen, so we could eat in and save money that way too. We figured that if we buy one we would be committing to use it. And it has worked very well for us.

 

[Luanne]

Bought way back in the 1970's when I didn't even know what timeshare was. I was 23. My ex husband and I bought one together with my parents. We had gone on a tour, liked what we saw, liked that we could break our stay up by nights, and liked that it was on a golf course with free golf for owners. Still have that timeshare, but use it only for trading now.

 

[geist1223]

Patti and I bought our first Timeshare (6,000 Worldmark Credits) jointly before we were married. I put my half on a no interest Credit Card. Patti paid her half from Savings. Our first use was Las Vegas Blvd for our Marriage. We got a free week in WM Kihei for our Honeymoon. We also got a free II Certificate that by a miracle we were able to use at the Marriott Newport Coast. This was all in our first 10 months of Ownership.

 

[claraj]

I just got into the TS game last year and I'm in my 40's. I probably wouldn't have considered it in the past but TS's recently checked many boxes for me ... I'm able to travel more (10+ trips/yr!) because I am able to WFH, I travel with a larger group and need 2 rooms, my nephew's diet requires a kitchen, and my current financial situation enables me to comfortably commit to a TS.

 

[Panina]

The year was 1986. The The Oprah Winfrey Show was in its first year nationally. I was 26 when our first timeshare was purchased at La Renaissance in Atlantic City NJ. La Renaissance eventually went bankrupt.

My husband, who is now desceased, and I were celebrating our 2nd Anniversary and it was our gift to us.. Even though we purchased retail I have no regrets. We enjoyed it for many years and got fabulous trades...St Martin, Barbados, Bahamas, Aruba, etc. He loved the Carribean and I have great memories.

Our second timeshire was Divi in St Martin, again retail. Eventually TUG was formed and I learned lots. By the mid 90's I was into resale.

 

[missyrcrews]

I bought when I was 27. I bought a "mud week" at Cold Spring...which was great, since it was our April break. My oldest child was 4. We had used trades given to us by my parents. I knew I wanted drive-to destinations, and that I wanted a kitchen. I knew I wanted fixed weeks, so that I could work around school breaks. Seven weeks later..still loving it!

 

[chriskre]

Bought my first timeshare on ebay thanks to TUG.
I actually bought two beachfront resorts back in the day when there weren't any pictures on ebay so went only by the description.
Paid about $1500 for each week but decided I wanted to own my beach weeks instead of having to rent and I didn't want to deal
with owning a second home on the beach in hurricane alley. I've since added and subtracted 10 ownerships but it has been the
best second home strategy for me not having to deal with running every time there is a hurricane. I live in South Florida and am
single so that would have been a big burden for me. I was in Marco Island last week and this week I am heading to Orlando.
It has worked out well to unite my family over the years and of course "Aunt Christine" is the go to for vacations.
Everyone, all nieces, nephews and grandkids, wants to go on vacation with me in the summer, so I'm super popular. LOL

 

[ScoopKona]

We’re not opposed to this in the future, but we got a wedding to pay for first!

We bought ours before we were married.

It was the best toy we ever purchased. For what it's worth, we held our wedding "on the cheap." I highly recommend spending very little on the wedding and splurging on the honeymoon. Naturally, if you've dreamed of the massive storybook wedding, a'la "Wedding Crashers" and "Father of the Bride," dismiss this comment. It wasn't important to either of us so we spent a month backpacking Europe together instead of a big wedding.

 

[moonstone]

We were 26 and 27 when we bought our first one. We had only been homeowners for a year and we had no children at that point. We had done a few presentations and knew somebody (older couple, friends of in-laws) who had a timeshare so we understood the concept. We toured (for the gift) a pre-construction development almost across the street from where my in-laws kept their trailer in St. Augustine Beach. It was a floating week, one type that we had not come across before. We initially said no then of course the better offer came to buy into the Preferred season instead of the Prime one. The Preferred season one would fit our needs better since we knew there was no way we would ever be going down to Florida during the summer or Christmas break. The total buy in cost for a deeded floating week in a 1 bedroom was $2,500. which we did not need their financing for. We ended up with 3 kids so the 1 bedroom was a little crowded for a few years and we were kicking ourselves for not spending the extra $500. for a 2 bedroom. We still own it and like the area so much that over 10 years ago we bought a condo up the road, so now we really dont need the timeshare but it feels like part of the family.


~Diane

 

[jp10558]

We bought ours before we were married.

It was the best toy we ever purchased. For what it's worth, we held our wedding "on the cheap." I highly recommend spending very little on the wedding and splurging on the honeymoon. Naturally, if you've dreamed of the massive storybook wedding, a'la "Wedding Crashers" and "Father of the Bride," dismiss this comment. It wasn't important to either of us so we spent a month backpacking Europe together instead of a big wedding.

While I've never been married - my sister and cousin both went for a local state park pavilion wedding, friends doing photos and catering and saved a huge bundle. Of course, you don't want to put anyone "on the spot" but it *can* be a great "wedding gift" from the people so skilled without them being out hundreds of dollars and also save the couple thousands. Not renting a wedding venue probably saved tens of thousands.

I can't say what anyone else *should* do - but I can say there's to me much better ways to blow tens of thousands of dollars for a longer and much lower stress party by IDK going to a resort somewhere for a week, or buying a dream classic car or saving towards a house, etc.

 

[towel]

Can you let us know how much money Villa group wanted so TUG can keep track of cancellations?

Hello! Yes definitely, I'm planning on writing a follow up post with the steps I took to rescind too once everything is completed.
The price of membership was $20,516, and we put a $3,979 deposit. Maintenance fee would have been $500, and monthly payment around 250. They also included "unlimited getaway weeks" with Interval International where we could book a week for one night's price.

All this to say - I'm grateful for the experience because I learned a lot and found this site!! Although I probably would be feeling differently if we had not been able to rescind. But just from this post I've been able to learn a lot about timeshares!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@towel congrats on saving yourself a bundle @TUGBrian see post above for rescission amount to add to your figures.

Resale is the way to go but you also need to be financially ready for it and willing to do the research here on TUG to buy the right property. When you are ready, we can assist. Good luck!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Another question would be, "How much did you (over)pay for your timeshare?" We paid a bundle, $7,200 for a 3 bedroom in Fraser, CO, week 25, not even river view, which is what the units across from us had. We were just stupid young'uns.

 

[Luanne]

Another question would be, "How much did you (over)pay for your timeshare?" We paid a bundle, $7,200 for a 3 bedroom in Fraser, CO, week 25, not even river view, which is what the units across from us had. We were just stupid young'uns.

Considering how much use we've gotten out of the two timeshares we own, I don't feel we overpaid for either of them. Back in 1973 when I bought my first timeshare the prices weren't as high as they are today for new. It was kind of like buying a car. I think we financed it, but it was so long ago I really don't remember. When we bought in 1986 at Maui Hill we got a "resale", but it was purchased through the sales office there. It was a unit that someone had turned back. Again, prices weren't all that high. A couple of years later we upgraded from the two bedroom we had purchased to a three bedroom. We were able to go through their sales office again and they took back the two bedroom and we paid the difference for the three bedroom. This isn't done any more. If you want to change units you need to sell the unit you own, and purchase the new one.