PLEASE help.... buying a timeshare for the first time. need honest advice

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

any advice is highly valued thank you so much.

Don't use your real name on the Internet.

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

I'm curious.

At what age or life status would "rent first to see if it's for you" be replaced by, "just go ahead and buy a timeshare."

Depends on the individual. Maybe never.

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Being in the Military you already have a fabulous Timeshare!

Timeshares are not an investment. You are 21 in the Military, your income is not able to support a timeshare. I am not putting you down at all. I thank you for your service!


http://www.halekoa.com/?view=featured

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_F...reation_Center

You can also stay at the most fabulous beach location in the WORLD! You can stay just south of the NAPALI COAST on the great island of Kauai! Not even one of use big time timeshare owners here can boast that resort on their sleeve.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ai_Hawaii.html

Im 21 years old in active duty military. im wanting to invest in a timeshare for several reasons.

1. im given 2weeks in summer off and 2 weeks during christmas and would love to take my wife to place that is nice and something that friends can go to and meet.. ect in short for relaxing with the wife..

2. i dont own a house and i feel that owning a time share would be something THAT is MINE, and the possiblity about making money off of it. (i dont know much about it so any advice would be welcomed)

Any tips for getting a time share for the first time would be great.
should i buy through resort? or ebay? or others?

about how much cash should i be ready to put down on a timeshare?

any advice is highly valued thank you so much.

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

Im 21 years old in active duty military. im wanting to invest in a timeshare for several reasons.

1. im given 2weeks in summer off and 2 weeks during christmas and would love to take my wife to place that is nice and something that friends can go to and meet.. ect in short for relaxing with the wife..

2. i dont own a house and i feel that owning a time share would be something THAT is MINE, and the possiblity about making money off of it. (i dont know much about it so any advice would be welcomed)

Any tips for getting a time share for the first time would be great.
should i buy through resort? or ebay? or others?

about how much cash should i be ready to put down on a timeshare?

any advice is highly valued thank you so much.

Please do not buy a timeshare. First, you seem very certain you can get "given 2weeks in summer off and 2 weeks during christmas," that is not the military that I was in for 21 years. You're going to be very disappointed in the timeshare based on the fact that you don't know when you'll be given the time off and timeshares take advance planning unless you're satisfied with whatever's left when you can commit to annual planning.

If you can't buy it outright, you shouldn't even be considering buying a timeshare. If you can't make the annual payments w/o riding it on your credit card, you shouldn't even be considering buying a timeshare.

There's lots of rental bargains out there, you've found TS4Ms and you can find them, you'll be much happier. I bought my first timeshare when I had 20 years in the military.

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

At 21 I would advise against buying a time share. At 35 I would still advise against buying a time share.

My advise is when you do purchase a time share buy into a system that has more than one resort location with the ability to use all of the locations with out trading. Worldmark is this type of system. Worldmark is a decent trader with a low maintenance fee.

Until then use the web to get deals on places that interest you. I used to purchase trips off www.skyauction.com www.pleasantholidays.com , not so much anymore.

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

And who is one of the leaders in discounted vacation rentals? The following is their $299/week offering today:

604 Resorts (14708 available units)

And how many are at Gold Crown Fine Kettle of Fish?: 120 check-in nights available

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

It took awhile to make the connection, and get back to my computer, but maybe what I posted in another thread today is the best route for the OP, if anyone knows what it is RCI is talking about here:

• In response to customer demand, a series of new short-term and trial ownerships are being brought into the marketplace so you can now sample the timeshare lifestyle without making a lifetime commitment right away - See more at: http://www.rci.com/pre-rci-en_GB/lea....KEqsJgMS.dpuf

Almost expected . . . the link does not work.

That statement was here, under "Did You Know?":

http://www.rci.com/pre-rci-en_GB/lea...timeshare.page

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

You might want to consider using this website that RCI set up for military people.
You can stay at alot of the same resorts without the long term commitment.

http://www.afvclub.com/military_vacation_deals

If you really have your heart set on owning a timeshare and have not been dissuaded by
every one here just yet, IMO you should buy into a points system that has internal
trading like Bluegreen, Worldmark or Wyndham instead of buying a fixed week
which may not work for your lifestyle.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service.

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

Sure, why buy the cow?

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

Sure, why buy the cow?

Says the man with a herd who also owns 2 other homes.

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

Those who say no to ownership are those who can't give the timeshares they own away.

Which narrows it down to a few million timeshare owners, plus everyone who doesn't own one.

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

Says the man with a herd who also owns 2 other homes.

Seen the price of dairy lately?

[Nancy Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Nancy]

I feel like I, and several other people here, have been very negative. I own 3 timeshares and paid less than $1000 for all 3 combined. They are not great traders, but over the years I've gotten some really nice trades; however, most of the time I've not gone in prime time. Not sorry I bought. If you really want to buy, do not buy direct from resort!

Nancy

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

I feel like I, and several other people here, have been very negative. I own 3 timeshares and paid less than $1000 for all 3 combined. They are not great traders, but over the years I've gotten some really nice trades; however, most of the time I've not gone in prime time. Not sorry I bought. If you really want to buy, do not buy direct from resort!

Nancy

I tried to temper my realism with post #22, if anyone can figure out what RCI is saying there.

Even in my heyday of timeshare revelry, I could never have encouraged a 21-year old who hasn't bought a house and has no idea where he might be or what he might be doing in two years (assumption on my part) to get locked into a forever timeshare obligation. There's just too many ways to get a taste of it without a lifetime obligation.

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

Seen the price of dairy lately?

Bought a gallon of milk for $ 2.69 Sunday.