Timeshares.....

[GoinAllTheWay]

100% scam all the time?
You can do alright if you find the right one?
They are spot on the money?

Which of the above is correct.

Doing a trip to Mexico shortly and my idiot brother in law got us a discounted round of golf. When inquiring as to how he managed that, he said "my time share guy booked it for us. BTW, he's also golfing with us"

Idiot.....

Now personally, timeshares are something that I have no interest in. When there are companies in Canada the specialize in getting people out of them, they must be bad.

That being said, I really don't know enough about them to know exactly why they are bad. But I do like being prepared.

Thoughts?

[Fuzz]

Tell timeshare guy you are unemployed and have been on AISH for a decade. Otherwise, be prepared for the hard sell.

[Diemenz]

Fuzz nailed it. The only thing worse then a timeshare salesman is that guy who is a friend of a friend who magically got your number and keeps calling you about life insurance and/or a great opportunity in financial advising.

I only know one person who has one and tells me about how awesome it is all the time. He just reluctantly switched to an iPhone from a blackberry so I think that’s relevant on his view of what’s awesome. (That’s not a flame at iPhone, it’s a flame at blackberry)

[surferguy]

The best part about owning timeshares is knowing someone who owns timeshares. Use their points when they cannot.



I benefit from my in-laws.

[CaptainCrunch]

When I was in my late 20's I had a friend of mine that talked me into going to see about this great business opportunity in Edmonton setting up a business to sell humidifiers. Because I was trying to be a good friend to him, I agreed to go, plus he was dead a$$ broke, but the guy was amazing at picking up girls in the bar, so I figured he'd help a brother out.


So we drove to Edmonton, and went to the hotel, and I sat down, and this guy got up and started talking about the greatness of AmWay.


I shot my buddy a sour look, got up, walked out to the parking lot, got in my car and and drove back to Calgary leaving him there.


I didn't hear from him for about 10 years.


I didn't care

[Robbob]

Timeshares IMO are a thing of the past. With Air BnB they just aren't worth it. For the upfront cost and then annual fees, it just doesn't make sense anymore.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I sat through two presentations in Vegas.

The first one the guy was awesome, engaging, and when I said I didn't have the money he said, "You were engaged, asked great questions and didn't bull#### me. So often I hear I have the money but need to think it over' you guys are young and have student loans, I get it. I don't waste your time with the song and dance, let's get your free stuff! Now you're going to talk to someone else who will tell you similar stuff I did, tell him you don't have the money in your account and you'll be good to go!"

Total Respect for the guy. He clearly was great at his job and knew to cut us to go to the next people.

Got our stuff and it was great.

Next timeshare presentation the guy was a ######, lied to us (yes they're building an NFL Staduim waaaaay sputh of the trip where every team will play... FYI the actual stadium is no where near where he told me it was going). Said no, and he pouted and wouldn't look at us from that point on.

Regardless....

They don't talk annual fee, that's the real kicker. If it was just the purchase price then it could be worth it. But the maintenance fee or whatever they call it is insane given the actual time you're there.

Better off to have the flexibility of staying at various hotels or AirBNB. Hell AirBNB a timeshare if you like the resort.

They use your words against you. You can do the same "We're the once every 5 years vacationers. We don't have the money for every year."

They'll try and work something out because they like you. Also a family member will have the same occupation as you or your spouse.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Timeshares IMO are a thing of the past. With Air BnB they just aren't worth it. For the upfront cost and then annual fees, it just doesn't make sense anymore.

That's a very solid point.

Furthermore, I can totally use what surferguy said. Just point at my brother in law and say "why would I buy when I can just mooch off of him?"

[IGGYFORMVP]

I personally love my time share at the Banff Rocky Mountain. It gives me a great excuse to spend a whole week in Banff. Plus I have mine the last week of March which is perfect for spring skiing. I have sat thru numerous other time share presentations but Banff is one of the only spots that I can happily spend a week at every year.

For a out of country time share you have to ask yourself are your going to make it every year?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by IGGYFORMVP

I personally love my time share at the Banff Rocky Mountain. It gives me a great excuse to spend a whole week in Banff. Plus I have mine the last week of March which is perfect for spring skiing. I have sat thru numerous other time share presentations but Banff is one of the only spots that I can happily spend a week at every year.

For a out of country time share you have to ask yourself are your going to make it every year?

But you have to pay for it whether you go or not. I go to Banff whenever I want and don't pay anything if I don't go. A timeshare honestly makes no sense.

[Wormius]

I feel like there is probably already a calculation of hotel / airbnb vs timeshare, but I am pretty sure hotel would always win out for price if not flexibility in where you're staying. If I am going on vacation, I don't want to have to base myself out of just one place for the whole trip. It seems like such an objectively poor choice to buy a timeshare.

[bizaro86]

Don't buy a timeshare from a developer. If you get drunk or stupid and accidentally sign up, go through the paperwork and find the part that allows you to rescind.

It's basically a back out of the deal free card, but only lasts a couple of days. It's the law most places, including Mexico.

[Ace]

I went to a timeshare presentation in Hawaii about 8 years ago primarily cause I was curious. I’m not even sure what we got for free or discounted.

I asked a ton of questions, and went through multiple scenarios, just to fully understand what’s going on. I actually didn’t realize that I basically made the sales lady think I was going to buy one (nobody sits there and asks tons of questions if they just want the free stuff).

They basically wanted some kind of price, say $20,000 for a week each year. But the maintenance fee for a week each year was about $800 at the time. I literally was renting a place next door from VRBO for the same money, $800 a week, and did not have to pay $20,000 for the privilege.

Once I told her it doesn’t make financial sense, she wanted to give a way better deal on the purchase price. I’m convinced they might have had the leverage to discount to a few thousand dollars, the bigger play is they need the maintenance fees covered, and they are what they are, they cannot change those.

This building easily had 200 units, probably more. We were looking at something like a one bedroom. So to put this in perspective, if they sell 52 weeks for one unit. They are literally collecting $46,000 per year for maintenance on a one bedroom apartment. That is unreal, but the product of having to pay wages to support the resort. Let someone else pay that, book whatever you want, I was and am fully convinced that you would always be better off paying market rates for short term stays, than being locked into a timeshare. Just no financial benefit to doing so.

For a vacation property I could see the merits of sharing something 4 ways or something, where you have all the control on the maintenance of the property (like a lake house or something). A week a year in some random condo, no way.

[afc wimbledon]

I don't care how cheap it is, who the hell wants to go to the same room in the same hotel in the same place on the same dates year in and year out.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

When I was in my late 20's I had a friend of mine that talked me into going to see about this great business opportunity in Edmonton setting up a business to sell humidifiers. Because I was trying to be a good friend to him, I agreed to go, plus he was dead a$$ broke, but the guy was amazing at picking up girls in the bar, so I figured he'd help a brother out.


So we drove to Edmonton, and went to the hotel, and I sat down, and this guy got up and started talking about the greatness of AmWay.


I shot my buddy a sour look, got up, walked out to the parking lot, got in my car and and drove back to Calgary leaving him there.


I didn't hear from him for about 10 years.


I didn't care

Wow, you must have really really hated Amway. There’s nothing worse you can do to a person than leave them stranded in Edmonton.

[Northendzone]

a guy that i used to work with had a timeshare (sorry, i don't know who it was thru), and he loved it and seemeed to get a lot of mileage out it as he apparently had no problems using it is places like florida, california, hawaii, mexico, montana etc.

he swore by this method for travelling.

however, i would also say that he was the type of guy who always seemed to get the best deal on everything so who knows.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Don't buy a timeshare from a developer. If you get drunk or stupid and accidentally sign up, go through the paperwork and find the part that allows you to rescind.

It's basically a back out of the deal free card, but only lasts a couple of days. It's the law most places, including Mexico.

I got to learn a little about them from my Girlfriend having some in VA Beach from when she was married. I guess there are some deals to be had if you buy them from owner's trying to sell and not the developer.

She hasn't used them in a few years, so she just rents it out every year for about $1500, and annual dues are $800-1100 depending on assessments. I think they paid about $5000 several years ago, and could probably sell it for $3000-4000.

The resort rents the same rooms for about $350-500/night that week. Regular hotels on the beach are all at least 250-300 per night and that's for a regular hotel room not a 2 bedroom unit.

I still don't think they're really worth the hassle, and I can't see myself ever buying one, but they can make sense financially.

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I don't care how cheap it is, who the hell wants to go to the same room in the same hotel in the same place on the same dates year in and year out.

This guy

[blankall]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I don't care how cheap it is, who the hell wants to go to the same room in the same hotel in the same place on the same dates year in and year out.

Modern timeshares provide flexibility. They are connected to networks of other timeshares and will have many different resorts and countries you can visit.

That being said, I think you're much better off just looking for package deals. It's generally cheaper, and like you said you do get more flexibility that way. With a timeshare you're basically just agreeing to pre-purchase accommodation at a discount and in a large package. If you're looking for a good deal, it makes much more sense to wait until hotels are looking to offload extra space.

[dino7c]

Timeshare is never a good idea...people just like to say "I have a place in Hawaii" or something