Are Time Shares Part of Your Retirement Strategy?

800.00 a year is really reasonable for the maintenance fee in the Carribean! We have owned two timeshares over the course of 25 or so years. First one was in NH mountains, which we used a few times but traded many times - it worked great when our kids were growing up as it was big enough and in " red" time to trade for some lovely units elsewhere that were big enough for our girls (or us) to bring friends! In trading for a unit in the late 1980's, we discovered HHI in SC where we bought our second timeshare in a well managed and maintained resort. We have not traded that unit as we love to return to the area every spring - and it would be much more costly to rent a condo of that size during the annual Heritage Golf Tournament. And the best part, we have decided to retire in the area, because we so fell in love with the SC Lowcountry. We will be selling our HHI timeshare after we move to Dataw Island permanently, reluctantly.

I think it would be helpful to hear about how to successfully sell or rid yourself of a timeshare. Are those resellers legitimate? Has anyone had any luck?

Caps, try selling back to the resort, at a token price of course. Or ask about deeding it back to them, legally, which will cost you legal fees but you will get rid of it.

I'd just like to comment on my own experience trying to sell or get rid of my time sharing. I own a timeshare in Florida near Disney which I bought 39 years ago! While the kids were growing up it was perfect! Home away from home! We could leave the parks and come back for
Lunch and naps and return in 15 minutes for more fun....after the kids grew up I tried many times to get rid of this week but lost so much money on unreputable time share sellers. My resort has built up considerably over the years and so has my maintenance fees! My children are not in the position of affording to take over the maintenance fees and I am now a widow who does not travel much. My resort refuses to buy back or even take over my week .... So I pay $989 a year and give the week to my kids but it's getting too expensive for me to give this kind of present. I tried to donate the week to cancer society after I lost my husband but was told I would have to pay them $3000 to take it! My advise is to think carefully before you buy-- my husband and I were young when we bought it but never thought of this time of our lives. The time share is deeded so I've been told if I die my kids inherit the debt of it! If I don't pay they have told me it would show as a forclosure on my credit report. This is a four star resort (very desirable) and it's July 4th week and I've been paying all these years...please think carefully before this happens to you!

Char,
I feel for you being stuck with the timeshare that you no longer use. Same with us and we were lucky to just dump the last one back to the resort. I felt really sad to give it to them because I loved the place but we just didn't use it anymore and like you, the maintenance fees just didn't make sense to pay when we no longer were using it. Like I said in a previous post, take an ad out in an Orlando paper and advertise your unit and week number. Do it during the 4th of July week and maybe even a few months earlier. People going on vacation might think it a good idea to buy a timeshare like you did years ago! You might be surprised to find someone might want to buy it especially if you list it cheap! When I used my Timeshare I used to read the local paper and there were some awesome deals that even tempted me to look into it! If you bought the timeshare 39 years ago and used it extensively, then you should consider the money you spent for it used up. Kind of like a car. You buy it, you use it. It gets old and it's value is gone. So is the value of the timeshare. Just price it very low and hope for the best! The last thing you really should try to do is get what you paid for it because it is just not going to happen! Please consider selling it on eBay! Here is a link to see they are selling. Pretty dirt cheap but if you want to unload this could be the answer! http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=orlando+timeshre&_sop=12&_sadis=15&_dmd=1&_from=R40%7CR40%7CR40%7CR40&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_osacat=0&_ipg=200&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H1.Xorlando+timeshare&_nkw=orlando+timeshare&_sacat=0

Comment from markg:

I see the subject of time share came up so I want to put in my two cents. We own a time share and pay $873. a year for maintenance. We stayed there only once and we deposit the week to swap using RCI. I am thinking of dumping my time share and if I do I will use redweek.com. You have to own a time share to become a member of RCI but you can sell your time share and still be member. As a member you can purchase last minute vacation deals which are usually less than your yearly maintenance fee plus you do not have to pay any exchange fees. I have met several people who have taken this route.

Thanks for the info...I'm not looking for any great resale amount just want to recoup my maintenance fee for 2015 that I already paid.

We have had our timeshare for for 21 years and have had many wonderful vacations through exchanging. Now that we are retired we will have even more time and flexibility to use our weeks. At this point the benefits still outweigh the costs of our maintenance fees.

I have had a Wyndham timeshare for over 15 years and although we use it every year we thought if we could sell it for even half of the purchase price we would. We get called by resellers that want to list the timeshare or say they have a buyer but want anywhere from $500 to $1,000 up front. I did fall for one of them and have not heard back for over a year. When I get a call now I tell them I would pay twice their fee but only after the timeshare is sold. They always back away. I had one company call and say they can take the timeshare off my hands so I can get out from under the monthly fees but they want me to give it to them for free. I contacted a timeshare real estate broker and she told me a Wyndham is worth pennies on the open market even though new owners now pay twice what I paid. I even had a scam artist approach me by e-mail saying she was starting a company that will sell weeks to people and she needed a supply of time shares. We negotiated a price but she then said she was going out of town and wanted to send me a check for a down payment and she was going to include funds for the closing company and she wanted me to cash the check and send the closing company the balance. I stopped the correspondence right there since I have seen this in the past with secret shopper jobs and even received the check that I was going to cash. The bank it was drawn on said it was a fradulent check. So I guess I am staying with my timeshare for now unless someone else can give me an idea on how to sell it. EBay has them for sale for $100 so that is not an option.

If you are considering a timeshare or are trying to sell, look first at Time Share Users Group www.tug2.net this is a great resource

My wife and I own several timeshares and have very good experiences with them but have also known many others whom have not had good experiences for differing reasons. We own with both Wyndham and Diamond Resorts which also allows us to exchange with both RCI and Interval International. We've used ours for relative's honeymoons in Hawaii, ocean cruises, and general travelling of 5-6 weeks per year all around the country based on the areas we like to go to. We do not look at these as monetary investments but more as vacation quality investments as I seldom see anyone getting close to what they paid for them. I personally have bought one on the riverwalk in San Antonio for $1 and another in SW Colorado for the same price to go along with the others we purchased from the developers. My mother also gave her Branson Marriott away as she could no longer use it as intended nor give it back. She also, against my advice, tried the "timeshare sellers" tactic at least twice and was considering doing it again a third time and got nothing at all from it but additional expenses. Once they get your money, they've achieved their goal which does not really include actual selling your timeshare.

I just retired in late January and have upcoming weeks scheduled in Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, and Pagosa Springs, CO; West Yellowstone, MT; Snowbird, UT; Lake Tahoe, CA; Santa Fe, NM; and just came back from San Francisco. All of this was through our ownership or exchanges so feel like we've done a pretty decent job of this. It won't necessarily work for all based on having to go to a specific place at a specific time and not planning ahead several months before; case in point, having no luck getting daughter into Ft. Lauderdale in mid-December as they want to be on the beach and just started searching.

Don't know if this helps, but it's my 2 cents worth.

I'm interested in the annual fees for timeshares, and whether people think that the Wyndam, Marriott or other hotel chain offering are the most stable and trade-able. Yeah, I'm actually thinking of picking one up, especially with retirement coming up. I've got a bunch of kids who would be happy to have the opportunity to have a "cheaper" weak at a vacation destination. They wouldn't accept cash since they view themselves as too grown up to take a donation from me, but they would use a vacation if I wasn't able to use it myself LOL. I figure that it would get at least 10-15 years of guaranteed use. If it isn't a financial drag, it seems like a good idea based on those Ebay prices.

I'm glad to hear any input regarding timeshare experiences...since I've owned mine for so many years I've exchanged it many times and enjoyed vacations but now it's an albatross around my neck...I've lost my husband and then my son who were my traveling companions and now don't travel much anymore. I've lost money many times with scams and the only one that seems on the up and up is Give back timeshares, but they want $3500 to take it off my hands! Even Donate Timeshares want thousands to take it! It's a crazy thing to be stuck with at 68 and retired (had to quit my job to take care of my husband). I know if my husband was here we would be enjoying it and I never thought I'd be in this position...just wanted people to consider deeply before getting into this. My timeshare is deeded at Vistana in Kissemmee FL right near Disney.. July 4th week...

Gotta chime in here......we had a TS in St Maarten and though we traded it thru RCI at times, overall it's a hassle, not worth it, and it will be an albatross on your neck. Thank goodness they went bankrupt and we could bury it from our possessions. Even free timeshares will cost you annual fees, trading fees, assessments over time, etc. I have friends with Marriott timeshares and long term they are no better. Anticipating your kids wanting a place to join you? ....find a vaca spot and book it. There are so many places in this USA that can accommodate vacation planners at the last minute at reasonable prices or find a place thru VRBO. It will never pay to have a timeshare after you use it a few times......Mitch. Convince me otherwise and I'll eat my hat!

I work for a timeshare condo association in central Florida. I have no desire to own one, points property or otherwise. If you have kids and their families and do family vacations, it may definitely be worth the cost to own if the fees are affordable to you. If you travel a lot, they may be worth the cost to you since they can be traded based on availability. The costs to own are not deductible as far as I know, since they are considered secondary homes from a tax standpoint, but they can be placed in a trust. I am retiring in 17 months, when I do travel, I stay with friends, or go with friends, and we split the cost of the lodging and travel when WE want to travel, not when a timeshare says we can. A 'points' property seems to offer more options; with timeshares from Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott, or similar, you can combine stays at their hotel properties with the points from the timeshare membership, and get even more points to use for your vacations. So, if you are traveling a lot for business and stay at Hilton properties, and you own a Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare, your Hilton Honors points accumulation can grow at warp speed:) Marriott and others offer the same benefits. Beware the expiration dates on the points, though! In my opinion that takes a lot of work to milk that system enough to make it worthwhile, but that is only my opinion-I know many who do it. The fees may be a lot for some to handle, and the timeshares are usually the first to go in times of economic hardship because they are 'leisure items'. They tend to be worth NOTHING on the resale market, so for those who have borrowed money to own one, had it for a long time, and now wish to sell it, you won't get near what you paid for it. It's an asset that, for me, seems not worth the bother to own. Also, watch that timeshare sales sharks don't take you to the cleaners-it happens both when buying and selling weeks. Most owners associations do not take units back, so when you no longer want the units, unless you can sell the or give them away yourself, you are pretty much stuck with them. Just my experience with them, after 22+ years working for an association.....

Thanks for your honesty Carol....wish I had known it 39 years ago!

To anyone: Has anyone ever gotten rid of a timeshare without it ruining your credit by not paying anymore??

I'm reading this in Kuaui, as I'm sitting by the ocean, across from a timeshare I'm using through a trade through RCI. I think the timeshare discussion is interesting. I currently own two, both points based rather than weeks. My first one is a Disney Vacation Club property. I bought it in 1993, when Disney opened its first property across from EPCOT. They gave us 10 free years of park passes for 4 people. That made the $12,000 investment a no brainer as we went every year. I liked that I could choose when and how to use it, longer time in a studio, shorter time in a one or even two bedroom. I have used it in various locations ever since my daughter was over Disney. When I enter my mid-80s, it goes away. I only own it for a total of 50 years. I figure I will use it for as long as I can travel. A family member will get it for the rest of the term. It costs me about $1500 a year, far less than I would pay to stay the 5 nights here in Kuaui and 10 days that I'll be staying on the Big Island in Waikoloa. My second timeshare is thru Starwood. It's a Sheraton property, again involving points. Starwood includes Westin, St. Regis and others. It's very tradeable and I can stay in hotels or resorts. It costs me $963 a year. I can bank points every other year to stay someplace longer or bigger. I like the flexibility. So far, it's worked well. I paid under $12,000 for this one in 2012. We stayed at a Westin in Maui and a Westin in Kuaui for a total of 12 nights. As mentioned, certain timeshares like Starwood, Hilton or Marriott reward you with tons of points for staying at their properties. We are on 3 islands in Hawaii, and actually out of pocket for two out of 25 days. The rest of the time I'm using points from Starwood or exchanges from Disney thru RCI. We could never afford this trip otherwise. We eat out sometimes and eat in sometimes to balance costs. Who know how I'll feel in the future, but for now, I'm loving it.

The

Char-the answer to that is NO, at least for my property. Our timeshares here are deeded property by order of the condo docs and the state. When a person defaults on their maintenance fee payments, we allow 45 days before placing them in foreclosure status. Legal fees, finance charges, and late payment fees accrue on the account until the suit is filed at which point the accrual stops. The foreclosure action is filed by our corporate attorney and goes on their credit report when finalized, which usually takes about 3-4 months after filing suit. The unit/week is then legally owned by the condo association, who books the bad debt loss and turns it over to a marketing company for resale. Resales are SLOW at best, and we are in Florida-timeshare capital of the world. The association retains an attorney to do all this (costs go into the maintenance fee budget). The more suits we file, the higher the costs that are passed on to the owners. The economic downturn in 2008 hurt. Alas, the concept of a condominium-let's all share in the other's mistakes! LOL! But, it IS true-the more losses we take because of payment defaults, the higher our bad debt cost is, and those losses are passed on to the owners in the maintenance fees. If the owner also has a loan or mortgage on the property, the lender handles the foreclosure action on the loan, and that almost always goes on the credit report.

We have owned two timeshares. Neither were part of a chain and we picked both because of the area. When we purchased the first one almost 30 years ago we had no kid. The second one we had two small children.
We have used the timeshares every year and have even done several extra vacations through the exchange process. For us it is still a wonderful vacation.
While we pay about $900 a year in fees the feeling of a home is much nicer than a hotel room.

I posted this last week. Top Retirements never transferred it to this blog, however.

Note to topretirements:
Perhaps there is enough interest in Time Share issues to make a separate blog page.
I’m not one that will brag about timeshares. I found them to be much more stress than worthwhile.
My late husband absolutely loved Florida, so we were easily talked into buying a week at a gold crown resort in 2001. Paid in full, we used it once, then he got cancer and died in early 2003. Newly widowed, I couldn’t imagine going on vacation by myself, yet I continued paying the $900.00 a year maintenance fees for about 4-5 more years. Our daughter used some of the banked time for their honeymoon. RCI was really inflexible to work with,which made it more of a headache. I stopped sending them anymore money, until they said I owed about $4,000.00. They called and harassed me for two years and I was bewildered about what to do. I decided I was probably NOT going to use it ever again. Finally, they agreed to take it back if I would sign the deed back to them, which I did. I gladly signed it back, with no compensation, just to get rid of the hassle. I call it stupid tax!!!!
You just don’t imagine being widowed when you’re in your early 40’s, still raising kids,etc. There were no allowances for extenuating circumstances whatsoever. So buyer beware, and read the small print!
by Caps — October 30, 2014

Editor's Note: Caps - Thanks for the great suggestion! We took you up on it and transferred all of the comments over here, but forgot to include yours. Our apologies for that, and thanks for reminding us of your thoughts on the matter!

Carol, if placed in a trust...are the heirs responsible for maintence fees? How do they get rid of them?

I appreciated hearing the timeshare stories and the annual maintenance costs. I had thought that the maintenance fees didn't seem like too much money. It was less than a nightly hotel fee at the destination, and you'd could stay somewhere with more amenities. The really low buy-in resale prices seemed very attractive. Being able to use points, trade weeks or use other facilities would be a bonus. I had not considered the extra costs and fees, or the aggravation factor. (I'm a widow, and think I'll be ok with vacationing alone when I can't persuade any of my kids in their 20s to come along.) The postings on here have been very helpful, and I'm reassessing my plan to buy one or two timeshares.

Sharon...you're more then welcome to my timeshare...at no cost. I just want out of it- not traveling anymore! It's a deeded week at Vistana in Florida, royal crown resort, sleeps 8 and part of RCI .. Let me know if you ever decide to want a timeshare - I'd be glad to discuss it with you.

Sharon...I too have a Wyndham POINTS timeshare that I would love to get rid of. My husband passed away a month ago and will not be traveling to use it. The points can be transferred to RCI too. If interested, pls let me know.

Thanks Char. I bet you get some interest! I'll look into Vistana.

Thanks Sharon...whenever you're interested just contact me..

We are reposting this comment from Sharon into this thread:

I used last night to do more research on-line, including the costs of actually using the timeshare, stories about special assessments (such as assessments for refurbishing when reserves weren't enough to cover the costs), legal expenses for collection against owners who stop paying, and the rental costs for the same units vs. an Owner's cost. I also talked to someone whose church declined to accept a timeshare as a donation, since they had bad luck previously in trying to sell them at charity auctions. I used the cost of a solo cruise as a baseline.

I don't think I'm going to pick up a timeshare after all -- but I do appreciate all of the information that has been shared here. I can imagine that timeshares work great for many people (especially for younger families who plan on spending 10+ years visiting Disney, the beach or other favorite destinations), but I'm going go down another path for retirement vacation planning.

A friend of ours belonged to the timeshare points program. She seemed fairly content about the flexibility of that program. I don't however know if she is still using it, or got rid of it. I'm now curious how those programs work, or don't??

EMA-this is how it works at my property: if you place a timeshare in a trust, the trustees decide who will pay the fees while the trust is active. A trust is like a mini corporation-that said, if a unit is placed in a trust, we get a deed for the property showing the owner of the unit as the trust. Ultimately and usually upon death of the trustees, the trust must 'sell' the assets out of the trust and dissolve the trust to the heirs, usually by a directive such as a will. There are several different kinds of trusts, I am not familiar with all of the different types and how they work. The purpose of a trust is generally to avoid probate issues...many of our owners here have their units in a trust; most likely there are other assets in that trust as well, perhaps some investments and/or homes. We receive payments from either the trust itself or one of the trustees. When the unit is removed from the trust either via dissolution of the trust or other means, a deed is prepared showing the transfer of ownership from the trust into someone else's name, who then becomes the owner of record and therefore responsible for the fees. If the owner of a unit passes away and the unit is not in a trust, then the unit is part of the estate which passes through probate, and the beneficiaries of the estate are responsible for paying the fees, In a nutshell, if you don't want your heirs to pay the fees, it may be best to sell the timeshare while you are alive and it's in your name:) Hope this helps a bit!

Sharon.....Wise choice! You have saved yourself a lot of headaches! I wish I could get rid of this timeshare and use the maintenance fee money for other retirement things....I wish you enjoyment in your retirement!
Char

We too have a time share we would love to get out from under. It is in Hilton Head Island. The property is Spicebush, about a 1/2 mile to the beach. The week is 45 - which runs mid-November. We love HHI, but find we exchange for another time. RCI has changed the valuations, making it virtually impossible to make a trade.

We have a fixed week, (no points). When it was purchased about 20 years ago, it was considered "red week", and could be traded for anytihng, any time. Now the Value of our week on RCI is about "14", and to trade for any week
from May-September is about "29-34".

This year is the first year in the 20 years of ownership, that we are locked out of trading. RCI pointed fingers at the resort, and the resort pointed fingers at RCI. Bottom line - we can no longer exchange for anything that would be of interest to us.

Would love to be rid of the time shares - Free to anyone who would like it.... Any takers?????

The timeshare issue came up yesterday when we were with some acquaintances. One couple had a timeshare week with the Holiday Inn corp., like we used to have. She said H.I. let them out of the inflexible week situation similar to ours, and moved them to a flexible point system about 3 years ago with no extra fees involved. They were asking $2,500.00 for me to switch at the time. I thought that was just too much money. Anyway, they are much happier with the points, because if they can only stay 5 nights, they can still bank the remainder of the points. We noticed, and commented on the RCI credit card they were using to pay their restaurant tab as well, therefore gaining more points. Another friend of ours used her points for airline travel.
So, perhaps if you still own a fixed week, the company may be willing to move you to points. I wish it had been offered free to us.

Kathy sent in this comment concerning timeshares:

I know this site covers many topics. I am interested if anyone out there has successfully exited a timeshare. Any info would be appreciated.

Call your resort and see if they will buy it and if so expect next to nothing. If they won't pay you anything but will take it off your hands, take the deal, run like hell and don't look back. Be nice and don't argue that you paid $10,000 twenty years ago. They don't care! You can either hang onto it forever paying maintenance fees or unload it and put that money in your pocket each year. Yes, probably a bad deal but if you can unload it, why not.

Timeshares are nothing you will ever make money on. Worst case, rent it out each year just for the cost of the maintenance fees.

Do not pay upfront fees to a timeshare selling company. If they are legit they will sell it and take commission from the sale.

You could also try advertising it in Timesharing Today magazine.