Deals.Woot

My brother was given a timeshare for free. They like it, but that's comparing the annual fees to the equivalent expenses. If you had to add on the cost to buy the thing in the first place, I don't think it would make much financial sense for anyone.

That said, if you want a timeshare, buy one on the secondary market. The mark-ups on new sales are ridiculous.

What about when two couples split the cost? Assume I can fully rely on them.

quote:
"The time share business is spiraling into a state of near collapse. Developers and marketers are more desperate to unload time shares and stave off bankruptcy than Clark can ever recall.

For a brief spell, time shares almost gained respectability thanks to the interest of Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham and others in their development and sale.

But buying a time share is not an investment, it is an obligation. The typical time share loses 80% of its value the moment you buy it.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the big hoteliers themselves can't get money to fund time-share operations.

The only way to even consider buying a time share is to get one secondhand at a deep discount from a private owner. But even then, if the operator of the time share is insolvent, you'll likely have problems with maintenance of amenities like pools or tennis courts. "

I've had a time share for probably 20 years. I love it. I've used it often for US vacations. For $90-100, I can get a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with a full kitchen. Most often, I've traded for Las Vegas or Orlando. I've also done Malibu and Montana. When I haven't been able to get away, I've rented mine to pay for the yearly maintenance.

Edit: As to buying one now? I don't know if it would make sense although, there may be some good buys in resales.

My BFF and I bought one in Vegas at Polo Towers. It's a great location and we got a good deal on it but we still regret it. What we really regret is that, when he declared bankruptcy a few years ago we switched it to my name to protect it from the bankruptcy, when in retrospect we should have put it in his name and used the bankruptcy to get rid of it. It's almost paid off so we will soon have only maintenance fees, which won't be too bad. We're hoping to be able to sublet it for enough to cover the maintenance fees on years we don't use it. I am surprised there aren't more people just sub-letting these things as they are really quite nice, and our annual maintenance fees are less than a week at a nice hotel, plus it sleeps four and has a full kitchen. I just don't like Vegas much. I wish we'd bought someplace in CA that has a better climate. Anybody with a CA timeshare interested in a trade?