How are maintenance fees justified?

[jerrry94087 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jerrry94087]

Timeshare sales people keep telling that you actually own property and usually downplay maintenance fees. And the market value of TS is such that you can buy almost any TS for <$100 and then you will pay MF ~$350 for a week in 1BR. This makes it essentially a rent.

Do TS ever show any calculations how $350 is justified as a MF?

For example recently I visited nice retirement community, house owner there (25000 sq ft) pays $125/month into HOA fee for the maintenance of the surrounding territory. And it's maintained immaculately, with gates, security, amenities like clubs, swimming pools, movie theaters, etc. $125/mo=$31/week. This includes only surroundings.

But how much can be the maintenance on the building itself if split per 1BR unit? For $350/week you can buy new flat screen TV after 2 weeks, after another 5 weeks you can buy all new furniture, after another 5 weeks one can remodel the insides.

How much can actually MF be for 1BR condo of TS quality?

I feel that MF is only named 'maintenance fee' but is actually a source of revenues for TS companies.

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

Did the retirement community pay maids to do up all the units at least once a week? Some do and some don't. My second thought is that retired people are generally not hauling in suitcases and the like every week, which means they're not tracking in as much dirt or bashing the furniture quite so regularly.

Although the real difference, I suspect, is that many people tend to treat their own homes better than they do their Timeshare. Yeah, resorts charge damages for big stuff, but little stuff is just absorbed by the system, and the little stuff certainly can add up.

To be honest, I have no idea if everyone's maintenance fees are justified, but I'm not sure that your comparison is a good one.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Heating, cooling, insurance, payroll, weekly cleaning service, contribution to the reserves for roof replacement, furniture replacement, pool maintenance, painting, etc. Every hoa has a budget. You should be able to get a copy of it from your resort by asking. Some of my resorts send it every year without asking. Then you can see exactly what they are spending your money on.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

Part of your fee has to cover for the people who don't pay their fee.
You are correct that mf are for profit, don't let them fool ya.

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

For a developer run resort, part of m/f may indeed be profit. For HOA's which contract out to management companies, part of m/f pays the fee of the management company. For self-managed HOA-run resorts, however, the HOA is a non-profit corporation and cannot make a profit. Management staff make their salary but not a profit.

I like the way that one of my resorts requires the annual budget, including m/f to be submitted to the membership for a vote. Another resort I previsouly owned at also did that. Such policies are ultimate control by the members.