Monday, January 17, 2011

The Real Cost of Time Shares

My wife and I recently took a trip up to Williamsburg, VA (about a 3 hour drive from home) for a "free" 2 night stay in exchange for a timeshare presentation. We had been to one of these before (see my post from June 2008) and figured it was worth our time in exchange for free lodging + $75 visa gift card.

Overall, the place was reasonably nice -- although to call it a "resort" is a stretch. It was more like a 2 BR townhouse I would expect to see in a typical suburb. But it was a comfortable stay and didn't cost us anything.

Throughout the process, what bugged me most were the half-truths of the time share presentation. The salesman kept making his pitch saying that every year the vacations he takes only cost $140. My wife and I had agreed before hand that the way to get out of there the quickest was to just agree and let them keep going -- so we both had to bite our tongues several times.

I've done quite a bit of reading on timeshares -- and one of the best sources out there is a forum called tugbbs.com. So if you are looking to learn, that's a good source.

Timeshares aren't necessarily a bad thing, IF you know how and what to buy. I would only suggest only buying resale (not retail) since you can get most of them for free upfront for taking over the maintenance fees (as opposed to retail prices of $15,000-$30,000). So if you are considering it, here is the real cost breakdown per year.

Any amortized up-front expenses (If you buy resale, this should be near 0.)
+Yearly maintenace fees. ($500-$700)
+Points network dues. (~$150)
+Points network exchange fee. (~$150)
----
Total $800 -$1000/year.

If you know you will take a 1-week vacation every year, this may be a good fit for you. But you should also know that you can rent timeshares from current owners for almost exactly the same price as owning -- with all of the benefits -- and none of the downside. So to me, renting a timeshare is the way to go.

To find timeshare units for rent, check sites like http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/ or http://redweek.com.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Scams that make me laugh

I'm always amused by the latest in low-budget tv commercials that are obvious scams.
I saw one today that made me laugh outloud. It claimed that the information about the benefits of Vitamin D are being suppressed (by the government?) and that we should "join together in one voice" by joining the "Vitamin D Health Initiative." And, the commercial says, you'll get free vitamin D for life.

The funny thing is that when you go to the website, they charge you $6.95 per month "shipping and handling" for your monthly supply of Vitamin D. (30 pills of 2000 IU). That made me laugh outloud. A quick search of walmart.com shows 2000 IU Vitamin D is $9.00 for 200 pills, or about $1.35 per month. And of course, if you didn't know it, Vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight -- so you can get a healthy dose just by stepping outside!

I'm sure there are some unfortunate individuals out there picking up the phone and signing on to be part of the "initiative" -- but for the rest of us, it at least serves as entertainment.