Every year, people like you and me take much-needed vacations to beautiful vacation destinations around the world. We all seek change in our daily lives in places that allow us to find peace and quiet with enough exciting activities to lift our spirits and bring joy into our lives.
Your dream vacation can be a financial nightmare if you fall prey to buying an expensive timeshare while on vacation!
During these glorious respites, many of us encounter the high street hawkers and hotel lobby kiosks offering free or low-cost sporting adventures, theater tickets, or the like. The deals are real and they can be a lot of fun. Who wouldn’t want to take a helicopter ride to a remote waterfall on Maui for $29? But be careful, there is a catch!
In exchange for these offers, you must give up 2-6 hours of your primary vacation time to visit a timeshare resort and engage in a staged timeshare sales pitch with fun emotional tugs at your heart, champagne toasts, and pressure. social not so obvious. . Your experience is choreographed from the moment you arrive with the goal of leaving you thrilled that you paid $20,000 to $50,000 or more for the right to spend a week or two a year for life at your glorious resort, not to mention all the extra features and benefits that add up to seal the deal.
In deference to Winston Churchill, Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever buy a Timeshare in Retail during one of these sales pitches! Go ahead and partake of their free or low cost snippets to get into their presentation, but I implore you to NEVER buy a Retail timeshare while on vacation.
A real world example of a friend who didn’t take my advice and lost $19,000!
My friend, let’s call him Keith to protect his true identity, and his family of four headed to South Florida for a well-deserved vacation near a well-known family entertainment complex. Keith and his wife, wanting to give their kids a good time, stopped by their hotel’s activity center and offered them a great deal on top-tier local activity parks that the kids would really enjoy. They agreed to the “2 hour presentation” the next day.
You know the story; They bought the pool view timeshare at a very nice local resort. Excited, they were already planning their visit next year and all the things they would do again while enjoying their stay at this fabulous resort.
Keith now knew that I owned multiple timeshares and upon returning home immediately tells me about purchasing an award winning timeshare. My first words to Keith were: “If you do nothing else, I ask that you use the grace period you have by law and cancel your timeshare purchase today, actually right now, please, please, please! “. In our discussion, I found out that Keith paid cash for the timeshare (from an inheritance) and that he and his family still had that cherished spotlight on all the joy their $25,000% 2B retail purchase would bring them. And they got the unit with a pool view!
Suffice to say, Keith wasn’t listening right when I explained that I was sure I could find him a similar timeshare to buy, if not the same timeshare resort, for pennies on the dollar. Keith at least agreed to mention our conversation with his wife that night, but I knew in my mind that he bought the hook, line, and sinker for the choreographed performance.
That night I did some research online and within 10 minutes found a resale unit at the same resort for around $6,000. Do the math. $25,000 minus $6,000 equals a cash savings of $19,000. Keith could buy 3 more weeks at the same resort and have a full month for his $25,000. So I emailed the details to Keith and to my dismay but no surprise I got the reply: “Well we talked it over and I’m sure you found a great deal but the family was very excited and we got the view from the pool, and we had the money, so we’ll keep the one we bought. Thanks for your help anyway.”
No amount of logic was going to change Keith’s emotional decision. With a little more research, I’m convinced he could have found you the same resort or a comparable one at $2,000 or $3,000. Sad but true, I lost yet another battle. You will see this scenario play out over and over every day and feel the millions of dollars spent on retail timeshare purchases when, down the street or online, you can buy the same or comparable timeshare units for pennies. per dollar. .
Buyer’s remorse is your best chance to save thousands of dollars.
In a couple of years, circumstances change for a high percentage of timeshare owners. These changes cause these owners to reevaluate their need for a timeshare, especially if they financed the retail cost. They soon discover that the glorious timeshare they bought 2 years ago for, say, $25,000 can now only be sold for $10,000 tops if they’re very lucky. So if they financed, they’re upside down, owing more than they could get for the timeshare (does this sound familiar in relation to the circumstances of the subprime collapse?).
Distraught with this reality, a high percentage of these upside-down timeshare owners abandon their timeshare obligations and most end up in the timeshare resale market, for sale by lenders, realtors, and third-party agents. , hence the opportunity for you and me. to buy these same great timeshare properties for pennies on the dollar.
I know about buying timeshares on the resale market because that’s what I’ve done several times. The islands of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, as well as mainland locations Scottsdale, Arizona, Horseshoe Valley, Canada, and other great locations, all NOT purchased at retail. In fact, I bought them for $2,000 or less and as low as $99. That’s pennies on the dollar! Some will tell you that timeshares are a bad investment. I have to agree that they are not an investment like buying real estate. As a vacation tool, timeshares are a great investment if, and only if, you buy them for pennies on the dollar.
Save your cash and shop at the resale market!
Make wise choices as you seek ultimate vacation delights in fabulous locations around the world. Pack up your timeshare emotions while on vacation and keep your wallet closed. Wait until you are home to look for opportunities to buy the same or substantially similar vacation properties on the resale market, saving you a lot of money or buying even more timeshares. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever buy a timeshare at a retail store during one of these sales pitches while you’re on what should be a fun vacation!
