maintenance fees

[Ridewithme38]

Unless forclosed on by the association every unit has 52 weeks of ownership. If not yet sold, then they are owned by the developer and MF's are paid by the developer. So again, the only intervals not owned by someone who is liable for the MF are those that have been forclosed on or deeded back to the association.

Isn't the Association then due for the MF's?

 

[vckempson]

Isn't the Association then due for the MF's?

Well, sort of. The association get it's money from the MF's, which circles back to and comes from paying members. I don't believe the association actually pays dues, though, because they would write a check and then deposit the check right back to same bank account.

 

[timeos2]

Well, sort of. The association get it's money from the MF's, which circles back to and comes from paying members. I don't believe the association actually pays dues, though, because they would write a check and then deposit the check right back to same bank account.

Correct. The Association IS the owners so whatever they own must be paid by those who pay the bills. It wouldn't make sense to pay themselves so we have the infamous "bad debt" lin in nearly every resort's budget.

Similar to an Association being sued by owners. They pay to sue themselves! When we had our rather contentious round with our original developer they sued- and they, along with every other owner, got hit with the SA to pay for the litigation. In the end we could rationalize that they ended up paying the $192,000 in legal costs while the balance of the SA went to improve the resort (either by upgrades or paying off other debts). of course we all benefited from the improvements - even them - and we all actually shared in that $192K bill. Can't say it was wasted as it ended up freeing us to get in a true, independent management and got the Board under full Owner control. But it would have been nice to have that for the needed work around the rsort had they simply lived up to the process as called for in the docs rather than trying to hang on as unwanted management. It's all ancient history now but someone still mentions it from time to time. Can't forget where you came from and how you got here.

 

[rickandcindy23]

e.bram...

Add in the cost of foreclosures, when deadbeats don't pay their fees, and of course there are those in LLC's, and the owner walks away, bankrupting the LLC, so no more fees for those weeks.

At least when your association has a deadbeat, there is value to the wholly-owned units and they can be sold. With timeshares, the worthlessness keeps resorts from finding new owners.

 

[Mel]

Unless forclosed on by the association every unit has 52 weeks of ownership. If not yet sold, then they are owned by the developer and MF's are paid by the developer. So again, the only intervals not owned by someone who is liable for the MF are those that have been forclosed on or deeded back to the association.

Not precisely. In resorts that are not sold out, there is often a clause in the Declaration of Covenants the states something to the effect that the developer does not pay maintenance fees for the developer-owned weeks, but instead pays for any expenses above and beyond what is covered by the fees paid by the other owners. This is written in such a way that at some point that clause sunsets, and the developer would be responsible for fees.

Correct. The Association IS the owners so whatever they own must be paid by those who pay the bills. It wouldn't make sense to pay themselves so we have the infamous "bad debt" lin in nearly every resort's budget.

Similar to an Association being sued by owners. They pay to sue themselves! When we had our rather contentious round with our original developer they sued- and they, along with every other owner, got hit with the SA to pay for the litigation. In the end we could rationalize that they ended up paying the $192,000 in legal costs while the balance of the SA went to improve the resort (either by upgrades or paying off other debts). of course we all benefited from the improvements - even them - and we all actually shared in that $192K bill. Can't say it was wasted as it ended up freeing us to get in a true, independent management and got the Board under full Owner control. But it would have been nice to have that for the needed work around the rsort had they simply lived up to the process as called for in the docs rather than trying to hang on as unwanted management. It's all ancient history now but someone still mentions it from time to time. Can't forget where you came from and how you got here.

Not all that different from what happened at Tropical Breeze, except that the members sued the Developer and his cronies on the board. Because we didn't have a standing building, until we rebuilt our annual fees consisted of propety taxes, insurance, and legal fees. In the end, we too kicked the developer out. We had to invite a different one in, to rebuild (because as Carolinian mentioned on another thread, leins can't be put against the resort as a whole, only individual week, so the HOA couldn't get financing), but not until after the DoC was updated in such a way that the developer would never be in a position of calling all the shots again.

Incidentally, the HOA ended up owning a significant portion of the units (when the resort was rebuilt there were 641 owners of undivided interests, out of 1836 total available unit weeks). All costs associated with the lawsuit and rebuilding, and all money that was refunded due to that lawsuit and sale of the remaining units to our new developer, was shared among those 641 owners. Sounds scary - the budget of a 36 unit resort shared among only 641 owners, but it ended up working out OK - because we transferred ownership to escapes!, we each are now only responsible for 1/1836 of the budget as approved, and escapes pays the rest of the bills. That arrangement will continue until such a time that the board or escapes! decides otherwise, at which time escapes will be responsible for the appropriate fees for each of the weeks it owns.

 

[Texasbelle]

Not 52 weeks

Few timeshares sell 52 weeks. One or two weeks are reserved for maintaining the units. Some places have worthless weeks that are not sold. We own 7 weeks which average $500 in fees. That is pretty cheap for a weeks vacation. We can use points at one resort to get more than a week, but that adds fees. We don't even factor in the original price because that money is long gone. If we did, renting would be cheaper.

 

[GTStone]

Actually, I would think $ 500 is cheap. Our property costs about $ 900 a year.

The budget is there for you to review, and you can certainly see if there are ways to save money, and then suggest those to the board. However, many boards are corporate controlled and they are experienced at maintaining a quality facilty.

The cost of annual maintenance is much lower then having to do repairs due to neglect. In our case, the property is at the ocean, and the salt water is corrosive. This requires more maintenance as anyone who lives at the beach can atest. Also, to be a "resort" requires maintenance of the grounds, replanting, etc. When any property is used year round, there is significant wear and tear. This costs money to fix or replace inside the units, and outside. Many items just wear out and need to be replaced, often frequently. Then there are the ammenities and services.

Look for the little things. Coffee in the lobby every day, activities, wireless internet, hosted events ( even meals ), daily cleaning of common areas ( or in some cases, more often ), utilities, phone service ...and so much more. It all adds up.

Each year I enjoy a two bedroom unit with living room, dining room, kitchen, a full gym, activities, pools, sauna, spa ... and beautiful sunset views, all for about $ 130 / night. That would be a full hotel suite, and I know there is no deal I can find that is that cheap.

 

[zeld]

only 50 weeks max

Unless forclosed on by the association every unit has 52 weeks of ownership. If not yet sold, then they are owned by the developer and MF's are paid by the developer. So again, the only intervals not owned by someone who is liable for the MF are those that have been forclosed on or deeded back to the association.

Most states do not allow the unit to sell all 52 weeks. I believe that most states set a maximum of 50 weeks. That is only 4% and is not the major reason that MF are high.

 

[zeld]

MF are high due ot timeshare cycles

One of the major reasons that MF are high is because during the early years of a timeshare the fees are not planning for the proper amount of long term maintenance. Eventually a timeshare needs upkeep and the MF increases. Then some owners bail and stop paying. The remaining owners have to pick up the tab and the MF increases. This repeats until the timeshare goes under or is sold. Along the way these timeshare units become worth less the MF. I am referring to owner occupied timeshares.

I believe that my timeshare has fairly good management and a very concerned board. The MF is too high and units are not selling even at a $1.

I did get somebody who said they had sold other units for over $15,000 and they want to sell mine at $12,000. I only paid $800 for the unit.

 

[am1]

It would be much smarter if the resort did sell 52 weeks a year as they know that people will default. Use those weeks to do maintenance on the units.

 

[SiquePupi]

........ $850 a week. Coincidently about what I pay for maintenance at my most expensive timeshare week. (Dont forget that I have next to no investment tied up in my 13 weeks)

Will you be my coach? LOL. I never bought but mom bought Vistana retail, pays over $1200 MF, put me in charge of planing and I cant seem to make a trade for anything decent. I am fairly new here I am sure I will get better at this.

 

[vadayady]

I missed your post, What thread was that in?

As a Real Estate Broker I learned quite well that exposure of Real Estate to salt air and lakeside air increase both resale value and maintenance costs. I would be happy to point out what a dumb bunny anyone who thinks otherwise is.

Let me at em :whoopie:

How can I get out from fully paid time sahre at cliffs at peace cannyon in las vegas.

Mathew

 

[LannyPC]

How can I get out from fully paid time sahre at cliffs at peace cannyon in las vegas.

Mathew

The first suggestion is to write to the HOA of the resort and ask if it will accept a deed back.

If it says "No", then I would suggest using the free giveaway method on TUG:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132509

But do not pay any company a large fee to supposedly "take it off your hands".