Timeshare hassles and ripoffs

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

There once was a fellow who spent about 3 years researching timeshares before he bought his first on the resale market. He had to endure a bit of sarcasm from me about the lenghty process, but he certainly did his homework and was undoubted better off than most making that first buy- even at resale.
Only a very few that buy from the developer know much of anything about timeshares and get dazzled and hoodwinked into timesharing. Some rescind, as I did, after thinking things over and going through the almost inevitable buyers remorse that follows. Those that do make the buy from a good developer usually
are happy enough with their purchase. I have a friend who bought 2 weeks at the Royals from the developer and when he stopped using his weeks, I got them rented for him for a few years and then he decided to sell. He got about 80% of his purchase price back and is not sour about timesharing. Those that buy from questionable developers and suffer from special assessments and eventually sell and get 10% of what they originally paid back cannot be expected to have enjoyed the experience. This latter example is the source of the sometimes bad reputation that timeshares has earned.

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

OK. I am requesting to resend the high horse phrase, I can see that doesn't set well with folks here. Sorry.
Also, I don't feel the end is near. I enjoy life very much. Retirement is great !!
I can travel at my own time and pretty much go where I want. Some places I can even take my cat !

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

Sorry for the spelling too!

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

OK. I am requesting to resend the high horse phrase, I can see that doesn't set well with folks here. Sorry.
Also, I don't feel the end is near. I enjoy life very much. Retirement is great !!
I can travel at my own time and pretty much go where I want. Some places I can even take my cat !

If you make it to Boston, let me know. I'd be happy to show you around and buy you a "lobstah dinnah".
Take care and your friends here do understand.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

OK. I am requesting to resend the high horse phrase, I can see that doesn't set well with folks here. Sorry.
Also, I don't feel the end is near. I enjoy life very much. Retirement is great !!
I can travel at my own time and pretty much go where I want. Some places I can even take my cat !

Anyone who has a cat can't be too grumpy.

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

Anyone who has a cat can't be too grumpy.

On the contrary, my dear. Anybody who has a cat needs to be treated with the greatest of suspicion.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

I have the figures in front of me and it is true that the t/s I used to own equals 1/2 of what I PURCHASED my current home for. I did not borrow to get in, just wrote a check.Two special assessments were a big blow! ( Salesman didn't mention that ) Fees add up quick over twenty + years seeing as how they increase each year. I think some owners loose site of this figure.

Bing:

I would be very interesting in knowing what you put in the figures. Sounds like you add SA and MF in the TS. Does it means you also add Property Tax, Utility Bill, Maintainance cost (Grass, ...) Funiture/Applicance replacement cost, HOA fee into your home and TS is 1/2 of home cost? If so, can you show me the trick how to keep the home cost so low?

Thanks

Jya-Ning

[Caesar540 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Caesar540]

.....

LOL, thats classic. I HAVE met people who have saved thousands.

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

We love timeshare, so stop trying to sell your marketing scheme for vacationing. We know it is a scam!

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

LOL, thats classic. I HAVE met people who have saved thousands.

That's nothing. Billy Graham used to save thousands almost every night.

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

LOL, thats classic. I HAVE met people who have saved thousands.

Me too - they all avoided getting involved with MLMs.

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

.... the t/s I used to own equals 1/2 of what I PURCHASED my current home for. I did not borrow to get in, just wrote a check...

Would you be willing to say what you bought, and what you paid? I'm not questioning your veracity -- I'm just curious.

[nursetanya1973 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nursetanya1973]

Sorry for the spelling too!

I let the spell checker correct the whole post, I didn't even see my own mistakes, let alone yours.

And consider the "high-horse" phrase rescinded. It's all good.

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

I'm sure people who don't know how to drive a manual transmission find their cars a real pain in the A$$ and not worth the thousands they pay for them too!

I don't buy my cars retail and I don't buy TS's retail either.

For me, I currently own what equates out to 5 weeks of vacation/use and have "invested" around $8,000 in total purchase costs and will spend around $2,300 in MF's and SA's in 2007.

Considering that over the past year we have stayed in:

Williamsburg 1 wk in a 1BR unit
Orlando 1 wk in a 2BR unit
Scotland 1wk in a 1BR unit
England 1 wk in a 1BR unit
Kona 1 wk in a 2BR unit

. . . and have another two weeks in a 2BR unit scheduled for later this summer in Kona, I think we've done pretty well and are very happy with how TS ownership and RCI exchanging are working for us!

I'm really sorry when people find out that TS'ing isn't for them . . . or that they don't see the value for their personal situation but it happens. That doesn't mean that they suck for everyone or that the "hassle" isn't worthwhile.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Bing,

I can see where if you add in all the cost associated with a timeshare, you could feel that it cost 1/2 what you paid for your home originally.

However, the cost of your home is not just what you've paid for it. Have you added in all the cost's associated with your home over the past 20 years? Those figures add up quickly as well. I know that my utility fee's amount to $180/month. There's internet fee's that I'm paying now and cable bills. I've already put a couple hundred dollars into fertilizer and insect control on my yard this year and there's the summer feeding, the fall feeding and winterizer yet to go. Then there is the expense of the gardnening around my house.Those flowers don't just grow all by themselves. This year I'll be painting my house. Estimates if I have it done are in the $3,000 range. I have come concrete repair work that is going to need to be done in the future. Right now I'm getting by with just patching it. I've had to replace light bulbs over the years, air cleaners, shampoo the carpets, et....I'm not figuring in the approximate cost of maids since I Don't pay myself to do that. Oh yea, I"ve had to replace my washer and dryer to the tune of $1,500, the refridgerator has had to have the compressor replaced and the dishwasher bit the dust last year.

I don't doubt your figures. I just doubt that you've included the upkeep and maintence of your current home while adding in the MF's and SA's associated with your timeshare. If all things are to be equal then you would need to add in the cost of upkeep and maintenance on your home as well if you want to keep the comparison apples to apples. Otherwise you would need to look only at the purchase price of your home vs the purchase price of your timeshare