A reason to buy?

Hi all- 'Timeshare Warriors'. I am new to this idea and have been doing quite a bit of investigation. I've even attended one high-pressure sales pitch here in Hawaii. What I am coming away with is a bit confusing due to the vast amount of information that needs to be absorbed. Red time, Platinum points, etc, etc. One thing seems to be coming sharply into focus. You can rent a time share week most places (I've checked in Hawaii, and Florida mainly) for about the cost of of the maintenance fee, or less.

Given that, is there a reason to buy? Something I've missed in the unrelenting horror stories I've read in these forums the last few days?

Thanks for any replies and my heart goes out to the many people who've posted their anguish and frustration to my benefit. Best of luck!

There is no reason to buy if you can rent for the cost of maintenance fees UNLESS you require a certain resort, in a certain location in a certain timeframe and then you should look for a resale ONLY.

Developer sold timeshares are so very expensive because someone has to pay for the developer's overhead = the cost of construction, presentations, salespeople's salaries, closers, free gifts or free tickets etc. which the people buying directly from the developer pay for in the end.

The people that get good deals are the resale buyers or by renting from an owner.

I can relate to your story as we have also been considering buying a timeshare and watched and read the stories in the forum, I too have asked the question !! in General Discussions over the past week. I have had some great responses, thanks to all. We are very lucky to have access to this info before we make a decision we may regret for a very long time.

It's refreshing to see someone doing their homework before they sign a lifetime commitment. I wish more people would do the same.

My advice would be to stay a week in any resort your thinking of buying. Every resort shows nice when just walking around.In a week you get to see how nice or not so nice a resort really is. Also talk to owners if you really are interested in the resort and maybe get a good deal. We have sold two of our units in Lake Tahoe last three years while up for our week. Only reason to buy is the perfect resort and location for your family that you will enjoy for many years and exchange is a nice plus when you want to go other places. If you don't want to go back to same place many times then owning is a bad idea. Forget these timeshare tours and just remember when the person doing the tour talks most is a false statement.

I certainly wouldn't buy at retail price from a resort - those are guaranteed to be way too expensive. But if you get a cheap timeshare, it can get you into some great deals.

We exchanged one week of our timeshare for a ski week in Taos, then got 4 additional ski weeks this winter for only $200 each (per week!). This is through RCI Extra Vacations. They have incredible deals like this available, but you can only get into RCI if you own a timeshare. If you own just one week yourself, you can buy as many extra vacations as you want.

deannak47 wrote:

I certainly wouldn't buy at retail price from a resort - those are guaranteed to be way too expensive. But if you get a cheap timeshare, it can get you into some great deals.

We exchanged one week of our timeshare for a ski week in Taos, then got 4 additional ski weeks this winter for only $200 each (per week!). This is through RCI Extra Vacations. They have incredible deals like this available, but you can only get into RCI if you own a timeshare. If you own just one week yourself, you can buy as many extra vacations as you want.

I agree .... if we were still traveling timeshares would be the way to go with the very nice accommodations at very nice resorts. I'm not sure how many people are aware of the good deals they can get these days via resales and/or give-a-ways.

jayjay wrote:

I agree .... if we were still traveling timeshares would be the way to go with the very nice accommodations at very nice resorts. I'm not sure how many people are aware of the good deals they can get these days via resales and/or give-a-ways.

Absolutely right - if you're going to get into timeshares, go for the bargains on resale. There are lots of timeshares on the resale market for a tiny fraction of what they'd be at retail prices, or even free in some cases.

You still need to pay the annual maintenance fees, but the equation is a lot different if you don't have a big up-front purchase price!

By bargans you mean the cheapest I would have to disagree. Many free timeshares are over priced as they cost more even on resale than they are worth. People want to buy resale but quality matters for trade value. Buyers also need to buy a resort and area they want to take the family to for years. Free can be over rated in many cases as nothing is free. Even if you get some owner willing to pay everything you still have your maintenance fees for years to come so you at least want to own a nice resort.

deannak47 wrote:

Absolutely right - if you're going to get into timeshares, go for the bargains on resale. There are lots of timeshares on the resale market for a tiny fraction of what they'd be at retail prices, or even free in some cases.

You still need to pay the annual maintenance fees, but the equation is a lot different if you don't have a big up-front purchase price!

phill12 wrote:

By bargans you mean the cheapest I would have to disagree. Many free timeshares are over priced as they cost more even on resale than they are worth. People want to buy resale but quality matters for trade value. Buyers also need to buy a resort and area they want to take the family to for years. Free can be over rated in many cases as nothing is free. Even if you get some owner willing to pay everything you still have your maintenance fees for years to come so you at least want to own a nice resort.

Not everything cheap is a good deal, it's true. You have to check out every opportunity to make sure it's going to work for your family's needs and your budget, not only on the initial purchase price but also with the on-going costs. Whether you're buying to use or buying to trade, either way, there are many considerations beyond the purchase price.

However, there's no reason to pay full retail price for anything. If you can find a resort/club that works for you and your family (considering the on-going costs as you mention), you can shop for that at a bargain resale price vs. buying it at a high retail price. Usually the difference is huge.

phill12 wrote:

Free can be over rated in many cases as nothing is free. Even if you get some owner willing to pay everything you still have your maintenance fees for years to come so you at least want to own a nice resort.

Free (even with yearly maintenance fees) is still better than buying from the developer at a ultra high cost along with paying yearly maintenance fees as millions of people did initially .... many of those people paying in the 5 digit range to a developer.

We agree but I'm never talking of buying retail. I'm only saying never buy something because its cheap or free. It has to have value to the buyer for their family or its no deal. Most of us old timers did buy our first timeshare retail and spent way to much money. I will say that no one should ever buy a timeshare just to rent. Cost not worth it when you can get fair deals renting where and when you want to vacation without all the extra cost every year.

deannak47 wrote:

phill12 wrote:

By bargans you mean the cheapest I would have to disagree. Many free timeshares are over priced as they cost more even on resale than they are worth. People want to buy resale but quality matters for trade value. Buyers also need to buy a resort and area they want to take the family to for years. Free can be over rated in many cases as nothing is free. Even if you get some owner willing to pay everything you still have your maintenance fees for years to come so you at least want to own a nice resort.

Not everything cheap is a good deal, it's true. You have to check out every opportunity to make sure it's going to work for your family's needs and your budget, not only on the initial purchase price but also with the on-going costs. Whether you're buying to use or buying to trade, either way, there are many considerations beyond the purchase price.

However, there's no reason to pay full retail price for anything. If you can find a resort/club that works for you and your family (considering the on-going costs as you mention), you can shop for that at a bargain resale price vs. buying it at a high retail price. Usually the difference is huge.

thanks to everyone who posted a reply. I think i am on solid ground now.