how do timeshare weeks work?

Im looking into buyind a timeshare at Royal playa del carmen from the secondary market. The add says 80 red season floating weeks to be used by RTU of 2057 with $299 maintenance fees only when used? Im new to this so Here are my questions: Could I use and give away multiple weeks to be used at the same time so I could vacation with my friends? Can you really use the weeks when and how you want? Are you treated any differently, ie. put at the end of the line if you already own because they want new vacationers money? Can you use weeks to upgrade rooms? If so and they say "yeah give us 3 of your weeks and we will give you an ocean front room" do you pay the $299 maintenance fee for the week you are there or $299x3 for each week you used for the upgrade? Is there a booking fee or is that the Maintenance fee? Any other fees I should worry about? How much is the mandatory all inclusive meal plan? Ive been here several time so I know what to expect from the accomodations but there has to be a reason people are trying to get rid of their timeshares. Whats the perk? Help please!!!!

In general Mandatory All inclusive plans are very high. I would ask the person selling and then confirm the price with the resort. You are probably better off either renting from an owner or renting through the resort or a site like orbitz, etc. You should do your research to see if it is a place you would want to stay. You might want to inquire about renting before buying.

It is difficult to answer your questions because a lot of RTU contracts are specific to the 2 parties involved. It depends what the individual buyer negotiated. In terms of what transfers upon resale that would also be addressed in the contract because not all perks including ones like pay MF's only when you use the resort do not pass on to secondary buyers. You would definitely want to see and make sure you understand all the clauses in the original contract.

Thank you. Im getting the contract details soon. I understand the renting aspect and I would but the place Im looking to buy is Royal, playa del carmen. I've been there about 6 times and will definitely be going back. The problem is there are none for rent and very few for sale. I don't want any time share I want this location. There are several Royals that people confuse this one with when responding to my posts. Assuming all is transferable the listing states 80 floating red season weeks with a RTU until 2057 and maintenance fees of 325 only when used. Again assuming its all transferable Im trying to find out if I can use and give away several weeks at the same time to go and vacation with friends during the same week. Im also trying to see if there were any other hidden costs other than the maintenance fees. Im aware of the all incluesive rate but are maint. fees, user fees and booking fees the same or all seperate charges? Im also waiting to hear about an assesment history. Like I said I've been here a bunch of times and its the best place I've ever been to. Im hoping thats the reason there arent a lot for sale or rent. Because people are happy with their purchase.

tracey75 wrote:

In general Mandatory All inclusive plans are very high. I would ask the person selling and then confirm the price with the resort. You are probably better off either renting from an owner or renting through the resort or a site like orbitz, etc. You should do your research to see if it is a place you would want to stay. You might want to inquire about renting before buying.

It is difficult to answer your questions because a lot of RTU contracts are specific to the 2 parties involved. It depends what the individual buyer negotiated. In terms of what transfers upon resale that would also be addressed in the contract because not all perks including ones like pay MF's only when you use the resort do not pass on to secondary buyers. You would definitely want to see and make sure you understand all the clauses in the original contract.

Again that information should be in the contract. If not then it (the number of units that can be used at one time or per year) can be something that the developer can change at any time. Most will allow you to use multiple weeks at the same time to stay with additional family and friends based on availability. You would pay the MF for each unit used. In addition if you are upgrading to a larger unit there may be additional fees for that on top of the AI fees for each unit. I know for example at another resort, you used to be able to deposit as many weeks as you wanted with an exchange company but they recently started limiting that to two units per year.

Buying RTU mexican AI memberships aren't necessarily the same as other deeded US properties. Sometimes you can negotiate just as good if not a better deal directly with the developer than buying resale. Memberships that you don't pay unless you use have less incentive to sell than ones that aren't being used but have annual fees involved. Only those who are trying to recover fees are going to bother to sell. There is a happy owner at Real Vacation Club that purchased directly from the developer for under $3000 for 120 weeks and saves on the average of $1500-$2000 on fees each time the unit is used. Most timeshare users aren't looking to spend $2000 per week for two let alone the regular $4000 per week so you won't find a lot of info on Redweek. The only place I see multiple units for sale is Sell My Timeshare Now and they are overpriced and hard to deal with IMO.

Sellmytimeshare is were I was looking. For this location anywhere you look directs you to thier page. After searching the net they are pretty much the only ones carrying anything for this particular location so I'm pretty limited. That and the lack of rentals here are the reason I'm entertaining buying. You're right the money with the numbers too. I estimated that if I bought a timeshare here and paid it off right away it would cost me about half the cost each time I use it as opposed to just booking it through trip advisor for a week. I go with friends quiet often so it seemed like a no brainer to save if I intend to use it but I only hear horror stories about timeshares. I have someone looking into what is tranferable and so on but my real questions are financial. Like if I don't go in a year and MF are pay only when used, do I still owe anything? Again, this is to see if the savings is really there if I bought one. I have been searching and asking questions for a while to educate myself but you have been the most helpful so far so thank you. I have no interest in U.S. or any other timeshare for that matter and I didn't realize the differences between the two so any insight to this Mexican RTU timeshare at this particular location would be much appreciated. I guess I'm hoping Mexican RTU's are different like you said and the Horror stories don't apply there as much as say the U.S. where you actually own it.

Mexican Timeshares have their own set of horror stories and in many ways are worse than those in the US. For your intent and purpose though it may work for you if the price is right. If you have no mf due unless you use, then you should owe nothing if you don't use. Again the details should be in the contract. Most people overpaid for the membership and believed the sales person that the worth is much higher than it probably is. They are also told that they can rent easily to make back the money they spent. They are probably referred to agencies that charge to list the rentals but don't bother actually trying to rent the weeks.

Here is the tripadvisor thread. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150812-i23-k2237555-Real_Club_The_Royal_Cancun-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

If you are thinking about buying you should read the entire thing and maybe try to contact a satisfied owner or two to ask specific questions.

Awesome. Thanks.