I recently read some advice that if a writer wanted their blog posts to be read, they should come with a snappy headline. Boy, is this a failure!
But there are things that need to be said. Maintenance fees are a part of timeshare ownership. All too often though, I hear from consumers who are complaining about them for one reason or another.
The vast majority of issues can be eliminated by asking the following questions prior to purchasing:
1) what are the current fees?
2) what is the seven (7) year history of these fees?
3) what is the legal limit or cap that these fees can increase?
4) who votes on raising these fees?
5) what do these fees cover?
6) what don't these fees cover?
7) is there a special assessment?
8) what is it?
9) what is the seven (7) year history of these assessments?
It is vital to ask these questions before you purchase any timeshare, regardless of it is on the primary or secondary market. ANY TIMESHARE FROM ANY SOURCE.
If you don't get answers, or don't get the answers that you want...don't buy. It really is as simple as that. The good news is that there are a TON of timeshares available out there and a great number of sources that will divulge this information without resorting to trickery, trying to diffuse the question by adding on a "bonus week" or other measures.
Many resorts are incredibly well managed. Those that aren't deserve to to drummed out. The only people who can drum the bad guys out are the consumers.
Start taking back your rights by asking the right questions.
2 comments:
You can ask all these questions but a less than honest salesperson will not tell the truth. They also state in their sales pitch "The maintenance fee is to guarantee the resort will look this nice ten years from now" and that maintenance fees do not cover replacing appliances, carpets etc as they state in their pitch. The contract will state the resort has the option to place a special assessment if needed. And they will, ten or twenty years down the road when the resort is run down they will assess the owners to rebuild. Or if the resort is hit with an "act of God" they will assess the members. And just because the salesman and managers tell you this will never happen means nothing. They will tell you what you want to hear to get the sale. Get it in writing and have it signed and notarized by the sales manager, and demand his divers license so you can document his/her name. You will never find a manager who would do this. Never
Fraud in general and specifically of timeshare are the order of the day. Customers should be cautious and not be fooled by false promises about investment returns, timeshare resales or anything that sounds too good to be true.
There are good articles on how to use timeshares properly.
http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-scams-blog/
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