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Newbie with Atlantis Harborside Bahamas timeshare

Brett, hopefully, you have your rescission letter in the mail- exactly like the instructions outline in your contract. There will be a delay in getting back your down payment.

Now, while you catch your breath about what you've done and the bullet you've dodged, might I suggest investing (yup, not spending) $15 in a TUG membership. It will be the best money you can spend to assure great vacations. The most important benefit is access to the resort review database. TUG members are encouraged to write reviews on their TS vacation resorts. Most are pretty unbiased and give you a good idea of what to expect at each resort. You can also compare one to another. Also included is access to 'Sightings' of TS that you can exchange into at reasonable cost or difficulty to find.

I know that you are pretty committed to Atlantis. Fine. But it has high MF, and will require flights to get there to use it. You can't drive there. It is subject to hurricane damage that- if it happens, owners pay for repairs via 'special assessments.' The cost of the MF there makes it inefficient to exchange into somewhere else. While you wait for your money to be returned, I'd encourage you to look at other resorts and systems. You may find something you can drive to, with lower MF and strong trading power at much lower cost. If your (known) vacation plans are pretty much limited to a trip to the Bahamas next July, you have time to find a TS, make a purchase, and the time for closing (the longest wait in the world!) and still book next Summer's vacation.

As I was told as a young man, infatuated with a pretty face on a high-maintenance girlfriend, "Son, she isn't the only fish in the sea." It was good advice to look around for someone(thing) of better lasting value.

Happy hunting!

Jim Ricks
 
grgs said:
I agree with the advice you have been given already. However, based on what you stated above, and in a prior post, I believe you did buy the summer season which would include the July dates you want. So, I do not think the sales person lied about this.
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One of the things that is confusing is that sales told him that he had to wait until 8 mos. out to make a July reservation. Maybe the OP just misunderstood that info. in the avalanche of stuff that was thrown at him, but that would indicate that he did not buy in the season that he wants to own.

Either way, he should still rescind, and buy resale - without financing.
 
Congrats on taking all the great advice given here and backing out of that direct Harborside purchase.

We own at Harborside and absolutely love it! We bought resale and have no regrets. Is the maintenance fees high...yes. But if you go to Atlantis regularly, like us, its still cheaper then paying cash.
 
tomandrobin said:
Congrats on taking all the great advice given here and backing out of that direct Harborside purchase.

We own at Harborside and absolutely love it! We bought resale and have no regrets. Is the maintenance fees high...yes. But if you go to Atlantis regularly, like us, its still cheaper then paying cash.
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Thanks very much. I am backing out today, word for word according to the contract. May I ask, how do the Maintenance Fee's increase? Will I one day owe 3,000 dollars annually for MF for one that started at 1300 dollars annually? That would really make or break the deal for me, even if I go resale (which I absolutely will, thanks to all of you). Thanks for your time, and everybody's time, I really am taking each comment to heart, so thank you.:)
 
Brett - I would count on the maintenance fees increasing 5-10% a year, to be on the safe side. They may not go up that much every year, but they will definitely increase over time.

Another options is to rent from an owner - you can often rent from an owner for half what the resort charges.
 
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Wow, that is at 5 percent, an extra 70 a month. The guy told me only one to three percent, sometimes none At all some years. That will definitely not be affordable or reasonable once a few years go by... That makes me wonder now. I can do 2000 a year but I am thinking of the long term commitment. Sounds like it would be way over my head in 10 years.
 
brettco84 said:
Wow, that is at 5 percent, an extra 70 a month. The guy told me only one to three percent, sometimes none At all some years. That will definitely not be affordable or reasonable once a few years go by... That makes me wonder now. I can do 2000 a year but I am thinking of the long term commitment. Sounds like it would be way over my head in 10 years.
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Wait till you hear about Special Assessments :ignore:
 
brettco84 said:
Wow, that is at 5 percent, an extra 70 a month. The guy told me only one to three percent, sometimes none At all some years. That will definitely not be affordable or reasonable once a few years go by... That makes me wonder now. I can do 2000 a year but I am thinking of the long term commitment. Sounds like it would be way over my head in 10 years.
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Reality sucks. Timeshare sales staff convince you to enter their own reality distortion field in which many stay until they get the maintenance fee bill and see the details.

When I bought Kierland (resale) maintenance was in the low 900s (and that's after the SVN fee, if I recall correctly). It's now in the $1300s some six years later. Kierland has the lowest maintenance per StarOption, which is what I wanted. It's not for everyone, especially if you're tied to a certain holiday schedule, but if you are flexible when you travel it's a good option to consider.

Get through the paperwork, go for a long walk, get your money back, and then spend some months (months!) investigating timeshares before buying. You can always rent next year, often for the same or less than maintenance (depending on the resort). Just remember that once you buy it's much, much harder to sell. Good luck!
 
DeniseM said:
One of the things that is confusing is that sales told him that he had to wait until 8 mos. out to make a July reservation. Maybe the OP just misunderstood that info. in the avalanche of stuff that was thrown at him, but that would indicate that he did not buy in the season that he wants to own.
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I was unclear on whether the OP was told that, or it was simply what they thought they were supposed to do. I was thinking possibly the latter since you would make a July SO reservation beginning in November, and he thought he was supposed to wait until January 1st. As far as I can tell he was never told to reserve at 8 mos. out.

brettco84 said:
Now, my only concern is that, what they told me is what I will get. For example, the month of July is listed as part of my time I could choose. I can begin booking in January 1st 2012.
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DeniseM said:
Either way, he should still rescind, and buy resale - without financing.
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Yes, definitely a good plan.
 
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There was so much said that went over my head. It just sounded straight forward but I should have figured it would not be that way. Is there a highly recommended timeshare that is fair with fees? I still really want one, especially at the Bahamas. This is such a let down but thank god I talked to you all.
 
brettco84 said:
Wow, that is at 5 percent, an extra 70 a month. The guy told me only one to three percent, sometimes none At all some years. That will definitely not be affordable or reasonable once a few years go by... That makes me wonder now. I can do 2000 a year but I am thinking of the long term commitment. Sounds like it would be way over my head in 10 years.
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I would realistically expect the annual maintenance fees to pretty much have doubled in 10 years...
 
brettco84 said:
There was so much said that went over my head. It just sounded straight forward but I should have figured it would not be that way. Is there a highly recommended timeshare that is fair with fees? I still really want one, especially at the Bahamas. This is such a let down but thank god I talked to you all.
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Harborside Resort Atlantis is one of the most expensive timeshares anywhere.

I would not jump into another purchase without doing a lot of research.

Renting from owners may be a better option for you - there is no on-going commitment when you rent.

Buying a timeshare is a big financial commitment - we have a lot of owners come to TUG in a panic, because they have financial problems and can't pay their payments or maintenance fees. A timeshare is a contractual financial obligation - if you don't pay - they turn you over to collections and report you to the credit bureaus. It's just like defaulting on any other financial obligation - it's not something you take on lightly. If you financial situation is not solid - don't buy a timeshare.
 
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brettco84 said:
Is there a highly recommended timeshare that is fair with fees? I still really want one, especially at the Bahamas.
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I don't know what TSs exist in the Bahamas. You might want to look at other Starwoods with lower MF that might allow you to exchange into Harborside from time to time. Then there are the Disneys, Hiltons (HGVC) Marriotts, all of which give a great vacation experience. Then at significantly lower cost, Wyndham. Perhaps the Royals or Mayan resorts in Mexico. All these will give you and your family wonderful vacations. All are available resale for 10s of thousands less than you were about to spend and at lower MFs too.

Denise has suggested renting for a while to try some TSs. A great place to do that is in the TUG Marketplace. Look in the red line above here. Many times you can rent for lower cost than MF, and no commitment. What's not to like?

We like to suggest that for your first TS, It should be bought resale. For cash. At a place you can drive to, and be a resort you would go to at least half the time. In other words, don't buy to trade.

Jim
 
Jim - trading into Harborside with another resort is almost impossible. You need to own or rent there to get a July Resv.
 
I will have to look in to other timeshares. I really like the Starwood Chain, so I would stick with them...But wow, I just was not expecting maintenance fee's to most likely double in 10 years. I could afford it if it were the 4 or 5 grand up front and the maintenance fee stayed under 2,000 dollars, but that just doesnt seem likely at all. I really dont want to say no to Harborside but I feel like I have no choice. I am going to search for another timeshare. In the meantime, if anybody knows of a good solid timeshare in the Carribbean, I can begin my research on that one. It is such a shame for those fees to be so high. In 10 years, my idea of having a paid off timeshare with only MF's will turn in to the exact opposite. I'll be just paying the same amount I pay for the MF's for a full week vacation at Atlantis without a timeshare. I still want to be a part of the timeshare community though :) Any advice/locations on Carribbean timeshares?
 
Brett - If you join TUG ($15) you will have access to our extensive Timeshare Reviews with thousands of reviews - that's the best place for you to do your research.

BTW - over time, the maintenance fees at all timeshares do go up - at least modestly. None of them have fixed maintenance fees.

Did you rescind and get it in the mail?
 
I am not sure that doubling is the baseline expectaion, but they will go up

Disney boardwalk (EY) 2002-2011- 1168 to 1629/yr
Mission Hills (ey) 2006-2011- 1109 to 1585/yr
Maui (EY) 2008-2011- 1711 to 2399/yr (tax issues)
Atlantis (EOY) 2007-2011- 1100 to 1307/yr
keirland (Eoy 2006-2011- 339 to 392 /yr
Orlando (ey ) 2008-2011- 1508-1527/yr

From my records
 
When I bought in 2001 at Harborside my maintenance fee was about $1350 as I recall--now it is more than $2800! Still love it there but I agree at this point buy resale if you want to go every year--I had no choice when I bought!
 
I am absolutely subscribing to this. I love it. I feel confident I will find a timeshare suited for Me. 2300 is a big jump! What siZe room did you get and what season?
 
Negma said:
I am not sure that doubling is the baseline expectaion, but they will go up
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We saw the costs at our VOIs go up ~45% from 2005 to 2009 (peak, including Special Assessments at SVR).

They've actually been dropping a bit since, but some of that has to do with favourable foreign exchange rates (billed in USD, pay in CAD).

Negma said:
Maui (EY) 2008-2011- 1711 to 2399/yr (tax issues)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I think that there will always be some kind of "extraordinary" circumstances that come in to play, so you might as well plan for it up-front.

We always assumed ~10% per year average.
 
brettco84 said:
I just joined TUG! :)
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Welcome aboard!

Here is how to change your status to "member" so that it will show that you are a member when you post.

When you joined TUG, you received an email with a member's code that you have to add to your profile, for the system to recognize you as a member.

If you can't find the email and code:
Click on TUG Resort Databases at the top of the page,

Scroll down and click on MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO LOG IN,

Log in,

The member's code will be in the top box.

To add the member's code, click on USER CP in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Then click on EDIT BBS MEMBER CODE

Then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, put the code in the box

Save it.​
 
Oh no!. Not another member to teach the secret handshake and to be amassing posts to chase the elusive 'boiled pizza' recipe. Well, I guess we DID invite him. Next thing you know he'll be asking questions in the newbies forum.

Welcome, Brett :)

Jim
 
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