Time Share

Oh, my friend owned one of these and it was such a bad deal all around. Aileene is right (p.s. Aileene, I love Clark Howard!). My friend also paid a monthly HOA for it. Can you imagine?

You can always find people subletting their timeshares. That's the route I'd go.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

They are just money-sucks. If you're ok with paying $1,000 or more per year in taxes (plus whatever fees), AND you're ok with likely never getting your money back and just want a vacation place - ok.

Otherwise I'd just make a reservation at a place and go on vacation. And then go back next year - or not.
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sorry - you asked 'How'. First you want to google it. Second you are buying "time". You buy one week (or more). Some places assign you the week(s) you can be there, some let you pick and pay more for premium times.

You then pay the taxes, sometimes insurance, sometimes other fees. You can go on your week(s), or not. Some let you sublet, some don't.

Here's a link with more info

http://www.clarkhoward.com/categories/scams-ripoffs/times...

Don't do it. It may make sense while you use it but you'll never get out of it. My parents got stuck with 2 weeks and couldn't give them away. Maintenance fees due on top of regular fees and after a hurricane hit they sky rocketed!

http://www.wisebread.com/the-worst-investments-you-can-make

I agree with Aileene - nooooooo!

There are lots of ways to google to see how they work. Most will tell you they are a huge waste of money.

No, no, no, no do not get a timeshare. We went to a few timeshare presentations when my husband and I first got engaged. The resorts were so desperate to unload them that they were willing to approve us, neither of whom had any income, as we were still in school, based upon our student loan "INCOME!"

They are such a terrible investment--people are desperately trying to get rid of ones they were suckered into buying. Save yourself the headache and loss of money and just rent a condo or house in that area when you want a vacation, or get a nice hotel room.

We own one and really like it, but it isn't for everyone.

We never use it at our home resort though because we bought near where we lived (thinking we could do driving trips) and then moved. We trade it (through interval international) to other resorts wherever we want to go. We paid $10,000 at purchase (which is really inexpensive for a timeshare new these days, but you can probably get one someone is trying to unload for around that price). We pay $600 every other year in maintenance fees.

We own a floating week every other year in a two-bedroom lock-off (meaning it can be split into a 1 bedroom and a hotel suite or used as a two bedroom unit). I usually deposit it as two separate units and we go some place every year (we've always been able to trade both halves for two bedrooms by going off peak). We usually trade to Marriott resorts which are always comfortable but way out of our price range to purchase.

For our family it works better because we prefer to cook our own meals and like having space for everyone to have some privacy. Plus, I'm a teacher, so we can take a full week of vacation during holidays, and we don't mind being a bit flexible with our dates, choosing from available locations, or planning a year ahead.

We still use regular hotels for weekend trips.

HTH
T.

Actually we own one as does my Dad. We all love it! Ours is based in Hilton Head. We have a week that includes golf. If we trade our week we get two weeks. Our is with Spinaker. We can trade into RCI. We have used it for Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, French Lick, IN and the Dominican Republic. My dad has one with Hilton. His is based in Orlando. Very nice. He is planning to use his in September for his trip to Europe. I am looking into using ours for Hawaii next year and hubby and I are thinking about Hilton Head in September /October. I might even do something for Thanksgiving. Maybe. =)

It might not be for everyone but it works big time for us.

Be very careful about buying one. The maintanence fees will eat you alive if you choose the wrong one. For example, you could pay 3 times the amount in maintenance fees for some properties, than others. For example, you can get low maintenance fees at a Wyndham property in Kauai, and this property is always a "high week" property. You may only go there once in your lifetime, but you trade your week for a week wherever you want to go, as Thea mentions, and meanwhile, you have the lower maintenance fees.

The good things about timeshare ownership:
Huge variety of places to go - some you would never have thought of

Large unit compared to a hotel room

Washer/dryer and kitchen

Ability to eat breakfast in the unit (or any other meal) rather than having to eat out (food flexibility)

The bad things:
Lots of times through a travel agent, you can get a deal for airfare and hotel that is very affordable. If you have to fly to get to the timeshare you've chosen, the airfare is more expensive.

In order to use your timeshare, you have to plan ahead and reserve early, which means you have to KNOW when your vacation time will be. For retirees, that's easier - harder for folks whose work sometimes precludes you from taking off "whenever".

Maintenance fees can run you a lot of money.

Some timeshare companies have in fine print that when you die, the ownership reverts back to them and not to your heirs. (Make sure you know...)

Timeshares are hell to sell, and you won't get any money out of them. Expect it to be for the long haul.

This all being said, we own timeshare and have loved it, BUT, we can afford it. I just went to Hawaii on mine, first time there. But timeshare is not for everyone.

If you decide to do it, buy from Wyndham because it's a large company with the corporate assets to take care of their properties.

Good luck!
Dawn

Marriott or Hilton are great. We bought I to Hilton Grand Vacations. They use the point system. We love it. We really stretch our points because we travel off season. We bought every other year and that works for us. Doing it the right way we can get four or more weeks out of the points. You would need to sit and talk to them. I would not do any other time share. Disney is
Great but outrageously expensive. Friends have Marriott and love it too.
Can't go wrong with either. Both time shares are transferable. That sealed it for us.

I used to work with a woman that had one and loved it. She was single no kids and had a week in October. She paid about $150 a month in fees. This was about 5 years ago since I worked with her so not sure how it is now. I think hers was in FL but she told me she could exchange her time for time at another spot within the company.
A woman I know tried to get rid of hers. Once her kids started school, she could not just take off and go for her week. She had 2 different times each year for a week each. She had such a problem changing with someone else or at a different location. She was sending over $200 a month in fees. Her brother eventually took it since he loved to travel, self employed and could go any time he wanted.
On the worst end, a friend of mine has a neighbor that could not get rid of theirs to even give it away. They were paying about $200 a month but it jumped to almost $400 within 2 yrs. The first year was great and they loved it but as the fees increased, it got harder. Due to some other problems, they declared bankruptcy last Nov and the timeshare was foreclosed on. It is no longer theirs to worry about.

It seems like a lot of money to only be able to vacation once every 2 years. I think it would be cheaper to just book a vacation rental or hotel for your vacations.

My neighbors have timeshares and love them. But of course, they are retired and use them constantly. I have a friend that owns one but pays significant annual maintenance fees and hasn't been able to use it for 3 years. I do not feel they are a good deal for the working class because you are very limited as to when you can use it and timeshares have absolutely no resale value. I have also worked with many families whose loved ones passed away owning a timeshare. To get rid of the timeshare, it is deeded back to the company because no one will buy it and the family members do not want to pay the very high maintenance fees. When I recently called a timeshare resale company for a price on a condo in Branson - I was told that if you were lucky, it was worth about $750 to $1,000 . The person who owned it originally paid $6,000 for it about 15 years ago. Maintenance fees were about $550 per year and it was only an ever other year one week usage. The reseller also said he had 5 other ones on his listings just like it that he couldn't sell. So if you are truly considering one, I wouldn't buy directly from the company selling - use a secondary market and you will pay significantly less for what you might be interested in. We vacation in Alabama and Florida on the beach and always find reasonable rates with the vacation rental companies like vrbo, home away and even trip advisor. My advice - do lots of research before you purchase. Best wishes!