Anyone own timeshare?

[nickerjones]

just curious if anyone owns any??? and where they own and how much
i own points with a company called bluegreen... works out pretty well, if you travel

[MoneyGuy]

I don't own one but I'm currently establishing my own private timeshare. We want to buy a property maybe in Arizona (maybe Tucson). We'rfe looking for several partners and would prefer Oilers fans. We have a couple of partners lined up already. I'm excited.

[nickerjones]

lol , well timeshares are tough to run , just because there are so many big corporate partnerships......... id be glad to have a free trip to your resort in exchange for me to listen to the timeshare pitch HAHAHAH it will be no high pressure right??

[guzzy]

I am also looking at a private timeshare in whitefish Montana. it's only a 4.5 hour drive and you get 5 weeks (10%)a year for $19,000 US. three bed, two bath and one mile from the ski hill. I like the private because there are less rules. Our condo will be RCI ready so you can travel any where in the world for dirt cheap.

If anyone is interested please PM me. There is a group of us already and we are looking for ten owners in total. We only want to close once so we want all owners with cash equivalent up front. If someone is looking for more than a 10% share that is cool as well.

My parents have had a condo there (30% ownership...private) in the same complex for 15 years now. They love it. It is on the mountain but there is 100 feet of beach on the Whitefish lake, an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub, trout fishing pond, amazing tennis courts. We have been using and decided we should just buy our own so we have somewhere for our own family.

[nickerjones]

guzzy, remember you have to mention , rci charges you to be a member usually 100 bucks a year...... then you have deposit your week into rci and apply for a week you would want to use. That week has to be available and then you pay a weekly fee for the desitination if you get the week you want. All fees are different, the company i sell for the weekley fees are 164 a week us/canada and 199 a week Intl


also i now this is a private timeshare.... but it is a fractional ownership and im almost 100% positive your still responsible for maint fees and taxes... so what is whitefishes maint. fees and such???

are there any black out dates??? limited to availabilty or are the weeks fixed weeks???
sorry just curious //

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

guzzy, remember you have to mention , rci charges you to be a member usually 100 bucks a year...... then you have deposit your week into rci and apply for a week you would want to use. That week has to be available and then you pay a weekly fee for the desitination if you get the week you want. All fees are different, the company i sell for the weekley fees are 164 a week us/canada and 199 a week Intl


also i now this is a private timeshare.... but it is a fractional ownership and im almost 100% positive your still responsible for maint fees and taxes... so what is whitefishes maint. fees and such???

are there any black out dates??? limited to availabilty or are the weeks fixed weeks???
sorry just curious //

Hey Nicker

Yes there are fees associated with RCI. But the membership is split amongst the the fractional owners so it is a nominal cost. There are no blackout dates on our end. You can trade any of the 5 weeks (per 10%share) and choose any available RCI dates. My parents have used RCI over the years and never run into problems. The odd condo on the other end may have blackout restrictions but there is always something else in the same area without.

Maintenance fees in Whitefish are $800 per year per 10%share. This includes all property tax, utilities, condo reserve and fees to keep up the resort (tennis, pools, hot tub etc). It is a small cost for condo fees and only 4.5 hours from Calgary. Just found out last week Kalispell just approved the mega mall behind the existing strip mall with the Target etc. So the shopping just got better as well.

[Sylvanfan]

From the people I've talked to don't buy these things brand new when they're being built. Generally if you keep an eye on things you can pick them up for better deals off previous owners. My Parents got burned badly owning one in Can Cun in the late 80's and through the 90's. I talked to a few other people on a recent Cruse I was on who own them and there are a lot of Senior citizen types looking to get rid of ones that they own. One big problem was they paid full price to buy it in the first place, another factor was that they bought when the dollar was at around 85 cents. As time went on the dollar fell and those US only maintainance fee's became pretty costly. For the cost of that timeshare today...you can go to Can Cun and stay at an all inclusive for a lot less money, especially since you can get a discount flight there. Of course Hurricane Gilbert sweeping through and doing some nice damage in like 1990 didn't help either. So if you're buying in the U.S or a place where fees are in US dollars.....Keep in mind that historically the Canadian Dollar is usually lower than the U.S dollar and that you'll likely face an increase that you don't anticipate. Conversely though...had they bough in a place like Fairmont they probably would have done very well as the area has appreciated and they would have had currency stability to help keep the fees consistant.

[DESS]

Timeshares seem like bad value to me. You don't actually own the place in that you can't decorate it how you want, can't go whenever you want, can't leave stuff there, etc. Plus, for the same amount of money (yearly/monthly fees, interest on a mortgage, plus the actual cost to buy it) I don't think you're really saving anything versus just renting a cabin or hotel room for a week or two a year where ever you want. They seem like a real pain to sell, too, and you have to factor in realtor fees in there also. And Sylvanfan mentioned all inclusives - those are way better value than any timeshare IMO.

[nickerjones]

value wise dealing with numbers its a good deal...... Let's say 10 days a year for 30 yrs at a hotel with the prices never go up , at a. 100 bucks a night is 30,000. If you buy 2 weeks for 20,000 you come out on top and your usually in a 5 star resort

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

value wise dealing with numbers its a good deal...... Let's say 10 days a year for 30 yrs at a hotel with the prices never go up , at a. 100 bucks a night is 30,000. If you buy 2 weeks for 20,000 you come out on top and your usually in a 5 star resort

Take that 20k and invest @ 5% per year and you'll have $1k which would pay for your 10 hotel nights @ $100 a night.

And that $20k fee doesn't include the annual maintenance fee that timeshares require.

[jammies]

Timeshares are a good idea IF you can buy one at a steep discount. By steep, I'm talking under 5 grand for a week. The fees on top of your original purchase price mean you might - MAYBE - break even after 20-30 years compared to just staying at a hotel. Generally fees are lower when they first build them to suck people in, but as time goes on, the fees keep going up and up to deal with the aging of the infrastructure.

If you look in the classified section of any of the timeshare magazines, you'll see that very few of the units appreciate in value over the long term, which should send off alarm signals right there. If you do want to get one, be patient and wait for a good deal (never ever is the first buyer getting a good deal, either), and don't ever buy anything at one of those "free" seminars where they try to put time pressures on you, as if tomorrow suddenly the world-wide supply of overpriced timeshares is going to disappear.

PS - I have a week's timeshare I bought for under $2000, at the same place my parents have 6 weeks, each of which they bought for under $2000. When I hear stories of people that bought for 15, 20, 25 thousand dollars for one measly week, I start to wonder if I should become a timeshare developer as apparently the supply of suckers is endless.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

And that $20k fee doesn't include the annual maintenance fee that timeshares require.

Last timeshare I looked at required over $1500 per year for fees. So there's your hotel costs right there for 2 weeks @ $100 per night.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by jammies

Timeshares are a good idea IF you can buy one at a steep discount.

Yeah, I used to think they were more of a scam myself...but like you say if you pick one up for the right price they can be a good thing to have if you vacation quite frequently. As the rest of your post suggests, look for used units, lots of people buy before their kids become teen agers and they end up not having time to use them when their kids get to that age, also you have widow types who's spouse passes away and than no longer wants the expenses or to go on much for hollidays, plus countless other things that make people want to move them. Overall they generally are bought with disposible income, have little growth upside so they are something people will sell at a loss to move if they find themselves in that position. I met a guy who got 3 weeks in Fairmont for like $5000 that he saw on a website. He was more than happy with it, but he admitted had he paid 20 grand or more, than he wouldn't have done it.

[edn88]

So, with current turmoil in economy, my wife and I are going to look at timeshares.

Wondering if anyone here has any experience with Timeshare companies like RCI or Shell vacations, or other experiences they would like to share.

A coworker of mine has a time share and thinks it is the greatest thing.

[Hack&Lube]

The way timeshares were marketed to my parents, it was more like you had your choice to staying in hundreds of hotels and resorts around the world.

The problem is this is very iffy and only works if you can managed to swap timeshares with someone else who owns another one. Otherwise you are stuck with the same crappy resort/hotel that you technically own for 30 years!!!

I've never understood it myself, I never have fun going to timeshares in Fairmont or Kelowna. I just end up sitting there wishing that I was at home instead!!!

[Shazam]

Look on eBay. There's lots of desperate people on there looking to unload their timeshares for really, really cheap.

[MJK]

Ok can someone explain to me exactly how they work?

10% (5 weeks) for $19,000US. Excuse my ignorance but when you pay the $19,000 do you have it for 5 weeks until you decide to sell? We arn't talking $20,000 for just 1 year are we? I hope you guys know what I mean.

Thanks.

[malcolmk14]

I would imagine you have it 5 weeks per year for the one-time payment of $19,000.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I would imagine you have it 5 weeks per year for the one-time payment of $19,000.

Well if true, it is something I would look at for sure. Being a teacher I get about 5 weeks off per year so something like this would work for me.

Can someone fill me in a bit more. Very interested in this.

[HockeyPuck]

Check this website out. It has listings on timeshares that people want to get rid of.

http://www.redweek.com/

I've been keeping my eye on a timeshare in Maui, but I'm being particular on where I'd like to buy.

I've sat through numerous timeshare presentations, and I've seen them sold as high as $40k!!! Look at the link I provided and check out the discounts you can get...