Timeshares?

by Plummet 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Plummet

  Growing up our only "vacations" were the District Conventions and Circuit Assemblies. Depending on what my parents could afford, we would try to do an activity in the assembly city, like an amusment park, or a nice restaurant, or a day at the beach. Even now, as we try to fade, our main vacation revolves around the assembly. So now that I am getting 3 weeks of vacation and doing a little better financialy, we would like to travel a bit more. We want to take a real vacation, one that does not require meeting clothes and a bookbag.

  I wanted to see what you all felt about timeshares. I only know of one family that has a timeshare and they are happy with it most of the time. I searched the Internet and found about half and half. To be more specific we were looking at Fairfield Resorts.

  What are the hidden costs or truths of timeshares? Are you happy with your timeshares? Is there anything that we should know?

  Thank You
• 

  Virgochik

  Hi! Hubby and I have a timeshare with Hilton resorts. We can convert our week to RCI, they've got international resorts all over the world. If we roll our week into next year, we could have two weeks in Europe very cheap! We've been very pleased with the places we've stayed... the coast of Spain, New Hampshire, the Flaming resort in Las Vegas, to name a few. Once our contract is paid off, we stay free, only paying the maintenance bill once a year to clean and repair the property. It is deeded and sellable, a good investment that lets your family stay at some really nice properties you might not otherwise afford.
• 

  Sad emo

  Be careful. Be very, very careful!!

  Two of the worst things I've heard about are:

  Some unscrupulous companies will give more than one person the same share, so you may end up fighting over the apartment for the particular week(s) you want.

  Others won't give you a 'timeslot' until you've paid a high fee, then you end up with one in low season when there's nothing to do and the weather's rotten.

  I'd also suggest that if you find a place that looks good on the internet, go and visit it before signing up.
• 

  Billygoat

  We have some family friends that have a 3-week timeshare through RCI and love it. As a wedding present, they gave Mozz and I one week in any location we wanted for our honeymoon. We chose a gorgeous resort in Mexico and had an AMAZING time. The room was gorgeous, the view stunning, and the service top-notch!
• 

  sir82

  We've got Fairfield, so far are happy with it. We've had it just a little over a year, used one week at one of their resorts, and exchanged another thru RCI.

  Just be aware that even after the sale, they continue with high pressure tactics trying to sell you more weeks or points or whatever. If you can tune that out, you should be quite satisfied.
• 

  Plummet

  Thank you for the replies I feel a bit better about this.

  It is deeded and sellable, a good investment that lets your family stay at some really nice properties you might not otherwise afford.

  That one of the main reasons we are looking into them, staying at nice properties at a nice price.

  Be careful. Be very, very careful!!

  Have not heard of companies giving the share to more than one group at the same time or the high fee for better timeslots, thats wrong. thank you for the warning, I'll google that.

  We have some family friends that have a 3-week timeshare through RCI and love it.

  From what I understand Fairfield is owned by or partnered with RCI so thats good to know. That was a nice gift from them. Thats kind of what we wanted to do when we had time that we couldn't use because there is always family or friends with a wedding or anniversay or something going on.

  We've got Fairfield, so far are happy with it. . . .Just be aware that even after the sale, they continue with high pressure tactics trying to sell you more weeks or points or whatever.

  Thats good to know, thank you. Glad that you are happy with them. If we do go with them I'll just have to learn how to say no. I'm such a sucker sometimes. My bitter half gets mad at me cause I have a had time telling sales persons no.
• 

  Billygoat

  My bitter half gets mad at me cause I have a had time telling sales persons no.

  LOL! Not sure if this was a freudian slip or not.
• 

  Plummet

  LOL No not a freudian slip, just a nicname. Heard an old man introduce his wife like that, and we liked it (Well I liked it more than she did).
• 

  LDH

  We bought one in Cabo San Lucas about 5 years ago, paid cash.

  Whatever you do, don't finance. You shouldn't pay interest on a vacation, esp. one you haven't taken yet.

  There is a place in Palm Springs CA that re-sells them from people that have gotten suckered at the sales meeting and paid 4 times too much....they look to liquidate. Google Palm Springs Timeshare re-sale.

  Also as with any other real estate transaction, it's all about location. You can only trade into the nice resorts if you have a nice resort to offer. So the bottom line is, don't but a time share in Lake Havasu Arizona and expect to swap into Hawaii. It's all about the trade value unless you plan to go back to the same place year after year. In that case, don't buy a membership for RCI or II (Interval International).

  Where the @(#* is Lake Havasu? That's the point.

  Lisa