DH has been wanting to look into getting a time share. We aren't sure how they work exactly.

Does anyone have any experience with these?? Any suggestions on a good one??


Any info. would be helpful. Thanks

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A friend of mine has one and said it was a mistake..penn and teller did a show on the math on the timeshare option...it was a waste of money..
Do a lot of research on one before you even think about it.

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We don't have a time-share...but my uncle does. He got his about 15 years ago (maybe longer) and he uses it quite a bit. They actually didn't go through a group, so I don't even know if it would be considered a true "timeshare". Six friends went in together and purchased a small home on Lake Tahoe. All of the friends are married with families and decided they could go on vacation more often if they could stay somewhere right on the lake. This way, they have invested by themselves. Now that some of the friends are getting a little older, they are thinking of having the others buy them out at the rate of which they purchased the home...or all friends selling at once through an agent and coming out way ahead of the game.

He looked into the typical timeshare before purchasing this home and had decided it wasn't for him. I don't remember specifics though.

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well consumer advocate Tom Martino hates them. We own one but I will tell you, I wouldn't own another one and wish we hadn't bought the one we have (even though we use it every year).

the thing about timeshares is that you pay and upfront fee for the purchase of your week(s). THEN you pay a yearly maintenance fee. This fee an vary. The company can (and does) increase the maintenance fee every year. They *could* increase is by $5K a year and you would have to p;ay it. Want to sell your timeshare? If the buyer of your timeshare defaults on the maintenance fee (or other fees), the company will come back to get it from you. If you do buy one, make sure you have a signed clause that says if you sell it and the new buyers default, you won't be held responsible for the $$$$. Also, try to get in the contract that the maintenance fee won't ever exceed a certain amou;nt of $$$. I saw this because a friend of mine had a timeshare in New Orleans. It got wiped out by the hurricane. His maintenance fees went up $2K a year (so $2K on top of the $800 a year he already paid) because they had to pay the rebuilding fees.

If you do buy, buy 2nd hand: ebay, or timeshare sale site. Do not buy direct and/or new. You pay way too much. Many people are just happy to get out from under the yearly maintenance
Good luck. We use ours every year (which is the only reason is makes sense for us). We own in Park City ,UT and go there every 4th of July. We love it there and it's only a half day drive way.

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We have a 3 bedroom timeshare at Westgate Lakes in Orlando FL and have owned it for 20+ years! We've travelled the entire USA using our timeshare trading abilities. It's been a wonderful thing for us. We get 2 week long vacations per year anywhere we want to go - USA or abroad. We pay $139 for the trading fee and off we go, to a beautiful 5 star resort somewhere in the world. I can't imagine another way to travel.

Yes, we pay $650 a year for a maintenance fee, but who can travel for 2 weeks in a 5 star resort for $650? I don't mind it at all - only thing for us now is my DH retired last year and we want to make Arizona our winter home. We bought a travel trailer and plan on retiring in the south - so we will be selling our unit to some other lucky person who wants to travel the world on a shoestring!

Our timeshare has been one of the best buys we have ever made - I know if I would have had to shell out the money for each of our trips, even at $100 per night for a room, I would have hesitated wondering if the hotel was nice or in a nice neighborhood, would it be noisy and loud or is there anything close by. And we probably would have passed on many, many places. But knowing that you are staying close by other activities, in a 5 star resort, I never hesitated on making our vacation plans.

Hope this helps someone...

The problem isn't using what you have or the money you save for doing so. It's the selling of the timeshare that is nearly impossible to do. Even if you do it, if the new owners default on the manintenance fee, the timeshare company (in the case of zinnia56 WestGate), will bill the original owner (you) for the fee. Ultimately, the original owner is responsible for the fee for their lifetime. We wouldn't buy another one but we do enjoy the one we have. We just know we will never be able to sell it without the risk of having to still pay the fees

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Timeshares can be great or horrible depending upon your views. I have friends who use them every year and buy additional weeks through their negotiated rates. I have friends who have one and have never been able to figure out how to use the system. They are excellant properties but they are not cheap by any means. If you are not a detailed oriented, pre-planner, then they are not for you. IMHO

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Lyn Clarke

Does anyone know if Timeshares are tax deductable?

I don't have a loan on mine, but the taxes you pay as part of your taxes and maintenance are tax deductible

We bought a timeshare ten years ago & we don't have any regrets. Most of the time we do an exchange instead of staying at our home resort . The only downfall is it's sometimes hard to get into *some* places (we had to wait 2 years to get into Cape Cod) but places like Orlando, FL where there are a ton of timeshares are easy to get in an exchange. We automatically get a week at our home resort every year but if we deposit our week in the spacebank then we can get 2 bonus weeks.

What I love is that we have our own kitchen so we save money on eating out. Also, it makes us go on vacation every year. The units are much larger than hotels and it's cheaper (not to mention nicer) than staying in a hotel if you are staying for a week. We paid $8,000 for our timeshare (10 years ago) and our maintenance fees are $175/year. We own through RCI. The property is deeded so we can pass it on to our children.

Here's a good message board for timeshare users TUG Bulletin Board

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According to my CPA, the fees you pay are NOT tax deductible because it is not a residence you are paying for. You are buying a week at the resort. Just like if you go on vacation and pay lodging tax on the room, you can't claim that off your taxes (unless it's a business expense). Just be sure to check with your accountant before assuming you can deduct it (because it would be nice if we could)

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My mom owns a few of them - most are good and one is bad. She owns one through the Marriot which she can trade to many of the resorts in the Marriot chain. They most enjoy using their trade to stay at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square. The one that she actually bought is somewhere that she hasn't vacationed again. She just basically uses it for the trade offs. She has stayed all over the world with her trade offs.

She also owns one in Maui which gives her one week every two years. That is a 3 bedroom, so we (the whole family of 11) go every other year. We love it because there's a full kitchen so we hit the costco the first day to be set for the week. She has to make reservations a year in advance to get the week she wants.

The one she hates is the one in Vegas because she can't trade to other resorts. She owns two units there which are 2 bedrooms. It can be split into 4 one bedrooms if need be. Owners have to call to reserve their particular week and if you want a week that isn't your week, you can reserve it 90 days in advance. I use this timeshare the most because we love to go to Vegas. I think it's a good deal, but I guess in comparison to her other timeshares, she thinks it's bad.

I agree with the person who said to buy it second hand. In Hawaii, my parents went to the presentation from the resort and before they committed, they happened to meet a sales person at one of those booths in a tourist area. They saved a few thousand by skipping the resort for the same exact unit at the same exact resort.

One of the places she owns at is in Cancun. For that, she bought a block of 100 weeks at an all inclusive resort. She really likes that one too because it is a resort with 9 hotels that are part of the "all-inclusive" package - meaning she can eat/drink/be merry at any of the 9 resorts for no additional money.

we own 2 and love it . we can go on a 2 week vacation every yr and our fees are 500.00. 500.00 for 2 weeks is great esp. since the places we stay are very very nice. we have 3 bed rooms and we always take someone with us.we have rented ours when we didnt want to go and made 500.00 a week off each of them so we come out 500.00 ahead by doing this. we also have used one week and rented the other to pay the fees. i dont think there is a place you could go and stay in a 3 bedroom with all the stuff you need to cook and such , washer and dryer in the unit and alot of the time they are ocean front for 500.00 a week.

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Melodymom- which timeshare did you stay at in Cape Cod?

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Lyn Clarke

I can't remember the name but it was in Yarmouth. We never got to go because I got pregnant and my youngest was born the same week we were scheduled to go.

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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ----Edmund Burke

Same as us, dh and I bought ours thru RCI 10 years ago on our honeymoon, we own in Cancun. We do like it because we have gone to some really neat places (some places we've gone more than once) and our girls get to see the USA. We're going to the outer banks this August, it took us 2+ years to finally get in there so I'm really looking forward to that trip. The girls can't wait to get to the beach!

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