LAS VEGAS MF's Went up

[prosperitylove79]

Has anyone noticed the MF's for Las Vegas Hilton has gone up???

[toontoy]

They went up about the same as my sea world. I wonder why the club dues is going up each year. When you consider things I figure its cheaper to just rent the rooms as when you stay in orlando for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom the charges hilton.com charges is less than with the fee's, its about a wash thoigh but ne we had to purchase. Hilton's fee's are very high in my opinion.

[UWSurfer]

I have two weeks in Vegas and yes they are up.

1 Bdrm @ HGVC LV Hilton: $585.72 (last year was 511.39*)

Op Fee: 424.89
Reserve:118.92
Real estate taxes: 38.91
Voluntary ARDA Fee: 3

(* Unsure if this included taxes last year)


2 Bdrm @ HGVC Flamingo: 785.81 (last year was $819.85)
2010 Operating Fee $594.99
2010 Reserve Fee $129.36
Real Estate Taxes $58.46
Vountary ARDA Fee $3.00
This is less than last year due to the sunset of a special assesement. That assessment was $133.54 last year.


Also worth noting, the FLamingo HOA set aside $108,300 for credit card processing fee's for those paying their MF's via credit card. That's a chunk!!!!

[timeos2]

Originally Posted by toontoy

They went up about the same as my sea world. I wonder why the club dues is going up each year. When you consider things I figure its cheaper to just rent the rooms as when you stay in orlando for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom the charges hilton.com charges is less than with the fee's, its about a wash thoigh but ne we had to purchase. Hilton's fee's are very high in my opinion.

The various "club" operators answer to no one and seem to feel it is their divine right to charge whatever they want for fees. Hilton is not alone in this but it is a rip off of the owners no matter how they paint it. With modern on line access the cost to run the clubs are going down not up yet the annual fees keep rising. Look for more every year almost guaranteed as well as more legitimate rises in operations & maintenance fees. It is a big problem and represents the true cost of timeshare. Purchase price, which is understandably tanking for nearly every resort/brand, means nothing anymore.

[riz]

New owner(of Flamingo 2BR), just saw we have a PDF of the bill in Statements section online.

2009 Operating Fee 586.54
2009 Reserve Fee 119.77
Real Estate Taxes 49.77

TOTAL AMOUNT DUE
756.08

[alwysonvac]

Originally Posted by prosperitylove79

Has anyone noticed the MF's for Las Vegas Hilton has gone up???

just in case you don't know.....MFs will normally go up every year.

See this old HGVC thread for examples of HGVC MF history - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88815

Here are examples of other hotel based timeshares MF history.
- Marriott Vacation Club http://www.tug2.net/advice/marriottmf.htm
- Disney Vacation Club http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...9&postcount=46

[prosperitylove79]

Riz - that is for 2009 - 2010 is just around the corner...

[riz]

Originally Posted by prosperitylove79

Riz - that is for 2009 - 2010 is just around the corner...

hummm....thats rather odd. They say its due by 1 Dec 2009 and they only recently showed up. If these are for __2009__ those were something we had in the sales contract that we did not have to pay. That our first MF would be due late 2009 for year 2010 use.

Guess I need to contact someone when I return if what you say is correct.
It is odd though that I would have gotten the PDF show up only recently, it was not there a week or so ago. I won't be paying for 2009 MF's, thats for sure, as that was already paid by the last owner (per the sales contract) someone seems to have a misunderstanding.

[namuh]

Originally Posted by UWSurfer

2 Bdrm @ HGVC Flamingo: 785.81 (last year was $819.85)
2010 Operating Fee $594.99
2010 Reserve Fee $129.36
Real Estate Taxes $58.46
Vountary ARDA Fee $3.00
This is less than last year due to the sunset of a special assesement. That assessment was $133.54 last year.
...

so disregarding the special assessment it looks like they raised fees at the Flamingo by about $100 in one year. That seems outrageous to me. I may have to reconsider buying a timeshare.

[hockeybrain]

Wow - I can imagine how much the Hawaii MF's will go up in 2010 - though still waiting for them to appear

[alwysonvac]

Originally Posted by namuh

so disregarding the special assessment it looks like they raised fees at the Flamingo by about $100 in one year. That seems outrageous to me. I may have to reconsider buying a timeshare.

no, it's only an increase of $26.73 (comparing the operating fee, reserve fee and real estate tax differences).

From post #6 of the 2009 MF thread- http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83985

Originally Posted by Blues

Here it is for the 7000 point 2BR Flamingo Platinum that I just bought:

Maintenance Fee and Tax Breakdown
Description Due Date Balance
2009 Operating Fee 01/01/09 $586.54
2009 Reserve Fee 01/01/09 $119.77
Real Estate Taxes 01/01/09 $49.77
2009 Club Dues 01/01/09 $95.00
2009 Refurb Assessment Pymt 2/2 01/01/09 $113.54
Total Current Balance: $964.62

-Bob

[timeos2]

Originally Posted by namuh

so disregarding the special assessment it looks like they raised fees at the Flamingo by about $100 in one year. That seems outrageous to me. I may have to reconsider buying a timeshare.

IF you can get the time(s) you want at the resort(s) you want via rental then you may be better off that way than by owning. But there is no promise that the time/unit size/resort you desire will actually be available at a discounted price via rental. In fact one of the few strong areas for timeshares is the ability to rent a true prime time unit (meaning a LARGE - not 1 BR or Studio in a truly high demand period such as summer or hoiliday) at a premium. The week before or after may only be worth 1/2 the annual fee but those truly in demand weeks will bring a premium.

So the secret (shhh!) is to own a top value week in a full sized (2BR +) unit in most areas (obviously those limited areas where there are few or no 2 BR would still have value even if it's a 1 BR). That way you can feel good about your use vs annual fee being a good value to you and have the real opportunity to rent and get a premium value out. But those weeks are extremely limited. It is often said that 80% of the owners are chasing 20% of the time. That may be low - it may be closer to 90% chasing 10%. If you don't control that top 10% and buy it right (as in low cost resale) you will not be likely to get long term value out.

The 90%+ of weeks are the ones that in many cases aren't worth a $1 today. The very best are worth a few thousand (often less) on resale but do have value for the annual fees as covered above. Own them and you can be a happy timesharer - which basically means own to use. Own too many or base your ownership on external trade and you'll most likely be joining the unhappy ownership crowd we see far too much of here for a pro-timeshare site.

Find a top quality resort or resort system with plenty of internal resorts, buy resale (pennies on the retail dollar for virtually ANY resort or system) and enjoy. If you really want to help become active with your Board and try to address the fundamental issues that are killing what should be a very enjoyable way to vacation. Progressive resorts are thriving despite the economy while even the biggest developer/managements that insist on blocking owner control are under serious pressure. They tend to answer by hitting the owners with even higher fees thus making things worse. Study the whole picture and I think you'll find that a well run, premium, owner controlled resort you want to use is the ultimate in timeshare value.

[JM48]

Riz,

Like you I am a new owner & I found a similar listing on my account on line. I called today ( Sat.) & waited 15 min. only to be told I had to call "membership support" at 800-521-3144 ext. 4567 Mon.-Fri. 8:00-5:00 eastern time.

The other thing is that if any money was owed HGVC they would not have let the transfer go thru!

to be continued.....

JM

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by prosperitylove79

Has anyone noticed the MF's for Las Vegas Hilton has gone up???

Welcome to timesharing where MF's tend to go up faster than the cost of living.

So far this year I've seen MF's increses range from 3.5% to just under 10%. Things get more expensive, reserve funding has to be increase for future maintenance of the resort, employee's expect wage increases et........

They will most likely increase every year you own your timeshare. That's just the way it is.

[RLG]

Originally Posted by JM48

Like you I am a new owner & I found a similar listing on my account on line. I called today ( Sat.) & waited 15 min. only to be told I had to call "membership support" at 800-521-3144 ext. 4567 Mon.-Fri. 8:00-5:00 eastern time.

They appear to make this "mistake" a lot for Flamingo owners. I wonder how many people end up paying amounts they don't really owe.

Here's some more discussion of this:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101575

[itradehilton]

Got my bill in the mail today, it said the reason for the higher increase was the cost of energy, higher insurance, and loss of revenue from investments. They could have saved some money by not including the color brochure.

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by itradehilton

Got my bill in the mail today, it said the reason for the higher increase was the cost of energy, higher insurance, and loss of revenue from investments. They could have saved some money by not including the color brochure.

I believe members are allowed to opt out of getting things in the mail vs getting them online. Members can also pay by check or automatic bank payment rather than by credit card, which also saves the HOA money.

Insurance, taxes, energy costs seem to always be listed as the main culprits in MF increases. Less than expected investment return has been a new one this year that I'm seeing with each of our bills. Another new one is higher than expected defaults but, I was sort of expecting that. One bill we have from another timeshare is showing a 900% increase for expected defaults for 2010. OUCH!

[RLG]

Originally Posted by dougp26364

Less than expected investment return has been a new one this year that I'm seeing with each of our bills.

That's very reasonable. These associations will collect interest on their operating funds for 6 months on average and will earn interest on reserve funds. Short term rates have fallen from around 4% in 08 to around zero in 09 and will probably be around zero in 2010 as well.

[AlmTravel]

2BD Las Vegas Strip

Maintenance Fee and Tax Breakdown
Description Due Date Balance
2010 Operating Fee 01/01/10 $543.14
2010 Reserve Fee 01/01/10 $130.56
Real Estate Taxes 01/01/10 $56.52
2010 Club Dues 01/01/10 $99.00
Total Current Balance: $829.22
Voluntary Arda Roc $3.00
Total Current Balance: $832.22

[UWSurfer]

Probably the only piece that bugs me a little is in the explanation letter for the LV Hilton HGVC, one of the reasons cited for MF maintenance fee increase were employee raises.

I don't have any problem with folks getting raises, but if there ever was a year to hold the line on salaries, this would be the year and yet there were raises. We didn't see any raises at my employer and many others have had imposed furlough days and salary give backs to keep their jobs. Many others still have been laid off.

It just doesn't seem like the year to be awarding raises.

[JM48]

I got a bill in the mail for the 2009 fee's today. I called customer service & they will take it off because it is a mistake.

I asked why this happened & he said he had never heard of it before now!!

I think everybody who has this on their account must call to have it removed.

JM

[Negociant]

The papers for the Flamingo said one wonderful thing our money did this year was to buy new uniforms for the desk and house staff. Woohoo!