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Original Message:

why are timeshares selling for zero dollars??? (by Carol L.):

Because the money is made in the annual fees and renting unsold units. When the timeshare are new and slick there is a limited market of buyers out there who are scooped up. Then the game is take any sum of money in order to get an owner legally bound to pay what are always escalating annual fees.

ndiv. owners who sell for $500 at least have freed up say $800 per yr in cash to spend on a vacation they really want. It's hard to see the purchase price go down the drain, but if you got a few vacations in while the annual fees were lower, that was the best time to own. The fees rise to about a weekly rental rate on the open market---at least they have at my timeshare. By the time I pay for timeshare exchange membership dues, pay $150 to bank a week and pay $720 in annual fees, I can rent something decent (and not be locked into the summer season).

Sadly, I paid a huge sum for my timeshare and now have an annual fee that is more than what the corporation usually rents unsold units for. Even sadder: the annual fee isn't being used to maintain the property. It's all going to a cozy group of developers who also control the timeshare owners association. Have you checked into your timeshare mgmt. lately? I'm at Steamboat Springs and I have major concerns.

Good luck whether you paid a lot or a little.