Considering to Buy a Timeshare

Hi,

I'm new to all of this. I recently went into a resort and had the "90 minute" presentation which turned into 3-4 hours. Luckily we got out without buying since I found resale timeshares are so much cheaper. However, I'm still not completely sold.

The RCI point system seems really good. What are the disadvantages? What's typically the point cost for "participating hotels" per night, which aren't actual Timeshare resorts? Any comments or additional information would be very much appreciated.

I just got rid of two timeshares that I owned for many years. Knowing what I know now I would never have bought them in the first place. Once you own a timeshare you also own a lifetime obligation. There are the maintenance fees that increase every year. Then you could get hit with a special assessment for many reasons. You are obligated to pay them whether you agree with them or not. My advice is to go to this site or another and rent a timeshare that someone else is putting on there for rent. many of these units are available for less than the cost of the annual fees. You get the benefit of the timeshare without the commitment.

If you are young and have the time to travel, having a timeshare does have some advantages over motels; however, donp196 is right about being stuck forever with maintenance fees. I finally found a buyer for one of my RCI timeshares, which had served me well for many years, but I still have another one to sell and hundreds of Wyndham points, which I'll probably never be able to sell. I'm not traveling as much as I used to, so I don't need the weeks any more but am still having to pay for them. I found trading places through RCI gave me many opportunities to stay in really nice places, but the exchange fee for doing so has gotten out of hand. Redweek has many offers to rent places at reasonable rates. I myself have listed my Wyndham points for sale (or rent) on Redweek. Check there first.

All of the points made above are very true. I would like to add: make sure you do your RESEARCH. Learn EVERYTHING and ANYTHING there is to know about timeshares before you purchase one. There are many timeshare "scams" out there and they always seem to take advantage of people who are uneducated before they buy their timeshare. Try to talk to timeshare owners instead of the sellers of timeshares. They will tell you anything you want to hear in order to make a sale. You want to purchase something you will enjoy using, not something you feel is a burden and can't get rid of. Just my advice :)

I HAVE BEEN A MARRIOTT TIMESHARE USER FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS AND HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH OUR CHOICE UNTIL NOW. THE NEW PROGRAM MARRIOTT HAS IS OUTRAGEOUS IN WHAT THEY ARE ASKING. EXAMPLE: FOR SOMEONE WANTING TO GO TO THE SURF CLUB IN ARUBA ON A YEARLY BASIS, MARRIOTT WANTS TO SELL YOU POINTS WORTH APPROX. $45,000. YOU CAN BUY ONE OF MY THREE SURF CLUB CONDOS FOR $32,000 AND USE IT EVERYEAR, RENT IT, OR TRADE IT THRU INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL FOR ANOTHER VACTION SPOT. THE ONLY THING YOUR MISSING BY BUYING FROM ME IS TRADING FOR POINTS WITH MARRIOTT WHICH I HAVEN'T DOEN FOR THE LAST 6 YEARS. SO ARE YOU MISSING ANYTHING, NO. ANYTIME YOU TRADE FOR POINTS WITH MARRIOTT , YOU ARE ON THE SHORT END. I HAVE 5 CONDOS, 3 IN ARUBA AND 2 AT SABLE PALMS IN ORLADO.THE 2 IN ORLANDO WERE BOUGHT ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO AND THE MAINTENCE FEES WERE ABOUT $700/yr and the trade for points was 1100 pts. today the maintenace is $1100 and the point value is still 1100. same is true with my aruba properties. your much better off trading thru interval or renting if you're not going to use it yourself. if you buy a condo buy in a top location, like hawaii or aruba, you assure yourself of a good trade or rental. also you must seleck your reservation dates 12-13 months ahead. don't worry about the dates being used by you, only that they are the high priority dates that are easy to trade and rent. when you have a quality location, highly requested dates you have the upper hand. my email address is jimnvi@aol.com with your interested in one of my aruba condos.

Anyone know anything about Shell Vacations Club? All I know is that it is a point based system with the option of converting the points to Interval international. We love to travel and being able to use different properties seem attractive to us. However we are scared to death of being scammed by timeshare sellers and resalers/brokers. How do you know if a posting in Red Week is legit? It seems safer to buy direct from timeshare companies, but it seems the cost out weighs the benefits. We signed up with Shell, but we still have 2 days to cancel our contract. I would appreciate if anyone have any advice for us. We don't have anyone to ask these questions to. Thanks!

ib17 wrote:

Anyone know anything about Shell Vacations Club? All I know is that it is a point based system with the option of converting the points to Interval international. We love to travel and being able to use different properties seem attractive to us. However we are scared to death of being scammed by timeshare sellers and resalers/brokers. How do you know if a posting in Red Week is legit? It seems safer to buy direct from timeshare companies, but it seems the cost out weighs the benefits. We signed up with Shell, but we still have 2 days to cancel our contract. I would appreciate if anyone have any advice for us. We don't have anyone to ask these questions to. Thanks!

Rescind immediately! Forget what the salesperson told you. No benefits from purchasing from the developer are worth the price. Look on E-bay for Shell Properties.

Check out this link for the Shell Points chart as to what value there is for points (in other words, what you can get for points). Then compare the maintenance fees for those points. Then compare what it would cost to rent that same property.

If the rental is less than the maintenance fees, you would be well-advised to avoid purchasing and just try renting.

But, first things first. Rescind your purchase and follow the instructions exactly as written.

Here's an example. Look at posting number R508502. After the purchase, there's a yearly maintenance fee of $1049 for 4050 points. At Paniolo Greens in Waikoloa, HI, that will not be enough for a suite for a week during Platinum season but will get you one during Gold season.

Now, look at the rentals being advertised there (here on RedWeek). They are being offered from $750-$973. Renting, at least in this case, would seem like the more economical and practical option.

So weigh the costs of owning points (maintenance fees plus possible special assessments down the road) with the costs of renting before buying any points.

I am considering buying a time share being resold in Hawaii. However, the dates of purchase for it are March 1 to Feb 28 - from the previous owner I would guess. Does that mean I couldn't put in for a room until March 1? If so, what are my chances of getting a room between Jan 1 and Feb 28 if others are able to put thier requests in starting Jan 1 - or does it work that way? How does it work exactly? Is there any way to check on on the company's record for those special assessment fees? And I would repeat a previous question. How does one know that a resale or rental posted on Red Week is a scam or not? Does Redweek have some kind of screening process to screen out the scams?

albert8 wrote:

And I would repeat a previous question. How does one know that a resale or rental posted on Red Week is a scam or not? Does Redweek have some kind of screening process to screen out the scams?

I wouldn't know the answers to your other questions but as for the scam, chances are between very slim and nil that ads posted on RedWeek are a scam. Anyone who posts an ad has to pay a $14.99 annual membership fee plus $60 to post a For Sale ad. I don't think anyone is going to go to those lengths to scam someone. Besides, anyone posting an ad here on RedWeek has to provide a credit card number. Any scam from any member can be traced back to his credit card info so that's a big risk for anyone trying to pull a scam here.

For added protection, if you're the buyer, you pay the closing company which is usually a licensed real estate broker. Then after the closing company completes all the legal documents, it sends the funds from the sale to the previous owner.

So using RedWeek and a licensed closing company will likely help you avoid any scam.

lancec13 wrote:

ib17 wrote:

Anyone know anything about Shell Vacations Club? All I know is that it is a point based system with the option of converting the points to Interval international. We love to travel and being able to use different properties seem attractive to us. However we are scared to death of being scammed by timeshare sellers and resalers/brokers. How do you know if a posting in Red Week is legit? It seems safer to buy direct from timeshare companies, but it seems the cost out weighs the benefits. We signed up with Shell, but we still have 2 days to cancel our contract. I would appreciate if anyone have any advice for us. We don't have anyone to ask these questions to. Thanks!

Rescind immediately! Forget what the salesperson told you. No benefits from purchasing from the developer are worth the price. Look on E-bay for Shell Properties.

Check out this link for the Shell Points chart as to what value there is for points (in other words, what you can get for points). Then compare the maintenance fees for those points. Then compare what it would cost to rent that same property.

If the rental is less than the maintenance fees, you would be well-advised to avoid purchasing and just try renting.

But, first things first. Rescind your purchase and follow the instructions exactly as written.