Have timeshares gotten any better?

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Prob still ok if youre the developer of one.

Now if you mean BUYING one? Rarely to no

 

[ychuck46]

Works for us

We have owned a couple of weeks in the RCI system for over 30 years now and they worked out well. But starting about ten years ago we bought into the Wyndham points system and use them exclusively, doing something called PIC weeks with our RCI weeks into the Wyndham system for a lot more points. The wife and I went with this approach because we did not want to have a second home to maintain in addition to our large primary home, particularly on the oceanfront with their high maintenance costs (think salt air and hurricanes primarily). The wife and I are retired and we travel 4-5 months out the year with our timeshare points, and it is great. We spend three months every winter on the ocean, and the other weeks we spend primarily in places like here in the mountains of TN, New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast.

Your mileage varies but we love 'em and even timeshare naysayers tell us we did it right when they see what we are doing.

 

[meleana]

We have owned 2 weeks at Smugglers Notch in VT for 22 years and used it every single year. Made lots of memories there. Our family just loved it and it was a 6 hour drive for us so flying or renting a car.

For us it was like having a second home. We had the same condo for both weeks and same prime summer week every year, though we could trade if we wanted to.

We also used the other week, which was a varied off season week- to trade and go all over the country. Really the best purchase we ever made and we more than got our money’s worth.

We also acquired a free timeshare at Innseason Pollard Brook in NH in 2015 and we have enjoyed it as well. We found it on Timeshare Nation.

And now that we live just an hour from that resort we we can also take advantage of day use of the amenities.

It’s all about doing your homework and due diligence and understanding what you are buying. Really for the most part resale is the way to go and free is even better.

 

[disneysteve]

We also acquired a free timeshare at Innseason Pollard Brook in NH in 2015 and we have enjoyed it as well. We found it on Timeshare Nation.

By free, I'm assuming you mean no upfront cost. That's actually not that hard to find. Lots of timeshares get sold for $.01 or $1.00 online because people are so desperate to get rid of them.


How much is your annual fee? It may be well worth it if you've been able to make use of it every year. The problem arises when you no longer want it. You need to find a willing "buyer" to take it off your hands, even if you're giving it away for nothing. Otherwise you're stuck with that annual fee indefinitely.

 

[EdL3]

They have worked well for family+ vacations in our younger days, not so much as empty nesters. We enjoyed the space 2BR apartment & resort amenities. Own in Orlando but have traded to The Big Island & Kauai, Cayman Islands, St. Lucia, Branson, Lake of the Ozarks, & Williamsburg just to name a few. Proper advance planning is the key. Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net is a great resource.

At this point in time, I feel I can get better value out of $1k in maintenance fees by buying a vacation package or VRBO, and will probably sell it.

 

[meleana]

By free, I'm assuming you mean no upfront cost. That's actually not that hard to find. Lots of timeshares get sold for $.01 or $1.00 online because people are so desperate to get rid of them.


How much is your annual fee? It may be well worth it if you've been able to make use of it every year. The problem arises when you no longer want it. You need to find a willing "buyer" to take it off your hands, even if you're giving it away for nothing. Otherwise you're stuck with that annual fee indefinitely.

Ummmm- well you can see I’ve owned timeshares for 22 years so I am an expert owner so I get it.

Yes- we had no upfront purchase cost for the Pollard Brook timeshare abs our annual fee is $850.

You can’t rent anything in that area for 8 days/ 7 nights - a condo with 2 bedrooms, and a loft with 2 more beds, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a fireplace and 2 big screen TVs with a balcony overlooking the mountains- anywhere. Nice indoor and outdoor pool, sauna, hot tub, game room, tennis, playground....activities. Well worth it for a prime summer week in the White Mountains.

Same with our timeshare in VT. Was well worth the huge price we paid back in 1999 because we owned a long time and always used it.

In fact- the resort in VT has a take back program and we are turning it back this year as part of our retirement plan. No cost to us.

 

[disneysteve]

In fact- the resort in VT has a take back program and we are turning it back this year as part of our retirement plan. No cost to us.

That’s great. I guess they’re confident they can resell it.

 

[Vinnygret]

I used to work with a lady that worked the point system mercilessly. Not my cup of tea, but she was very happy with it. I knew her well enough to know she wasn’t a braggart. She stayed at some really nice places for the money and was satisfied that she got her money’s worth. It wasn’t a passive activity though, she worked it like a travel agent.

I'd like to meet HER. She must have developed an amazing skill set. I have two friends who bought a TS together and later bought yet another. I stayed with them twice. Both are very smart at math - I have to count on my fingers - but not so smart at other thinking skills. They rhapsodized about how cheap it was to stay at these units and I got a very nice price for my week there (New Orleans). However, when thinking about how cheap it was, they never seemed to factor in what they paid (A LOT as I recall) for a property they don't own that has no tax advantages PLUS yearly fees that increase annually plus some sort of (rather minimal) fee they had to pay for the week they rented. I may be math impaired, but that nonsense just didn't seem like any kind of a bargain to me except inasmuch as I had a benefit since I didn't pay anything except my share for the week. The second time I went (Las Vegas), my friend was additionally obligated to attend a sales meeting. If it's good for you, enjoy it. I just don't see it as a deal - unless you learn to really work it as your friend did. Good on her. All the other chumps are financing her reward for her skills.

 

[meleana]

That’s great. I guess they’re confident they can resell it.

Years ago Wyndham got involved with the sales and things changed a bit. The resort is still managed by the same family, but over the years some of the fixed week ownerships converted to RCI points and then to Wyndham Points.

But lots of owners like ourselves refused to convert. No need since we always went to the resort as opposed to trading. If we wanted to go somewhere else we just rented for an additional vacation that year or used our floating week to trade.

Now we live in a vacation area and we can drive to Vermont when we want since we are just an hour and a half from the border. So we decided to downsize the timeshares abs just keep the Pollard Brook one.

Wyndham needs more inventory there for their owners so our weeks will go to them and be converted to points.

 

[LJ Dem]

Great idea! Do you have a tip on finding timeshares to rent? (ie: is there a unique method or site, as opposed to airbnb and vrbo etc?)

This exactly. If you want to stay in a timeshare resort, just rent a unit for the time you will be visiting. We've done this numerous times. No long term commitment. No huge upfront cost. No worries about trying to unload it when we no longer need it. No need to book a year in advance.


We have rented beautiful 2-bedroom, 2-bath timeshare units as little as 3 or 4 weeks in advance and paid as little as $40/night. There is no possible situation in which buying would have made sense.

 

[carty1]

Bought my Colorado timeshare 35 years ago. For the first 30 years had plenty of great times with family and friends. Then in 2015, "somebody" said NO SMOKING. This NO SMOKING was for the entire premises!! Could not even smoke on the balcony! Starting in 2019 I stopped paying the maintenance fees (I had already paid off the mortgage years ago).
Have not gone back and just rented a place in Colorado. I get threatening mail that they will: "turn over my info to a collection agency" or "you will face foreclosure". So what! Destroy my credit?...Don't think so.

 

[meleana]

Great idea! Do you have a tip on finding timeshares to rent? (ie: is there a unique method or site, as opposed to airbnb and vrbo etc?)

There are some Facebook pages for this and also a great forum called TUG2.net

 

[cyber888]

Ditto. Owner of Marriott Timeshares/VCP over 4 decades, since 1999. Used them for priceless family vacations in the past and continuing to enjoy them in retirement. They are by no means our exclusive method of leisure travel, but we’ve leveraged them for great travel junkets. Works for me in my family.

Of course, timeshare haters gonna hate; and timeshare owners who know good deals and good trips, gonna keep on keepin on. More informed debates can be found at the Timeshare Users Group forum.

I agree. exchanged with Marriot yearly and they are nice with Oceanfront views. My timeshare is not Marriot but I could easily exchange with them for 2 weeks or more. My maintenance is about $800+ compared to $1200+ at Marriot.

 

[folly]

I find it so depressing that timeshare management, CEO, greed mongers have turned what is an excellent product into what it is. Timeshare is a great idea. The biggest complaint I have is the yearly fees have increased to the point you could rent a week on VRBO. Plus must plan a year out only to see the place on rental sites. I have been considering selling or giving it away. That means the purchase price, 12K, will just be thrown away. It shouldn't be this way. We got the most use of ours when younger and would use the local resort for parties and when ppl visited us one the space available option.

 

[TrvlBug]

Great idea! Do you have a tip on finding timeshares to rent? (ie: is there a unique method or site, as opposed to airbnb and vrbo etc?)

Redweek.com. No charge to look, however, $15 to become a member (for 6 mos. me thinks) if you want to contact anyone. It keeps out most of the scammers. The prices listed are all over the map and negotiable. We rent some of our timeshares through them.

Edit to add: The prices are well below what the resorts charge, therefore, (mostly) non-cancellable.

 

[NanaW]

Not really they are so oversold it’s even worse than it was when we bought in , and it’s a pain in the a$$ to get out. We hardly ever got into the one we wanted if it was a popular one they were always reserved for the same people every year kind of like the campsites are getting.

 

[Koolau]

Their reputation is so fouled that I'm surprised they are still hawked! Back in the day, Waikiki was flooded with time-share offers (each said NOT A TIME SHARE). We actually went to one of these perhaps 10 years ago. As usual, it promised an amazing and delightful experience at affordable prices - until you read the fine print.

I suppose if you could take advantage of YOUR time share every year during the same time period, it might work out. As nearly as I can tell, a "good" experience would be to have a very nice vacation location at a slightly better per-day rate than booking a nice hotel. If anything didn't mesh (your available time, travel interruptions, you had to TRADE, etc.) you would be WAY overpaying for what you could book otherwise.

In our case, the time share was NOT where we wanted it to be and the "ploy" was, "yes, but you can trade." Well, yes, in theory. In practice, everyone wants the "desirable" locations and the one we would be "buying" was NOT one of the better locations. So "trading" would cost - a bunch.

Also, as others have mentioned, getting out is a lot more difficult than getting in. Personally, I'd avoid TSs but my experience is limited, so YMMV.

 

[WestUniversity]

Several friends of our belong to one and the sales pitches never end. Apparently even still when they stay at any property they are “supposed” to go to yet more ongoing sales pitches, I assume to up sell them to some higher more expensive level. I really see no advantage in having one...

 

[brett]

I read an article on timeshare marketing and finances a few years ago.

The author claimed that 30 percent of the cost of your timeshare purchase is directly attributable to marketing and sales.

The author was no a huge proponent of timeshares and suggested that deeply discounted secondary market was the place to buy.

 

[harwich]

By free, I'm assuming you mean no upfront cost. That's actually not that hard to find. Lots of timeshares get sold for $.01 or $1.00 online because people are so desperate to get rid of them.


How much is your annual fee? It may be well worth it if you've been able to make use of it every year. The problem arises when you no longer want it. You need to find a willing "buyer" to take it off your hands, even if you're giving it away for nothing. Otherwise you're stuck with that annual fee indefinitely.

Many resorts will do a deed back. You just sign over your deed to the resort and you're done with it. It saves them from foreclosing on it.

 

[Al in Ohio]

I read an article on timeshare marketing and finances a few years ago.



The author claimed that 30 percent of the cost of your timeshare purchase is directly attributable to marketing and sales.



The author was no a huge proponent of timeshares and suggested that deeply discounted secondary market was the place to buy.

I’d agree with everything stated above. A big chunk of the thousands it cost to buy in upfront goes to the salesperson commission. Unfortunately it’s also a big incentive for them to lie to get tou to sign. You can buy in on the secondary market for pennies on the dollar.

 

[phil1ben]

Bought a Hilton timeshare RESALE on Ocean Avenue in South Beach. Paid pennies on the dollar. We love it.

We use all of our points every year. It certainly is not an investment but I could sell it for what I paid. We look at the maintenance fees as prepaid vacation to a spot we want to go over and over again. Although we are free to use our points at all of the other Hilton timeshare locations, which are many.

 

[kcowan]

I read an article on timeshare marketing and finances a few years ago.

The author claimed that 30 percent of the cost of your timeshare purchase is directly attributable to marketing and sales.

The author was no a huge proponent of timeshares and suggested that deeply discounted secondary market was the place to buy.

We went to a TS pitch at a Ski resort. I figured out that the TS price (50 weeks with shoulder, low and peak rates) was 3 times the price of a new unit. And that was just their one year revenues. No wonder they are so popular for marketing companies.

And they offer $500 per qualified couple delivered to the pitch and the external rep offers anything to the prospects out of that $500.

 

[ponyboy]

Why would anyone buy into a timeshare now when there are things like vrbo and airbnb? I get it years ago when it was much more difficult to rent condos and houses.

 

[teejayevans]

I like to own or rent...timeshares always seem to be a little of both with none of the benefits of either.