Report Abuse

[Q=bobd157] Timeshares Only lists SOLD timeshares on there website. It seems like allot. Either they are flat out lying or they do sell allot of timeshare. I wonder if it is possible for a advance fee timeshare company to actually be litigate in the resale community eyes. There has got to be another option as appose to "pricing it right" aka "giving it away". So here are some questions. Has there ever been, since the conception of timeshare, a legit advance fee timeshare adverting and marketing company? Is there a way to sell timeshare for at least what you bought it for? Will people keep buying timeshare when it has become apparent timeshare is a gigantic sales game, from the vacation package reps to the timeshare sales reps, and fianlly to the resale market? Is there ever a time that the owner of a timeshare actually sees return on investment. I don't just mean money but use and lifestyle?[/Q] bobd157; Yes, I think it's possible for someone to buy a timeshare and see a return on their investment, and no, I definitely don't mean a monetary return. We bought at a great new resort in Hilton Head, SC about 8 years ago, and we love it. It's a Marriott property. We've also traded our weeks to go to other (mostly Marriott) resorts, given away a couple of weeks to friends who needed to get away and decompress. I've traded a couple of weeks to Marriott for the points. And we've rented weeks to people (mostly using Redweek) when we had more weeks than we needed, and I wanted to cover my annual maintenance fees since we own multiple weeks and the maintenance fees do add up. Do I think we'll ever be able to sell these weeks at a profit (if we wanted to, which we don't)? No, I absolutely know we couldn't. Do I think we could ever even manage to get back just the amount we spent when we bought the weeks (even with no interest added since we paid cash)? No, I definitely don't. Do I wish we hadn't bought the weeks? No, absolutely not. We've enjoyed them, and hopefully will continue to enjoy them for years to come. Do I wish I'd known then what I know now about never, ever buying directly from the developer? Absolutely YES! I'd never ever buy from the developer again although to be fair, our salesperson told no lies. But he emphasized the positive to a very great degree, and went pretty rapidly over cost issues. However, he certainly never suggested buying the weeks was anything but a way to assure a vacation at that resort, or maybe use the weeks as a trade to go elsewhere. And I was so pleased with the resort, and with the idea of trading and going other places (since I love to travel) I know I didn't ask enough questions or think hard enough about the long term financial aspects of buying these weeks at the price quoted. The annual maintenance fees were definitely mentioned in the sales presentation, but I don't remember hearing about specific costs to belong to Interval International, although he did say the developer paid the first year's fee for II. I also heard that we could trade our weeks and go either to Marriott or other resorts inside and outside the US, but I don't definitely remember hearing the actual costs mentioned. But in the long run am I sorry I bought the weeks instead of putting a hefty down payment on a beach house? No, I'm really not sorry, as if we'd bought a beach house, that's where we'd have gone several times every year. But instead we've been many places in the US and several overseas, given our kids weeks to use as they liked, etc., and done the other things I mentioned above. So, no I'm not sorry we bought these weeks, and yes, I think our investment has paid us dividends - good times in lovely locations and a bunch of great memories. Kathi