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Re: Maintenance Fees Out-Of-Sight (by John F.):

Hi Jerry,

No, I have never been on the Board of a timeshare. I do own a good number myself and am very active in a number of discussion groups. About 14 months ago started a timeshare closing service with my brother who was the NYC Recorder of Deeds in the early 80's and in private practice RE law since.

I will admit, my personal pet peeve is the amount of time owners spend complaining yet not even reading the budget. I have been to several annual meetings and have always questioned the boards to explain various line items, particularly those with year over year increases.

I own mostly in the Caribbean. Over the last two years every one of the 15 or so I know intimately as owner have all had big increases. In each case the top three causes were insurance, energy costs, and labor.

Most Caribbean islands get 100% of their energy from oil. At home in the US, we benfit greatly as most utilities also have plants which run on cheaper coal, gas, or even some hydroelectric from Canada (I'm on the east coast). We also have about 15% of our energy here being from nuclear plants which are expensive but stable pricing.

So when oil more than doubled in under 2 years, it whacked every island.

Katrina did a number on insurance rates.

I'm not happy about it, don't misunderstand. I pay more in annual maintenance fees than 99% of the people you know becuase I own a bunch.

But I understand why and frankly, At a couple of my resorts, I even wish they would go up to fund needed capital improvements that keep getting postponed.

To second other postings, TUG is a great site which has MANY very knowledgable owners. Highly recommended, the best owners site on the web for general timeshare discussions.

As to multiple discounts, whether you own 1 or 10 you pay the same per unit. You will pay more for bigger units as they cost more to operate. You DO NOT have any difference in fees based upon your time of usage. The high and low season owners of a specific unit type ALWAYS pay the exact same. The difference in value is reflected in the purchase and sales prices only. Frankly, they both cost the same to operate, demand levels are a human, not a cost factor.

Have a great weekend all !!!

John

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