So, is it a good time to buy a timeshare, or not?

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

You could always rent 2 units that sleep a total of 8. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

But it's not nearly as much fun that way. We spend a lot of time hanging around the resort and playing games and stuff, so it really is nicer with a bigger unit. Plus we're spoiled - units that sleep 4 seems really cramped anymore.

Another possible reason to own instead of rent is that you don't vacation for full weeks, but that's less a factor than it used to be - much easier to find timeshare rentals by the day (at least in point systems like Bluegreen, so maybe it's more that I know where to look now...).

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

I know what you mean, I'm spoiled too but sometimes the deals are just too good to pass up. Gotta get them while you can.

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

The question is ... Is this a good time to buy?

I don't see any prices for the above rentals so my idea of cheap and yours could be very different.

Also in 3 years when we get a new president and the economy turns around... Or in 10 years or.... Whenever... Will I be able to say... I'm so glad I bought that?

I understand that the fees do and can go up. But spending around 1100 a year for 3 weeks of vacations.... Isn't bad is it? Even in a basic motel that's gonna be $400 a week or so...

How often do people "shoot" at each other in the resorts? (bad but funny (now) experience when I was a kid...lol)

So will I ever be happy I bought or be regretting the day I pay maintence fees every year?

Sean

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

The question is ... Is this a good time to buy?

I don't see any prices for the above rentals so my idea of cheap and yours could be very different.

Also in 3 years when we get a new president and the economy turns around... Or in 10 years or.... Whenever... Will I be able to say... I'm so glad I bought that?

I understand that the fees do and can go up. But spending around 1100 a year for 3 weeks of vacations.... Isn't bad is it? Even in a basic motel that's gonna be $400 a week or so...

How often do people "shoot" at each other in the resorts? (bad but funny (now) experience when I was a kid...lol)

So will I ever be happy I bought or be regretting the day I pay maintence fees every year?

Sean

We are so far in debt that I don't know when the economy will turn around.

If you buy a cheap resale at a resort where you like to go most years and where you can drive to in less than a day, you should be OK. If you buy for use mainly, try to find a well maintained resort with good management (BOD) in place and at prime locations mainly as they will be the first ones to go up in value again, if that happens.

You can hardly lose that way plus you have the enjoyment of staying there for many years to come.

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

I don't see any prices for the above rentals so my idea of cheap and yours could be very different.

If you're interested, let me know.

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

We are so far in debt that I don't know when the economy will turn around.

If you buy a cheap resale at a resort where you like to go most years and where you can drive to in less than a day, you should be OK. If you buy for use mainly, try to find a well maintained resort with good management (BOD) in place and at prime locations mainly as they will be the first ones to go up in value again, if that happens.

You can hardly lose that way plus you have the enjoyment of staying there for many years to come.

If I buy it will be in a points system like bluegreen. We don't want to stay at the same resort every year.... But can plan in advace and be flexible as to where we do go. We are young and were thinking that prices are cheap on resale so maybe now would be the time to buy.

Also it would force us to use vacation time instead of taking a day here or there we can plan a nice week long trip that will make memories.....

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

The question is ... Is this a good time to buy?

I don't see any prices for the above rentals so my idea of cheap and yours could be very different.

I can't say in general terms. In terms of Bluegreen (which I know is one you're considering), I can fairly often find rental units that sleep four for what I would pay for my points or less (our points package right now is 8000). If we get the points package we're aiming for (16000-20000), and the maintenance fees combine, I'd be able to get Bluegreen units with points for less or the same as what I would spend renting.

Mind you, most Bluegreen rentals out there don't offer the flexibility that using my Bluegreen points does. For example, there often isn't the lead time you can get with rentals that you can with points. But you could probably find a Bluegreen owner who'd rent to you for about what points cost - most people rent to pay their yearly fees, so rental isn't going to go much lower unless people are desperate (which in the current economy, many are). And that's cost per week - using Bluegreen points will generally get you a better deal Sunday- or Monday-through-Thursday nights. It's easier to find Bluegreen rentals by the day than it is most timeshares, but often the per-day price is set at the weekend rate (or at one-seventh of the BG week rate, which is why weekdays cost more renting).

The thing with Bluegreen - not sure about other points systems - is that, at least in some trust funds, the more points you have, the lower your maintenance fees. This means that, if you have under 10000 points (I forget the exact cut off point, but around there), it may make more sense at this point to rent than to own. If you intend to use more than that, then owning makes more sense than renting. So I can say with some assurance that, for us, unless the rules about consolidating MF fees with resale purchases change before we get more points, it's cheaper to own than to rent. But I can't say with the same assurance it'd be cheaper for you.

And I doubt that anyone can really be sure whether renting or owning will be the best choice for the next ten or twenty years. In better economies, it's tougher to find rental deals. In worse economies, people are desperate to rent because they can't afford to travel. When the economy is up, I would guess it's probably tougher to get into Hawaii, because a lot of the owners there are making use of their own units; when the economy is down, people want to stay closer to home to cut their traveling costs so it's probably easier to get into Hawaii as a renter.

If a hurricane hits a resort in Florida, then people who own there will probably have to cough up the cash to fix it (this is one of the theoretical benefits of points ownership - fewer special assessments, since damages to one resort can be spread across the system). OTOH, renters have other worries - like whether the person renting to them is reliable and will actually give them what they contracted for.

There are also perks through Bluegreen that take the price down much lower than rentals - hot weeks and bonus time, not to mention the various perks premiere owners get. If you would actually use them, those things need to be factored in before you decide which choice is financially cheaper.

Also it would force us to use vacation time instead of taking a day here or there we can plan a nice week long trip that will make memories.....

This was a fairly major factor for us. We're bad about letting stuff like that slide - we'd literally not taken a vacation (unless you count visiting family) since our honeymoon before we hit Bluegreen, for a number of reasons, but if we've already paid for it, we're going, y'know? Vacations are good for us, but we're bad at doing what's good for us. Even when we enjoy it.

We also like anticipation, which the Bluegreen site and yahoo group and whatnot can really feed into, since you can collect a lot of info on the resorts before you go. And, while we're not interested in going back to the same place EVERY year, we do like getting back to places that we've been before sometimes. That's another advantage of Bluegreen - you can go to two new-to-you resorts and one familiar one every year and it'll take a while to work through everything they offer (or all the ones they offer that interest you) before you need to start trading through RCI. And you can go to a resort one time and not get done everything you wanted to and it's easy to come back and fill in the gaps.

There are a lot of factors to consider - money, for us, was an important one, but not the only one. One advantage of resale is that, if you decide it's not for you, it's easier to get out of the whole deal without taking such a financial hit. But it's never going to be as easy as walking away if you've been a renter.

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

If I buy it will be in a points system like bluegreen. We don't want to stay at the same resort every year.... But can plan in advace and be flexible as to where we do go. We are young and were thinking that prices are cheap on resale so maybe now would be the time to buy.

Also it would force us to use vacation time instead of taking a day here or there we can plan a nice week long trip that will make memories.....

I am not familiar with the bluegreen system but don't you buy a timeshare somewhere or do you buy only points? BocaBum99 is the expert here and others too. There is a whole separate forum for the bluegreen resorts here.

You can learn a lot before you buy, even for a re-sale.

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

[QUOTE=iconnections;339586]I am not familiar with the bluegreen system but don't you buy a timeshare somewhere or do you buy only points? BocaBum99 is the expert here and others too. There is a whole separate forum for the bluegreen resorts [URL="

You can learn a lot before you buy, even for a re-sale. [/QUOTE]

Yeah I found the BG forum.
You have a deeded week and place... If you don't "claim" it 11 to 12 months out then it goes into the "pool" for anyone with enough points can book it....


I'm gonna keep reading... I haven't had a TS for 30 years so taking some time to research won't hurt me. (but the free weekend to hear the salespitch was the 1st time our family has really went anywhere)

Sean

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

Are these deals for real?

I have recently read several timeshare deals with the Marriott and I can not believe my eyes! On Craigs list and on ebay, some of the prices are extremely tempting. There was a posting with some acronyms in regards to I believe Marriott's resale options. Can anyone give me an explanation? Also how is the paperwork conducted?http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...s/confused.gif