Refi

[Scott Murrow]

Glad to find this forum - my wife and I are longtime Starwood members and love to travel. We recently purchased VOI in Nanea as we go to Hawaii almost every year and it makes sense to us.

One of the discussion points with the sales team was the high interest in the loan amount and we were told that we could easily refi with local banks for a much lower rate. My inquiries to a credit union I belong to as well as Wells Fargo was met with "we don't do timeshares". Is it possible that I took the wrong approach and they misunderstood? Also, if anybody has had success, would you be willing to refer us to your bank?

Thanks for your help!
Scott

 

[Sicnarf]

Glad to find this forum - my wife and I are longtime Starwood members and love to travel. We recently purchased VOI in Nanea as we go to Hawaii almost every year and it makes sense to us.

One of the discussion points with the sales team was the high interest in the loan amount and we were told that we could easily refi with local banks for a much lower rate. My inquiries to a credit union I belong to as well as Wells Fargo was met with "we don't do timeshares". Is it possible that I took the wrong approach and they misunderstood? Also, if anybody has had success, would you be willing to refer us to your bank?

Thanks for your help!
Scott

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there is no bank that would refinance a timeshare . Your best bet to reduce your interest rate would be to refi your house or get a home equity loan.

 

[bizaro86]

Glad to find this forum - my wife and I are longtime Starwood members and love to travel. We recently purchased VOI in Nanea as we go to Hawaii almost every year and it makes sense to us.

One of the discussion points with the sales team was the high interest in the loan amount and we were told that we could easily refi with local banks for a much lower rate. My inquiries to a credit union I belong to as well as Wells Fargo was met with "we don't do timeshares". Is it possible that I took the wrong approach and they misunderstood? Also, if anybody has had success, would you be willing to refer us to your bank?

Thanks for your help!
Scott

I don't think you'll be able to refinance using your timeshare as collateral. Depending on your credit, you may be able to get a better rate on an unsecured loan. An example pitched at timeshare users would be here
https://www.lightstream.com/timeshare-loans

If you are still in your recission period, you are almost certainly better off to do that and buy resale.

 

[Scott Murrow]

Thanks for your insights - much appreciated.

 

[rboesl]

There may be anther option open to you. Assuming you have the credit line available many credit cards at this time of year send card holders checks to pay off some other debt and give you 12 to 18 months of 0% interest. Depending upon the amount you need to "refi" you might need to use a couple of cards to cover it. While that 12 - 18 months may not be long enough for you to pay it off you can use the same strategy from year to year - card to card until you can get it paid.

 

[Henry M.]

You can certainly refinance, but not in the sense of getting a new mortgage with the timeshare as collateral. You could get a home equity loan, a line of credit or a variety of other loan products your bank or credit union might offer.

 

[cubigbird]

I would not tie your home to a timeshare. Why collateralize the debt? I have seen lenders like LightStream that will do loans for timeshares if your credit is good. Rates are reasonable.

 

[dioxide45]

I would not tie your home to a timeshare. Why collateralize the debt? I have seen lenders like LightStream that will do loans for timeshares if your credit is good. Rates are reasonable.

Getting an unsecured, such as a signature. loan to pay off the debt is the best option. A local credit union or bank will offer these types of loans. Though the rates may not be much lower than what the current loan is at depending on one's credit. Putting your house on the line for the loan isn't a really good option. It is probably fairly easy to walk away from the timeshare if times get bad and just let them foreclose on the timeshare. Would rather not have that happen with a home. Another reason why most financial folks don't recommend refinancing credit card debt with a home equity loan.

 

[Scott Murrow]

Thank you - our credit is excellent(right around 800). The current property loan rate is 13.94% and know that we can find something better than that. I will explore the options provided above and report back if we have success.

 

[The Haileys]

We were planning to get a HELoC for home renovations anyway, so we just upped the amount borrowed to also cover the outstanding balance on our mortgage on the timeshare. Bonus: We paid off the mortgage with our SPG Amex, then paid the Amex from the HELoC and racked up the SPG points!