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sheilah34 asked: >> Maintenance fees - Are these paid yearly or monthly? Do they include yearly insurance? I'm REALLY new to this. What other costs are likely to be tagged onto the purchase price?[/Q] ============================================ Maintenance fees are billed annually. As for "insurance", whatever policy the timeshare facility has in place is paid for from funds which are included within your annual maintenance fee. You have no individual insurance whatsoever in timeshare ownership, unless you count personal "trip cancellation" insurance which you might choose to take out on your own for personal travel. Those costs / coverages vary widely from one carrier to another. You should be aware that "special assessments" occasionally arise in timeshare ownership. These are somewhat unpredictable (and always unwelcome) bills which are separate from and IN ADDITION TO annual maintenance fees. In coastal Florida, for example, hurricanes are simply a fact of life --- and some of them cause serious damage. Even well insured facilities still have huge "deductibles" on their insurance policies. When serious damages are sustained and cannot be fully paid for by insurance or from management company funds already on hand, owners must then make up the difference in the form of unwelcome "special assessments" to pay for the required repairs. Even far away from hurricane country, aging resorts eventually face major overhauls which result in "special assessments" to the owners, just to maintain the physical plant of the facility in good repair. Reserve funds on hand are not always adequate to achieve these repairs. There are "closing costs" associated with a timeshare purchase. Generally, closing costs are around $300 if using a closing company (ALWAYS a good idea to do so) and closing costs are usually paid by the buyer. Resort transfer fees are an additional and separate expense to the buyer / new owner, generally ranging from zero to $400, but usually somewhere around $75. I would NOT recommend that you consider purchasing ANY timeshare until you learn a whole lot more about timeshare. It's a lot easier to buy now than it ever will be to sell later, so don't just jump head first into the timeshare waters until you learn to swim well first. Read and learn. Then read and learn MORE before you even remotely consider getting out the checkbook. A particularly good site to acquire a solid timeshare education is http://www.tug2.net. RedWeek is a good site, but discussion forums are a relatively new development on RedWeek. With no disrespect to RedWeek intended, there are quite simply a lot more people with a whole lot more knowledge and experience on the Timeshare Users Group site mentioned above. Read and learn. Then read and learn and research MORE before considering buying ANYTHING in timeshare. If you ultimately decide to buy as a well informed consumer, stay FAR away from overpriced developer-direct sales. Buy in the resale market and save lots of money. Good Luck.