New to Redweek, why purchase vs rent

I have looked at buying a resale timeshare, but trying to understand the advantage of purchasing, vs renting? From first glance it seems easier and less expensive upfront to rent. Anything i am missing i should consider?

johna1831 wrote:

I have looked at buying a resale timeshare, but trying to understand the advantage of purchasing, vs renting? From first glance it seems easier and less expensive upfront to rent. Anything i am missing i should consider?

Keep foremost in your mind that timeshare ownership is usually very easy to acquire but often very difficult to part with later. Also remember that the annual maintenance fees of ownership will increase every year, without fail. “Exchanging” timeshare weeks has become both difficult and expensive and is definitely NOT a very good reason to buy (if “exchanging” is a significant objective in your plans).

Fwiw, I have owned, used and enjoyed numerous timeshare ownerships over the past 35+ years. In recent years, I have parted company with all but a few of those ownerships and I frankly do not plan to buy any timeshare weeks again in the future.

My advice is to rent, not buy. By renting, you will have much more flexibility, many more location choices and lower overall costs --- with no ever-increasing annual maintenance fee obligations or any prospects for surprise future “special assessments”.

Just my own personal opinion, based upon several decades of owning and using timeshares, as well as renting weeks from other timeshare owners. YMMV.

johna1831 wrote:

I have looked at buying a resale timeshare, but trying to understand the advantage of purchasing, vs renting? From first glance it seems easier and less expensive upfront to rent. Anything i am missing i should consider?

You've said you have looked at the two options, but have you actually tried both? Renting first gives you a chance to try before you buy. Sometimes renting can be cheaper than the annual maintenance fees.

Some owners say that they are happy with what they have because they know what, where, and when they'll have a week to stay. And in some cases, the maintenance fees are cheaper than what a rental would fetch.

But as KC mentioned above, if you get tired of ownership or it no longer suits your travel needs and desires, getting rid of it can be expensive and time-consuming.

I am wanting to sell my Vistana timeshare and am wondering how to do it. You stated you have sold yours in the past. Any advice for me?

pamf227 wrote:

I am wanting to sell my...Any advice for me?

Check out this article:

https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/how-to-sell-your-timeshare-and-avoid-getting-scammed.44/

This is an age-old debate; to buy versus renting. It depends on how you wish to use your weeks and how much hassle you want to put up with if you rent them out. If you always use the weeks yourself and enjoy that sort of vacation, then purchasing makes some sense. I've owned and rented out weeks over the last 10 years. The maintenance fees keep going up as everyone has pointed out. I'm up to about $3,000 per year now based on two contracts that give me a couple weeks every year. Now my wife and I would like to visit Europe more than stay in a U.S. timeshare, so we started to rent out our weeks to pay the maintenance fees and if there's any left over to pay down our contracted purchase (which we financed via American Express to earn points). If you rent out a week in Hawaii it can more than pay for your maintenance fees. But if you rent out a week in Palm Desert you won't get the same rental fees and it most likely will not fully cover your maintenance fees. So you need to understand how much you can rent it out for and where. BTW renting weeks via Redweek has been relatively easy and hassle free. If you rent your weeks you have the added stress of waiting for someone to rent it. If it doesn't rent, you either go yourself, or lose the week. Last year we gave up a week that didn't rent because we recently traveled to Europe and would have incurred additional travel expenses to use the timeshare week. We opted to save the transporation and food cost, so gave up the timeshare week.

Here's another hassle to consider. Redweek now has to file a 1099 form for any weeks you successfully rented. That means the IRS will be looking to see that you reported the rental income. I have not 100% determined that it's correct to offset the rental income with your maintenance fees, but some people think that's appropriate. You will have to research that and make your own determination for tax purposes. Good luck!