Maintenance Fee Increase?

[BSgueglia1]

Hi all! Im new to TS. Picked up Week 41 to Ocean Sands in Va Beach for $1 last year. It's a 2 BR Admiral Lockout Every other year-even. The maintenance fee was $632 EOY as I recall when I closed. Now, the maintenace fees are $844. I was shocked to hear this as I had no idea maintenance fees would increase. I know there are special assessments and the previous owner paid those. $422 a year, in essence is what Im paying. We live locally and dont plan to use it. Just thought we'd use it for trading. But with the annual maint fee and then the exchange fees, it seems like it may be more than its worth? Any thoughts? It is a Red Week. I was at least that informed.

Also, Im so torn on the week/points system. We did only pay $1. The resort wants $2k to convert to points. We don't necessarily need the flexibility since we are self employed, but wonder if it would give us any other benefits to do so. Do we lose trading power? Are the same resorts still available with points. Are the points always equal to the power I have with my week?

Thank you so much in advance. I know it may get old explaining to newbies over and over..but I sure do appreciate it and will gladly return the favor when I am as TS smart as you vets!!

 

[Carol C]

As you learn more about timesharing and colors/seasons, you'll find that there are different shades of red. Your week is pinkish...not the most in demand because it's far from high season at that beach locale. Your trade power will be lower because of that shade of red. I learned the hard way myself, having once bought a Pompano Beach week 41 that didn't trade well at all. Before you spend $ to convert to RCI pts, find out how many pts you'd get. I can't imagine a VA Beach off-season week will command that many RCI pts. Your maint fee is really high for what you'll get out of the value of owning that week there (but I think you know this already.)

Your best bet might be to unload the week on ebay for a dollar, because there are buyers out there (as you yourself were one). Then go back on ebay and find yourself a true deep red week, which means summertime beachfront, some winter ski wks, and prime holiday weeks in certain locales. You'll have the most trade power if you buy an in-demand vacation destination during weeks and seasons when most kids are out of school. Good luck to ya!

 

[BSgueglia1]

Thank you so much for the reply. Since we will get 2 free vacations out of the deal (the maintenace fees were paid thru 2010) and I walked in the courthouse and filed the deed myself and paid no closing company, I think I did ok. The maint fee is high and that concerns me. But scoring a nice place at Disney this year makes me think we did ok. I've found some decent looking places that we could trade for. I dont recall the amount for certain in points, but it seeemed to make that it was 26,000 per unit. Does this make sense? Would you think that would be a good trade? Again, we'll never stay there, so the staying 50% of the time rule is something that we'll never follow. I dont know if it's worth $2k to get that many points. That part is overwhelming and impossible too make sense of on my own.

My other issue is regarding the maint. fee increase. Is that normal? I thought they were pretty set. I do feel a bit mislead there. Special assessments are one thing, but thats a huge increase, IMO. And, now Im worried it will continue to rise. I really need input on that.

Thank you SO much!!!

 

[beanb41]

There are 3 certainties in life: Taxes, death and ever increasing timeshare maintenance fees. You cant do anything about any of them except make the most of the third and try to limit the first.

 

[Polly Metallic]

You should plan on maintenance fees increasing along with inflation. 3% to 8% per year is not uncommon. Naturally maintenance fees will increase since the costs of maintaining the resort and paying employees goes up, just as your expenses for maintaining your own home goes up. I am in a weeks system so don't feel I can give you the best advice about points, but I personally would not spend money to convert to points.

 

[FlyerBobcat]

My other issue is regarding the maint. fee increase. Is that normal? I thought they were pretty set. I do feel a bit mislead there. Special assessments are one thing, but thats a huge increase, IMO. And, now Im worried it will continue to rise. I really need input on that.

How were you misled on the MFs? With all respect, it just seems that you jumped in to the TS world without "all the facts".

But you seem to be doing quite fine with your purchase, so far. Increasing MFs are a big concern of TS owners, especially for those with a non-peak season week.

It is generally stated on this board to NOT buy with sole intention of trading (of course there are exceptions). And to study this type of TS information (on this board) for 6 months before buying (which I did NOT fully follow.. :ignore: ).
Good luck!

 

[Tacoma]

When you say the maintenance fee was $632 EOY when you bought it last year I'm wondering how you got that information. If it was in the post it is highly likely that either the person posting got the maintenance fee wrong (a Lot have made this mistake in their posts) or maybe the resort or person who gave you the maintenance fee costs for the last week they used which would now reflect 2 years of price increases. That is around a 35% increase so I suspect a "mistake" was made on the maintenance fees listed.

Joan

 

[BSgueglia1]

No...Im sure there was no mistake. In fact, I was shown the paperwork AND shown where the special assessment was paid separately. Thats my issue. A little increase would have been one thing. But, this was huge. They told me, well the reason yours is so high is because you have a lockout unit. But, either way..its still a huge increase. Anyone else own at Ocean Sands?

 

[BSgueglia1]

How were you misled on the MFs? With all respect, it just seems that you jumped in to the TS world without "all the facts".

But you seem to be doing quite fine with your purchase, so far. Increasing MFs are a big concern of TS owners, especially for those with a non-peak season week.

It is generally stated on this board to NOT buy with sole intention of trading (of course there are exceptions). And to study this type of TS information (on this board) for 6 months before buying (which I did NOT fully follow.. :ignore: ).
Good luck!

Im a Realtor, so while I dont know a lot about timesharing, I do know a lot about Real Estate and legal documents. I visited the resort and met with the people there before buying. I told them what I was doing. They told me specifically that I should "lock in" at this rate because newer timeshares were going in at double the maintenance fees. To me, "locking in" is pretty misleading when this comes about.

 

[Timeshare Von]

. . . They told me specifically that I should "lock in" at this rate because newer timeshares were going in at double the maintenance fees.

Curiously enough, that is often not true either. When a new t/s project is in their early sales phase, and until a majority is sold, the MF's can be expected to be relatively low for two reasons:

1. The place IS new and doesn't have a lot of routine maintenance.

2. The developer is in control of things and keeps the MF's artificially low in order to market and promote the low fees involved. Once the POA is established with "real owners" the fees go up accordingly.

As for their loose use of the term "locking in" . . . all I can say is that generally speaking t/s sales people are morons and not lawyers.

 

[BSgueglia1]

Curiously enough, that is often not true either. When a new t/s project is in their early sales phase, and until a majority is sold, the MF's can be expected to be relatively low for two reasons:

1. The place IS new and doesn't have a lot of routine maintenance.

2. The developer is in control of things and keeps the MF's artificially low in order to market and promote the low fees involved. Once the POA is established with "real owners" the fees go up accordingly.

As for their loose use of the term "locking in" . . . all I can say is that generally speaking t/s sales people are morons and not lawyers.

LOL! Good point! Thanks for the info.