What do you own when you buy a timeshare? Nothing.

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

very few people speak English when you get out of the city.

Oh, like the Ozarks.

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

I've spent more than 100 nights in Marriotts this year, mostly in Residence Inns and Townplace Suites. Not bad when I'm alone, but even a 1-br unit is tight if DH and a kid is along with me. I've been upgraded a couple of times to the 2br at Residence Inns. While they are nice, they can't compare to any 2br timeshare I've stayed in for space and comfort for a family. Most of the newer properties only have a cooktop. I miss my oven.

If there was any doubt, 10 days in a Townplace Studio in Albuquerque made it very clear that this was not a good way for three of us to travel.

Sheila

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

While they are nice, they can't compare to any 2br timeshare I've stayed in for space and comfort for a family. Most of the newer properties only have a cooktop. I miss my oven.

I can't recall that anyone has ever felt, or stated, that is not the case, which is why so many now just rent an actual timeshare or other condo, via CL or some other site, often for less than a maintenance fee, and without any investment or ongoing obligation, typically from a trapped owner who is looking to reduce their loss anyway they can.

There was a time when superior accomodations might have been a justification for owning, back during the "exclusive" phase of timesharing.

[kreate Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kreate]

I don't think the other ppl are wrong or anything like that. yes u do own something.
but I would have to agree with floridaguy more.
timeshare seems more like the illusion that u own something. to make u feel good about urself.
but actually u really don't own anything.
u are binded by a contract and help maintain this thing u actually don't own.

"timeshare" to me is like sharing this property with others but not really owning it.
owner means I own something and I can do whatever I want with it cuz it is mine.
but timeshare is not mine, I do not own it, I don't own the walls of it, or make any decisions of it, how often it needs to be
renovated, etc etc.
its just owned by the corporation that owns it and maintains it as they see fit while making u feel like u are part of them but actually ur not.

of course the arguments were very good that the other posters have made and I cannot argue that, but for myself, i wouldn't tell my friends
i am a owner of that resort over there ... he'll laugh at me.

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

I don't think the other ppl are wrong or anything like that. yes u do own something.
but I would have to agree with floridaguy more.
timeshare seems more like the illusion that u own something. to make u feel good about urself.
but actually u really don't own anything.
u are binded by a contract and help maintain this thing u actually don't own.

"timeshare" to me is like sharing this property with others but not really owning it.
owner means I own something and I can do whatever I want with it cuz it is mine.
but timeshare is not mine, I do not own it, I don't own the walls of it, or make any decisions of it, how often it needs to be
renovated, etc etc.
its just owned by the corporation that owns it and maintains it as they see fit while making u feel like u are part of them but actually ur not.

of course the arguments were very good that the other posters have made and I cannot argue that, but for myself, i wouldn't tell my friends
i am a owner of that resort over there ... he'll laugh at me.

Based on your post people who own condo's or Co-ops also own nothing.

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

I own a house, but I cant do what I want with it either. I cant out an oil well in my back yard. and I cant open a retail business out of my garage and I cant use it as a rooming house. But I dont conclude I own nothing

[FloridaGuy Member Find all posts View Profile Close FloridaGuy]

Obviously this place is mostly time share shills that work selling them.

They are horrible, they even follow you beyond the grave.

They will try to make the people who inherit your estate keep them and continue to pay for the worthless maintenance in perpetuity,

If they were not worthless why would the timeshare companies not take them back for free after they were paid for? They don't even want them.

The large majority of owners know that they are worthless and regret having been fooled into buying them, the ones that say they are not are stubborn people who can never admit a mistake.

Why would the industry have such a horrible reputation if it was honest and decent and had value.

No they are worse than worthless, they are a debt.

They want to charge each person almost $1000 a year to clean the place for a few hours once a week, most people don't even mess it up or dirty it much.

It's all bait and switch. The first year is fine and you get what is promised and where you bought, then every other year you call 9 months to a year ahead and they say they have nothing available so you have to spend hundreds of dollars to go to a smaller unit at a different location.

I think David Siegel of Westgate got some karma recently.

[scootr5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scootr5]

Obviously this place is mostly time share shills that work selling them.

I think you're pretty far off base there. To my knowledge, there is only one member on the forum here who sells, and he doesn't even post very often.

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

Obviously this place is mostly time share shills that work selling them.

They are horrible, they even follow you beyond the grave.

They will try to make the people who inherit your estate keep them and continue to pay for the worthless maintenance in perpetuity,

If they were not worthless why would the timeshare companies not take them back for free after they were paid for? They don't even want them.

The large majority of owners know that they are worthless and regret having been fooled into buying them, the ones that say they are not are stubborn people who can never admit a mistake.

Why would the industry have such a horrible reputation if it was honest and decent and had value.

No they are worse than worthless, they are a debt.

They want to charge each person almost $1000 a year to clean the place for a few hours once a week, most people don't even mess it up or dirty it much.

It's all bait and switch. The first year is fine and you get what is promised and where you bought, then every other year you call 9 months to a year ahead and they say they have nothing available so you have to spend hundreds of dollars to go to a smaller unit at a different location.

I think David Siegel of Westgate got some karma recently.

So my home a debt but Im happy to make the payments every month, and so is my car a debt, (well not my car, its 20 years old and paid for, but it does require regular maintenance) and neither am I a timeshare shill. Although I do own timeshares and am happy to pay the maintenance fees for as long as I continue to use them...Like my house and my car, I feel I get fair value for the money I spend.

I own a ton of timeshares and I have the deeds to prove it, all nicely recorded in the courthouse local to the resort. just like my own home. The difference is that there is also a mortgage recorded against my home, but not the timeshares

You asked the question...What do you really own when you own a timeshare and answered it with one word...nothing. Thats just not true. and there have been a number of posts here that say that, and that have given you the correct answer, which is a timeshare is a fractional ownership of real property which ownership gives you the right to some use of that property and the obligation to pay your fair share of the maintenance. The problem is that you have come to a place full of folks like me that own timeshares and use them to their advantage.... Most of us like this stuff and are happy we own it>>>

Now if what you really wanted to say is that you feel cheated in your purchase because the use you get is in no way worth the money you paid to purchase and that you continue to pay to maintain it; Thats another question.

If you paid full developer prices you are no doubt, absolutely right. You were probably cheated

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

I think David Siegel of Westgate got some karma recently.

No one deserves to lose their child, especially under such tragic circumstances.

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

Obviously this place is mostly time share shills that work selling them.

Nope, only BocaBum sells timeshares and he is not a shill, he is up front about it.
The rest of us are just regular peeps who happen to enjoy the timeshare vacation lifestyle.

They are horrible, they even follow you beyond the grave.

They will try to make the people who inherit your estate keep them and continue to pay for the worthless maintenance in perpetuity,

Your family does not have to accept the deed if they choose not to.
If I die my family already knows which timeshares have monetary resale value and which ones to refuse.
It's part of your estate planning or should be.


If they were not worthless why would the timeshare companies not take them back for free after they were paid for? They don't even want them.

This is a problem in many of the independent resorts which don't have an active sales office or an active home owners association.
In the bigger clubs you can usually find someone who will take it off of your hands for free with a little effort.

Here near the city where I live, one of the timeshares was dissolved and sold. The owners got 35K per week.
Trump bought the land and plans to make a new condo there.
Not too many unhappy campers there and this was an older resort with no active sales force onsite.
Hopefully he'll buy mine soon.


The large majority of owners know that they are worthless and regret having been fooled into buying them, the ones that say they are not are stubborn people who can never admit a mistake.

Again, not necessarily true.
There are many happy owners who use the weeks they purchased.
Timeshare exchanging requires a commitment of time to learn the tricks of maximizing your ownership.
Most are not interested in learning so they complain and those are usually the ones who you see complaining the loudest on the internet.


Why would the industry have such a horrible reputation if it was honest and decent and had value.

No they are worse than worthless, they are a debt.

Yes they are a debt.
Vacations cost money like everything else in life.
Timeshares are not for those struggling with finances.
If you can't afford the MF's then you shouldn't buy it, not unlike anything else in life.
Live within your means.
There is no excuse not to be an educated consumer in this day and age of the internet.
Much easier just to play the blame game.


They want to charge each person almost $1000 a year to clean the place for a few hours once a week, most people don't even mess it up or dirty it much.

You don't pay per person but per unit and your $1000 goes to pay for running the entire resort and you pay your share.
There is a lot to keeping a timeshare nice. Grounds upkeep, staff, insurance, payroll, hard and soft goods, pool maint.
wifi, security, coffee, soap, laundry etc. and on and on depending on the type of resort.



It's all bait and switch. The first year is fine and you get what is promised and where you bought, then every other year you call 9 months to a year ahead and they say they have nothing available so you have to spend hundreds of dollars to go to a smaller unit at a different location.

Timeshares require planning, sometimes a year in advance and yes may cost a couple of hundred bucks to trade to other places.
If you can't use a day planner and plan or don't have some flexibility in time off from your job, then timeshares are not for you.
The timeshare life is not for everyone and that's okay, go take a cruise or stay in cramped motels.



I think David Siegel of Westgate got some karma recently.

That's a mean statement. Nobody deserves to lose a child even if he is a jerk.

Answered you in blue.

[FloridaGuy Member Find all posts View Profile Close FloridaGuy]

No one deserves to lose their child, especially under such tragic circumstances.

If you ignore your children, don't know their names, don't want to spend time with them, go to their funeral taking selfies and wearing a low cut top with your boobs out you have only yourself to blame. I do feel bad for his kids especially the young girls who are starving for affection and attention and want the simple things in life.

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

FloridaGuy. If you want to complain for 3 years about a mistake you feel you made in purchasing a timeshare, fine. Most of us use and enjoy our timeshare purchases. We have researched and purchased what works for us. If you didn't do that, sorry, but that responsibility falls on you to figure out what you need and make your decisions.

However, the children are not part of this. If you do not drop the comments about the children, you may be dropped from additional comments on this site for a while. You can get infractions or even banned. So stop it.

FloridaGuy. Keep repeating to yourself, I bought the timeshare. Any mistakes made with this purchase were made by me. I accept responsibility and I will live with my purchase.

If you want to learn how to use your purchase, then research here. This site has owners that have made mistakes and learned how to make that lemonade. You need to learn to use it and not spend 3 year complaining about your mistake.

And no more posts about the kids.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

FloridaGuy, you are obviously angry about your timeshare ownership, and you despise those who sold it to you. And I will guarantee that the people who sold it to you couldn't care less that you're upset. In fact, they probably don't remember who you are, and wouldn't recognize you if they passed you on the street.

So what I don't get is why you have given permission to those people to determine whether or not you are happy? They don't give a rip about you. So why are you still letting them have that type of control over your feelings?

Stop giving them that control. Just do it.

[faslodex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close faslodex]

Maybe you ought to educate yourself a little more. There are other types of timeshares other than what you bought from Wastegate. If you have a points contract, you are exactly right, but if you have something else you are wrong.

Deeded timeshares in the US, particularly fixed week resorts, give you a deed where you have ownership right in an undivided interest in specific real property coupled with recurring use rights. Many RTU Caribbean timeshares are based on leasehold rights that are superiror in law to a mere points contract. With my South African and Australian timeshaes I have (or had) shares of stock in the ''shareblock'' that owned the real property at the timeshare. The Hapimag timeshare chain in Europe is a points system that operates on the basis of members owning shares of stock in a non-profit company that then owns the actual timeshares. One of my European timeshares operates on a leasehold basis and the other did on a cooperative basis where timeshare members were members of the cooperative that owned the real property.

Wow, you people are suckers. I got this great opportunity to buy the Golden Gate bridge for scrap, they're building a new bridge see. The old one is just in the way. Send all correspondence to the Crown Prince of Nigeria. I'm issuing stock certificates in the bridge next week, there's a buy in fee though, but it's super exclusive. Also, the time share kings, I'm pretty sure they don't own any timeshares themselves.