Wow! Why Own a Timeshare?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Gorgeous 2000sq. ft pool home

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

cheaper per week than my maintenance fees

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

[STRIKE]Damn[/STRIKE] Darn -
I am looking for something Easter break within a half hour of Busch Gardens. This is just a little to far. If it's for real, looks awesome! May settle for Williamsburg. Trying to work 4 year olds and teens into the same trip is challenging

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

They are probably in foreclosure and not paying their mortgage.

Lots of "cheap" rentals in FL now are from owners not paying their mortgage and pocketing whatever they can get.

I wouldn't put it past anyone these days.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

[STRIKE]Damn[/STRIKE] Darn -
I am looking for something Easter break within a half hour of Busch Gardens. This is just a little to far. If it's for real, looks awesome! May settle for Williamsburg. Trying to work 4 year olds and teens into the same trip is challenging

Then try Tampa craigslist/vacation rentals.

This one is from Ft. Myers.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

They are probably in foreclosure and not paying their mortgage.

Lots of "cheap" rentals in FL now are from owners not paying their mortgage and pocketing whatever they can get.

I wouldn't put it past anyone these days.

Did you notice they allow pets, too?

Taking advantage of the predicament, many of the SW FL craigslist vacation rentals are being advertised as a place to stay while foreclosure shopping.

It's hard not to do, just for curiosity. We went to the preview of a gulffront condo auction on Manasota Key. Absolutely gorgeous 2500 Sq ft condos. Originally priced at $495-$595K, bidding starting at $125K.

We have looked at golf houses for as little as $65K. Now, in order to get information you have to subscribe to foreclosure sites for a fee. Tons of sites are making money off the problem.

Each time we have looked we have decided it is simpler and less expensive to let someone else own.

Not all good deals are foreclosures, though, cuz I just rented out a week in a 2-bedroom luxury GC with a $590 fee . . . for $300. I was lucky to get that as other weeks are going begging, sitting empty. All the market will bear.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Each time we have looked we have decided it is simpler and less expensive to let someone else own.

That's been my take too. I figure until and unless I want to snowbird in a serious way---at least 3-4 months a year---there isn't much sense in it. My uncle has a place in Clermont, near O-town, that he uses as a second home and short-term rental. He is thinking that several years down the road, when Florida will inevitably overheat again, that he'll probably get out. Too much hassle, not enough return. That could be location, as O-town is lousy with places for cheap, but still.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

That's been my take too. I figure until and unless I want to snowbird in a serious way---at least 3-4 months a year---there isn't much sense in it. My uncle has a place in Clermont, near O-town, that he uses as a second home and short-term rental. He is thinking that several years down the road, when Florida will inevitably overheat again, that he'll probably get out. Too much hassle, not enough return. That could be location, as O-town is lousy with places for cheap, but still.

Up until 1996, the start of the boom, we had planned to do that, winter in SW FL (where the business we were doing the rest of the year up north had it's big season in Florida). Stuff we looked at for $200K in '96 was $1-3M in '97.

Good thing we didn't buy.

Now the decision involves high taxes, high insurance, property management and maintenance, hurricane risk, etc., way too much for even a 3-4 month stay.

We have stuff here we really can't leave for that long.

This year I talked about something with other couples, say two or three more, and then splitting time up . . . some for all at the same time and some for each investor.

That did not get off the ground.

So, even if it's $1000/week, it is best to TS or rent, and leave the worries to someone else. The second resort we were at this year has $1000 weeks and a $390 annual fee. It is on a bay, with a dock for a boat or jet ski, and on the beach, too. Three inexpensive golf courses nearby. And friends from home with winter places.

And there are other similar resorts in SW FL, one with their own boats.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

So, even if it's $1000/week, it is best to TS or rent, and leave the worries to someone else.

I figure that's right. Heck, I can barely keep up my first house. What the heck would I do with a second?

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

It's hard not to do, just for curiosity. We went to the preview of a gulffront condo auction on Manasota Key. Absolutely gorgeous 2500 Sq ft condos. Originally priced at $495-$595K, bidding starting at $125K.

Sounds like a great deal on the surface but if it's anything like my city (Miami) the condos are a disaster right now. They are a ghost town. Many of the buildings and projects are empty so staying in one is eerie.

Plus for the owners left, there isn't enough money to pay for the insurance on the buildings, the services like water, sewer and trash that are normally paid with maintenance fees and someplaces cable, internet, the pools are green and closed and on and on. The problem is that when the trash isn't picked up and the utilities are turned off then the city deems it unsafe to live in and now you've got a place that you can't use but still gotta pay on. This only leads the few remaining owners to let theirs go as well.

I guess if I had money that I didn't mind gambling with it would make sense to plunk some down on a gulfront condo but unfortunately I'm not in any position to wait it out while having to subsidize the project and wait for the courts to decide what to do with the units. Many buildings here are now in court receivership. I'm curious what will happen with these gorgeous buildings that now lay dark at night. It's really weird to see our skyline only half lit at night.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Sounds like a great deal on the surface but if it's anything like my city (Miami) the condos are a disaster right now. They are a ghost town. Many of the buildings and projects are empty so staying in one is eerie.

Not this one. Great building, great location. Only one being offered was a foreclosure. The other six or seven were simply unsold ones when the devaluation hit.

If I remember right, however, fees were $9500, excluding taxes.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Not this one. Great building, great location. Only one being offered was a foreclosure. The other six or seven were simply unsold ones when the devaluation hit.

If I remember right, however, fees were $9500, excluding taxes.

9500 per month?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

9500 per month?

No.