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Tips for timeshare newbie please

NancyAndover

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Hello all.

Juts found this website as trying to help out my Mum. She told me she was entering into a timeshare which I was wary about as I had always been warned away from them and told they were a scam. After quite a bit of probing we discovered she was indeed about to be scammed. We looked up the phone number here and everyone said it was a scam. Despite this, she is still eager to enter into one. Im looking for some good places to find info on this, a basic guide and a summary of everything to consider would be great as I dont think she knows enough about them to make a good decision and I certainly don't know enough to advise her, and I really dont want her to get scammed.

Any help would be fab, thanks!
 

Passepartout

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Welcome! First, we are timeshare USERS, so that will slant our response. Now some basics. Timeshares are luxury goods- not investments. Once bought, there is ongoing cost. Think of them as pre-paid vacation obligations. For the most part, it's a use it or lose it deal. Second, there is a HUGE markup in the purchase price that will NEVER equal the resale value. SO if one is going to buy, buy on the resale market. Nearly EVERY TS can be bought for mere pennies on the retail dollar. To find out go to eBay and plug in the resort your mom is considering in the search window and check the listings.

This is enough for now. We can go into any level of depth on the subject, but first and foremost is our mantra: BUY RE$ALE- $AVE THOU$AND$! I should add that ALL TSs are used. There is no such thing as a 'new' one, so a TS bought on the secondary market is exactly the same as one bought from the developer.

Jim
 

goaliedave

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Never buy anything from a phone call or sales appointment. Research!

Sent from my SM-A505G using Tapatalk
 

WVBaker

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Just a suggestion however, I would be cautious clicking on any link described only as "here". Perhaps the OP would care to offer additional information as to where this may lead. Just basic information such as, the sites name, full link address, etc.

Clicking on any link described only as "here" can lead to some dark places.

Just my two cents. ;)
 

Synergy

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As a (mostly) happy timeshare owner, it is sad for me to report that there is good reason for so many people to consider timeshares a scam. At many (most?) resorts, there are usually a fairly small percentage of high demand weeks/units that are reliably worth their ongoing maintenance fees. Even fewer of those have much if any actual value, and virtually none of them are worth the price the developers sell those ownerships for. When a person is pressured into paying many thousands of dollars to purchase something that is immediately worth very close to nothing, it's hard to disagree with them when they call the whole scheme a scam.

That said, there really are folks like myself out there who are pretty content with our ownerships. We might own high season weeks at popular resorts in popular locations, or a week that comes with valuable-to-us day use, or a specific week that is particularly valuable to us. I personally own desirable weeks that come with excellent points : maintenance fee ratios, which works very well for us. We paid - literally - less than 1% of what the original purchasers of our ownership paid. We did it only after significant research, not on a whim after a sales pitch.

Anyway, help your mom do the research and see if there is a program that works for you. Also consider renting from other owners, who may not be able to use their ownership that year and just want to recoup their costs. Even paying a small premium over actual cost to rent may be well worth not needing to commit to a lifetime of forever increasing maintenance fees.
 

NancyAndover

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Just a suggestion however, I would be cautious clicking on any link described only as "here". Perhaps the OP would care to offer additional information as to where this may lead. Just basic information such as, the sites name, full link address, etc.

Clicking on any link described only as "here" can lead to some dark places.

Just my two cents. ;)
Oh sorry, thought that was okay will bare that in mind for future, its scam-numbers.co.uk a website people report phone calls on.
 

NancyAndover

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Thank you all for the pointers, I will sit down with her and go through the stickied thread and show her your responses, hopefully get a bit of clarity for her.
Thank you :)
 

Hobokie

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@NancyAndover, welcome to TUG! Agree with comments above from other TUG friends and let's take a moment to acknowledge that parents (and children!) can be stubborn! Even if you believe it doesn't make sense for her, your mum may still want to buy a timeshare. To narrow down where she should look and if this is "right for her", you may want to go to post your survey answers in this forum and we can offer OUR OPINION on your mum's specific needs and wants. If you click on the "What to Buy" Questions for new Timeshare Owners you will see that @DeniseM has posted a survey that we use as a template. I copied and pasted it below:

Normally we say "start a new thread" with the subject "My Survey" or "What should I buy", but I think you can just do it on here. Have your mum answer these questions and we can offer some opinions and advice on specifics...

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
 
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