time share trip

[nphx]

Im doing my first "take advantage of a time share promotion" vacation in a few weeks.

How much pressure selling should I expect - and how can i avoid being rude? Can i open my laptop and Excel and put in their great deal x52 weeks and compare verses buying a condo or simply renting a hotel or condo for a week? Is there really one destination that you want to be in every august? Sorry to offend any time share owners - some are my best friends but i cant see how it would be apealing to me.

 

[rickier55]

I'm curious about this as well. I've gotten a few of those brochures and while I'm not very interested in having a timeshare, I've thought about just taking them up on their free 2-3 nite offers. But wasn't sure of the atmosphere.

Rick

 

[Texas Proud]

Good luck with that... and let me know how it went....

To me, the 'cost' outweigh the benefits by a LOT...

 

[nphx]

Well I got a week at tropical destination in a 4 star resort plus rental car and some other perks (hence i did bite on thsi line) with an obligation to have a seminar and tour not to exceed 3 hrs.

So you do a 15 year model... your annual fees are, your downpayment is , and you want me to finance ___ and its still extra for internet, golf etc... hmmm why dont i just pool 4 friends and buy that 3 bedroom condo next door?

 

[Moemg]

It depends on the sales people sometimes when they know you are not interested they'll back off .Sometimes they are like pit bulls . I've done it a few times and never again . I did own a condo that I bought used from Condolink . $2,000 for 10 years with the right to renew at that price . We used it for a summer vacations when the kids were little and traded it once or twice .

 

[Achiever51]

IF you are interested at all in buying a timeshare, I strongly suggest buying from a timeshare reseller. The savings can be significant as you are not paying for the property's marketing efforts.

Example: we own two consecutive deeded weeks at a very highly rated Marriott property on Hilton Head Island. To buy "new" from Marriott each week would have cost $22,000 or $44,000 for the two weeks. We bought both weeks through a reseller for $11,600 -- the seller was an elderly couple that had no heirs and just wanted to "clean up" their assets. We've owned for 12 years now, and while we really enjoy the visits to HHI, we have traded through Interval International for properties in California, Hawaii, North Carolina and London.

 

[capjak]

Yes it is worth the PROMO and Buy Resale if interested

This question is easy: The Promos are definitely worth it at the major companies. Here is where I have been on Promos:

1. Marriott Cypress Orlando
2. Marriott Grand Vista Orlando
3. Marriott Sabal Palms Orlando
4 Hilton Grand Vacation Club Seaworld 4xs in Orlando
5. Westin Maui Resort 2xs Maui
6. Hilton Gradnd Vacation Club Waikaola (msp) Big Island Hawaii
7 Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando
8. Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando in 2009
9. Atlantis Harborside (Westin) Atlantis Bahamas

You stay in great resorts and with kids having a extra bedroom and kitchen is great. Low pressure sales always say I am not going to buy and sometimes it stops there as sales people want to work with people that may actually purchase from them. Don't try to make up a story as they have heard it all and have a comeback. The easy answer is " I am not Interested". If asked why are you here...answer: because you kept calling me to come to this great place at a great price with NO Obligation to Purchase....hand over my gift please....

Now having said all that Timeshares are great for people that don't want the hassel of owning a vacation home (upkeep etc...) in one location. Most of those I mentioned allow for trades (sometimes not that easy) to 20 to 40 different locations that they own or a several 100 locations.

If really interested I reccomend going to TUG web site forums (Timeshare User Group). If you are going to go on a vacation every year in nice places buying resale can make sense. For retired people last minute getaways for $250 to a 2 bedroom Marriott for a week in Orlando isn't bad. There are some poeple that have spent an entire winter in Orlando/Florida purchasing getaways weekly at $200 a week.

Bottom line purchase resale (ebay and others...) or it may even be better to rent from owners from a site like redweek.com.

After all this I purchased a TS Disney's Beach Club Villa resale and it has been fantastic.....

N

 

[MooreBonds]

Although I have no direct experience with it, I would second the notion of buying on the re-sale market.

In addition to the Timeshares Users Group, I've collected the following websites over the years. Again, can't vouch for the usefulness of any of them, but here they are


Timeshare Rentals, Timeshare Resales, Timeshare Ratings, and Timeshare Reviews - RedWeek.com
Timeshare Rentals Resales Timeshares for Sale Rent Vacation Condos
Welcome to Timesharing Today

 

[saluki9]

My wife and I just got back from a 6 day promotion at the Marriott Ko'Olina.

The sell was VERY soft and they even gave us $150 in dining credits which originally wasn't part of the deal. (no, we didn't buy)

5 nights in a new resort in a huge room with a rental car in Hawaii for $600 was just too much to turn down.

 

[MooreBonds]

My wife and I just got back from a 6 day promotion at the Marriott Ko'Olina.

Were you on a mailing list, or did you sign up for the offer on the net?

 

[virginia]

Saluki - I got that offer too. What were the price of the condos there?

 

[saluki9]

Saluki - I got that offer too. What were the price of the condos there?

Funny you should ask, they wouldn't let me take the price list with me so I snapped a photo with my cell phone.

$30K for a floating week ocean view
$25K non ocean view.

It stretches to two weeks if you don't use the 2 bedroom unit.

The place was very nice.

 

[saluki9]

Were you on a mailing list, or did you sign up for the offer on the net?

They called me out of the blue. I cheated a little bit. The called me before the place was even completed or open. I paid the deposit and got them to stretch my reservation out over a year.

 

[nphx]

Im back now from my Ko'Olina trip. Yes the deal for about $600 was good enough to get me there. Agree with other posters - its interesting till you start calculating costs and factoring in flexibility... On the resell market if you knock off 10 to 30% it becomes more interesting.

For Ko'Olina the property is in an odd corner of the island. The "beach" photographs well and is ok for wading... but they are man made beaches. That fact seemed to be a "plus" for the vistitors lounging by the pool or wading in the waters. Honestly why travel to hawaii to sit by the pool...

 

[megacorp-firee]

Wow, how timely ... I got a call from Marriott for a timeshare 'trip' in CA. last night. I shut it down after I realized what it was and did not get the details. Maybe I'll have to at least listen to the pitch next time.
Thanks.

 

[fnewman]

As a fairly experienced timehare owner, I think I can add some comments from first-hand experience.

1. Don't buy anything from a developer OR reseller until you have spent some time at Timeshare Users Group - The first and largest online community of timeshare owners providing timeshare resort reviews, timeshare ratings and timeshare advice (timeshare users group) and Timeshare Forums (timeshare forum) because there are many different timeshare systems that operate in very different ways. So, for example, you would not want to buy a resale only to learn that the main program feature you desire is available only for developer sales.

2. Timeshare economics have been hotly debated for years on the above forums and elsewhere, but here is a 'short' point of view. It may be true that you can rent a hotel room in many locations for less than the time value of your money + annual maintenance fees. For example, in Orlando, a Hampton Inn is about $100/night + tax; most 'regular' hotels are $149+. So, a week at the Sheraton would probaby run you about $175/night x 7 = $ 1225 for the week. However, remember that is for just one room without the full kitchen that is found in T/S units. No problem, you say, the wife and I + 2 kids can easily stay in one room and would probably eat out most of the time anyway. Perhaps, but what happens as the kids grow older and want to bring along a friend ? Now how manys do you need and who will pay that bill? Later, you want to take family vacations with the kids, their spouses and grandchildren - now how many rooms?

3. For comparison, consider that I own a 3 bedroom unit near Disney that I bought for about $5500 resale around 5 years ago. Annual maintnance fees are around $750/year. That is starting to look like a pretty good deal from my point of view. Now, I can trade for 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms all around the world as the need dictates, depending on how much of the family wants to come along.

Enough - I think you see my point.

 

[kcowan]

My ROT is that a TS costs 3-4 times what an outright sale of a comparable unit would be (and this is for fractional, not points). But you can pick them up in distress sales at substantial discounts because the resale market is so bad.

Expect to pay 2-3 times in maintenance what a full-time owner would pay.

(BTW we just sold our 3-week fractional TS in PV because we bought a full-time condo.)

 

[fnewman]

Certainly a fractional ownership works well for a lot of folks - really just another form of timesharing. However, in that situation you are pretty well tied down that that specific time, location and # of BRs every year- right? We considered doing that as well, but couldn't get past the flexibility we enjoy now.

 

[kcowan]

However, in that situation you are pretty well tied down that that specific time, location and # of BRs every year- right?

Yes it is very much like owning a cottage. In our case there were other owners with the same three weeks that we became very close to. They were from Santa Barbara, Mill Bay, Bellingham, Denver, Milwaulkee, Buffalo and Ocean City. Of course there is the option to trade through RCI but most of us found that experience frustrating and gave up after a few tries. So for 20 years, we would look forward to reconnecting with our friends during the three weeks. And because the places were 3 bedroom/3 bath, we also go to know their friends and family.

 

[Moemg]

A lot of timeshare owners talk about the great exchange ability but rarely do it . When I owned a condo we exchanged twice for an additional fee and we were downgraded into a one bedroom . We owned a two bedroom prime time . I've looked at timeshares for visiting my daughter and they do not make sense . I can usually rent a place for the maintenance fee alone .

 

[fnewman]

It is true that exchanging can be a bit of a hassle - if you are trading strictly week for week AND if you are not someone who can plan very far ahead. On the other hand, if you are trading in a points-based system, you automatically have a lot of advantages, such as only using the number of points required for the specific exchange. Personally, I can say that we have easily exchanged our points ownership for many locations all over the country (Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Branson, Orlando, Williamsburg, Daytona Beach, Hilton Head, for example)and for our adult children and their families as well - probably 4-8 exchanges per year (we own more than one timeshare week).

With respect to the second point, I definitely agree that if you need only one room, especially for shorter stays, renting may be more economical.

A lot of timeshare owners talk about the great exchange ability but rarely do it . When I owned a condo we exchanged twice for an additional fee and we were downgraded into a one bedroom . We owned a two bedroom prime time . I've looked at timeshares for visiting my daughter and they do not make sense . I can usually rent a place for the maintenance fee alone .

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

We have owned two weeks in two units in New Orleans, for years. One of the weeks is Jazzfest, which we love. Initially we used it a lot and got more than our money's worth. Then we entered maybe a 10 year period where we basically ignored it and rented it out maybe half the time.

In exchange, we visited Banff, St Rafael in France, Scottsday golf resort, donated some weeks to the kids (Tahoe and Hawaii come to mind). Then came Katrina. We have had about $2000 in assessments after insurance paid, offset by $1500 in rental receipts.

Over all it has probably been a winner. I'd sell them now, but DW tells me that once we have retired the exchange possibilities will increase, and that we wouldn't get much for them anyway. As usual, I realized she's right.

And from time to time it's really nice to spend a long weekend in NOLA eating beignets for breakfast, drinking good coffee and good whiskey, and listening to good jazz. The building for the time share is so solid and fortress-like that I never sleep better than I do there, and I'm an olympic quality sleeper.

We'll sit tight on them for the foreseeable future.

 

[Moemg]

l - probably 4-8 exchanges per year (we own more than one timeshare week).

With respect to the second point, I definitely agree that if you need only one room, especially for shorter stays, renting may be more economical.

You sound like a real timeshare lover but to get at the real value of your investment you should mulitply your timeshare price by 5% ( that is conservative investing )to see how much that money could make invested and add in the maintenance and the costs to trade and that is your real cost for the unit . Plus timeshares are a fastly depreciating asset not the great investments the sales people let you believe .

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

You sound like a real timeshare lover but to get at the real value of your investment you should mulitply your timeshare price by 5%... Plus timeshares are a fastly depreciating asset not the great investments the sales people let you believe .

Those are valid points, Moe, but in our case we have pretty much neutralized our maintenance with sublets. Opportunity cost is hard to gauge and they do depreciate, unlike a house. OTOH, if you look at the cost of a hotel in one of the destinations I mentioned, you probably capture a grand a week by owning.

I would not recommend a time share as an investment to anyone. But if you use or exchange it regularly it can be a surprising money-saver. We paid $11K for both decades ago.

 

[fnewman]

For sure, the price paid has a big effect on the 'economic' analysis. $30,000 to a developer vs $6,000 for a private resale at the same property, for example. Other factors include whether you actually forgo investing the purcahse price or would have just frittered away the same sum on something else (in that case the time value of the money would be $0!), or if you had to borrow money to buy.

As you can see, the discussion could go on and on (and has many times on various forums). I guess we can conclude that opinions vary and every situation is different. If you make it work for you, that's all that really counts.