posted 05-10-2005 15:59               

I would like to purchase a timeshare (RESALE) for Vacation and for Investment what resorts should I look into?

Who offers the best incentives and options, Points etc?

Thanks,

posted 05-10-2005 16:13               

Investment - Forget it. Don't plan on it. Consider it money spent on vacation. Whatever you may get when you are ready to resell is a bonus and, most likely, won't come close to what you paid in annual fees while you owned. But it shouldn't matter as you will have had the best vacations and thats what really mattered.

posted 05-10-2005 16:56               

Most timeshares don't.(even though the underlying real estate should go up w/ other appreciation).

If you could buy at rock-bottom resale/wholesale price, you'd have a good shot at selling it in the future for a little more than you paid today.(and please share that magic source of the below-market priced TS with us! )

posted 05-10-2005 17:53               

I'm thinking of placeing a bid for a 2 bed,2 bath gold flex at Harborside for $20,700. Is this a fair price or to low of an offer?

posted 05-11-2005 17:35               

quote:

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Originally posted by spiceycat:
that seems expensive to me for a resale.

Marriott, DVC and lately HGVC have gone up in value - not down - because the owner companies are either buying back directly from the owners or like Disney using their ROFR (right of first refusal) to make sure the prices don't go down.

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No they haven't. As soon as you buy (from the developer), it goes down 30-40%. It may go up from there a bit. But, it definitely goes down before it goes up.

If you are talking resale, then it's far easier to buy a non-branded timeshare below market and then sell it at market for a profit.

Anyone who believes that timeshares are not investments hasn't taken the time to figure out how to make timeshares an investment that can payback a handsome return.

There are a lot of people making money buying, selling and renting timeshares. To say timeshares are not for investments is false.

posted 05-12-2005 16:21               

quote:

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Originally posted by Judy:
But as soon as you drive away from the dealer in your new car, it's lost a good portion of its value. When you buy a timeshare from the developer, the same thing happens.

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posted 05-19-2005 14:28               

I wouldn’t expect it to appreciate much, but you may be able to make money by renting it out. For example, I’ve seen resales that sale for $10,000 with MF of around $600 that I think you could rent out for between $1,500 and $2,000. If rented out for $2,000 that is a yearly profit of $1,400, which is an annual return of ($1,400/$10,000) 14% with 0 appreciation. You could increase your cash on cash return by using a home equity line of credit to create some leverage. I don’t see why you couldn’t amortize a time share over fifteen to thirty years, if you expect to own it for that long. Even at an interest rate of ten percent the returns on the example I mentioned above are quite attractive. The most important thing is that you have a high demand week to rent out.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has bought a timeshare as an investment or has any thoughts on my observations.

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Amit

posted 05-19-2005 14:54               

quote:

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Originally posted by aroy11462:
...I wouldn’t expect it to appreciate much, but you may be able to make money by renting it out. For example, I’ve seen resales that sale for $10,000 with MF of around $600 that I think you could rent out for between $1,500 and $2,000. ...

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posted 05-19-2005 14:56               

quote:

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Originally posted by BocaBum99:
No they haven't. As soon as you buy (from the developer), it goes down 30-40%. It may go up from there a bit. But, it definitely goes down before it goes up.

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Actually, the cost to buy a HGVC or Marriott week has gone up secondary to the developer exercising ROFR on contracts IF (and it's a big if) you really want the week without paying developer priceing.

Now it might not be going "up" in value but the price to me to buy resale has increased on units that they are exercising ROFR.

As for buying TS as an investment, there are better places to put your money that will earn net income with less hassle, like a savings account at 0.5% intrest.

The idea of renting the LO portion does have merit but, keep in mind the hassles you'll be dealing with. Some are people who will want to treat their reservation like a hotel room and want full refunds when they want to cancel one week before traveling, getting people to pay up front, people who complain about the accomadations and want a refund (partial or full), finding and keeping contracts that cover your back side et...... IMO, it's to much work for to little return.

I preffer to use my LO units to travel to TS's withing easy driving distance and use them for long weekend trips rather than full weeks. In most cases I can get accomadations nicer than a hotel room and the cost (exchange fee + any fee to LO the unit, if there is one), is less.

The exception might be Marriott which has a turn key program to rent your unit through them. You tell them you want to rent it and they do all the work......for a fee. I've heard they charge anywhere from 40% to 55% of the gross reciepts to rent a unit out. Personally, I've never tried it but have considered it.

posted 05-19-2005 15:03               

The problem is, by their nature, business and forums don't go well together. That being said here is the guaranteed way to make money in timeshares. Find units that rent high and have low MF. Now the cat's out the bag!

posted 05-19-2005 22:08               

1 Prime example - go to WDW INFO and check out the DVC Rental Board - In less then a day every poster with points to rent is getting $10-11 per point vs a maintenace fee of $4 for those points - They are netting an average of $1400 after maintenace fees on a typical 1 bedroom rental

DVC is also an exception to the rule that timeshares dont appreciate - these units have been appreciating at close to 4% per year over the last decade - This has been accomplised through Disney's ROFR program

There are definately drawbacks - High upfront cost would be one and a limited ownership period - currently 38 and 50 years -

Despite these drawbacks - DVC is an excellent investment - If you have the money

posted 05-20-2005 04:34               

quote:

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Originally posted by dougp26364:
Actually, the cost to buy a HGVC or Marriott week has gone up secondary to the developer exercising ROFR on contracts IF (and it's a big if) you really want the week without paying developer priceing.

Now it might not be going "up" in value but the price to me to buy resale has increased on units that they are exercising ROFR.

As for buying TS as an investment, there are better places to put your money that will earn net income with less hassle, like a savings account at 0.5% intrest.

The idea of renting the LO portion does have merit but, keep in mind the hassles you'll be dealing with. Some are people who will want to treat their reservation like a hotel room and want full refunds when they want to cancel one week before traveling, getting people to pay up front, people who complain about the accomadations and want a refund (partial or full), finding and keeping contracts that cover your back side et...... IMO, it's to much work for to little return.

I preffer to use my LO units to travel to TS's withing easy driving distance and use them for long weekend trips rather than full weeks. In most cases I can get accomadations nicer than a hotel room and the cost (exchange fee + any fee to LO the unit, if there is one), is less.

The exception might be Marriott which has a turn key program to rent your unit through them. You tell them you want to rent it and they do all the work......for a fee. I've heard they charge anywhere from 40% to 55% of the gross reciepts to rent a unit out. Personally, I've never tried it but have considered it.

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Just because your price to buy has gone up doesn't mean that your price to sell has gone up, too. It just means that the developer gets the good deals and not you.

posted 05-20-2005 05:50               

The big problem with St. John is that once you go, you want to go every year. That's why there are so few resales, plus the resort has now maxed out its build and there will be no more units. We've been offered $50,000 for our week, but don't want to sell; in fact, we're thinking of buying another in a different season. So, if you really want an investment, and don't plan on going every year, IMHO I'd recommend St. John.

posted 05-22-2005 20:08               

quote:

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Originally posted by mincone:
Hi All,

I would like to purchase a timeshare (RESALE) for Vacation and for Investment what resorts should I look into?

Who offers the best incentives and options, Points etc?

Thanks,

John

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