Timeshare dilemma

[jeffrey]

Timeshares used to be sold as "investments," but I believe it's now illegal for salespeople to use that term during the sales pitch (obviously, a depreciating asset is not an investment). Now what many of them call it is a "lifestyle investment" -- I've been to a few presentations and a lot of the sale is made by omitting pertinent facts and using wording that sounds like something that is different than what they are saying.

Although there are reasons that timeshares can be a good deal for some people, this simply isn't true for the vast majority -- and now that you can rent them you will almost always come out ahead renting vs all the costs of ownership without any of the risks.

[Baby_nurse]

Even this is a better way to spend your money than on a timeshare:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/carnival-life-savings-135411650.html?vp=1

I mean...hey at least you walk away with banana with dredlocks...

That was too funny!

[~bs]

What is a troll?

If the resort is selling it for $20,000, then shouldn't it be worth that? Isn't selling something for more than it's worth fraud?

No.. Look up the definition of fraud. While you're at it, look up the definition of elements of a valid contact. A transaction does not need to be 100% equitable.

I could sell you this bic pen claiming a limited number was made for $1000. If you're gullible enough, and the transaction was done as a valid contact, then as they say.... a fool and his money....

[~bs]

LOL. What an idiot. At what point in burning through $2,600 did it occur to him that maybe that wasn't such a great idea. Apparently it never crossed his mind that an Xbox Kinect only costs less than $300 (the amount he lost before going home to collect his "life savings").

Still, I'm sure there is some sleazy lawyer somewhere who will take this case for him.

I do think the carnival should have stopped him at some point, or at least called over a manager to talk to the guy. If they didn't, it would be like a bartender continuing to serve a visibly drunk guest.

Some people just can't take no for an answer. Just like some cant do the math and figure out that if you simply paid for hotel stays, you'd come out way ahead.

[~bs]

True. My mistake. Yes, $400/week is not worth it to be locked in like that.

I have always advised against timeshares for all of the reasons we've said here. Especially with the internet now, you can almost always rent a week for less than the cost of owning. We've done that ourselves as I said earlier. So if you want to stay in a timeshare, don't buy. Rent instead.

And if you own, I hope you enjoy it because it isn't worth anything to anyone else.

One thing that we haven't mentioned yet is that if you are going to buy a timeshare for some reason despite all of the warnings, you need to pay cash. You shouldn't be financing anything at 17% and you should never finance luxury purchases. If you can't afford to pay for them, you can't afford to buy them.

Even of it was 200 per week it still wouldn't be worth it because the annual fees will always go up, and you d be on the hook for it unless you can find someone to dump it off on. And do you really want to be locked into having to go vegas yearly or lose more money?

[disneysteve]

Ironically, I got an email from Skyauction.com just now. I'm on their mailing list because I've rented timeshare units from them in the past (several times actually). One of their weekly specials is Tahiti Village. A 1-bedroom unit for 7 nights is $169 plus a $20 processing fee, so $189 total including all taxes, service fees, etc. $189 for 7 nights at a very nice resort with no strings, no commitment, no other costs involved, and no loans to take out.

If you want to stay at a timeshare, which I'd actually highly recommend having done it numerous times, renting is the way to go.

[Decatur]

There are times when time shares can make sense. My parents spend the winter in Florida. Over the past few years, my father has managed to pick up a series of timeshares for 10 weeks in a row. These are all at the same complex, and all but twoo weeks (The last two weeks) are in the same unit. He paid less then $2000 per week and pay about $250 per week in maintenance. So, for an initial investment of $20,000 and an annual cost of $2500, They spend Mid January through the end of March in a nice one bedroom on the beach in Florida. They know where they will be staying and after years of going have friends that are also there each year.

He NEVER paid retail and all of these were private resells. But there are times when a time share will make sense.

[KTP]

There are times when time shares can make sense. My parents spend the winter in Florida. Over the past few years, my father has managed to pick up a series of timeshares for 10 weeks in a row. These are all at the same complex, and all but twoo weeks (The last two weeks) are in the same unit. He paid less then $2000 per week and pay about $250 per week in maintenance. So, for an initial investment of $20,000 and an annual cost of $2500, They spend Mid January through the end of March in a nice one bedroom on the beach in Florida. They know where they will be staying and after years of going have friends that are also there each year.

He NEVER paid retail and all of these were private resells. But there are times when a time share will make sense.

Not bad, at least he didn't pay retail.

You still have to consider the lost earnings on the $20,000 though. $20,000 earning 5% would throw off $1000 a year. Add to that the $2500 and you have $3500 a year, which could probably rent a small beach house for a month. I would rather be able to stay for a month in a different location each year than be forced to go to the same place year after year. We rented a 5 bedroom beachfront house with two infinity pools in Costa Rica for three weeks for $3500.

[jonidb]

Familar with the Timeshare Nightmare

Oh boy does this bring back memories. I was talked into a timeshare and thought, wow, this will be great. When I got home and read the papers, it said we could get out of the deal within 7 days. I called up the Rep to ask a few questions so I could cancel if I wasn't thrilled. It just seemed like the way the point structure worked and what weeks were blocked weeks, it didn't make sense. So the Rep gave me some pointers but kept saying she would find out and get back to me. I realized she was trying to get me past the 7 days, which she did. Well, I freaked when I realized it was too late. I called up the company and made some threats, which they didn't seem to care. So I contacted the BBB in that state and I can't believe it but because of that, I was able to get the deal canceled. The happiest dang day and relief I had in a long time. Why of why do we get ourselves into this crap. I certainly hope you can get rid of it. I rather just look for travel deals as I go along, expensive or not. Good luck, I hope the best for you.

[04261]

No.. Look up the definition of fraud. While you're at it, look up the definition of elements of a valid contact. A transaction does not need to be 100% equitable.

I could sell you this bic pen claiming a limited number was made for $1000. If you're gullible enough, and the transaction was done as a valid contact, then as they say.... a fool and his money....

But they told me that this was the best price I could get.

[04261]

A quick search this morning turned up auction listings on ebay starting at $1.00. Buy It Now listings starting at $499.00. At the Timeshare User Group site, sales start at $600.00. At one other resale site, the cheapest was $900.00.

Now the good news is that I also searched for rentals and rentals start at $700/week. I'm pretty sure that is a few hundred dollars more than your annual fee. I don't know how successful folks are at finding renters but if you can rent it out, at least you can make a little money that you can then use to pay down the debt.

I did a searcha swell and there are people that are selling the same timeshare unit for $25,000. Why would people be selling it for this price it it wasn't what it was worth?

[04261]

Ironically, I got an email from Skyauction.com just now. I'm on their mailing list because I've rented timeshare units from them in the past (several times actually). One of their weekly specials is Tahiti Village. A 1-bedroom unit for 7 nights is $169 plus a $20 processing fee, so $189 total including all taxes, service fees, etc. $189 for 7 nights at a very nice resort with no strings, no commitment, no other costs involved, and no loans to take out.

If you want to stay at a timeshare, which I'd actually highly recommend having done it numerous times, renting is the way to go.

This sounds like some kind of scam. There is no way that you could get a room at this resort for this price if they are charging $20,000 and have yearly fees of $350. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Why would anyone rent a unit for less than what it costs them in yearly fees? That is financially irresponsible.

[disneysteve]

But they told me that this was the best price I could get.

That was the best price you could get - from them, buying the unit "new". That doesn't mean you couldn't get a much better deal buying it "used" on the secondary market.

I did a search as well and there are people that are selling the same timeshare unit for $25,000. Why would people be selling it for this price it it wasn't what it was worth?

They aren't "selling" it for $25,000. They are LISTING it for $25,000. There is absolutely no way in hell they will get that price when successful completed auctions on ebay (which you didn't respond to) in the past week went for a maximum price of $250. Those are actual prices that actual units have sold for within the past 7-10 days.

This sounds like some kind of scam. There is no way that you could get a room at this resort for this price if they are charging $20,000 and have yearly fees of $350. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Why would anyone rent a unit for less than what it costs them in yearly fees? That is financially irresponsible.

I can assure you that it is not a scam. I have personally rented timeshare units from Skyauction.com multiple times, not in Vegas but in the Disney World area in Florida. We've stayed in Orbit One Vacation Villas 3 or 4 times, generally paying about $250/week ($37/night). Skyauction is associated with RCI, the timeshare company that owns Orbit One, Tahiti Village, and many other timeshare properties.

[Like2Plan]

Why would anyone rent a unit for less than what it costs them in yearly fees? That is financially irresponsible.

Because they already have someone (you) covering the overhead...

[JoeP]

Because they already have someone (you) covering the overhead...

I think what the OP is not understanding is that there are essentially two markets for timeshare unit consumption. The first is the timeshare company selling units to people like the OP who want the benefits of ownership. The second is the rental market for timeshare units, owned by buyers or the timeshare company itself, that for some reason would otherwise go unused.

Look at any rental market and you'll see the same thing. For example, I could rent an industrial wood chipper for about $200, after someone paid $15k for it (and pays cost-of-ownership expenses similar to those incurred by timeshare unit owners).