Rekindling my educational efforts

Good Day I learned a lot here a few years ago but decided not to pursue a purchase. Now my wife and I are itching to buy a full condominium in Florida. We live in Central Maine, and will be able to travel at will in 2-3 years. We would use the condo as a "home base" from which to do more extensive travel (carribbean, central and south america, etc.) because it's much cheaper to get to those areas from Fla vs. Maine. That being said, we will probably NOT eventually "retire" to Florida, so we're questioning buying a "full" condo and maybe getting a few weeks of time share instead. We like ocean, and like both the east and gulf coasts of Florida. We're going to Cocoa Beach in a few days to "scope out" that area for having a place. We also have a couple of nice coastal resorts here in Maine. Perhaps it would make sense for us to purchase a week or two in Fla and a week or two in coastal Maine ...

So my assumptions from past research are: 1. spend extra for a "tiger trader" (My understanding though is that there really are no "tiger traders" in Coastal Maine, though they are not bad) 2. if buying just points, buy points attached to decent resort but lowest maint. fees you can find. and make sure the points are "inflation proof"

I have a lot more notes but it's been 3 or more years since I "studied" this topic. Has anything changed in the last few years, "good or bad?" (this may be too vague a question)

Next 3 years, we will only get away out of state during school vacations. One more disney trip at least (maybe Busch Gardens and Universal in 2018). After that we will slowly start doing Central and South America and Europe. Then Asia. At some point we'll buy a motor home and tour the country too but that's irrelevant to this discussion, I'm guessing.

Any thoughts you have on furthering my education, and the question of whether to buy a condo outright vs. a few weeks of timeshare would be wonderful.

Thank you!

The timeshare industry has changed a lot in three years. Corporate greed has taken over the industry. The norm is ever increasing fees and assessments that out pace inflation big time. There is also the problem of availability that many owners complain about. It seems there are very few desirable locations available and a lot of excuses.

Have you considered Airbnb as an option. I have heard a lot of good things about them. You rent peoples homes instead of hotels for reasonable rates. I am personally checking out some locations myself.

As far as a condo there are many pluses. Your property will appreciate and you actually have something of value. The timeshare not only has no resale value but if you decide to get rid of it one day you will find that is nearly impossible in most cases. You could even consider renting out you condo on Airbnb when you're not using it.

You seem intelligent enough to ask questions before making a jump so I'm sure you will make the right choice for yourself.

I agree totally with the above answer from donp196. Save your money, keep your membership with Redweek, Tug, VRBO, Trip advisor, and many more sites you can rent from owners. With timeshares being the way they are gobbled up by other companies, ever rising MF's, and no resale value, unless you buy a resale, then chances are you won't get all the perks the original owner had. All that to say use your money to rent, the money saved from MF's will pay the rent. We own 2 time shares and at our age (60+) it's not worth it.

t a very large container and fill it with all of your savings, trusts, 401 and anything of value you own. The go to the nearest ocean and drop it in and you will have the satisfaction of seeing where your money is going. My husband and I owned to timeshares. The mainentance was a low of $200.00 and after a few years it grew to $800 and then one of the time shares stated that they had some water problems and we were expected to pay for it. Sent us a bill for $4000.00 plus the $800 current fee. We sent letter all over the country, BBB, Senators,. owners of the properties and finally got a answer from them to say they will not demand the money and will let us turn over the property back to them. The second time share let us sell it back to them for just our maintenance fee. We were so happy to get out of that mess. It is so hard to sell the TS that people were putting theirs in EBay a few years ago for $5.00. The first TS we owned was making it impossible to use our property after booking a year in advance. Checked out hotel rentals and they were letting people rent my unit by the day and making a mint. Do your self a favour. Lose all of your money or buy a condo as was suggested.

Yes, get rid of the timeshare. Rent anyplace in the world you want to go, and if you're looking to own a condo or Apt in a perfect location, try Mexico. Rent or lease is inexpensive as is food. I spend 3 months in Oaxaca, Mex each winter. It's a beautiful, friendly,cultural city with perfect climate. From there I travel out, sometimes on the excellent bus services 1st and 2nd) and sometimes flights, e.g. 2 weeks in Cuba last winter (visa issued in Mexico with flight from Mexico City). Car rental is cheap and efficient for going to either coast.