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njkate: I was on TUG the other day, if you have a 45 day window to go on vacation you just can't beat this site. There were weeks listed in Hawaii, Italy etc. by the owners and the price was capped at $700 for the week. A few years ago we had a week at The Marriott Seaview Villas in Absecon, NJ, 15 mins. outside of Atlantic City. It is a beautiful 2 b'd unit and we couldn't use the week. I rented it out to a couple from NY for $250 for the week. Most pp on that site would rather someone have these weeks cheaply than have the week unused.
njkate: I was on TUG the other day, if you have a 45 day window to go on vacation you just can't beat this site. There were weeks listed in Hawaii, Italy etc. by the owners and the price was capped at $700 for the week. A few years ago we had a week at The Marriott Seaview Villas in Absecon, NJ, 15 mins. outside of Atlantic City. It is a beautiful 2 b'd unit and we couldn't use the week. I rented it out to a couple from NY for $250 for the week. Most pp on that site would rather someone have these weeks cheaply than have the week unused.
Absolutely and recoup some if not all of the maintenance fee
You know I was just thinking of taking my gran daughter & friend away for 4th of July..Jersey shore or upstate NY in the lake regions..I'm going to go look at Tug righ now
Not sure you're going to find too many time shares in either area. Maybe, but there's not going to be a ton of choice. You might ahve better luck looking in the Poconos, they are farily common there. Just be careful as some of those are pretty run down, they've been around for 30+ years.
What is some good advice on timeshare ownership? Would you reccommend timeshare from an established hotel chain like marriott or hyatt? Which time share companies are reputable? How much are you guys paying in yearly maintenance fees and is there a limit to how much they can increase them? Thanks in advance.
The only way that a timeshare becomes a good, cost-effective choice is if you plan on taking a lot of vacations at very expensive destinations such as Hawaii, Tahiti, the Caribbean, etc. If you do not expect to stay at resorts, that are upwards of $300 - $400 per day *, and you plant to take them every year, then you are going to be losing money on a timeshare.
Look at it this way. Unless you can pay cash for the timeshare, you have the principal payment, you have the interest payment, you have the annual maintenance charge, you have the charge for exchanging your unit, you have annual taxes, you have insurance, etc. You are looking at a big, big investment. In order to offset all this and actually SAVE money on your timeshare purchase, you are going to have to be the kind of person that takes BIG, EXPENSIVE vacations every year. Otherwise, you are going to be in the hole until the timeshare is paid off, and even after that, you're still probably going to only be breaking even.
Keep in mind also, that in order to have the "privilege" of exchanging for top dollar destinations, you are going to have to buy a top dollar timeshare.
Maintenance charges alone can be upwards of $1,000 per year. At even $100 per night lodging costs, you still are going to be $300 in the hole and that doesn't include ANY of the other fees that I mentioned.
For most working-class people, timeshare is probably not their best choice. On the other hand, some of the large resorts (Marriott, etc.,) do offer "vacation clubs" where a person stays in the exact same condos based upon availbility, and it is much more economical a choice.
FYI--Taxes and insurance are generally part of the annual maintenance dues.
I do agree to buy at a high where you'll want to travel alot, and make sure it's a high demand area. This is one of the things we liked about Disney, it's VERY easy to trade to anywhere, including Hawaii. Don't buy in the hopping vacation spot of Morehead, KY and expect to trade to palces like Disney, Hawaii, and Las Vegas.
We normally spend $200-700 a night for hotel rooms depending on where we are headed, so the timeshare concept worked well for us.
FYI--Taxes and insurance are generally part of the annual maintenance dues.
I do agree to buy at a high where you'll want to travel alot, and make sure it's a high demand area. This is one of the things we liked about Disney, it's VERY easy to trade to anywhere, including Hawaii. Don't buy in the hopping vacation spot of Morehead, KY and expect to trade to palces like Disney, Hawaii, and Las Vegas.
We normally spend $200-700 a night for hotel rooms depending on where we are headed, so the timeshare concept worked well for us.
I started to say.......... who pays insurance for a timeshare? LOL!!!! You are right, a timeshare owner does NOT pay for insurance or taxes. We only pay for the intial cost to "purchase", the yearly maintenance fee and the exchange.
We have had one for a few years now and it has worked out fine. You do have to plan ahead though. There are also other perks that can come with owning one. Because we exchanged one of our weeks in Cabo for Aruba last year we got a "free week" certificate to use. So we headed to Disney for a week at Thanksgiving . It wasn't really "free" but it was a really cheap deal: 7 nights for $199 for a studio, $250 for a 1 bedroom or $299 for a 2 bedroom or larger. We went w/ the 2 bedroom for a whole whopping $300 for the entire week. We had 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a kitchenette, washer/dryer, great pools and resort amenities. This kind of room would normally run well over $300 PER NIGHT!
Our condo in Cabo is a 1 bedroom/2 bath in a very high end resort in a great area w/ awesome amenities and a killer spa. Our "fee" to book our week is only $600 and maint. fee is only $600ish per year. We have 2 weeks that are not "set weeks" but rather "float" which I prefer. The maint. fee has not gone up on us so far since we bought. We can also do a 2 bedroom if it is available for no additional fee or even one of the penthouse suites if need be for a VERY SMALL upcharge.
Like many things it is all if you know HOW to use it and will use it if a timeshare is the right thing to do for you and your family. I know many, MANY people that own them or have owned them and they all were very happy with the experience.
I started to say.......... who pays insurance for a timeshare? LOL!!!! You are right, a timeshare owner does NOT pay for insurance or taxes. We only pay for the intial cost to "purchase", the yearly maintenance fee and the exchange.
We have had one for a few years now and it has worked out fine. You do have to plan ahead though. There are also other perks that can come with owning one. Because we exchanged one of our weeks in Cabo for Aruba last year we got a "free week" certificate to use. So we headed to Disney for a week at Thanksgiving . It wasn't really "free" but it was a really cheap deal: 7 nights for $199 for a studio, $250 for a 1 bedroom or $299 for a 2 bedroom or larger. We went w/ the 2 bedroom for a whole whopping $300 for the entire week. We had 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a kitchenette, washer/dryer, great pools and resort amenities. This kind of room would normally run well over $300 PER NIGHT!
Our condo in Cabo is a 1 bedroom/2 bath in a very high end resort in a great area w/ awesome amenities and a killer spa. Our "fee" to book our week is only $600 and maint. fee is only $600ish per year. We have 2 weeks that are not "set weeks" but rather "float" which I prefer. The maint. fee has not gone up on us so far since we bought. We can also do a 2 bedroom if it is available for no additional fee or even one of the penthouse suites if need be for a VERY SMALL upcharge.
Like many things it is all if you know HOW to use it and will use it if a timeshare is the right thing to do for you and your family. I know many, MANY people that own them or have owned them and they all were very happy with the experience.
Okay I'm lost I thought if you bought the timeshare the only fee you paid is the yearly maintenance fee..they also charge $600 to book your week???
With the Disney Vacation Club it's free to book in our home resort or in any of the seven or eight other DVC resorts. If we want to book something outside of DVC, it's a $75 exchange fee whether it's for one night or 14. I have no problem with that, but $600 to book? That's nuts!
With the Disney Vacation Club it's free to book in our home resort or in any of the seven or eight other DVC resorts. If we want to book something outside of DVC, it's a $75 exchange fee whether it's for one night or 14. I have no problem with that, but $600 to book? That's nuts!
That is for a "freebie" week we get with our other weeks that we don't pay a maint fee for. The regular booking fee is MUCH lower. More like the $75-100 fee. Sorry, for the miss on that one
Did it cost anything to have the company take it back? My parents want to leave their timeshare to the 3 children, but I really don't think any of us are interested. As far as I know, there are no limits on the maintenance fees and we really wouldn't use it. I wondered if we accepted it upon their death, and then couldn't sell it, if it would cost us to give it back.
Sorry for the delay...no, it cost us nothing to deed it back, just had to get some papers notarized and sent back to them. Don't count on being able to sell...they're on ebay for $25 sometimes. And if you just quit paying the taxes and maintenance fees, it will go into foreclosure and you'll have that on your credit.
That was a huge relief for us to just get it out of our names!
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