New Member - Need advice (thanks in advance!)

[flutepharm]

I just joined TUG yesterday and have done alot of reading. Thanks so much everyone for the valuable info!

I currently own 210,000 points/yr with Wyndham deeded at San Diego Harbor Lights. I bought directly from Wyndham after they sucked me in. I really have enjoyed the timeshare experience over the past 2 years and have used all my points each year, taking advantage of VIP benefits, discounted points, etc... but am just really getting hit hard by the monthly payments and the reality of what my timeshare is worth.

I paid (I know many will wince in pain here as I probably paid more than anyone ever has) $36,000 for those 210,000 points a year and am financing through Wyndham. I still owe about $27000. I pay about $85/month in MF. I have been devastated to find out how little my timeshare is actually worth (about 5% of that $36000) and now that the economy is down and our income has changed, I am wondering why I paid so much and what my options are.

Is there anyway to just hand everything back to Wyndham somehow, pay them some extra $$$ or anything to avoid paying off the $27,000 i owe them?

I love timesharing and would just as soon start all over and just buy a resale for a couple of grand then pay the rest of this... Is there any other option for me other than being forced to payoff the remaining balance of this timeshare at $500/month for another 8 years? I wouldn't mind just giving up all my "equity" and invested money just to be free and clear.

If the answer is "i'm just stuck and need to pay it off" then do you advise paying off this thing as fast as possible throwing all my extra money into it so I can pay it off in 2 years instead of 8. That is my thought so I can avoid the interest at 12.9% but I would hate to payoff the remaining $27K only to find out I had some other option.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[bnoble]

You can try---effectively, you are going to tell them that they can take it back the easy way or the hard way (through foreclosure), at their option. But, I have no idea what your chances of success will be, and failure means non-trivial damange to your credit profile.

I'd go with "pay off as fast as I can" to limit the interest exposure, and make the best use of it you can. Lots of folks got started in timeshare with a deveoper purchase, and have lived to tell the tale.

 

[DeniseM]

Another thought - if you are a home owner, why don't you refinance and pay off the timeshare? It will cut your interest rate in half and the interest, which will become part of your mortgage, will be a tax write off.

Timeshare developers do not generally take back timeshares - they would much rather have your money and if you just default, then they will turn you over to collections and your credit will be affected. For the amount you owe, I imagine they'd take you to court.

 

[garmich]

Refinancing the loan at a lower rate is probably your best option.

I bought my timeshare directly from Wyndham BEFORE I found out about the TS resale market. I financed the sale through Wyndham at an outrageous 13.99% rate. Last month I paid it off with my American Express (to get Starpoints) and then I immediately paid the Amex balance with my home equity line which is currently at 4.00% I will continue paying the same monthly payment, which is more than required, and it will be paid off in almost half the time with a lot less interest.

 

[Jya-Ning]

you need talk to them to find out what they willing to do.

I don't think it will be like home loan where you can just walked away and expect to be new (wo)man in a few years.

Before you put it to home equity, first figure out how much your equity is, and if you can still handle the payment. Than you need to figure out what kind of protection you have. Can not pay home equity will loss your home which you may already put a lot more than this, and unlike TS, home price has good chance to be back.

Jya-Ning

 

[Timeshare Von]

. . . I really have enjoyed the timeshare experience over the past 2 years and have used all my points each year, taking advantage of VIP benefits, discounted points, etc . . .

Welcome to TUG! I am curious about how you have VIP with only 210k in points. Did you also buy (or receive) some enhanced limited time package like Discovery?

 

[Don]

They probably gave him bonus points equal the number he bought and 2 years to use them, which effectively makes him VIP for those years. At the end he will be a standard owner.

 

[flutepharm]

Welcome to TUG! I am curious about how you have VIP with only 210k in points. Did you also buy (or receive) some enhanced limited time package like Discovery?

Yes, I needed 300,000 for VIP... I had a 195K bonus points with my most recent purchase.

I kept the story short as I actually bought in to Wyndham earlier (2006) with an every-other-year package at 105K, then when I visited about 6 months later, I bought a Discovery package. I was hesitant to buy the more expensive 210K every year but did not want to waste the 2K I had spent on discovery which money invested there was used as part of my payment towards the new 210K point purchase. I was also hooked in by the "freeze" on my 2006 purchase price as they compared the 2008 sale price to show me the "deal" I was getting.

Until recently I had planned on eventually buying enough points to become VIP. But thanks to TUG, I'm realizing the true value of my timeshare and am not going to get hooked in to another "great deal from Wyndham at my freeze pricing"...

 

[flutepharm]

Another thought - if you are a home owner, why don't you refinance and pay off the timeshare? It will cut your interest rate in half and the interest, which will become part of your mortgage, will be a tax write off.

Timeshare developers do not generally take back timeshares - they would much rather have your money and if you just default, then they will turn you over to collections and your credit will be affected. For the amount you owe, I imagine they'd take you to court.

Isn't the interest on my timeshare already tax-deductable?

 

[bnoble]

It depends on how the loan is written. If it is written as a mortgage, then maybe. If it is written as a persoal/unsecured loan, it is not.

 

[Charlie D.]

More than likely it is a mortgage type loan and you should be getting an annual mortgage interest statement from Wyndham. If your primary residence is the only other mortgage you have, you can deduct the mortgage interest on the TS on your schedule A.

Charlie D.

 

[lprstn]

The short story is, you have to pay it off. Like most of us did when we purchased our first or second timeshare from the developer.

I didn't chose to attach the loan to my home mortgage, simply because I didn't want that to effect me if one of us lost a job and wanted to hold on to our home.

There are tons of ways to get rid of the loan, but its dependent upon your comfort level. You could just make extra payments to Wyndham if the interest rate isnt to bad. I believe, when we had our loan the rate was 8.5%, which wasn't to horribly bad at the time, and we paid that off in 2 years by doubling sometimes tippling our payment...however the points were a lot cheaper then, I think we paid about $12,000.

Anyways, just stick it out, enjoy your timeshare, and by the next one resale. You are definately not alone.