On Timeshares

Deni wrote:

There are two schools of thought on Time-Share. One is that you buy a place you love and go there every year. The other is that you buy a place that's decent and has good ratings and not too high of maintenance, and trade for great new places every year. These days, my grandparents mostly use their weeks (which are near our house) for my uncle and cousin when they're here each summer. But before my grandfather lost his eyesight, they traded for some great places. They've been all over the country in time-share, and just before my grandfather lost his eyesight, they spent four weeks in Spain in a great little villa.

I agree with whoever it was that said that it's not worth it to belong to RCI if you're going to go to the same place every year. But if you want to trade, then you definitely need to belong to RCI or II.

Some lessons I've learned about trading: - Pay your maintenance in advance, and bank your week as early as possible. You can actually bank two years before the date of your week, and you can use your week anytime between the time you bank it, and two years after the date of the actual week. This means that if you pay your maintenance in advance and bank 2 years ahead, you actually have four years to use your week. Which is really important. First of all, if you don't get a vacation for some reason, you can take it later. Secondly, it also means you can save up your weeks, and take a really long vacation.

- Make your request for exchange as early as possible, and try to be flexible. I have a week in a beautiful place in Orlando during the week of Gay Day (still looking for roommates, btw), and I've had my reservations for six months already. And at the same time I requested that, I requested a place in New Orleans for the week of Mardi Gras, 2000. I still haven't gotten that one, but I'm hoping.

One important thing to remember about time-share is that when you buy "a week" you're not investing in real estate. You're investing in your future vacations. Think of time-share like a car. You pay $10,000 for your car, and every year you put several hundred dollars in maintenance, gas, oil changes, and so on, in the car. Ten years later, when you get ready to sell it, it might be worth $1,000. But you didn't LOSE $9,000 plus the maintenance and gas that you put into it... You had a car that whole time. Think of time share that way, instead of as an "investment" and you'll be happier in the long run.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you buy time-share, you become part of an Association. Which, first of all, means that you have to pay your maintenance and assessments (and usually real estate taxes, unless they've set it up to bill the owners individually) on time, or the Association has the right to lien your unit, and foreclose on the lien if you don't pay it. Which means Attorney's fees. It can also mess up your credit, because if they foreclose, they can get a money judgment against you, and even garnish your wages. I say this not because I think you're a deadbeat, but because I work in an Attorney's office, and liening and foreclosing Time-Shares is what I do all day.

Belonging to an Association also means that you should be INVOLVED in things that go on. When you get your annual budget, don't just file it. Read it, and see what your money is being spent on. If you live locally to your time-share, consider being on the board. It takes a few hours a month, and it does help protect your investment. An especially important thing to look at on your budget is "bad debt" or "unpaid assessments" or whatever term they use to mean that you're paying for maintenance that isn't being paid by deadbeats. ASK your board what the delinquency rate is, and if it's more than 5% at any given time, insist that they adopt a more aggressive collections policy.