Has anyone bought a "used" timeshare?

[rnorwo1]

I keep hearing about people selling their timeshares for next to nothing just to get out of their maintenance fees. I looked at Ebay and really cannot understand what I'm looking at... most of them appear to be a specific week each year or good for just one location? I'm interested in exploring a points based timeshare that has a lot of flexibility and many locations all over the US, maybe even some international locations too. Do any like that exist?

Now that our kids are a little older, we want to travel more frequently and expose them to places other than WDW, so I wanted to explore if this may be a cheaper way to do that. I know in general timeshares are not a good idea, but if I can get one close to free with reasonable maintenance fees, then maybe it could guarantee us decent hotels at reasonable prices?

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts/experiences (where they bought, through which agency/site, experiences with booking, etc...) Thanks!!!

 

[jcanary]

ebay is the place to find it. I just purchased Wyndham which has resorts all around this world. they are point based and since we have owned the disney vacation club since 1993 I am most familar with it. You may want to check out tug2 dot net, they have a lot of info. Hopefully i can give you the other site. Good luck. There are some great buys. I bought points at a myrtle beach resort because it gives us advantage at all of their myrtle beach resorts and we love it there. Planning on using our new points at St. Thomas in June.

 

[rnorwo1]

ebay is the place to find it. I just purchased Wyndham which has resorts all around this world. they are point based and since we have owned the disney vacation club since 1993 I am most familar with it. You may want to check out tug2 dot net, they have a lot of info. Hopefully i can give you the other site. Good luck. There are some great buys. I bought points at a myrtle beach resort because it gives us advantage at all of their myrtle beach resorts and we love it there. Planning on using our new points at St. Thomas in June.

Thanks! I did see a good bit of Wyndham available, but I wasn't sure if you could use the points anywhere b/c the listings just gave the details for the "home" resorts, to use DVC lingo. Is it the same principle, that you can use any of their resorts, or do you have to trade into RCI or something to get into another Wyndham resort?

 

[ready123go]

Thanks! I did see a good bit of Wyndham available, but I wasn't sure if you could use the points anywhere b/c the listings just gave the details for the "home" resorts, to use DVC lingo. Is it the same principle, that you can use any of their resorts, or do you have to trade into RCI or something to get into another Wyndham resort?

Wyndham is it's own "mini-system" so you can trade within the system, but you can also trade through RCI into other systems (don't know about II). Read up on any timeshare before purchasing on TUG Timeshares Users Group and/or TS4MS Timeshare Forums. For Wyndham specifically - Wyndham Resorts Forum and Wyndham Member Directory

Wyndham seems to be a good system - we were strongly considering it (still haven't dismissed it). With Wyndham watch the MF per point price - it isn't standard at each resort like DVC. It can vary by quite a bit.

Good luck!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Yes, we've bought several. We have a NC timeshare that we use for trading through II for Marriott. We paid around $700 for it several years ago on Ebay and pay around $650/year in dues on it. It's worth it as it gets us outstanding Marriott trades.

We also have a Wyndham resale that we bought for a song on Ebay (also around $700 I think) a few years ago. It's for 230K points I think, and that is enough to get us 5 nights in a 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek over Thanksgiving every year with enough extra points left over to deposit into RCI to get DVC 1 bedroom trade every year (if we want to). We bought the resale at a Wyndham in Williamsburg after researching maintenance fees on TUG2. We pay $73.80/month in dues on this timeshare.

Buying resale is the way to go, but do your research first!

 

[highwayg]

Ok, I was looking into buying a resale as well but have no idea what I am doing. Thanks for the links. It is like another language!

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks so much for the links... I've found a guide for dummies on one of the forums, but it's still confusing me . Looks like I'll have to do quite a bit of research. So much of it is about the dedicated weeks, and I'm only interested in points, so hopefully I can clear that up soon. I did see on one of the forums that someone just won a wyndham on ebay for $1, so that's encouraging!

 

[Sinderelly]

Could you please share the link for dummies. DH has one he wants to sell but we don't know how to go about it. Hopefully there will be something in there about selling for dummies too

 

[Julia M]

We've bought two "used" timeshares. I strongly suggest you visit the website for Timeshare Users Group (tug2.net). It;s about $15 per year and the money is well worth it!

We have been very happy with our purchases.

Julia

 

[HeatherC]

With sites like govarm, getravelop, myresortnetwork, condodirect and redweek we have been able to rent tons of timeshares wherever and whenever we want for far less than the yearly maintenance fees would cost.

We have also never had a problem renting at a specific resort for a specific week like many owners have.

As an example, several times we have paid about $250 a week TOTAL for two bedrooms in places like Williamsburg, Cape Cod and Orlando.

For us, we like not having to be committed to those yearly dues which do tend increase yearly and having the flexibility to rent wherever we want.

Not trying to talk you out of anything, just letting you know our experience.

Best of luck to you!

 

[TnTWalter]

You sound like a newbie so just want to make sure you pay close attention to the maintenance fees for the timeshare you get for $1. If the maintenance fees are $1500 a year might not be such a 'steal'. People sell them for $1 for a reason.

IMHO it's WAYYYYY easier and cheaper to RENT from owners.

We scored Bonnet Creek Prime Spring Break week for $600. Less popular weeks go for as little as $200.

Trish

 

[cjnix29]

I've bought both from the developer and on the resale market. Echo what others have said...do your research! It works for some, doesn't work for others. We own bluegreen, and have been happy with it. Our resale purchases have come from thetimesharekahuna.com. I trust the people there. If you buy on ebay, be absolutely sure what you are buying. Not sure how it works in other systems, but in bluegreen, there are different maintenance fee calculations depending on what you buy. So you have to make sure you know. Good luck!

 

[rockydek]

I have bought several...Just make sure ...No outstanding balance...overdue maint fees.
I agree that tug is the best place to start... Ebay could be anyone....tug is more trustworthy.

 

[shame711]

Bought one used 12 years ago before eBay and never looked back. Like the earlier poster said www.tug2.net is the place to go to learn everything you need to know about buying a timeshare, it's like the disboards for timeshare.

I own in Orlando and would not recommend that you buy there if you are planning on trading alot. It's all about supply and demand and despite the large demand for Orlando the supply huge.

 

[DawnM]

For the past 6 years we have used SkyAuction.com and bought blowout weeks for between $149-$299 per week including taxes.

When we stayed at Westgate once (we will never stay there again, but that is for another post!) we met some really great folks each night in the hot tub. Each night we met owners who say they regretted buying. They were paying triple what we paid for the week and no longer even wanted to own. One commented that he wouldn't want to strap his grown son with the fees when he passed away.

Just make sure you are fully aware of all the costs involved. For US buying a timeshare is not something that would benefit us.

Dawn

You sound like a newbie so just want to make sure you pay close attention to the maintenance fees for the timeshare you get for $1. If the maintenance fees are $1500 a year might not be such a 'steal'. People sell them for $1 for a reason.

IMHO it's WAYYYYY easier and cheaper to RENT from owners.

We scored Bonnet Creek Prime Spring Break week for $600. Less popular weeks go for as little as $200.

Trish

 

[chalee94]

Has anyone bought a "used" timeshare?

lol. only a small handful of people have ever bought a "new" timeshare. i stayed in BLT before many of the people who bought in. but no matter how you buy it...after the first guest stay, the timeshare has been "used."

(and i know you mean "has anyone bought a timeshare resale (as opposed to a direct purchase from the developer)?" but the language just struck me as funny.)

I keep hearing about people selling their timeshares for next to nothing just to get out of their maintenance fees. I looked at Ebay and really cannot understand what I'm looking at... most of them appear to be a specific week each year or good for just one location? I'm interested in exploring a points based timeshare that has a lot of flexibility and many locations all over the US, maybe even some international locations too. Do any like that exist?

keep in mind there are tradeoffs. if you want a points system and flexibility, you'll have to pay more for that.

i add another vote for TUG - spend at least 6 months there doing your homework and reading posts from owners of the system(s) you prefer until you get a handle on whether it would likely work for you.

if you are happy with hotel rooms, you may want to stick with that...but if you'd prefer to spread out in 2BR villas, timeshares are a very nice alternative. but take your time...timeshares are easy to buy but can be tough to sell...

 

[chalee94]

DH has one he wants to sell but we don't know how to go about it. Hopefully there will be something in there about selling for dummies too

TUG is a great place to learn about avoiding scams and getting rid of a timeshare that you no longer use.

the reality is that most timeshares have little to no value in the current economy. in a lot of cases, you will need to be content to give it away.

borrowing from denise on TUG:

To see what your timeshare is really worth on the current resale market:

1) Register with ebay
2) Sign in
3) Search for your resort by exact name
4) From the menu on the left click "completed listings"
5) The next page will show you current selling prices

(Be sure you look at the completed listings in green - those are actually SELLING prices - you will find asking prices all over the place, but what really counts is what they actually sold for.)

but don't fall for scams offering to sell your timeshare for thousands if you'll forward them a large fee upfront. you'll only be throwing away your money.

 

[Green-bay]

We bought two timeshares from e-bay. Great deals, but we did all the research that everyone else has mentioned. We had them for over 10 years now and use them both every year so if it works for you, go buy them.

 

[rnorwo1]

lol. only a small handful of people have ever bought a "new" timeshare. i stayed in BLT before many of the people who bought in. but no matter how you buy it...after the first guest stay, the timeshare has been "used."

(and i know you mean "has anyone bought a timeshare resale (as opposed to a direct purchase from the developer)?" but the language just struck me as funny.)

Thanks so much for all of the replies. I guess what I was hoping for was a small contract with enough points for a week at most places but with fees low enough to make it cheaper than a hotel room. We have 3 boys who are one day going to be big enough to make a hotel room very uncomfortable! I'll have to look at the maintenance fees closer, I certainly will not pay $1,500 a year! I was thinking more like $400-500, but maybe that would be too small of a contract to do anything with.

Also, if we decided later that we didn't want it, couldn't we just give it away also? What if someone doesn't want it, is there anyway to "quit" it?

I've never rented from anyone, but I'll definitely explore that too. Thanks for the idea, never thought about that!

 

[bettymae1121]

Thanks so much for all of the replies. I guess what I was hoping for was a small contract with enough points for a week at most places but with fees low enough to make it cheaper than a hotel room. We have 3 boys who are one day going to be big enough to make a hotel room very uncomfortable! I'll have to look at the maintenance fees closer, I certainly will not pay $1,500 a year! I was thinking more like $400-500, but maybe that would be too small of a contract to do anything with.

Also, if we decided later that we didn't want it, couldn't we just give it away also? What if someone doesn't want it, is there anyway to "quit" it?

I've never rented from anyone, but I'll definitely explore that too. Thanks for the idea, never thought about that!

I know you're saying a hotel room will be too small for you at one point, but you (and other people reading the thread) may also want to consider a credit card that earns hotel points rather than a time share. If you're the type that charges everything you buy and pay it off monthly, it can be a great way to stay for no more than the cost of the card's anual fee.

I just signed up for the Amex Starwood (Sheraton/Westin) card. By my calculation we can spend 7 nights free:

1x every two years in Disneyland (sheraton anaheim)
1x every 2.5 years in WDW (Dolphin)
1x every year visiting MIL in PA (her home is too small for us to stay with her)
1x every 2.5 years in NYC

And three nights every 1.5 years in Vegas. And those are just the places I've researched, Sheraton/Westin have locations all over the world, I doubt there isn't a place we'd want to visit that wouldn't have a hotel we could use our points for.

No, it won't let us stay free for a week every year (except to visit MIL) but a free week every two years or so isn't a bad deal for a $65 annual fee, all for buying things we'd buy anyway. For DH and I, now that we are expecting our first, I doubt we'll vacation more often than every other year in any case.

I just wanted to throw that out there, for those looking to vacation relatively frequently but don't want the hassle/risk/expense of a time share.