Are TSs Ever been worth having? Can you sell them or make money from them?

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Desirable places are places people want to travel to that are not full of timeshares (what we call overbuilt). Overbuilt areas are Orlando, Williamsburg, Las Vegas and perhaps some of the Florida coast. Florida has 25% of the timeshares in the USA and Orlando has over 100 timeshares and some of them are the largest ones in the country.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

If you buy a timeshare for a dollar (like Ridewithme38 who is using them wisely) in an area you like to visit often and in driving distance, you should be OK but make sure that you can use it during vacation time if you have small children so you don't have to rent it out. Timesharing takes preparation and planning in advance.

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

To me, the ongoing maintenance fees are the biggest problem with timeshares assuming you buy at a reasonable price. Some of the maintenance fees are ridiculously expensive and go up every year. I have been fortunate that our M/F have been pretty reasonable and stable over the past 20+ years.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

The only times you could pay $1 for a prime week in the areas I mentioned is if there were some financial problem at the resort - a looming special assessment, excessive maintenance fees, etc. An example of that is The Manhattan Club in NYC where excessive maintenance fees have resulting in weeks there selling for $1. Maintenance fees and resort financial stability are other things you need to check out before buying.

The funny thing about those 'prime weeks in prime areas' is, with my one $1 timeshare in RCI and/or one $150 timeshare in II, i can book 2 weeks in any of those locations on either system II(I get an AC every year in II for some reason) or RCI....But to be honest, as a single dad who travels only to locations that would be fun for his kid, i prefer the overbuilt like Massanutten, Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach & Smuggs

I don't see any reason those prices would stay high when you can book two of them for the price of one $1 timeshare. If a timeshare is priced too high now, wait a little while, it'll be $1 soon...in time every timeshare will end up being $1

People bash the 'over built areas' but to be honest, there is a reason there are so many timeshares in those locations....It's because those are the places people actually go to! I go to Massanutten and Williamsburg all the time, even though the resorts aren't always full, they would triple the capacity of any time of year in the Outer Banks. If people actually wanted to go to places like the outer banks, they would build more/larger timeshares to support the demand.

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

LMAO

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

To me, the ongoing maintenance fees are the biggest problem with timeshares assuming you buy at a reasonable price. Some of the maintenance fees are ridiculously expensive and go up every year. I have been fortunate that our M/F have been pretty reasonable and stable over the past 20+ years.

Agreed. I find member-run resorts to be best on this as they are not trying to squeeze profit out of the m/f's. I own at three resorts on three continents, one gold crown and two silver crown, all member-run, and my highest m/f next year in $485.

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

that is IF you can find them available. On my OBX timeshare, only about 10% of owners deposit summer weeks with exchange companies and those get snapped up as soon as they are deposited. That is typical for summer OBX, as most summer owners bought to use, not exchange. My UK resort almost never has any availability with RCI or DAE or UKRE or SFX ANY time of the year. Weeks get snapped up in ongoing searches as soon as they are deposited, and again many members own to use. If you look at some of the areas I mentioned, how often do you see prime weeks in those areas available online at any of the exchange companies? Almost never.

The funny thing about those 'prime weeks in prime areas' is, with my one $1 timeshare in RCI and/or one $150 timeshare in II, i can book 2 weeks in any of those locations on either system II(I get an AC every year in II for some reason) or RCI....But to be honest, as a single dad who travels only to locations that would be fun for his kid, i prefer the overbuilt like Massanutten, Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach & Smuggs

I don't see any reason those prices would stay high when you can book two of them for the price of one $1 timeshare. If a timeshare is priced too high now, wait a little while, it'll be $1 soon...in time every timeshare will end up being $1

People bash the 'over built areas' but to be honest, there is a reason there are so many timeshares in those locations....It's because those are the places people actually go to! I go to Massanutten and Williamsburg all the time, even though the resorts aren't always full, they would triple the capacity of any time of year in the Outer Banks. If people actually wanted to go to places like the outer banks, they would build more/larger timeshares to support the demand.

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

I like TS systems like Worldmark where a person can have a small account and rent points from other members giving this membership the ability to acquire multiple prime weeks with a low MF. I also like some of the older contracts in Mexico that have multiple locations with a low MF and that have a RTU with less than 15 years remaining on the contract.

I will not consider buying a single location TS. Even though that is what I did originally I am down to one remaining deeded one location TS and will likely dump it by 2020 unless I start golfing more.

Oh yeah, for sure, renting out ts's is not as easy as a person might think. Selling them is even tougher.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

The last timeshare I sold (August 2013) was done through the resort's resale program. It is important that a resort has a resale and rental program and these are another factor in desirability. The deed back provision is another good feature for a resort. If a resort will not take a week back, that resort could be considered less than worthless.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

that is IF you can find them available. On my OBX timeshare, only about 10% of owners deposit summer weeks with exchange companies and those get snapped up as soon as they are deposited. That is typical for summer OBX, as most summer owners bought to use, not exchange. My UK resort almost never has any availability with RCI or DAE or UKRE or SFX ANY time of the year. Weeks get snapped up in ongoing searches as soon as they are deposited, and again many members own to use. If you look at some of the areas I mentioned, how often do you see prime weeks in those areas available online at any of the exchange companies? Almost never.

The thing is, you aren't accounting for the supply side....If i only produce 10 Bagels a day and they all get sold out immediately, that does not mean i have higher demand then the guy who produces 50,000 Bagels, but only sells 38,000....You are claiming that because of low supply your OBX units are popular, but the sad fact is, those people buying those '10 bagels' are the same that always have, because they are stuck there and once they find a decent bagel shop, or die, they'll move on and the OBX will show its true lack of demand.

Places like Williamsburg, Orlando, Massanutten, etc., are over built because people want to go there, the OBX is under built, because no one does.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Lots of people like to go to the OBX, but some have cancelled in the past due to hurricanes. The OBX is most desirable in summer, colder weather does not make for great beach vacations. The heavy times when people vacation generally are when schools are out of session.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

Lots of people like to go to the OBX, but some have cancelled in the past due to hurricanes. The OBX is most desirable in summer, colder weather does not make for great beach vacations. The heavy times when people vacation generally are when schools are out of session.

Guess where people like to go during school breaks? Places like Williamsburg with Busch Gardens/Water Country/Colonial Williamsburg & Massanutten with the Huge water park & tons of activities & Orlando with Disney, Smuggs with tons of activities....Places their kids will enjoy, laying on the beach and staying in a falling apart resort doesn't work for the modern family....OBX has turned into a place where the only Timeshare owners going there are close to retirement/death....

I hope they can one day turn it around and make the OBX into an actually desirable location, but i doubt it'll be in any of our lifetimes and as long as it isn't, it's going to drop to $1 as soon as those retired/dead owners start unloading

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

Supply AND demand are both key to the desirability of timeshare. You need more of the latter in relation to the former.

You also fail to understand why developers build where they do. Supply and demand factors of exchanging have nothing to do with it. The things developers look at are where they can get tour flows of the right demographics to make sales and the availability and cost of sites. Charleston could support the tour flows, but the costs of building a resort there are extremely high. The OBX has shown it supports the tour flows but several developers have looked for potential sites and came up empty, including Equivest and Fairfield / Wyndham. Some of the overbuilt areas will get even more overbuilt because they have such good sales demographics for tour flows, including Orlando and Williamsburg. On the other hand, St. Barts in the Caribbean would have massive exchange demanad if a timeshare were ever built there, but it would be very hard to get tour flows to sustain sales.

As to demand for accomodations on the OBX, when I was down there a week or so ago, there were ''no vacancy'' signs on the majority of motels I drove by. The fall, through Thanksgiving, is fishing season, and the OBX has some of the best fishing on the east coast.

The thing is, you aren't accounting for the supply side....If i only produce 10 Bagels a day and they all get sold out immediately, that does not mean i have higher demand then the guy who produces 50,000 Bagels, but only sells 38,000....You are claiming that because of low supply your OBX units are popular, but the sad fact is, those people buying those '10 bagels' are the same that always have, because they are stuck there and once they find a decent bagel shop, or die, they'll move on and the OBX will show its true lack of demand.

Places like Williamsburg, Orlando, Massanutten, etc., are over built because people want to go there, the OBX is under built, because no one does.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

As to demand for accomodations on the OBX, when I was down there a week or so ago, there were ''no vacancy'' signs on the majority of motels I drove by. The fall, through Thanksgiving, is fishing season, and the OBX has some of the best fishing on the east coast.

When you only have 10 bagels and they sell out, that just means you have enough demand for 10 bagels....Sure, you can imagine that 'since these 10 bagels sold so fast, there must be demand for 1,000'. But that is a guess at best and the only facts you have is that you have enough demand for 10 bagels.....Where as places like Williamsburg produce so many bagels, that they have some to spare, because of that they can accurately judge demand....and their demand can be measure as much more then just 10 bagels.

Sorry, I'm from Long Island the home of the bagel, the only place you should ever buy them....I promise, the next time i do a comparision i'll use a different product, maybe Pizza?

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

My list of the best places to buy timeshare did not include the OBX, but for summer, demand far outweighs supply. You seem to have a mental block about the OBX, however. Lets look at some I did mention. Charleston, SC is a historic city with nice beaches nearby. It is a heavy demand tourist area, and has a longer warm season than Williamsburg. It also has a tiny fraction of the timeshare that Williamsburg has. That is what puts Charleston at a much more advantageous position on the supply / demand curve than Williamsburg. Savannah is the same, with even less timeshare than Charleston. Or take Key West or Sanibel / Captiva.

I remember Bootleg, the RCI employee you used to frequent this and other timeshare boards. His place where there was ALWAYS availability because they were overbuilt was MOBW (I may have the letters in the wrong order, but I remember M was first) - Massanutten, Orlando, Branson, and Williamsburg. Of course, that was the North American market. For Europe, he could probably have added Canary Islands, Costa del Sol in Spain, Hungary, and Finland. Curiously, Williamsburg had much better trading power in II, because II had fewer resorts there.

When you only have 10 bagels and they sell out, that just means you have enough demand for 10 bagels....Sure, you can imagine that 'since these 10 bagels sold so fast, there must be demand for 1,000'. But that is a guess at best and the only facts you have is that you have enough demand for 10 bagels.....Where as places like Williamsburg produce so many bagels, that they have some to spare, because of that they can accurately judge demand....and their demand can be measure as much more then just 10 bagels.

Sorry, I'm from Long Island the home of the bagel, the only place you should ever buy them....I promise, the next time i do a comparision i'll use a different product, maybe Pizza?