Are timeshares that bad?

[Anonymous]

Just stay at a hotel! Then if something unexpected happens and you can’t go away; no problem.

Timeshares are terrible. What’s the point? You will have a better experience staying at different hotels all over the world; wherever you want as your tastes change throughout the years. Why get stuck paying huge fees every year? For what?

[Anonymous]

The problem is the maintenance fees. They can raise them indefinitely.

[Anonymous]

We got to Disney every year and have done so for the last 10-12 years. I looked into this a while back and found that it didn't make financial sense. The upfront cost is very high. When I looked it was something like $30,000-$40,000. Then you had to pay the fees on top of that.

We almost always stay at the boardwalk area deluxe hotels and usually you usually find travel agent deals to stay there for less than $300 a night depending on when you are staying. Even assuming $300 a night, and a 5 night trip each year ($1500 in costs), you are looking at 20 years before you can even break even on your $30,000 deposit.

Meanwhile you could have been investing that $30,000 the whole time instead. If you invest $30,000 now in the stock market at 5% return, you would have $1500 a year of income that you could use to pay for your hotel rooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hell, yes. Just say no.

+1,000,000.

[Anonymous]

The maintenance fees are usually equal to a week’s room rate, then you are still paying for transportation, activities, F&B. So that $10k-$40k timeshare cost is really just guaranteeing your week.

If you are going to buy one anyway, only buy from a major resort chain, buy a decent week when people actually want to travel to your destination, and buy the 2 br condo, not the two-double bed hotel room.

[Anonymous]

My parents have an arrangement where they can stay at any one of a number of properties all over the US. (and possibly beyond that.) They like it, but they are retired, so they have more flexibility in scheduling than you might. A couple years ago we stayed at a property near Charlottesville and it was a lot of fun, and this summer we're going to Wisconsin.

I don't think they have any expectation of resale.

[Anonymous]

My cousin and her husband got one for this very purpose and have only gotten to use it at Disney 1 of the last 3 years they've had it. All the other times they could go were booked. Some popular times (spring break weeks) are already booked years in advance she found out after buying in, of course.

Everyone in the family tried to talk them out of doing it.

[Anonymous]

Timeshares cost as much per year as just taking a vacation so what’s the point?

[Anonymous]

I think in today's climate of airbnb, vacation specials, vacation condos, suites hotels, etc, you might do better just renting as you go. Also, even if you actually plan to go every year, are you able to plan 9 months out especially if you want prime time like Christmas, etc.? And if you buy Orlando area resorts, you might be stuck with just using your resort not able to trade to others in Orlando. So you need to be real careful as to what you buy. I would look at www dot tug2 dot net, go to the bbs and read and ask all the questions you have. It's a great resource to make use of. Helped me quite a lot. I own timeshare and don't regret it but you really have to know how to make it work for your situation.

[Anonymous]

You will never ever be able to get rid of that time share. And you will never ever be able to stop paying the damn maintenance fee.

Just budget that money for a hotel/condo rental that has NO strings attached.