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A partial "happy ending" (by R P.):

johni116 wrote:

I am a 64 year old recent retiree, who has been Googling different timeshare terms to study the in's and out's of the industry - and the "schemes, scams and scums" of the business. I got on this forum early this morning, and have been riveted by it's content. Tina, your parents must be so proud of you. You were directed and persistant. I hope others have the same results. Susan, you are a kind heart with a Christian attitude. Unfortunately, faith and patience do not always get rewarded properly. Jay jay, and Donald - you are heroes and battle-tested warriors who have the knack to sense evil in your industry. And Bobb and Boobier - you guys were kind to share your information with a group of "needy" consumers. I am trying to determine whether the industry is something I want to bother with. One friend just got into a timeshare, and another was pestered to death in Florida. The industry is really a "buyer beware" business. My research, so far, has left me with the the viewpoint that the timeshare business is a lot like "the game of thermonuclear war." Sometimes the only way to win is to not play the game. May all of you be made whole - and the bad guys go to jail. I will continue my research.

Timeshares can be great to own .... you just have to do your due diligence and know what/where you want:

1. never buy from a developer (you, the buyer, pay his huge overhead)

2. buy on the resale market or from the Bargain Basement offers on Redweek (many ads ask zero dollars), but be aware of increasing yearly maintenance fees and possible special assessments (many people placing these ads paid several thousands of dollars to a developer when they bought initially)

3. buy where you wouldn't mind going every year since exchanging is a crap shoot

4. for instance .... if I wanted to visit family every year then owning a timeshare near them would be very beneficial

5. if I wanted to vacation in a certain type location (ie: beach/ocean, mountains, gaming/entertainment such as Las Vegas, lakes etc.) then I would look for timeshares in that type location

6. be aware that owning a timeshare can be difficult to unload in this economy .... you own it until it changes ownership

7. there are hundreds upon hundreds of nice luxurious timeshare resorts .... you just have to realize what you want and how much you are willing to pay

8. if we were still traveling (we're not), we would definitely look for the criteria above in a timeshare .... one, two or three bedroom and 2 or 3 bath unit at a resort is world's better than a hotel/motel room ....

9. we previously owned 9 timeshares weeks and we saw many areas of this great country that we would not have visited if it hadn't been for timeshare ownership (ie: Las Vegas twice, Sedona AZ, San Diego/southern CA, San Antonio TX etc. and we owned several that were in the mountains or on the gulf/ocean within a day's drive of where we lived at the time)

So, for us, timeshare ownership proved to be beneficial BUT we bought all but one on the resale market and we sold them for what we paid (except for the developer bought one that we lost money on), however this was before the economic crash of 2007.