We are thinking about a Timeshare Purchase, whats your honest opinion???

Timeshare Purchase, whats your honest opinion

First, let me answer “Bruceb306’s, 7Dec2015)” question: Is there a resort where the board of directors (HOA and AOAO) actually run their resort? The answer is YES, its Carriage Place – Grand Crown Resorts in Branson Missouri. Carriage Place Resort is one of three loosely affiliated resorts that are collectively managed by Trading Places International (TPI). TPI has a multiyear contract with each resort’s HOA. TPI manages these resorts collectively under the Grand Crown label. The original developer no longer has control of the resorts or their HOAs. When inventory becomes available, TPI makes every effort to move the property onto a new qualified interests or current owners of one of the three resorts. Maintenance fees at these resorts are below the industry average. And they are just that, maintenance fees for maintenance and projected refabrication needs. At the annual owners meeting (owners week) there is a healthy representation from each resort that participate in their resort’s meeting as well as collective meetings that concern all owners regardless of their resort.

Buyers may choose units utilizing the points system or the older weeks method of ownership. But either way you get a Deed and the vote and voice that comes with that deed. The deed is critical here in my opinion. You have a stake in the game with the deed. As “Dennisc283 ( 26Nov2015)” said in an earlier post,…… the (new) business models…flex, floating, registered,…. etc. are moving away from the deeded system. Or like donp196 (8Nov2015) mentioned, … stay away from… “Vacation Clubs”… and their Ponzi points scheme. I look at the current trends mentioned above more like buying stock in a company. If the company is doing poorly, your stock isn’t worth as much, and your vacation value may be reduced. And if the company go’s under, well so does your future vacation investment. Conversely, if the company does well your vacation value may also improve. But I kind of think those profits are going to go to the “preferred” stockholders of the company long before they go to the “common” stock holder or vacation customers. Our Resort wants and needs profits too. How else can we pay TPI for managing our resorts. However those profit needs aren’t carried on the back of maintenance fees. TPI is incentivized to manage the resorts in such a way as to make their own profits and excess earning are plowed back into the resorts.

Back to the original question that started this string: “Timeshare Purchase, whats your honest opinion, “ from: Johnh1645 (8Nov 2015). I would stay away from the new models as Dennisc283 described above and in his post. Find a resort where you can buy a deed, and preferably a deed resale from the resort itself or an owner you know. As suggested in other comments of this string, purchase a deed from a resort you like and don’t mind visiting often. If your budget can take it, buy a deeded week that’s in the resorts highest demand period. That’s important when it comes to trading that time for other resorts and other times. It’s all about trading power. And if it's at all possible, look for a "mature" resort where the HOA owns the resort and has freedom to choose its own board of directors. Your deed will mean more and have a louder voice if you and your HOA run and control your resort. Also look up the exchange company or association the resort belongs to or is affiliated with to see what the resort's trading power is. Cross reference with other exchange organizations and do the same there. Bottom line advice: shop around, do your research, and talk to other owners of the resorts of interest.

It is like something you buy and then you can't get ride of it. The maintenance fees is even increasing, as life going through different stages, you might not be able to afford in future to pay for all these extra expenses.

choik wrote:

It is like something you buy and then you can't get ride of it. The maintenance fees is even increasing, as life going through different stages, you might not be able to afford in future to pay for all these extra expenses.

If you buy a decent demand week at a decent and well managed resort at a decent price (resale market only, of course), it is rare that you could not resell it later for what you paid (or more).

If you buy a low demand week at a low demand resort in a low demand time period --- yes, then you might have great difficulty reselling it later (or even giving it away for free, for that matter). If you pay too much money by purchasing developer direct, you are ALWAYS going to "take a serious bath", financially speaking.

The RIGHT timeshare purchase can provide years of vacation and enjoyment. The WRONG timeshare purchase will provide years of headache and expense you will come to both resent and regret. Buy smart, or just rent instead.

Just want to mention, that you can buy a high demand week at a nice resort and sometimes even then you can run into problems. The resort can be sold to another developer and all of the sudden decide to rise fees 20% or more, each and every year for 2-5 years and all of the sudden even during prime times the rental value is lower than the MF's. Or the developer might change the rules on how reservations are made, or make a very high transfer fee which effectively kills the resale value. You can do your homework and find a resort and interval that is perfect for you but then things beyond your control can happen and it can become something you can't get rid of.

tracey75 wrote:

Just want to mention, that you can buy a high demand week at a nice resort and sometimes even then you can run into problems. The resort can be sold to another developer and all of the sudden decide to raise fees 20% or more, each and every year for 2-5 years and all of the sudden even during prime times the rental value is lower than the MF's. Or the developer might change the rules on how reservations are made, or make a very high transfer fee which effectively kills the resale value. You can do your homework and find a resort and interval that is perfect for you but then things beyond your control can happen and it can become something you can't get rid of.

Good and valid points --- but *only* if a resort is still actually in the hands (or under the influence) of any developer. At independent resorts with no "chain" affiliation and the original developers long gone and a owner-based HOA now solely in charge, not so much.

Sometimes a developer can come in and start buying up the HOA controlled off season weeks and the next thing you know they have enough power to take control. That is one of Festiva and Capital Resorts MO's. Or you could have a fairly benevolent owner friendly developer that sells to a bigger developer with plans and changes. This happened a few years back with Wyndham and Smugglers Notch. HICV and Silverleaf, and DRI and Gold Key resorts.

tracey75 wrote:

Sometimes a developer can come in and start buying up the HOA controlled off season weeks and the next thing you know they have enough power to take control. That is one of Festiva and Capital Resorts MO's. Or you could have a fairly benevolent owner friendly developer that sells to a bigger developer with plans and changes. This happened a few years back with Wyndham and Smugglers Notch. HICV and Silverleaf, and DRI and Gold Key resorts.

Good and valid points --- and solid examples. Now that you mention it, I am aware of a long-independent resort, with the original developer long gone, where BlueGreen has been acquiring weeks in recent years and now owns about 15% of the total number of weeks there. Where that situation is headed, I have no idea -- but it's likely nowhere good from an owner standpoint.

I think it depends. I see one company you can own for free but have to pay maintenance fees etc that is normal.they got awesome reviews. I see they offer one week for members for free and you can rent out a week..holds 6 or 8 people I cnt remember. 179 a night is a deal. You could rent that week and make close to 14000 grand use that and pay the yearly fees and nice little profit.

We own a number of weeks and our property rents well but if I had to do it again I would not purchase a timeshare because there is so much available all over the world through Redweek and other rental companies. More often than not people are renting their place out just to cover their annual maitenance fee. I recommend not to buy and just rent which may seem like alot at the time of renting but when you add it all up you are likely saving money not owning and just renting never mind all the headaches and lies that go with being an owner.

Cheers

Anyone who claims that timeshares are a good investment is selling snake oil .

Even if someone offers to GIVE you a ts do not accept it. I've been an owner for most of the past 30 years and wish I haven't.

The real big problem is selling it later. You will not get any money for the timeshare. You will be stuck with it and have to still pay the annual fees. I spent $8000 in advertising fees and never was able to sell them, even for $1. I finally disposed my 3 units for free after eight years of trying, and my three units cost me $60,000. BAD SPENDING of hard earned money.

Timeshares are no longer a good deal. It is the only product that is worth practically nothing the instant you buy it. Only purchase if you have money to burn. You can usually rent for less and not be stuck with ever increasing maintenance fees.

I agree with the above statement. Timeshare is not a good investment. The sales reps lie, if there lips are moving they are lying. I own some timeshare units and the maintenance has gone sky high and will continue to rise. I have started renting from different places by the month. Which is much better and less costly. If you still want to purchase a time share go to the secondary market such as Red Week.com or others, check newspapers, Craig's list etc.

I agree with the above statement. Timeshare is not a good investment. The sales reps lie, if there lips are moving they are lying. I own some timeshare units and the maintenance has gone sky high and will continue to rise. I have started renting from different places by the month. Which is much better and less costly. I have actually contacted the same timeshare company that I own with and was able to get additional weeks for less than the annual maintenance for one week " something wrong about that" . We have actually tried to book additional time where we own and advised nothing available however weeks available at the front desk for cash!!!! If you still want to purchase a time share go to the secondary market such as Red Week.com or others, check newspapers, Craig's list etc. I hope this info is of some help.

robertr558 wrote:

Timeshares are no longer a good deal. It is the only product that is worth practically nothing the instant you buy it. Only purchase if you have money to burn. You can usually rent for less and not be stuck with ever increasing maintenance fees.

I respectfully disagree, at least in part. It is certainly true that any and every developer-direct timeshare purchase is obscenely overpriced and that some (Westgate comes immediately to mind) are literally worthless in the resale market the moment after being purchased from the developer.

On the other hand, quality weeks in high demand areas and seasons (particularly at independent resorts that have no "chain" affiliation) can be found at low cost in the secondary market, with patient searching. This is exactly what we choose to own and we would never be able to find such prime weeks offered for rent in those high demand areas for anything less than 150% (or as much as 250%) of what we pay for maintenance fees. Moreover, we could easily sell those high demand weeks at any time for at least what we paid for them --- probably a bit more. Off season "dog weeks" at a dumpy little place in East Timbuktu would of course be a different matter entirely.

In short, there are far too many variables for any "one size fits all" statement or conclusion about timeshares to be universally true and accurate for all timeshare situations.

Anyone who purchases a timeshare with the expectations of making a profit will soon learn it doesn't work that way . Maybe one person in ten thousand can work that system to make some money but I wouldn't go anywhere near some thing that outrageous . That's why the odds are so high in lotteries because one in a million gets a payout .

Very true. In order to rid yourself of a timeshare you would have to use the same devious methods that were used to sell it to you in the first place. It is not an investment & not real property. Look out for the notorious "perpetuity clause" when signing all the paperwork if you get sucked in that far. On mine it reads " THIS CONTRACT IS IRREVOCABLE". This is all a farce in my opinion. No-one needs to "own" their personal hotel room. You won't be able to use it year after year at the same time due to constantly changing life events. Also never buy a vague "Flex-time" with floating days, they are the worst. No-body needs to "own" their personal hotel room.

donp196 wrote:

Anyone who purchases a timeshare with the expectations of making a profit will soon learn it doesn't work that way.

I agree that buying any timeshare with the hope or expectation of "making a profit" is essentially a fool's errand and is doomed to failure. It is also very unwise to buy any timeshare directly from a developer, since truly obscene numbers (and lots of lies and misrepresentations and exaggerations) are involved there. The secondary (resale) market is the only smart place to ever consider buying a timeshare.

There is value besides "profit" in timeshare ownership *IF* you buy the right product (resale only) at the right price (i.e., low) in a good location in the right season. For several decades now, we have used and enjoyed our several (resale) fixed week timeshare ownerships a whole lot and we look forward to continuing to do so for years to come --- God willing.

To each their own choices and decisions.

gerards23 wrote:

In order to rid yourself of a timeshare you would have to use the same devious methods that were used to sell it to you in the first place.

Not necessarily. Some resorts will take units back, albeit at a cost lot less than what was originally paid. Wyndham and Diamond have programs in place where they are taking back a select, limited number of units.

An owner can also advertise that he wants to give it away such as here on RedWeek or on Timeshare Users Group (TUG).