Posted by Excallibur II on April 26, 2000 at 14:54:58:
Bs & Is are on the right side of the quadrant!
What book did you read?
H-E-L-L-O !
What about timeshares ??? - Posted by JohnG
Posted by JohnG on April 26, 2000 at 12:38:16:
This is an age old discussion - what about timeshares ?
It used to be that they were a really bad investment just on the face of it - you pay $10,000 for a week (thats $520,000 for a unit thats worth $125,000 on a good day).
Then there is the maintenance fee - 300-400 per year plus the taxes 150 per year. And what do you get ? Well, you get a week in a real nice place that can house up to 8 people.
There is a real aftermarket in timeshares and they are selling at anywhere from 50-75% off the “regular retail price” of what they initially sold for.
I am looking at one. It will cost me 5,000 for something that supposedly sold 6 years ago (new) for 23,000. It is a Gold Crown property (RCI) and it is a red week. I think that it might be a great way to rent a condo for the next 25 years and the big draw is the “exchange” possibility.
This now seems to be an established operation between 2 giants RCI and II and
(a)there are now 1,176,000 households that own timeshares in the US.
(b)over 4,000,000 households worldwide own timeshares
(c)the typical owner is upper middle income, middle aged,
77% have incomes over $50,000; 69% are over 45 yrs old;
64% have at least a bachelors degree; and the median income of US timeshare owners is $77,000.
(ARDA - American Resort Dev Assoc)
Why is it that I feel like I am about to do something stupid ? After all, aren’t timeshares an overpriced gimmick that are usually sold on a “high pressure” sales pitch.
What do you think ??? Has the world according to timeshares changed in the last 5 years ? Everything else has.
Re:Sunterra resorts(timeshare)www.sunterra.com - Posted by jay
Posted by jay on April 27, 2000 at 11:56:44:
they will totally changed your mind about timeshare. I wish I had the knowlege in REI then, that I have now or I would have creativily bought a foreclosed timeshare from them. Check out their website and let me know what you think. send me a email.
Re: What about timeshares ??? - Posted by John(NH)
Posted by John(NH) on April 27, 2000 at 10:36:24:
I paid $1500/each for red-weeks in Las Vegas & St. Maarten. I’ll be using mine but you can find many around that price range - just look around the web.
-john
They are great…at the right price!!! - Posted by Hope(Fl)
Posted by Hope(Fl) on April 26, 2000 at 16:39:26:
I bought mine for 350.00 from a coworker who paid 10,000 for it 12 years ago. It is on the beach in Vero Beach, Fl and I use it for exchange purchases. They are very cheap to buy on the resale market, and since they are all prime time(red) I have had no problem exchanging it(whether or not mine is rented) The maint fees are approx 160 pr yr, and the RCI is an additional 100 pr yr, and another 75 to echange, so the holding costs are not cheap. However, I am able to vacation in beautiful resorts, so I feel it is worth it. Also, I have been able to take advantage of their many specials where you can pay as little as 199 per week to use during off season. I have looked into this resale market and I wouldnt pay more than 1500 to 2000 for one of these. If you have any more questions, please ask.
Re: What about timeshares ??? - Posted by Doug Pretorius
Posted by Doug Pretorius on April 26, 2000 at 16:26:34:
I’m getting an awful feeling that you could buy a half-decent mobile home near this timeshare and sell it for a much larger profit than you could get from the timeshare.
On the other hand, if no other investors want to touch timeshares, maybe you can find something other’s are missing and start a landslide to a new moneymaker. Hey, you might even get rich off the book 
Re: What about timeshares ??? - Posted by Stu
Posted by Stu on April 26, 2000 at 14:29:17:
Well, IMHO, it is still a rip off. I just got back from Florida. My sister-in-law has one through RCI. I had to sat through a very high pressured sales pitch. I am like you I look at the total cost of something that I am buying versus the payment. While I was on the cruise, a guy that had already bought in told me that even after you get in you still have to buy points. So they still pressured him to buy points after he already had a condo. I ask the salesperson, why she charges for a title search for every condo, to every person, for the same room. If you have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I feel this program is for people on the right size of the quadrant. Not for the Bs and Is.
Re: They are great…at the right price!!!(Great Answer) www.yahoo.com… - Posted by Stu
Posted by Stu on April 26, 2000 at 21:49:27:
in the auction area has a section for timeshares. When I was given the third degree by the sales lady, she asked me how much I thought all of this should cost. I remember looking it up about a year a go, so I said $5000. When she said 23,000, but for me (because I am special) she could sign me up today for 17,000 at 18% interest. She said," Of course, if you have good credit you should refinance" My sister-in-law declared bankruptcy about 5 years ago, so she is paying at 18 percent. Of course, I would get 230,000 bonus points. She never explained this bonus points stuff good enough. I look at the yahoo auction site and just about fell off my chair. If push come to shove, you could always take one off someones hands for that week for the yearly costs. I am going to pay my sister-in-laws yearly fee and a little extra. My family of 5 stay in her condo with her. Until the presentation to me, I had no idea she was paying that much money. I see another bankruptcy in her future in about 5 years.
Re: What about timeshares ??? - Posted by Mark (SDCA)
Posted by Mark (SDCA) on April 26, 2000 at 16:20:30:
I periodically go to presentations. (For the free gifts of course!!! hahaha). They always sound like a good deal… until you do the math. Here is what I have decided.
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If you plan to take lots of vacations, they MAY be a good deal.
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Never buy on the primary market. You are paying for the timeshare companies marketing- which is a HUGE expense for them.
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Where your timeshare is located is ABSOLUTELY critical. If you don’t have a spot that people want to trade for then you are REALLY out of luck. Unless you happen to want to go to that spot every year.
Based on the numbers I was looking at, the killer was the annual fee. With the annual fee, and the high up front cost (8-15K), it would take about 10 years or more to recover the up front dollars. The annual fee was killing most of the savings you were getting versus a hotel. It just didnt make sense to me… If you can get a great deal on a timeshare in a place that everyone wants like Hawaii, I might consider it…
Mark