Have timeshares gotten any better?

[qwerty3656]

I looked into it a few years ago and know timeshares have a terrible rep (ongoing fees, can't get out of, have to pay up to use different locations, etc). Has anything changed?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I don't think so. And from my last visit to a resort (albeit short in duration) the sales tactics have gotten more aggressive.

 

[yakers]

A few ligitimate places (Disney?) but mostly run like hell. If you like the place then rent.

 

[mz44]

Don't think so. Difficult to get reservations in places. Annual maintenance fees. Always calling for free rooms with sales pitch. Do not recommend...

I looked into it a few years ago and know timeshares have a terrible rep (ongoing fees, can't get out of, have to pay up to use different locations, etc). Has anything changed?

 

[bclover]

So I do have a disney timeshare and it's been great but I don't know about any other outfit.

My parents did have a marriot time share in Aruba, when they died the attorney handling their estate simply sent a letter to marriot saying that my siblings and I were not accepting the inheritance. No issues, no bills nothing.

my kids are grown and have since moved on so Im probably going to sell my dvc membership after the pandemic

 

[Al in Ohio]

I looked into it a few years ago and know timeshares have a terrible rep (ongoing fees, can't get out of, have to pay up to use different locations, etc). Has anything changed?

Nope.

 

[Dalmore]

I was one of the lucky(?) ones and inherited a timeshare (two actually). One was very hard to use and expensive so I sold it on the aftermarket for $.01 - at least I wasn't paying the maintenance fees anymore. The other one, WorldMark, is not too bad so long as you have a place you like to go. DW and I love the Sonoma, CA area and go there several times a year. We plan far enough ahead that we rarely have a problem booking and the room is very nice and centrally located for us. We don't like to dine out too much, even when we are on vacation and like the kitchen amenities. It is also very easy to bring guests with us. I definitely prefer it to the hotel option for what we do in Sonoma. If we didn't have that resort to go to, then it would be a waste of money for us and I would get rid of it.

 

[brett]

The only change is that there may be more for sale on the secondary market at a fraction of the asking price for new contracts. At at lower prices given the covid pandemic. Mtce costs do not disappear when there is no useage. They could actually increase.

Checking the prices on the secondary market will give you a great insight into the real value of the timeshare. It is why so many are being sold for $1.

 

[harley]

No

 

[bbqcoder]

Checking the prices on the secondary market will give you a great insight into the real value of the timeshare. It is why so many are being sold for $1.

Any suggestions on secondary sites to use for timeshares?

I see a bunch of no, don’t do it but no listings of reasons why one should not get a timeshare. Is one of the reasons is that it’s hard to get an alternate location? Or that you get tired of going to the same place?

 

[REWahoo]

I see a bunch of no, don’t do it but no listings of reasons why one should not get a timeshare.

A little googling... and here ya go:

1. Timeshare Salespeople Are Notorious for the Hard Sell

2. You Are on the Hook for More Than Just the Mortgage Payments

3. Timeshares Are Not a Good Investment

4. Timeshare Resale Scams Are Rampant

5. You Cannot Deduct a Loss on a Timeshare Sale on Your Tax Return

6. If You Default on Timeshare Payments, You Will Face Foreclosure

7. After a Timeshare Foreclosure, the Lender Might Be Able to Get a Deficiency

8. You Cannot Count on Renting Out Your Timeshare

9. Scheduling Your Allotted Time Might Be Harder Than You Think

10. Renting Accommodations in a Similar Resort Might Be Cheaper

Top Ten Reasons to Think Twice Before Buying a Timeshare

 

[Markola]

My dear late FIL bought one at some fleabag place in Nevada in which no one except him would ever consider spending a night. He was always looking for an “angle” but never finding them. He’s been gone for years and yet we still get statements for accruing management fees, which are promptly recycled. I used to write “He’s Deceased” on them and mail them back but I stopped wasting the stamps.

 

[DektolMan]

My parents did have a marriot time share in Aruba, when they died the attorney handling their estate simply sent a letter to marriot saying that my siblings and I were not accepting the inheritance. No issues, no bills nothing.

Marriott has a by back program with their timeshares. We had ours in Orlando and after 15 years decided to sell. I called Marriott and they bought it back for 50% what I paid for it.

 

[anothercog]

Largely no. I own Disney and can sell my contracts for more than I paid for them but that is a rarity. Disney's timeshares are leases that expire at a certain date (60 days from when the resort opened) so they don't last in perpetuity.

I have no interest in buying any other timeshare. It's easy to rent them for near or less than the maintenance fees or rent an Airbnb or VRBO. Little benefits to owning one.

 

[anothercog]

Any suggestions on secondary sites to use for timeshares?

I see a bunch of no, don’t do it but no listings of reasons why one should not get a timeshare. Is one of the reasons is that it’s hard to get an alternate location? Or that you get tired of going to the same place?

The main reason is that they can be difficult to use, especially if you can't plan a year in advance and maintenance fees will creep up to more than it would cost to rent an equivalent place. That is why there is a huge market for timeshare exit companies where you pay someone to get rid of your timeshare. You don't get any money back, it is to simply get out of paying maintenance fees and special assessments in perpetuity.

 

[pacergal]

My folks had a 2 week timeshare on Kauai, they used it every year for about 20 years. It was beautiful, ocean front, but older. When they couldn't travel anymore, no other siblings wanted it, so DH and I took it on. We went one year, it was wonderful. But at that time in our lives, we couldn't afford to go every year and trying to rent it out was a pain. The maintenance costs went up each year, so we just gave it back. We had to keep up the fees until they resold it, only took a year! :-/
A few years later, we got a letter asking if we wanted to buy back in. They were undergoing a major remodel, going for owners rather than time share, and buyback for a 2 bedroom condo was close to $1 million. Way too rich for us.

 

[kcowan]

We owned one for 25 years in PV MX and used it every year after once trying to trade on RCI. It was 3 weeks oceanfront (1650 SQFT) and when we bought a condo, we sold the remaining 5 weeks for $4000.

It was an early buy before TS sales becomes so scummy. Sold in 2009. Same time next year, 3 weeks.

 

[ncbill]

If you want any timeshare after going through the presentation go home, hit the interwebs, and buy it "used" via a secondary market.

 

[disneysteve]

It's easy to rent them for near or less than the maintenance fees or rent an Airbnb or VRBO. Little benefits to owning one.

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.

 

[braumeister]

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.

I've done it a couple of times as well. Nice place, well maintained, and pretty darn cheap compared to a hotel. Getting some payment instead of letting it sit empty is a good deal for them, too.

 

[mystang52]

Seeing this thread, as well as prior threads on this topic, makes me so so glad I resisted the sales presentation I attended many years ago. I have to confess the sales pitch made it very tempting, and in their great twisting of the numbers almost had me convinced it made financial sense. 2 similar reasons why I didn't sign on the dotted line:
1) I'm normally very cautious, especially concerning any substantial financial commitment. And the "offer is only good today" pitch had me smelling a rat.
2) They wouldn't ease up on the pressure. Instinctively, that pressure led me to say no, precisely because of the high pressure.

As an aside, back home and sane, I crunched the numbers and it wasn't even close to being a good deal.

 

[JustCurious]

Has anything changed?

No.

 

[Freedom56]

I looked into it a few years ago and know timeshares have a terrible rep (ongoing fees, can't get out of, have to pay up to use different locations, etc). Has anything changed?

No.... Timeshares make no financial sense.

I'm one of the few people who have made money from those timeshare presentations that pay $100 to $150 to sit through a 90 minute presentation. We received and took advantage of several offers from the Westin Maui and Marriott Kauai for 5 nights for $600 with a free rental car. They usually toss us out after 15-30 minutes. Just mention the words "timeshare resale at 20 to 25 cents on the dollar". Both Marriott and Westin still send us offers so they still have hope.

 

[disneysteve]

No.... Timeshares make no financial sense.

I'm one of the few people who have made money from those timeshare presentations that pay $100 to $150 to sit through a 90 minute presentation. We received and took advantage of several offers from the Westin Maui and Marriott Kauai for 5 nights for $600 with a free rental car. They usually toss us out after 15-30 minutes. Just mention the words "timeshare resale at 20 to 25 cents on the dollar". Both Marriott and Westin still send us offers so they still have hope.

We did the Marriott presentation in Orlando. We are loyal Marriott Gold Elite members. I've always found the company to be responsible and trustworthy and respectful to their guests.


NOT THE TIMESHARE DIVISION!


The person we dealt with was beyond rude, ignorant, and condescending. He repeatedly made incorrect assumptions about us, even after I corrected him - he just kept on spouting off the same wrong stuff. By the end, when we were quite fed up, he got even worse, which is typical of timeshare folks but I really expected better from Marriott. When we got home, I fired off a very nasty letter to the higher ups of the company. I don't think I ever got any response.


Disney, on the other hand, is as nice as you would expect Disney to be. We did the DVC tour not because we had the slightest interest in buying but because we are big Disney fans and I wanted first-hand knowledge about how it all works.


When we first sat down with the rep, I explained that. He asked about our typical Disney travel routine and I told him that we rent condos offsite for $75/night and were quite content to do that. We had no interest in staying onsite. He understood and was fine with that and admitted from the start that DVC wouldn't be right for us. But he still went through the whole presentation, showed us how it all works, answered our questions, and finished up with us getting free ice cream and the gift cards promised for doing the presentation. I would happily do their presentation again and I've recommended others to do it as well, as long as you are fully prepared to say NO and not actually buy anything.

 

[brett]

We have sat through two timeshare sales pitches.

The most recent was Thailand. No sale but we did end up staying a week in a five star resort in Phuket for $60. I googled the company. My screen just about turned red with all the warnings from people not to buy. Upside is we met some folks from Australia who have since become good friends. Had a wonderful week.

The other was in Ormond Beach. Booked a week and while we were there the front desk convinced us to attend the presentation. I had never been to one before so we went. Plus we’re paying us $100 to attend the 2 hour show. I had a sales background and was mildly interested in confirming the stories that we had heard about these presentations. Lots of pressure. I found it amusing but my spouse felt intiimidated. After we said no to the second ‘closer’ they tried to sell us some hoaky vacation club nonsense. At least we got the $100 for our two hours!