slo’s TUESDAY 9/13 poll - Timeshare

[LoveSpringsteen]

We don’t own any. My husband’s best friend owns 3 weeks at an offsite Orlando resort and he loves it. We’ve stayed there once with him and it is a nice resort.

 

[Micca]

DVC here, works great for us

 

[Babs Johnson]

I don’t like the business model, would never trust anyone who sells them and no perk or prize they offer would ever be enough to get me to sit through a presentation. I’ll also never stay at a resort that is affiliated with a timeshare - the harassment of regular, paying guests to attend sales pitches is infuriating.

We once stayed at a Marriott near Sea World Orlando that was actually a timeshare. Never again. They were constantly trying to get us to attend a sales presentation. We only stayed for 3 nights but we felt like checking out the second day after about the fifth “courtesy call” about buying.

Shame on us for not doing our homework before booking.

Disney has tons of timeshares yet when we stayed at Disney resorts there was never any pressure to buy in. A simple “ no thank you” and they left us alone. I don’t know if this is still the case.

 

[jdtopgun71]

We own Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare. We pretty much have only stayed in Orlando and they have a good selection of properties there. I would not do it again although I believe my DW would. When you look at the cost of the timeshare itself plus maintenance fees it really isn't worth it. I haven't looked at the cost, but I would think DVC would be a much better value considering how expensive Disney Resorts have gotten plus to stay on property is a huge bonus.

 

[soccerdad72]

Yes, we own with Vistana (Sheraton), which just merged with Marriott Vacation Club. It's been ok, but kind of a PITA to deal with as well.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Nope. We’ve stayed a few times at timeshares owned by friends, in Orlando and at a ski resort in Vermont, and they were very nice, but we have no interest in buying. Just not our thing.

 

[HeatherC]

Never owned one. Same story with my mother in law. We are trying to urge her to sell one so we are not saddled with it.

We have always been able to rent beautiful villas for less money than the yearly maintenance fee at a timeshare so it never made sense for us. Many years we used SkyAuction and myresortnetwork and were able to literally rent two or three bedroom villas for under $500 a week including all taxes. Now that the kids are grown, we love to try new places and still find it cheaper to book a place through VRBO or even a hotel for less than the maintenance fees.

I know people love them and do use them and that is great! It just never made sense for our family.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've seriously considered buying a DVC resale contract, but haven't ever bit the bullet because other stuff has always come up. Once my kids are done with college, I intend to get a DVC contract. I wouldn't ever consider buying a timeshare that is non-DVC...I think those are a waste of money.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I have a timeshare (bought in my mid 20s when the housing market was ridiculous - my housing down payment bought it, then I saved up again) and have absolutely loved it. It was everything I wanted, and now it's a nice huge travel discount and a huge encouragement to take 1 weeklong trip/year. I bought a smallish points contract on a big discount, but it was direct, so I have a reasonable maintenance cost, which pricing out my vacays with only hotels, saves us $2K/year for hotel costs now (since a 2 bedroom condo works for us, while we need 2 hotel rooms, with one having a kitchen, for my allergies, which gets pricey fast, especially for where we want to go), and I get all the bennies of direct buying.

Best decision I made for my family, especially with my health and family size now. But I never expanded my initial purchase b/c I bought what I thought I needed, and no more.

PS - My original purchase company was bought by Wyndham...although it was probably better for me that I made the purchase with that original company.

 

[Mysterian]

I do not have a timeshare. I wouldn't be opposed to trying the DVC.

 

[_19disnA]

My brother bought a timeshare and he can't get out of it. They've literally tried to give it away, even offering to pay the costs associated with transferring it and the first years dues, no luck. He can't give it away! They even explored one of those 'get out of your timeshare' places, but turns out it's not that simple. I don't think they've used it in 5-10 years, they just keep paying the dues.

No - not now and not ever. It doesn’t suit our style of vacationing and there’s no way we’d get our money’s worth. We know many people who have folded under the high pressure pitch and ended up with contract they really didn’t understand, dreaming of sand and sun but the reality was relentless payments and fees they struggled to get out from under.

I don’t like the business model, would never trust anyone who sells them and no perk or prize they offer would ever be enough to get me to sit through a presentation. I’ll also never stay at a resort that is affiliated with a timeshare - the harassment of regular, paying guests to attend sales pitches is infuriating.

^^ That was our experience as well when my parents owned a timeshare. Need to ask yourself why anyone selling a reputable product has to resort to high pressure sales tactics? That should be your first indication to stay away.

Would NEVER own a timeshare and advise anyone considering it to not get involved. Parents used to own a non-Disney timeshare and most of the what they were originally told were lies or just misleading information. Costs went up over the years where they would have been better off to rent someplace on vacation without all of the added complications. There is ZERO resale market and you eventually get stuck with a debt (annual fees/etc.) for a worthless asset. Once they got up in their years and unable to travel they were stuck with something they couldn't get rid of. I got involved and finally helped them get rid of their timeshare. Now there are various other scams out there that offer to help you sell your timeshare for an upfront fee (they pocket your money and few months later tell you they couldn't find a buyer) or the ones who supposedly offer some kind of legal paperwork to allow you to 'dispose' of your timeshare.

Timeshare is NOT a real estate investment and most of the people building/selling them can't be trusted. Too many sleazy operators who pocket your money and then move down the road to start another timeshare. When it comes times for expensive repairs (roofing/furniture/HVAC/etc.), the initial money is long gone so they have to raise their annual fees. The whole industry has such a terrible reputation that is why many are now called something else such as..........vacation club or fractional ownership..........but they are still timeshares. Industry seems poorly regulated so the sleazy operators have swooped in and use it as a way to make a fast buck.

While Disney may be a more reputable operator, there is no guarantee that down the road they won't sell off their timeshare business to some other less reputable owner.

 

[pxidst119]

I have had one for years and love it. I don’t think we could have traveled as much with a family of 5 without it. We didn’t pay much for it and our maintenance fees are low but we always get great trades in Orlando. We are looking forward to the empty nest since a more flexible schedule will open up many more destinations for us. Resale purchases are the way to go. My friend has an expensive Marriott timeshare and she’s very frustrated with it and wants to get rid of it. You have to plan ahead and really learn how it works but once you do it can be great.

 

[kanerf]

Timeshares are not for everyone and if you do take the plunge you need to make sure you understand all of the rules and benefits of your property. You really need to do your homework before thinking about buying either direct or resale. Many timeshares can be had for next to nothing because of the cost of maintenance is high or it is difficult to make reservations when you want them. This is another problem that many do not understand. If you own a timeshare, you need to be a planner, you cannot wait until a month or so before you want to vacation to make plans. You need to make those plans 7-13 months in advance, depending on the rules of your property.

 

[nw6675]

Only once did we ever consider it (Las Vegas), but we decided we like control and variety too much to buy into one. As for DVC, we don't trust the company enough to buy in. We just rent points when and where we want at a discount or otherwise use the military discount to stay in the deluxe hotels.

 

[mrsstats79]

We have 2 - but they are every other year so we have an even and odd year. One is Vistana in Orlando, the other is in Vegas. The one in Orlando we trade every year for Port St Lucie. The Vegas we always use. We bought them resale and are happy with them. If I got rid of one it would be the Florida one since we are in our 70's and don't use if enough.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t like the business model, would never trust anyone who sells them and no perk or prize they offer would ever be enough to get me to sit through a presentation. I’ll also never stay at a resort that is affiliated with a timeshare - the harassment of regular, paying guests to attend sales pitches is infuriating.

I am looking for a job and have been for a while now. A half decent job was posted for one of the big timeshares in Orlando, but my dislike of timeshares runs so deep that I couldn’t bring myself to apply. I would have felt dirty going to work every day. My last job did business with some of the timeshare resorts in town, although not my department specifically, and that is as close as I ever care to get.

I have never owned a timeshare, and neither did my parents. Some distant cousins owned one in Daytona Beach years ago, and it took them years to get out of it.

 

[tasha99]

We had 3 DVC contracts--SSR, BWV, and VGC. I sold the Disney World ones a few years ago. They were great, but Florida is too far, and we passed that point in our family's "age". Sadly, I sold VGC last year. It was by far the best of the contracts--I just love Disneyland, Grand Californian, and we can get there easily and have family in nearby Irvine. But, we sold it during the pandemic. We've sort of aged out of Disney with my kids transitioning into their 30s, plus, Disney seems less fun and more expensive than it used to be.

 

[tvguy]

When our kids were little, almost all our vacations were to visit and stay with family. So a time share made no sense. As I have posted before, I am constantly amazed at how much vacation time some people get and not to mention much disposable income people have for vacations. I never got more than 4 weeks, my wife got 5 weeks. I worked for my last employer for 16 years and if I had stayed another 14 years I would have bumped up to 5 weeks vacation at the 30 year's service mark.
I'm not sure what is a bigger business, time shares, or the law firms that specialize in getting you out of them.

 

[disney212]

We have 3 all DVC and all we could sell for more than we paid for them. No desire to own any outside of DVC. My dad owned SSR and sold it for more than he paid for it too. Disney bought it back.

 

[jimmymc]

I have a DVC contract. It's been the difference between staying at values/moderates and deluxe rooms, and so far has increased it's value to the point where I could sell it for thousands more than I bought in at if something went wrong. It's the only timeshare I would ever recommend because of those reasons.