As you can read from my previous post, I have been working on an "information product" (book). A big part of why we are in debt is a BAD decision we made to purchase a timeshare a few years ago. We learned a lot about how to get scammed and how to avoid getting scammed when buying a timeshare. I'm writing my book about this. It should be ready in a month or two.
We also learned how you can take vacations at luxury resorts and pay the same or less than you would to stay in an average hotel.
If you want this free report about how to stay in luxury resorts for cheap, visit my new website,
(Yes, that's me and my wife in the picture at the top!)
April 11th, 2006 at 05:43 pm 1144773828
April 11th, 2006 at 05:58 pm 1144774708
Yet if you can get one for $2,000 and pay $600 a year in maintenance fees for a 2 bedroom unit your whole family can and WILL use yearly, you are able to stay in a luxury resort unit which fits your entire family for basically the price of your maintenance fees -- which is much cheaper than staying in a hotel (or 2 hotels rooms to fit your whole family).
There are 1000 ways to get ripped off. Even people who think they are wise buying on the resale market are getting ripped off. I'm just writing a book on how to make sure people are properly educated if they are considering buying.
Incidentally, I did a survey of 50 user of a popular timeshare users discussion forum. Of the 50, nearly all of them (>90%) were very satisfied with their timeshare experience. I assume they were satisfied because
a) they could afford the maint fees
b) they used and enjoyed their timeshare resorts
Incidentally, >90% of these users also believed that timeshare salesmen lie to make the sale. It is these lies I am trying to set right.
April 12th, 2006 at 02:12 am 1144804352
April 12th, 2006 at 02:50 am 1144806621
But yearly maintenance fees will almost alway be cheaper than renting (not by much, but at least a few hundred dollars yearly). So if someone has a location they know they like and want some of the extra benefits available with some of the "vacation clubs" -- like last minute weekend rentals for $40 a night (which my wife and I have used a lot for weekend getaways), timeshare ownership is a viable option.
Timeshares values drop faster than new car values -- if you buy from the developer, it loses 50%-70% of it's value in 5 days (the typical rescission period). But after that, the prices on the resale market remain pretty stable. If you buy it on the resale market for $3000, you should be able to sell it for at least the same.
April 12th, 2006 at 05:43 am 1144817032
"But yearly maintenance fees will almost always be cheaper than renting (not by much, but at least a few hundred dollars yearly)."
You need to look at these numbers closely. say the difference is $300. The $3000 you put into the timeshare could be sitting in an online bank earning 4.8% -more if you went the CD route. That's $150 a year in lost interest. So in reality you are only saving $150. That's conservative - other investments would pay more. If you have to finance it, you're already losing money. If you have the cash, you're saving $150 over using the most conservative investment, but taking on a number of huge risks:
1. If you need the money, you can't get quickly (not liquid) and would be forced to sell at a deep discount.
2. Fees and special assessment fees can come at any time without warning. In addition, for newer timeshares the statement that fees will be less may apply, but as they get older and need more repairs and face lifts, this is not true.
3. Something happens so you can't go one year and you are in the red.
4. Used timeshare do lose value - not near as stable as you say - especially after 5 years when there are newer resorts in competition in the same area not to mention the glut of timeshares in many areas
5. there are costs associated with selling a timeshare that will mean you'll almost always come out behind (even if a resale unit was purchased)
6. You don't need to be a timeshare owner to get those $40 weekend deals - there are other ways to get the same thing without buying a timeshare.
I would advise one and all to stay away from timeshares - in fact, one of our sisters sites was developed specifically because of all the email I was receiving about horror stories with timeshares - Timeshare Trap.
April 12th, 2006 at 02:16 pm 1144847793
So where is this other option to get a $40 weekend deal?
April 12th, 2006 at 05:47 pm 1144860455
We just planned a 4 night stay at the yokohama hotel for a total of $6 from the mistake found at Free Traveling with reservation confirmed.
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