Timeshares today seem to be the business of the century. With the consequences of the recent economic crisis, timeshare owners who cannot afford their annual maintenance fees, regardless of the actual cost of travel, have been selling their timeshares at clearance prices. Many sell for literally $ 1, just to relieve the owner of the ongoing annual maintenance fee. And bargain hunters have been snatching them up. But are these deals really amazing?

Timeshares, which entitle you to a specific week in a condo in a specific complex, typically sell for tens of thousands of dollars. If you review current listings on eBay, many timeshares are listed without reservation with a starting bid of $ 1. This means that if no one else bids on that particular listing, you can bid $ 1 and win the auction. With closing costs, such as legal fees and resort transfer costs, your final cost will be approximately $ 1,000.

Now what is happening is that because timeshare owners can exchange their week at their property with other timeshare owners, either directly or through an exchange, bargain hunters are buying these weeks in order to change them from more desirable places to more desirable places. Seasons of the year. The key is to find a property that has a good commercial value, a low purchase price, and low maintenance fees. Maintenance fees can range from roughly $ 400 per year to more than $ 1,000 per year, depending on the location and ownership of the particular resort.

If you run the numbers, obviously, if you are paying, say, $ 1,000 for a timeshare that originally sold for $ 20,000, you are getting a good deal and maybe even an amazing deal. But did you get the best deal? Have you basically taken responsibility for someone else? Don’t forget that you still have to pay that annual maintenance fee, whether you use your week or not. Think about it, why did the original owner sell it to you? They wanted to get away from responsibility.

Let me possibly offer you a better option. You can join a private resort vacation membership, pay a one-time lifetime membership fee of $ 2,995, and have access to over 5,000 resorts worldwide at prices starting at $ 298 per week (8 days and 7 nights) and up to $ 799 per week. And with this membership, you can use it as many weeks as you want in a year, with no blackout periods and with maximum flexibility in choosing your destination. You only pay for the weeks you need, and the weekly rate is usually less than the annual maintenance fee for a timeshare. There are no annual maintenance fees. And the membership is transferable.

Long story short, if you’re going to vacation every year at your particular timeshare resort during the same week every year (or go through the hassle of swapping your week), buying a timeshare at a rush sale may make sense for you. . But if you want the flexibility of being able to stay at a different resort every year, at any time of year and for as many weeks in a year as you like, and for a weekly cost that is often lower than the annual timeshare maintenance fee, You should consider a vacation membership at a private resort.