Thank goodness for this site! (Bought from developer; then rescinded!)

Okay so I went to a time share "presentation" for the first time in my life, and I am not young. My husband and I got completely sucked in and we bought a time share. I came home with a knot in my stomach and did "buyers remorse research" and found this site. We rescinded the contract in the exact manner prescribed, and now we wait to hear from the company.
I really appreciate everything we read here and maybe will buy again in the future, but it WILL be resale. We thought that the vacation points part of the package was good and that we would use it, but it was the deeded home site, the maintenance, and the financing interest that was the really costly part.
Does any time program just have the vacation points part without the deeded homesite. After reading the public offering it seems that the company can really kill you on the maintenance fees and "accessment fees.

If you want to try it out, do a search for rci rentals for people who don't own timeshares. It was on several other post on this site. If you can't afford maintenance fees but like timesharing and want to try it on for size, you can get great rental deals here from owners and never have to purchase. I purchased my Wyndam (RESALE and new - but that's another story) for lots of great locations and thankfully we paid them in full so we didn't have the pain of ts mortgage on top of monthly maintenance fees. When you purchase resale its a lot more enjoyable. Congratulations on saving yourself great financial frustration...

The Nick Of Time.

Hi Cozi & Welcome To TUG.

By catching on to Timeshare Reality No. 1 before it's too late to rescind your full-freight timeshare purchase, you are way ahead of the game starting now no matter what happens next. The 1st & essential element in The Wisdom Of TUG is Buy Resale, Save Thousands.

While you are mulling over that 1, here are 2 more semi-inconvenient truths about timeshares.

Timeshare Reality No. 2 : There is no such thing as a new timeshare. By the time you show up & check in, all timeshares are used-used-used no matter how much you pay. Since none of'm are new, why ever pay new prices for 1 ?

Timeshare Reality No. 3 : Buying a timeshare is not the same as buying prepaid vacations -- no way. Even if you got your timeshare deed el freebo, you still have to pony up those mandatory annual maintenance fees & taxes & reserve payments every year, year after year, world-without-end-amen. Those recurring annual fees are the real cost of timeshare vacationing. (But if you save thousands -- as you can by buying resale -- you can cover many years of annual timeshare fees & still be way ahead of the game compared with paying full freight for a "new" timeshare that's no such thing.)

Our timeshare philosophy, more or less, is staying in luxury timeshare vacation accommodations for roughly Motel 6 & Super 8 rates. For sure we couldn't do that if we paid full freight for our timeshares. By buying resale, however, & applying our penny-pinching nature to our annual fees & our timeshare-exchange points & to our straight-weeks timeshare exchanges, we can pretty much get it to work out OK.

Not only that, via TUG-BBS & a Yahoo timeshare "group" we're signed up with, we can get vicarious enjoyment out of timeshares & timesharing all year round right from the comfort of our computer screen. Who'd a-thunk ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

I have a lot to learn.

Thanks to you both for your reply. This is my first time on the site and I am learning.

Learning About Timeshares Is Fun. Having Fun Is Also Fun.

cozi1400 said:

Thanks to you both for your reply. This is my first time on the site and I am learning.

Click to expand...

Don't feel bad about being pulled in by that high-pressure sales presentation. It was no accident. Those timeshare sales sessions are designed exactly that way.

We've felt that pull ourselves -- experiencing all that familiar discomfort initially, then getting used to it -- so much so that now all that arm-twisting pressure to buy-buy-buy right now-now-now affects us approximately the way rain showers affect ducks. Shux, these days we sometimes still go on timeshare tours -- just for fun (& maybe some freebies).

Click here for our (mostly) complete timeshare story, high-pressure timeshare tours & all.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Spend 6 months learning about timeshare THEN buy one if you want. Resales are normally the way to go but if you are good a negotiating you can find some occasions/developers who will haggle and get a hot holiday week or a great location in the resort for little more than resale. But that takes some skill and a lot of knowledge.

Rent first - use RedWeek and MyResortNetwork to find rentals that are little more than the Maintenance Fee and you might find that owning a timeshare is not needed - just rent from the surplus of timeshares out there.

With a little knowledge and a little flexibility you can stay at $35k Marriotts with $1k MFs for just $3k outlay of cash and MFs and exchange fees for just $400 per week. It takes a lot of justification to pay a penny more these days.

I think I will join TUG as a member

I read your story, and my time share "pressure" presentation was in Atlantic City too, but I succumbed. I will be nervous until I get those certified registered return receipts back! USPS web site has confirmed delivery though.
Renting sounds like the ideal beginning for us. There are a lot of nuances in learning about how to take the best advantage of time sharing, and I think 6 months of studying is a good suggestion. I will join TUG and read, read, read, Thanks again to you both.

Welcome to TUG. You might find this thread good reading to get you started.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48447

We LOVE developers who create the resorts BUT

Don't get the wrong idea. There is nothing wrong with developers. Without them we wouldn't have the great, purpose built resorts that exist in many areas today or even the much less desirable, but often located in a good area, converted motels/apartments that populate the timeshare landscape.

The problem is the system of selling that evolved and has led to the undesirable spread between retail (developer) purchase and resale (sale from an existing owner). The way timeshares are pushed on people who don't consider all the ramifications and costs means within a short period of time even the best resorts and most desirable locations have far more people looking to sell - at virtually any price - than willing buyers. So if you can resist the hard sell and simply search for resales you will save thousands - maybe even tens of thousands - on the purchase price and then pay only the EXACT SAME ongoing fees. There is no advantage in unit/room age or condition or ongoing cost by buying retail only the greatly inflated cost.

I don't know how this model has survived this long but it sure means those that find resale save big dollars for the exact same vacation experience so well described by the high pressure developer sales pitches.

Model, Shmoddle.

timeos2 said:

The problem is the system of selling that evolved and has led to the undesirable spread between retail (developer) purchase and resale (sale from an existing owner). The way timeshares are pushed on people who don't consider all the ramifications and costs means within a short period of time even the best resorts and most desirable locations have far more people looking to sell - at virtually any price - than willing buyers. So if you can resist the hard sell and simply search for resales you will save thousands - maybe even tens of thousands - on the purchase price and then pay only the EXACT SAME ongoing fees. There is no advantage in unit/room age or condition or ongoing cost by buying retail only the greatly inflated cost.

I don't know how this model has survived this long but it sure means those that find resale save big dollars for the exact same vacation experience so well described by the high pressure developer sales pitches.

Click to expand...

Sounds like somebody else beside me thinks the Timeshare Industry is ripe for a new biz model.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

cozi1400 said:

I read your story, and my time share "pressure" presentation was in Atlantic City too, but I succumbed. I will be nervous until I get those certified registered return receipts back! USPS web site has confirmed delivery though.
Renting sounds like the ideal beginning for us. There are a lot of nuances in learning about how to take the best advantage of time sharing, and I think 6 months of studying is a good suggestion. I will join TUG and read, read, read, Thanks again to you both.

Click to expand...

IMHO, the way to view TS sales is to consider the annual MF's to be your cost to stay, in lieu of rent or hotel room, and if you come out ahead, that's nice. However, the price for the deed is little more than a donation to the developer's capital account. Its much saner to compensate another buyer for the contribution they've already made.

Welcome to TUG! Everything that Alan said. He knows all!!!!!!

Welcome to Tug and congrats on finding this site before you looked back and regretted your purchase.

As others have suggested, stick around for a few months and read the posts here daily. It will quickly become addictive ...seriously, though, you will get a feel for what is out there and gravitate towards what is right for you and your lifestyle.

A few generalizations to consider:
-where do you like to travel
-when do you like to travel (peak season, off-peak, school vacations, etc.?)
-size and type of accommodations you like/need/are willing to pay for. Many people are happy with simpler accommodations, while others want resorts that approach luxury hotels. It all comes with a price. Decide for yourself what you want and what you can afford.
-What can you afford? Timeshares are great, but they are a luxury. Most people here will tell you that financing them is never a good idea, since you land up paying a whole lot more. Many use HELOC's in lieu of liquid assets and that's a personal financial decision, but if you were relying on a developer's loan at exorbitant interest think again.
-How far in advance do you like to plan? This is actually a big consideration, because different systems work better for advance planners, while those planning at the last minute (within 2 months or less of travel) can take advantage of other systems.

Keep the answers to these questions in mind as you scour the posts. Feel free to ask questions as you go along.

Everything I Know About Timeshares I Learned Right Here.

applegirl said:

Everything that Alan said. He knows all!

Click to expand...

Whoa ! -- There's plenty of stuff (i.e., lots & lots) about timeshares that I don't know, but I'm working on it.

Plus, all the stuff about timeshares that I do know I learned right here from folks like Dave M & JLB & Bill4728 & BillR & John Cummings & Carolinian & T_R_Oglodyte & timeos2 & BocaBum99 & Steamboat Bill & johnmfaeth & Spence & Hoc & geekette & Makai Guy & Denise L & Fern Modena & Karen G & Timeshare Von & John Cummings & lots more -- way more TUG folks than I can possibly remember. Those are the people who know all.

As for me, I don't have 1 original idea in my head. (Although I may have some semi-original ways of expressing certain ideas that I pick up elsewhere.) Plus, I do all right by paying attention to stuff & remembering (most of) it.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

As others have suggested, stick around for a few months and read the posts here daily. It will quickly become addictive

:whoopie: ADDICTIVE, I NEED MY FIX OF THIS BBS AT LEAST ONCE 2-3 HOURS EACH DAY!!