Stay in timeshare 52 Weeks a year?

[atracy]

I went to a timeshare presentation and the salesman told me he has a guy that stays at the timeshare all year round. I also read someone mention that on here, but I can't seem to find the details on how a person would do this and make it financially viable. I guess I'm looking to answer the question, are people using the timeshare system to live rent free by doing something like renting half of their timeshare while living in the other half? Anyways, I'm sure someone on here has already looked into this deeply and searching for "52 weeks a year" or "year round" aren't yielding any results for me. Anyone have a link to an article/blog post with details on this?

Ultimately, I don't WANT to live in a timeshare all year long, but would be cool if I could "hack" the system so the weeks that I want to use are paid for by renting out a portion of my timeshare to someone else. So I guess if there's a better solution to that than the guy living there all year long, I'd be interested in knowing how others have made this magic happen in their lives

Thanks!

 

[LannyPC]

but would be cool if I could "hack" the system so the weeks that I want to use are paid for by renting out a portion of my timeshare to someone else.

The challenge that that presents would be to find the rare interval that easily rents out for more than the MFs.

 

[goaliedave]

Yes, i've met people who cruise 52 weeks a year, and others who live in ts for 5-6 months. There is a big group of snowbirds at Cypress Pointe Resort Orlando. For MF of $3000 on 15,000 Diamond Resorts points I can live here for 3 months. Same price as living at home. I could buy more points and do it for 12 months i guess.

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[CalGalTraveler]

I see two questions in your thread:

1) Can someone TS 52 weeks a year? In the past there were some who did this using last calls and driving to resorts in the USA. It sounds like a lot of work and a crap shoot - some resorts in RCI are old and not as nice. There have been a lot of restrictions put in place to limit this e.g. 1 in 4 rule. Some Orlando and Vegas resorts have weeks limits too. Okay for some but not for me.

2) Can you rent out half of your unit and use the other half to stay free or go elsewhere? Yes in specific units/locations. Marriott and Westin 2 and 3 bedroom lockoffs on Maui are a good example. You may need to buy oceanfront to make this work so this could get expensive very quickly because resale units run north of $22k and have high MF if you want stay more than one week. Others may know of more examples, but it involves buying a deeded resale lock-off unit in an area with a rental premium over MF. However you can buy a large number of points and stay in a studio for a month or two, but you still need to pay for the points and cannot rent.

 

[Passepartout]

Use the search function and look at 'Full Time'. TUGgers @ronandjoan lived in TS virtually year round and posted at length about the experience. There have been others too, but iirc they have gone back to a more conventional lifestyle. They use a combination of Last Calls and exchanges to do it, had most of their belongings in storage and took plastic bins of goods with them. It seemed like a lot of work to me for very little upside.

 

[WVBaker]

First issue here is, "I went to a timeshare presentation and the salesman told me....."

Time to walk away.

Living in any single unit full time is, as far as I can tell, simply not possible. Like has been noted, Rules may dictate about how long the timeshare can be stayed in during any year. I cam't imagine any resort allowing someone to move in and stay indefinitely.

However, with hard work and creativity, it could be possible to live in many different timeshares full time. You would need to travel from one timeshare to another.

Should you have the funds and an unyielding propensity to pack and unpack, go for it.

 

[pedro47]

We have a friend that cruises 52 weeks every year after her spouse passed away.
She stays in an inside cabin and she feel it is cheaper than a nursing home.

 

[Travel1]

Yes, i've met people who cruise 52 weeks a year, and others who live in ts for 5-6 months. There is a big group of snowbirds at Cypress Pointe Resort Orlando. For MF of $3000 on 15,000 Diamond Resorts points I can live here for 3 months. Same price as living at home. I could buy more points and do it for 12 months i guess.

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Wow, that sounds great. What time of unit are you getting for $1000 per month (studio, 1 or 2 bedroom) and what time of year (winter, summer, etc)?

 

[Passepartout]

We have a friend that cruises 52 weeks every year after her spouse passed away.
She stays in an inside cabin and she feel it is cheaper than a nursing home.

Your friend must not need much medical care that would be available in a nursing home. We've met people who cruised back to back to back for a while, but longer term it would get tedious. Like the 14 day rotation of menus, reduced storage space, limited wardrobe, and if one had chronic medical needs or needed a pharmacy with more than basics, cruising into the sunset wouldn't work for long term. Much the same could be said for long term timesharing. It would take luck and at least some level of stamina to move every couple of weeks.

Jim

 

[goaliedave]

Wow, that sounds great. What time of unit are you getting for $1000 per month (studio, 1 or 2 bedroom) and what time of year (winter, summer, etc)?

Studio 1000-1100 points per week which is half price. $800-$900 per month. Price doesn't change much by season. I have a special membership which allows me to book 50% discount 6 months in advance, plus longer stays than the usual 50 day limit.

Golf membership is $300 per month, they store my clubs, i bicycle to golf every day, back for hot tub. Tuesday is beer tasting night at resort, Thursday wine tasting. Grocery store, Walgreens, Wawa, restaurants all walking distance across the street. I meet dozens of cool people golfing and at the resort. All the staff know me so it is home. Concierge told me some snowbirds actually bring their own comfy lazyboy chairs!

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[goaliedave]

Wow, that sounds great. What time of unit are you getting for $1000 per month (studio, 1 or 2 bedroom) and what time of year (winter, summer, etc)?

I should add, i am jealous of a platinum member who told me how she gets a 2BR at Grande Villas for 5 months for 1500 points per week. Diamond is a great flexible program if you learn how to use it!

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[Travel1]

Studio 1000-1100 points per week which is half price. $800-$900 per month. Price doesn't change much by season. I have a special membership which allows me to book 50% discount 6 months in advance, plus longer stays than the usual 50 day limit.

Golf membership is $300 per month, they store my clubs, i bicycle to golf every day, back for hot tub. Tuesday is beer tasting night at resort, Thursday wine tasting. Grocery store, Walgreens, Wawa, restaurants all walking distance across the street. I meet dozens of cool people golfing and at the resort. All the staff know me so it is home. Concierge told me some snowbirds actually bring their own comfy lazyboy chairs!

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Thanks for the update and answers. That is really a good deal for you...extra bonus are the beer and wine tasting nights!

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

......I have a special membership which allows me to book 50% discount 6 months in advance, plus longer stays than the usual 50 day limit.......
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That must have been an interesting sales presentation .

and perhaps proof - that not everything that comes from “ moving lips”
is a lie .

 

[Synergy]

I've looked at this a few times - if I was willing to pack up and move 1-4 times a month, I could do this fairly easily for <$1200 a month. The quality and size would vary greatly from stay to stay, but I'd have a place to sleep every night for less than we pay in rent in Miami. I imagine it would get tiring after awhile, but I can definitely see that being an interesting way to spend the first stretch of retirement.

 

[MOXJO7282]

It can be done for sure. I've seen the stories of the couples that do it at the lower end of the TS world, using getaways and lesser quality resorts and moving around alot, which really doesn't have appeal to me. I own 28 Marriott weeks more than 1/2 lock-offs. I was on the phone with a Marriott CSR and they mentioned a person who owns 65 weeks in places like Maui and Aruba that he rents and uses. I don't know how many he uses but someone like that could easily stay at these 2 places for a long time without paying for it by splitting weeks and using half and renting the other half. Depending on how he does it he could actually make money and stay probably 52 weeks or something close to that.

This is actually my plan to a lesser degree. With my 14 Maui weeks I've done the rough math and depending on what side we want to stay on the 1BDRM or the studio we could go to Maui for 6-8 weeks and rent the other sides to cover or exceed the maintenance fees for all 14 weeks. For my HHi weeks they aren't LOs so not the same value but I still could stay 4 weeks and rent the other 6 I have to stay rent free.

That's how it can be done and the person with 65 weeks, especially since most sound like LOs in Maui and Aruba can easily do that as well.

 

[goaliedave]

Fyi my current 3 month stay here i did not have to move units. Diamond lets you customize... one guy brought his favourite lazy boy chair for the winter.

Diamond is the most flexible that i've seen, and they regularly have 75% off points sales which helps. The year of the volcano eruption on Big Island (2017?) I stayed 6 weeks for price of 1.5. Similar deals in Sedona, Lake Tahoe. Definitely as mentioned above it is the lower end ts but i'm not a pool sitter I'm out golfing so sure beats the snow back home.

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[PamMo]

...are people using the timeshare system to live rent free by doing something like renting half of their timeshare while living in the other half?

We don't live in timeshares year round, but it's definitely possible to stay in a timeshare for "free" by renting your weeks. You need to own a high demand week in a high demand resort. We recently enjoyed hiking around Sedona for five weeks, staying in 2BR's in Hyatt's Pinon Pointe and Diamond's Ridge on Sedona Golf Course, using some (but not all) of the profit from renting out one of our Westin Ka'anapali villas. We purchased inexpensive Getaways and Extra Vacations to string together the weeks, so we were able stay in the same unit for multiple weeks. We often rent one side of our lockoff to stay in the other side for free, which is pretty sweet!

 

[davidvel]

It can be done for sure. I've seen the stories of the couples that do it at the lower end of the TS world, using getaways and lesser quality resorts and moving around alot, which really doesn't have appeal to me. I own 28 Marriott weeks more than 1/2 lock-offs. I was on the phone with a Marriott CSR and they mentioned a person who owns 65 weeks in places like Maui and Aruba that he rents and uses. I don't know how many he uses but someone like that could easily stay at these 2 places for a long time without paying for it by splitting weeks and using half and renting the other half. Depending on how he does it he could actually make money and stay probably 52 weeks or something close to that.

This is actually my plan to a lesser degree. With my 14 Maui weeks I've done the rough math and depending on what side we want to stay on the 1BDRM or the studio we could go to Maui for 6-8 weeks and rent the other sides to cover or exceed the maintenance fees for all 14 weeks. For my HHi weeks they aren't LOs so not the same value but I still could stay 4 weeks and rent the other 6 I have to stay rent free.

That's how it can be done and the person with 65 weeks, especially since most sound like LOs in Maui and Aruba can easily do that as well.

The acquisition cost of those 65 weeks must have been enormous. Certainly not calculated in the "rent and cover all your costs" mantra.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

The acquisition cost of those 65 weeks must have been enormous. Certainly not calculated in the "rent and cover all your costs" mantra.

I suspect the money spent , while significant , was significantly less - than the cost of a full time condo in those locations.

 

[shellmo1]

The acquisition cost of those 65 weeks must have been enormous. Certainly not calculated in the "rent and cover all your costs" mantra.

Just managing these weeks, keeping track, the renting out, scheduling your own weeks, etc. etc. Sounds like a full time job!

 

[capjak]

These people were doing it.

http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

Mike and Edie's adventures travelling from time share to time share for 2 to 5 years

www.fulltimetimeshare.com

 

[Clifbell]

The acquisition cost of those 65 weeks must have been enormous. Certainly not calculated in the "rent and cover all your costs" mantra.

I am just about to start living in a timeshare for an extended period. I have purchasing timeshares for my retirement and ended up with a lot of bonus weeks, so I thought I would give it a try. I am hoping that I am not moving about too much. I do have a month in Hawaii and a month in Oregon. I am moving about a little, but close by. The biggest challenge seems to be downsizing to basically live out of your car.

 

[CPNY]

First issue here is, "I went to a timeshare presentation and the salesman told me....."

Time to walk away.

Living in any single unit full time is, as far as I can tell, simply not possible. Like has been noted, Rules may dictate about how long the timeshare can be stayed in during any year. I cam't imagine any resort allowing someone to move in and stay indefinitely.

However, with hard work and creativity, it could be possible to live in many different timeshares full time. You would need to travel from one timeshare to another.

Should you have the funds and an unyielding propensity to pack and unpack, go for it.

Well, if you own a deeded week in each of the 52 weeks in a year why not? There are also quarter shares, buy 4 of those and you’re in a “timeshare” all year long.

 

[goaliedave]

I'm 6 months in my timeshares, snowbirding. It costs less than living at home where i rent the other 6 months. Sold my house 10 years ago when i retired and upped the timesharing from 3 months to 6.

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[goaliedave]

Well, if you own a deeded week in each of the 52 weeks in a year why not? There are also quarter shares, buy 4 of those and you’re in a “timeshare” all year long.

Diamond Resorts lets you stay months in the same unit. I was 3 months in the same unit and there are a couple of dozen snowbirds doing the same, longest is 5 months. Some folks bring furniture which the resort stores off season.

And it is not expensive, Diamond has the best points discount programs. My MF for the 3 months was under $3k.

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