I sat through my fourth timeshare sales spiel last weekend. (The free trips are worth that much)
Then I came home and started researching buying a timeshare second hand, to see just how much value you would have if you bought one and then wanted to sell it again.
So it turns out that you can buy timeshares on ebay for $1, plus closing costs, usually around $500. I'm trying to see the downside to that. Is there a way to research and find out that there are liens on the timeshare which must be satisfied by the new owner? Are there costs other than the maintenance fees that can be so back breaking that you'd be willing to give it away? Are these people selling timeshares on resorts that have gone bankrupt, so the "deed" is meaningless, because they have a share of nothing?
Any ideas?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Do you live close enough to a place you'd vacation at often? Because most places will still run you $500-$800 a year in "maintenance", on top of $500 at close, in exchange for a week or two at the site. This is one of the things that really gets me about timeshares; unless you're buying a truly enormous unit and hosting multiple families, it's often no cheaper than just finding a good hotel deal for the week.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:This is one of the things that really gets me about timeshares; unless you're buying a truly enormous unit and hosting multiple families, it's often no cheaper than just finding a good hotel deal for the week.
The timeshares I do invest in are wholly for when I want to vacation in an actual house where I'm going. Not necessarily for size purposes, but for privacy and sound seclusion.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You, Sam, have altogether too much money.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Depends, Tom. I have seen some that make sense financially as well, but only if you really want to keep going to the same place every year.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: You, Sam, have altogether too much money.
I am the poster child for successful nepotism, it's true!
But really, if you manage it right, timeshare housing is excellent when you want a living space not connected directly to other living spaces, and/or a good deal on large space for a weekly rate.
Posted by Aros (Member # 4873) on :
It's still too expensive. I spend less renting.
For example, I took a trip to Washington a few years back. I Pricelined a four-star in Seattle and a three-star up near the border. And we rented a cabin (off of E-Bay) in the Cascades. It was a total of about a week, and it totaled around four hundred dollars.
In that trip, not only did I spend less than my brother's timeshare, I was also not stuck staying on the timeshare properties. For example, to utilize his timeshare in San Diego, it is located almost an hour outside of the city. Well, I could rent a house in town cheaper or I could get a hotel in the Gaslamp. Much preferable.
And how many timeshares have property in Manhattan? I plan my rentals based on where I want to go . . . not based on where a company owns property. And cost-wise, I usually save (Manhattan was a pricy, but again . . no timeshare there).
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Just the idea of "owning" 1/52 of something is bothersome to me.
But, like what they said, watch for annual/monthly fees. Somebody has to pay the insurance, taxes, and upkeep.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:(Manhattan was a pricy, but again . . no timeshare there).
Umm, guys, if you read my OP, I'm aware of the maintenance costs. Those are listed up front. What I'm worried about is why people would be trying to sell a timeshare for as little as $1? How do you find out if the resort actually exists, or if it got blown down in a hurricane, or if the company went bankrupt, or if there are additional costs that haven't occurred to me.
I mean, given how many people are out there paying $15,000 for a timeshare, why would there be so many being given away on ebay? What happens if you just tell them you can't afford the maintenance and you just want to give it back to them?
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
It just comes down to how most of the offers made are bad ideas.
Like so many other things in real estate and investing deals primped out with gimmicks like "only a dollar!"
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Oh, it's also worth mentioning that if you're good enough at finding housesitting jobs, it's like a free house for the duration of a vacation.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Yeah, well I know if I pay $15K for a new one, I'm getting hosed. I'm hoping that right now these things are getting sold by people that are going through foreclosure, and can't afford the maintenance fees, but I don't see why they don't just give the damn thing back. What it comes down to is that I can afford to lose $500 bucks or so if it turns out to be a loser, but I'm afraid I'll be on the hook for a lot more because there's something I'm overlooking.
I've certainly done a lot of shopping around. Looks like if you bought a Hilton timeshare it has retained a decent portion of its value. Marriott has some lower prices, but I can't see how they are traded. They don't list RCI as a trading company. Maybe you can only trade with other Marriotts.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:What I'm worried about is why people would be trying to sell a timeshare for as little as $1?
Many of these are vendors who have actually been paid from $1K - $3K by the former owners just to take the timeshare off their hands; these vendors, having made thousands of dollars of profit just by agreeing to take the deed, are now on the hook for annual maintenance costs. Every year they hold onto the place, in other words, they lose a bit of their profit.
So they sell it for a dollar, plus closing costs. (If they can also be affiliated with the group collecting closing costs, all to the better.) If they think they'll be able to sell it less than eight months by asking $500, they will. But in most cases, they won't take the risk.
Posted by Aros (Member # 4873) on :
Eh, you can get a timeshare for as low as a dollar (plus closing costs). I was looking into it a year or so ago.
Somebody got burned with a sub-prime timeshare with a high ($800+) yearly cost for a measly week. They don't use it. It's easier just to bail than to hold onto it and keep paying the yearly fees. And as far as they're concerned, it MIGHT sell for a dollar . . . it MIGHT sell for several hundred. That's why it's an auction.
I also think that timeshare companies might have some shares with high maintenance costs that they auction off. Instead of paying up front, you pay yearly. Not sure on this, just a hunch.