Is a timeshare ever a good idea?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Last summer I was fooled into attending a timeshare presentation. (Hey, don’t laugh, I got a free hotel stay out of it.) I went in 100% certain that I wasn’t going to bite, that if these things were at all legit they wouldn’t need to have such arm-twisting presentations in combination with free gifts (like the hotel stay) for having sat through it. Well, of course they tried to get me to buy in at that moment, and it was only by insisting that I’d go home and make a decision after sleeping on it that I got out of there at all.

The thing is, if I hadn’t armed myself with that resolve beforehand, I probably would have bit. It’s very convincing, the idea of split ownership and tradeable vacation weeks, etc. I’m not planning on going back to any of these presentations, I’m not planning on actually buying into a timeshare, but I’m just wondering if I missed out on an opportunity. Or if I barely avoided getting suckered. Opinions?

2

Hmm. I think I should have posted this in the IMHO section. I’d move it, but I don’t think I can. Mods?

3

I’ve reported your post. (Mods see things quicker if they get reported. Which you couldn’t have done because you’re a guest).

4

I work in the timeshare industry and I can tell you that a timeshare is a good idea only if:
A) You actually intend to use it, and
B) You can really afford it.

If you’re the sort of person who regularly goes away on vacation and likes to stay in nice places, then it’s worth a look into. If you go on vacation sporadically and the idea of a place waiting for you makes you look to the future and think “Oh, wouldn’t that be nice,” chances are good you’re not going to get your money’s worth out of it.

My company deals with a points-exchange system: we have many resorts, and our owners don’t actually own the deeds to the unit/weeks, but rights-of-usage, so they’re not locked into staying in the same place at the same time in perpetuity. Until they learn to make reservations in a timely fashion, though, they’re mighty unhappy. The product takes a little effort – everyone and his brother wants to be in Myrtle Beach for Memorial Day, say, but only the very organized are booking their vacations one year out to make sure they get the accomodations they want. Are you that organized? Can you make - and keep - long term vacation plans and promises? If not, a non-fixed week timeshare probably isn’t for you.

Also, don’t believe salespeople. They will tell you that you’ll get a free trip to the moon, and a private dog-and-pony show, and hot and cold running blondes in every room, but if it’s not written into your contract, forget it!

In the interest of full disclosure, I own a timeshare. Purchased it years ago, and haven’t been back since. Luckily, there isn’t a yearly maintenance fee (oh, didn’t they tell you explicitly about that in the sales pitch? Well, it’s all in your paperwork, if you’d every just read it), so I don’t feel so bad about it.

Why, no, I’m not in sales, funny you should mention it! :slight_smile:

PS Sorry about the sketchiness of the information, but I’m at work right now. I should be processing owner upgrades and conversions, but oh well …

5

I have a couple. Bought one at Disney many years ago. I trade it with ease to go elsewhere. The other is in Key West. I go there every time I can.
Time shares in Orlando are a tough sell but an easy trade. It is not an investment to make money. I do have a very nice place on the Atlantic Ocean for a week every year. It is a small resort and the other owners are friends. We keep in touch by email and phone.
I am responsible for about 800 bucks in tax and maintainance fees every year. When Fantasy feast is on my week ,I rent half of it for 1500 or more .I get my taxes paid most every year
They are split units. I rent half and use the Ocean half.I love Key West.

6

Here’s one way to look at it.
The average resort time share cost a bit over 10K in the U.S., that’s for a 7 day period. Most people are going to finance that, so add in the interest charges. Then you’ll have an annual maintenance fee of a few hundred. I’m not an expert on time shares, but I think you’ll have a hard time selling one for anywhere near what you paid for it. If you question that, just take a look at the secondary market for time shares.
Now suppose you put that 10K into a conservative mutual fund which returned around 7%. You can take that $700.00 and go wherever you want for a holiday. You’ve still got the 10K, you don’t have to plan a year or more ahead and you don’t have to worry about trying to sell the thing at a loss.
There’s a reason why the try so hard to sell these things.

7

I am intrigued.

Every time the timeshare issue is brought up, someone mentions what terrible investments they are, based on the second-hand market prices. So, why not buy a used one, then? It seems like, for the people whose vacation styles fit the timeshare model, they’re not bad. And if you buy a used one, you’ve skipped the worst part (financially).

8

Moved to IMHO.

samclem GQ moderator

9

My mother is brilliant in her own way and my stepfather is as well (he is a business professor). They shocked me when they bought a time-share three years ago. Their official one is in Baja California and they have been a few times since they got it. I still laugh in their face but they seem to enjoy it. The odd thing is that my mother literally travels the far corners of the world 200 days a year as a speaker so she would seem to be one of the last people that would want such a thing.

One thing that I have notice a lot of people that own timeshares seem to forget is that regular people are also allowed at these time-share destinations too and you can just pay as you go and go when you choose. Most people will tell you how they just love the place where their timeshare is located as if they would never be allowed to step foot there without a 10K partial title in hand. I don’t want to be tied down in life anymore than I am now especially for vacations so a timeshare is certainly not for me.

10

I think you’re right. Based on the low resale prices, I’d say they’re nearly always bad investments to buy first-hand from the timeshare company. All those free vacations and pushy salespeople have to be paid for somehow. But there’s no reason why a reasonably priced secondhand timeshare couldn’t be a great deal for someone in a position to take advantage of it.

11

The worst part of time share is the hard pressure sales people.
You are not tied down at all. You get a membership in an organization that trades the time share for you. You put yours up for trade .Then you read a book with time shares around the world. I have traded my Disney twice for Mexico Once in Key Largo and once in another Key.You pay the company (Interval International ) a fee and they do the work. Tell them where and when. They do it and send you maps,coupons and information on what to do.
Buying used will save about 50%.

12

Our friends have a bunch (and it sounds like Daichi’s company,) and we did a promo weekend with them in Vegas. Good deal for us, and we got to see our friends, and during the selling period the salesman concentrated on getting them to buy more rather than bugging us. One trick they have is to buy timeshares in low maintenance regions and swap for high maintenance ones.

Buying it used does sound like the best idea. We have no desire to be restricted to the available timeshare resorts, so we have no interest in it at all.

13

Well, maybe. A close friend’s mother owns a time share at a resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The reason she’s so happy about having that time share is because she’s guaranteed the exact same suite every single year. It’s not about just being able to stay at the resort at all, it’s about having your room there, guaranteed. Only certain people who travel at certain levels can ever get that kind of assurance when booking hotels and resorts, and even then it’s not definite.

Not to mention rate changes from year to year or week to week or season to season that a time share owner who simply uses their own property every year and never trades it doesn’t have to deal with. For some people it’s an awesome way to, basically, prepay for your vacation without ever having to worry about rates or availability.

14

Ex Timeshare salesman here. My father also owns one.

YES, the reslae market is certainly the best place to buy if you know about the industry and are able to research and check on your unit.

To me, one of the most important points is to make sure the week is “exchangeable”. Also check things like maintenance fees and condition of the resort before buying.

A couple of things good about timeshares is the idea that you have a week each year that you MUST use. And secondly, you are to some extent pre-paying your holidays while you have money. So emotionally it hurts less. You don’t notive that “forgone interest” thing and you holiday only costs your yearly maintenance fee.

My father’s fee is around $500 per year, the resort he owns at rents the suites (he has a two bedroom suite) for around $200 per night. How is that not good for him?

15

We also own the Disney one. Disney is a strange timeshare in that it isn’t that much cheaper to buy resale, Disney has an option to buy any contract sold, and buys up resales - basically setting a floor. That means my timeshare has appreciated about 30% over five years as Disney has raised their prices. We don’t trade with it - we use it to go to Disney - which we do about every other year. It works out to be a better deal than paying cash for the Disney deluxe resorts, unless I assume I’d have gotten an 18% return on the market or something instead.

But you need to be really careful. There are good timeshare companies and fly by night ones. It makes sense in most cases to buy resale - and it all cases to do your research…particularly if you are planning on trading - different units have different trade values.

16

There are time shares in almost every country and island in the world. You can go the mountains, cities, golf resorts.fishing resorts,ski resorts You absolutely do not have to go to same place every year. The trade magazine it about 2 inches thick.
They are red,yellow and green. Red weeks are the most desirable. You can trade a red week for any place in the world. Then yellow. Yellow can be traded for yellow and green. Green are the least desirable. They can be only be traded for green weeks, The color is dependent on the week and location. Key West<,Disney, Hawaii, Vegas are year round red.

17

Here’s a report on time shares that should be read before considering buying into one:

18

One of the things I’ve heard around here is “He that can master Timeshare Resales can rule the world!” It’s not a great market: people tend to sell their units for almost literally pennies on the dollar. There’s a couple of professional resale outlets out there (many of which aren’t good for the seller), but a word of caution if you’re buying a resale timeshare from an individual: it’s a real estate transaction, pure and simple. Deeds have to be transferred and filed at the courthouse, agencies have to be notified, fees have to be paid, closings have to be done … We’ve been contacted by “former” owners who sold their timeshares to their sons or daughters or friends, except that they didn’t inform anyone else (including us), and so the next time the maintenace billing went out, it was still their name at the top of the bill, and they couldn’t understand it at all.

In addition to Interval International that gonzmax mentioned, above, there’s also RCI that has a HUGE exchange base.

19

Hey if you ever do sign up for one of these be very VERY sure that it’s a decent unit you’re buying into. There are a lot of unscrupulous timeshare sellers (no offense to anyone here) who will scam people into units that have no resale potential and in the end can’t even be given away. Companies like TimeShare Relief exist to get people out of timeshares that are that bad. Avoid all that by reading every last word of fine print, actually seeing the unit in person with your own eyes before buying, and checking in (if possible) with other part-owners of the timeshare unit to see what issues they might have had to deal with. A good timeshare is good, but a bad timeshare is one of the worst things that can happen to you.

20

My Key Wesy time share is on the Atlantic Ocean. I walk out my back door and I am 50 ft from the ocean. There is a swimming pool and jacuzzi in the back yard. I am next door to a 5 star restaurant
Timeshare dates float. They go from sat to sat. Therefore the date moves somewhat. If you can not use it and you know it early ,often you can trade for another week.The management compant generally can handle it.
Most time shares are lockouts. That means you can use half and trade half. I have rented half while I have been down there. I have had maintainance fees paid and a few bucks left over while on vacation. Truth is ,in most locations renting is very difficullt. The time share glut in Disney makes it a hard to rent. Key West has a limited amount available and once you go there you want to go back.