What is lowest maintenance fee?

[beachbum]

This is a great site.

What is the lowest maintenance fee that anyone knows of?

 

[johnnyomega]

Low Maintanence fees

Gold Canyon Vacation Villas offer a $349 yearly fee. It's in Gold Canyon, AZ and the two golf courses are AWESOME!

 

[bogey21]

Last year I paid $260 on a one bedroom at the CasaBlanca in Mesquite, Nevada.

Not only is the MF low, I get 50% off on golf and spa and $25 off at the gift shop and on all meals in the Casino/Hotel restaurants.

 

[jalexander]

Lowest maintenance fees must always be taken with a caveat... namely, what is the condition of the property/financial state of the homeowners association..

Its easy to keep maintenance fees low when you defer maintenance or dont adequately reserve for necessary repairs down the road (ie roofs)

I have read a lot of posts on here where maintenance fees have skyrocketed or there have special assessments

A low maintenance fee might be a great thing, but it also might be a warning

 

[TomW]

I believe it also depends on the size of the units as well. I wouldn't expect to pay as much for a one bedroom as I do for my 3 bdrm.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Gold Canyon Villas?

Johnnyomega,

I checked the reveiws page and there is not one for the Gold Canyon Villas that you mentioned. The note about the 2 golf courses caught my eye. Are they pricey? Where in AZ is Gold Canyon (Phoneix area?).

thanks,
LeAnn

 

[luckster]

LOW until several yrs down the line a special levy is charged for extra upkeep that has not been calculated for in a sinking fund or worse still there is no sinking fund.

Tina

 

[jackio]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4401626952&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

A converted motel but week 26 should trade well.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Low for now, but then what?

I agree from experience that low MF's usually indicate that big assessments are in the future. We had a total of $1,532 in assessments over eight years because we always paid low MF's of $370 (just last year) for a three bedroom. Now we are paying for that luxury and the board says they kept the MF's low to make it affordable. The management company's owner says (verbatim), "Now is not the time to rest on our laurels." What the heck is a laurel and why can't we rest on it.

I actually see that the units would be more trade-able and there would be fewer complaints from exchangers, but at what cost? We should have been paying just a little more every month, but our board had no foresight and does not care. So many people are angry and want to dump their weeks, including my brother and sister-in-law who cannot afford more. To top everything off, the property manager is claiming that the units "are expected to double in value." What kind of crap is he selling here? It is actually illegal to claim that real estate or other investment will double in value. What a moron.

 

[JLB]

I consider us very fortunate in this regard.

 

[bogey21]

I also have a week in Biloxi, MS (Chateau Le Grand) on which the MF is in the low $300s. The bad news is that there will probably be a Special Assessment after Katrina blows through. The good news is that I only paid $100 for the Week.

GEORGE

 

[teepeeca]

If a person can't afford a mx fee less than $400, should they even own a timeshare? Don't know what size unit you are talking about, but that's less than $60 per night.

Where I live, you would be "hard-pressed" to get a "motel-6" for $60 per night, much less than a timeshare.

Tony

 

[rickandcindy23]

Some people have very negative opinions of timeshare

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have never exchanged their week through II. They sometimes are able to use the week, but sometimes they just give it to their grown children to use. To them, with their lifestyle the way it is right now, they feel forced to use it at the price they pay. They love to go to Vegas and could easily trade there, but they don't believe in timeshare the way we all do on TUG. They really believe that exchanging won't work and they would be stuck paying membership fees for nothing--no value whatsoever.

The two of them just came to dinner a week ago and had stayed earlier in the summer at Twin Rivers, our resort, and thought the updates were spectacular. They couldn't say enough about their unit. When we mentioned that they should trade next year and that they could deposit their week with another company and not pay membership fees, my sister-in-law said that the exchange would cost them $400 without paying membership fees. I told her that wasn't true, she didn't believe me. What can you do?

My mother-in-law owns at another RID Colorado mountain resort in Breck called Rockridge, which is a very nice place, equal to Val Chatelle, but she owns a blue spring/fall float week. She wants to sell because her hubby died last year. She was shocked to discover that she may have to give it away. She thought that it would be worth $15K because it is real estate. She put a note in her timeshare newsletter that she wanted to sell and she would consider offers. A Strohman broker called her and told her he could get 8K for it. What a joke. She would just have to pay an upfront fee of............ don't remember the amount. I had to tell her over and over again that her week was not worth much at all. It takes a lot of talking to erase what a salesman who is charging an upfront fee has claimed.

 

[Tony2]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4401626952&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

A converted motel but week 26 should trade well.

I was the one that won this auction. A studio at this converted motel finished first in the June 2004 Tug RCI trade test. The mf's have been holding steady for some time and according to their management, no special assessments are in sight. I'm just going to have to take a gamble on that but with it's good trading power and mf's of $165, it seems like a safe bet to me. I plan to use the exchanges from this timeshare as gifts to friends and family. IMHO, this is a much better choice than buying into SA.

 

[CaliDave]

I looked at this too.. but a couple things stopped me.

I don't have any money
I didn't have enough time to research

Looks like you did great, let us know how it trades when it's all transfered.

 

[Tony2]

I looked at this too.. but a couple things stopped me.

I don't have any money
I didn't have enough time to research

Looks like you did great, let us know how it trades when it's all transfered.

By the time escrow closes and I get it deposited means RCI will get the 2006 week about 7 1/2 months out. Since I can deposit 2 years in advance at this resort I will probably deposit the "07 week at the same time. It should be interesting to compare the trading power between those two deposits, and also to compare them to the trading power of my Island Park Village.

 

[Patri]

MF at the Massanutten resort seem quite low. Several on eBay state in the $200 range for 2 BR. Do you think they are mismanaged?

 

[JLB]

I hate to be contrary and appreciate the helpful warning that low maintenance fees should set off a warning alarm.

But that is not always the case.

Resorts can be well managed, frugally, pay a substantial fulltime staff, keep on top of maintenance and remodeling, never have special assessments, and have low annual fees. It does happen.

 

[jalexander]

It can happen as high maintenance fees may not be indicative of a well managed resort

But if you have been paying $200 with no increases for the past 10 years, you really need to wonder why.. how many other things that you buy are the same price they were 10 years ago?

My point was that you cant blindly look at low maintenance fees and think it is a good thing.. you need to look at the condition of the resort (is maintenance being deferred?) as well as the financials

 

[boyblue]

There is little doubt that resorts can be run well, with less than the average MF (somewhere between $400 & $500.00). A low MF is more commonly associated with irresponsible rather than efficient management. Although this is not necessarily the case, only through thorough investigation should the blanket assumption be removed.

With irresponsibility vs efficiency a good indication is no information. Tuggers keep quiet about the good stuff but they will let you know if something is bad.

 

[JLB]

My point was that you cant blindly look at low maintenance fees and think it is a good thing.. you need to look at the condition of the resort (is maintenance being deferred?) as well as the financials

The type of resort is important.

Not all are straight-out timeshares. Some are primarily full-ownership. Some have strong rental programs. Some have rental income from commercial space. Some have convention facilities and group sales departments.

 

[JeffV]

Name one. Thanks

I hate to be contrary and appreciate the helpful warning that low maintenance fees should set off a warning alarm.

But that is not always the case.

Resorts can be well managed, frugally, pay a substantial fulltime staff, keep on top of maintenance and remodeling, never have special assessments, and have low annual fees. It does happen.

 

[CaliDave]

Name one. Thanks

I don't think Sand Pebbles has had a special assesment

 

[JLB]

Name one. Thanks

I certainly would if I could so without violating the lose-what-you-brag-about rule and likely give it the TUG Kiss of Death.

 

[Patri]

I'm with you, JLB. I've got a great one and I'm not telling. And I never see any owners from my resort post here.