Timeshare question from a newbie

Hello everyone. I have been given a timeshare from a friend and I am on the fence about taking it. Can you please help? It's the old Ron Jon resort on cocoa beach Florida. It's a holiday Inn resort now. It's week 39 I believe. Some time in sept. For 7 nights. It's 100,000 points the fees are about $1100 per year. Is this a good investment? I would only be trading thru RCI. I will not vacation 10 min from my home. Thanks!

Timeshares are not a good investment. Look around and you will find people trying to give them away just to get out of the ever increasing maintenance fees. Once you take title to the timeshare you have it until you can unload it on someone else....good luck with that. If you search around the ads you can find that often you can rent someone's week for less than they pay in maintenance fees without having to commit yourself to a life time of fees and assessments.

rachelm308 wrote:

It's 100,000 points the fees are about $1100 per year. Is this a good investment? I would only be trading thru RCI. I will not vacation 10 min from my home. Thanks!

It's generally not recommended that someone buy a timeshare solely for trading unless the maintenance fees are dirt cheap. In addition to the $1100 maintenance fees, you will be paying at least $150 per trade plus about $150 per year for RCI membership fees. That works out to at least $1400 per stay and that's if RCI can provide you with what you are looking for! Also remember that the $1100 maintenance fees will almost certainly go up each year.

Maybe try renting from current owners. As Don P said, you can often find rentals from owners for less than what they pay in maintenance fees and you are not locked into any contract. If you look here on RedWeek or other timeshare websites such as My Resort Network, E-Bay, or Timeshare Users Group, you will be more likely to find what you are looking for (and probably for less money) than trying to trade through RCI.

A couple of things. If these were Holiday Inn points (which transfer as 2 HICV points to 1 RCI point), they will not transfer. It will revert back to a deeded week without points. Looking at the RCI points chart, I think they might be because a 2 br week 39 only gets 52,000 points to use in RCI. That makes the MF to point ratio horrible for exchanging . Week 39 is low season everywhere in Florida. Kids are in school. The period between when school starts in the fall until Christmas with possibly the exception of Thanksgiving week is going to be low season. Not only is it not a good investment, it will be a big liability.

Don't take the timeshare--even though it is "free." A few years ago, we accepted one week RCI in Steamboat Springs. After paying for the Title transfer $400, maintenance fees, etc. , we also ended up paying about $4000+ to finally get rid of it through a lawyer and Quick Claim Deed. Expensive lesson learned. This will follow you into your estate and your heir will be responsible for the unit(s). RUN!

can you please advise which lawyer you use ?

I want to get rid of mine. thanks so much !

NEVER pay anyone money upfront to get rid of your timeshare including a so called attorney. Contact your home resort and make sure you get a hold of the person that handles those matters. If they agree to take it back they will walk you through the process. It's quick and inexpensive. I got rid of two timeshares in 2011 that way. If they agree you don't need an attorney. If they don't agree then there's nothing an attorney can do except take your money for nothing. Be persistent when talking to the resort representative . Good luck.

dianap19 wrote:

can you please advise which lawyer you use ? I want to get rid of mine. thanks so much !

All that lawyers really do in situations like this is negotiate with the resort and its HOA to take back ownership of your unit. You can probably do that yourself for a lot less money. With less than half of the money that you're going to pay an attorney, you can do the following:

Advertise that you want to give your unit away using a reputable timeshare website such as RedWeek. Offer to pay the closing costs (about $200). Offer to pay the next maintenance fee for the new owner as an incentive and he will have one year of free use.

It is a fine investment but you can look for some resorts in florida you can look for panama city resorts in florida.