WALK AWAY FROM TIMESHARE

I would be curious if they bought from the developer or resale. They'd have to rent for several (many many) years far and above their maintenance fees to make enough profit to pay for a developer bought timeshare plus yearly maintenance fees. I personally don't get it ... even if they double their maintenance fees in rentals.

jons29 wrote:

jayjay; They actually make money off the rentals, as opposed to most of us. The units are all paid for and after paying maintainance fees, they pocket the diff. They are probably clearing 2-2,500 annually. Not a great sum, but, Hey.

jayjay wrote:

I would be curious if they bought from the developer or resale. They'd have to rent for several (many many) years far and above their maintenance fees to make enough profit to pay for a developer bought timeshare plus yearly maintenance fees. I personally don't get it ... even if they double their maintenance fees in rentals.

jons29 wrote:

jayjay; They actually make money off the rentals, as opposed to most of us. The units are all paid for and after paying maintainance fees, they pocket the diff. They are probably clearing 2-2,500 annually. Not a great sum, but, Hey.

One of my relatives purchased 4-weeks in Cabo San Lucas for the main purpose of renting most of the weeks out and maybe using one or two himself. Stay tuned as I have no idea how that will work out. However, I do know that he purchased through the developer. Chuck

We bought a 4- bedroom unit at Orlando but unfortunately the resort doesn't have the facility to place for rent via the Resort management. I wish they did because sometimes we do not use all weeks and would like to rent. But thank you jons29 for the tip, I shall bring the issue with the resort itself as I have learned through friends and this forum that there are resorts that provide these facilities. We do sometimes feel like walking away from timeshares too!!! prices keep going up and up from the resort, the exchange company!!!

miriamj2 wrote:

We bought a 4- bedroom unit at Orlando but unfortunately the resort doesn't have the facility to place for rent via the Resort management. I wish they did because sometimes we do not use all weeks and would like to rent. But thank you jons29 for the tip, I shall bring the issue with the resort itself as I have learned through friends and this forum that there are resorts that provide these facilities. We do sometimes feel like walking away from timeshares too!!! prices keep going up and up from the resort, the exchange company!!!

Personally I would recommend trying to rent units yourself. Management usually takes a decent fee. Try listing on Redweek and/or other sites, along with a local newspaper ad, depending on your local. Just don't wait until the last minute and Sunday's are usually best.

jons29 wrote:

miriamj2 wrote:

We bought a 4- bedroom unit at Orlando but unfortunately the resort doesn't have the facility to place for rent via the Resort management. I wish they did because sometimes we do not use all weeks and would like to rent. But thank you jons29 for the tip, I shall bring the issue with the resort itself as I have learned through friends and this forum that there are resorts that provide these facilities. We do sometimes feel like walking away from timeshares too!!! prices keep going up and up from the resort, the exchange company!!!

Personally I would recommend trying to rent units yourself. Management usually takes a decent fee. Try listing on Redweek and/or other sites, along with a local newspaper ad, depending on your local. Just don't wait until the last minute and Sunday's are usually best.

Thank you for your advice. We are not Redweek members yet and like some of the testimonials I have read, we have not been that lucky to receive emails from people wanting to exchange the week we have posted; we are taking the free exchange promotion which has been extended until March 18. We had a bad experience with people claiming that they can rent/exchange our units, once they got the money, we never heard from them, they seemed so genuine, they made fools of us. We are members of Interval and sometimes we do not get our choices, we compromise most of the time. Should we become members of Redweek? your opinions are welcome

Below are the same type scavengers as timeshare upfront fee sales companies. They take your money and you never hear from them again. I honestly don't see how those people sleep at night.

Anyway, as long as you use a rental agreement such as I have posted in the Buying, Selling and Renting forum, and you follow the instructions, you should feel secure when finding a renter.

I would certainly post my rental on Redweek. They get thousands of hits a day from people looking for rentals and sales and Redweek's staff can follow up on any problems that may occur, however if you use a rental agreement signed by both parties then there should be no problems.

miriamj2 wrote:

We had a bad experience with people claiming that they can rent/exchange our units, once they got the money, we never heard from them, they seemed so genuine, they made fools of us.

TS's are not created equal. Stick with a well-known company (like Marriott). Maintenance fees cover all the stuff you'd normally have to pay if you owned your own condo/house in the area of your choice but a whole lot less. TS's give you flexibility to travel and not be obligated to go to the same place every vacation. TS's are NOT investments and one should never purchase with the idea of "making a killing" in this kind of real estate. All Exchange company's are also not the same. RCI vs II - no contest from all I hear about RCI. If you have anything less than an ocean resort week or a ski resort week, you are likely to get a 3rd rate exchange with RCI. Re: multiple weeks - I have been conversing with 2 individuals who own 22 and 30+ weeks. Yes, they use them and yes they rent them and yes they exchange them and yes they share them with extended families. Too much scheduling for my taste. They never worry about plumbing, a/c, etc when they aren't occupying the unit. The furnishings and appliances are regularly replaced and they are able to write off the taxes on the units. Our puny 2 weeks have been parlayed into 7 weeks of quality vacations at 4 different resorts over our 2 1/2 yrs of ownership when you include the "bonus weeks" we received from II. So, compare apples to apples. After paying for your week, you get a quality vacation for the cost of the maintenance fee annually. Not such a bad deal in my book. Could you maintain an entire house or condo for 12 months for the price of a maintenance fee on a week of TS? I doubt it. Save some bucks and buy re-sales. Developer costs of a week are grossly inflated even at pre-construction prices. There are deals to be had in re-sales. Disclaimer: I neither work for nor have any affiliation whatsoever with any TS organization, re-seller TS affiliates. RCS

I would not rely on tax advice from a message board. I do not believe you can deduct a timeshare loss.

Put it on ebay starting at $1.

perhaps the issue of writing off TS loss on taxes refers to someone else's comments, but that's not relevant to my comments. Please note that I didn't discuss TS loss with regard to a sale, I referred to writing off TS "TAXES" (ie property taxes which we are very familiar with in our area). While that isn't much, it all adds up. RCS

rays39 wrote:

perhaps the issue of writing off TS loss on taxes refers to someone else's comments, but that's not relevant to my comments. Please note that I didn't discuss TS loss with regard to a sale, I referred to writing off TS "TAXES" (ie property taxes which we are very familiar with in our area). While that isn't much, it all adds up. RCS

No no, it was not your post - poster said you could carry forward a loss on sale of timeshare. Set off my Crap Alarm.

You are discussing income against expenses, different animal, and legit at that! That's part of the rental business.

Sorry for the confusion and any stigma I may have cast on your comments.

donaldo3 wrote:

I CAN'T SELL ME TIMESHARE LEASE AT CLUB LAND'OR ON PARADISE ISLAND. WHT ARE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS OF JUST NOT PAYING THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE FEES AND WALKING AWAY.

Have you listed your timeshare on redweek? List it lower than all others. For 49.99 for a year it is a deal. Do not give up, perhaps there is a charitable organization who would like to get your timeshare free. Also you could ask your resort if they would take back your timeshare. Some reputable timeshare resorts do take back timeshares if there is a financial problem. You do not get any money but if the fees are financially hurting you just take the loss and give the timeshare away. I have made my share of money mistakes; but I do pay my bills to keep my credit acceptable. Hope this helps. Cynthia

donaldo3 wrote:

I CAN'T SELL ME TIMESHARE LEASE AT CLUB LAND'OR ON PARADISE ISLAND. WHT ARE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS OF JUST NOT PAYING THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE FEES AND WALKING AWAY.

donaldo, if you simply quit your financial obligations by not paying your annual maintenance fees, then your credit rating will more than likely be adversely affected.

When an owner quits paying maintenance fees then it affects all the other owners at your resort as they have to take up the slack for nonpaying owners that don't care if their credit rating is affected.

My advice would be to keep dropping your price until you start gettng some interest and if that doesn't work you can always give it away for $1 releasing you of the obligation of yearly maintenance fees.

Don't you folks have any family members or friends who would benefit by taking over ownership? If they didn't have to pay anything but the annual fees, it would be a pretty good deal.

We are putting ours into a trust for our children (adults) and have also set up a fund to help with future costs.

MD

adahiscout wrote:

We are putting our into a trust for our children (adults) and have also set up a fund to help with future costs.MD

This is a very good idea IF your children want the responsibity of paying maitenance fees forever. I've read many times that passing timeshares to heirs (that don't want them) can become a financial albatross.

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

We are putting our into a trust for our children (adults) and have also set up a fund to help with future costs.MD

This is a very good idea IF your children want the responsibity of paying maitenance fees forever. I've read many times that passing timeshares to heirs (that don't want them) can become a financial albatross.

==

Very True. That's why I put $75,000 of an inheritance into an investment with the Vacation Trust as beneficiary. It is now worth over $80,000 and, since I don't expect to tap into it in my lifetime, it should carry the maintenance fees indefinitely. The question is, which of the kids will have the patience and time to administer this?

MD

adahiscout wrote:

Very True. That's why I put $75,000 of an inheritance into an investment with the Vacation Trust as beneficiary. It is now worth over $80,000 and, since I don't expect to tap into it in my lifetime, it should carry the maintenance fees indefinitely. The question is, which of the kids will have the patience and time to administer this? MD

Will you adopt me .... lololololol?

have had many friends who have simply walked away from the time share maintenance fees. They call and harass you for awhile, but then give up. No real impact on credit...especially in these times of people not even paying their house mortgages

pattig31 wrote:

have had many friends who have simply walked away from the time share maintenance fees. They call and harass you for awhile, but then give up. No real impact on credit...especially in these times of people not even paying their house mortgages

Please DO NOT FOLLOW THE BAD ADVICE ABOVE if you're contemplating walking away from your timeshare monetary obligations as doing so WILL NEGATIVELY IMPACT YOUR CREDIT RATING. Evidently the resorts above have not yet foreclosed on her friend's timeshares but that's more than likely coming in the future. All this takes time.

If you have signed a timeshare contract then you are legally liable to uphold that agreement and that means paying your timeshare monetary obligations same as if you signed a contract to buy a car, home, boat or any other kind of contract.

pattig31 wrote:

have had many friends who have simply walked away from the time share maintenance fees. They call and harass you for awhile, but then give up. No real impact on credit...especially in these times of people not even paying their house mortgages

What do you mean with comment there was "no real impact on credit"? Was there an adverse posting on their credit reports or not? Any posting would be considered a "real impact" by some whose goal is to maintain perfect credit. In my opinion, the maintenance fee is not a personal obligation because the purchaser never signs a promise to pay the maintenance fees. It is an obligation imposed by the declaration filed by developer prior to first sale and runs with the land.

The failure to pay a non-personal debt, i.e., maintenance fee, should not be reported on one's credit report and should be challenged if it is. A foreclosure for failure to pay will show up on your credit report as a legal filing and could adversely impact your credit. To avoid this, offer a "deed back in lieu of foreclosure" which most resorts will initially reject but will finally accept rather than go through the expense of a foreclosure.

I have not and do not plan to walk away from a maintenance fee but by the same token I understand there are some timeshares that cannot be sold, given away, or donated to charity. Many owners of these worthless timeshare will in time face reduced income as the result of retirement, divorce, death of a partner, or loss of employment. Pontificating about the morality of not paying maintenance fees or sermonizing about when you don't pay others have to pick up the slack is of little comfort to these folks who find themselves in timeshare purgatory.

I'm telling you, you can walk away from the thing without serious impact. There might be a note on your credit report, but it will be ignored by most if not all financial firms (credit card companies and banks) given the high pressure sales approach timeshare firms take.

Walking away is easy ....this is the dirty little secret the timeshare people don't want you to know (I am sure the bold script above was written by a timeshare employee hired specifically to supervise this blog and intervene when they feel it is necessary to protect their interests). Don't throw good money after bad....these firms will not spend money on lawyers chasing you. Accept you made a bad decision and walk away if you aren't receiving the value you expected.

Also, when timeshare owners die...this is usually what happens.