Time share
 

How many, of you have invested in a time share? What do you think of them? How often do you use it?:rolleyes:

It is good if you get it done right. We have a certain number of points every other year. Enough to get into most places and we can buy a few points to get into higher point places. Also we can bank the points.

I have one in Orlando. We bought it with the idea that we would never stay there but rather use it to trade and vacation at other spots. It has not worked out as we anticipated. The trading agency, RCI, makes it difficult to get where we want to go when we want to be at the other spots.

Do to kids being in school, we try to work around their breaks and plan well in advance. It seems that openings are never available at the resorts when they are sought well in advance of the desired time frame. If we can go with less than a month or so planning, they often do have vacancies available.

If anyone wants to buy my unit in Orlando, let me know. I'll sell it real cheap.

We found a place in South Carolina that we like to return to, so if we sell this one we'll buy one in S.C. and just keep going there.

yes the trade off can be hard and most times you are going to get a better chance for your desired spot the closer to the date you need it,due to people who change up during the year.Or so it has bean told to me by the folks at West gate,In the old days I would never have done this because I never wished to be stuck with the same place year after year, so I do like the trade factor in this plan,JNT

I had one for Paradise Island Beach Club in the Bahamas until this past year. It was inexpensive and I sold it 7 years later for what I bought it for. It worked out fine for us because it was easier to trade a Caribean time share. (There was a one in four rule: one trade to a caribean location every 4 years unless you owned there.) I liked trading to other tropical destinations. I sold it this past year because I don't think it will work for us anymore with 2 small children. It sold fast with no complications.

My exchange company was Interval International and they were easy to deal with in my experience. You could bank up to 2 weeks and use it in one 2 week trip if you wanted.

My view on them now is you can find great deals all the time to most places using the internet and you don't have to plan so far in advance.:D

I almost forgot one other possible drawback. You usually have to trade to another time share location. So there are amazing hotels that you wouldn't be able to stay in using the time share exchange. For instance, Animal Kingdom Lodge in Disney has a hotel that blows away their time share location and the timeshare locations are remote from the action.

My place, http://www.summerbayresort.com/resort.html , is one week in November, IIRC, every other year. The nice thing is that if I trade it and don't stay there, I get a "bonus" week to use.

This means that although I own just one week every two years, by not staying there we get to travel elsewhere EVERY year.

Still for sale. Cheap

Ours is with West Gate in Branson Mo.I got in on the ground floor of new construction,not to be complete till 08. I can trade every year if I wish.If your interested and have children E-mail me I will give you my numbers and if you by into one of the new condos for 08 I will get credit. JNT

I was just in Branson last August. It is beautiful there. When you go make sure you have dinner at Chateau on the Lake, it's one of the best restaurants I've been to. They have an amazing lobby in the hotel as well. I want to stay there when I go back.

I hear Disney bought some land there and are planning something. I think it will be near Branson Landing. As it is there was more to do than I could fit in one week.

Great place to eat though you can say the same for a couple of places, We bought into a good place and the golf course is good.But you need two weeks to keep the stress of rushing and then not really enjoying the sights.

My parents bought a timeshare in Cape Cod Mass.
They used it for many, many years and were very happy with it.
They stopped using it and I've been using it for a few years now. I went to Cape Cod a few times but lately I've used it for ski trips. I used it to go to Jackson Hole Wyoming 2 years ago and Lake Tahoe last year. Both places I had a totally awesome place to stay.

My only complaint would be cost. Through RCI you need to join to bank your time. I think the cost is roughly $80 per year. Then you have an exchange fee which IIRC is $120.
It's still cheaper than renting a condo of a hotel room. I usually go with friends and we split the costs so it works out pretty good.

One thing I will tell you is don't try to buy one thinking it's an investment. My parents tried to sell it and they would have taken a huge loss. It just didn't hold it's value.
The value is in having a pplace to go to for a family vacation and being able to transfer it to different locations. In that regard I think their great.

Danny

I'm sorry. I just can't resist making a comment.

Any person who buys timeshare is an IDIOT. Yes, I am making a blanket statement about anyone who buys one is an IDIOT.

There are way too many moving parts in a timeshare scheme (including swapping, etc.) for it to be desireable. The worst part is none of the moving parts are under your control. You are at the mercy of the clerk on the other end of the line.

Ask anyone who has a timeshare if they are 100% happy with the purchase. Most will say no. The ones who say yes are lying.

In addition to those fees, the timeshares I looked into all had yearly maintenance fees of at least $800 per year. When it was all added up I was spending about $2500 per week with the fees and travel expenses. I've been able to locate vacation packages online that are in that price range and you aren't limited to what's available in the exchange bank and there are usually perks in travel agent deals that you don't get anywhere else.

I went to Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando and booked it through Liberty Travel. It wasn't available in the exchange bank, and I got upgraded to the club level floor and was given 2 extra days for free. All because I booked less than a month before the actual travel date.

I had the best luck with the timeshare by traveling in the off-seasons.

The only person who buys into a timeshare that could be considered an IDIOT is one who lets themselves be talked into buying without understanding how to make it work for them. There are hoops to jump through, but it can be good as it was for 7 years for me.

The other benefit for me was accomodations for 6 for the cost of 2. We always took friends with us and got to have great trips that otherwise wouldn't have happened.

Aren't the maintenance fees tax deductable?

There were some years that it wasn't used. We just let the resort we bought it from rent it out for a small fee. We always got our money back with a little extra.

Danny