Timeshare auctions on EBAY

[amarg]

Since I am completely new to this, I decided to research timeshares a bit online and have gone on many different sites including Redweek, Tug2net and Ebay. I notice that there are some TS selling for incredibly low prices and in the case of EBAY, some without any reserve price and the bids are as low as $100. How can this be? To be more realistic, I have noticed timeshares at the same resorts going from $1000 to $50000 and of course I factor in size, sleeping ability, amenities, etc., but still, that's a huge difference and can it be real? Are people trying to desperately dump their TS in this economy? I did notice that some on EBAY were bankruptcies with past due amounts that the buyer has to assume but there are also buyers who are prepaying all closing costs and maintenance fees and basically paying the buyer to take their timeshare off their hands. Does this mean this is a good time to grab one of these deals? Is it better to buy a bargain timeshare than continue to rent? I am thinking that buying one is basically just guaranteeing that you will have that week to stay in Aruba guaranteed every year (unless you buy a floating one which I don't even understand yet) without having to make all the effort to find a rental like I did this time. The cost of renting and maintenance fees can be pretty much the same as lots of owners are willing to rent for those fees if not a little less or more. So it seems the only benefit is the guarantee of having the suite when you want it and being able to trade to other locations if you wish to do so. I also have no idea how that works.
Any feedback on this?

[Andrea J.]

my comments in red

Originally Posted by amarg

Since I am completely new to this, I decided to research timeshares a bit online and have gone on many different sites including Redweek, Tug2net and Ebay. I notice that there are some TS selling for incredibly low prices and in the case of EBAY, some without any reserve price and the bids are as low as $100. How can this be? To be more realistic, I have noticed timeshares at the same resorts going from $1000 to $50000 and of course I factor in size, sleeping ability, amenities, etc., but still, that's a huge difference and can it be real? Are people trying to desperately dump their TS in this economy? I did notice that some on EBAY were bankruptcies with past due amounts that the buyer has to assume but there are also buyers who are prepaying all closing costs and maintenance fees and basically paying the buyer to take their timeshare off their hands. Does this mean this is a good time to grab one of these deals? Not necessarily. the economy has greatly affected timeshare sales and ownership.Is it better to buy a bargain timeshare than continue to rent? I am thinking that buying one is basically just guaranteeing that you will have that week to stay in Aruba guaranteed every year (unless you buy a floating one which I don't even understand yet) without having to make all the effort to find a rental like I did this time. a floating week is a NON fixed week. it can be a particular "season" or a range of weeks to choose. gives folks more flexibilityThe cost of renting and maintenance fees can be pretty much the same as lots of owners are willing to rent for those fees if not a little less or more. So it seems the only benefit is the guarantee of having the suite when you want it and being able to trade to other locations if you wish to do so. I also have no idea how that works.
Any feedback on this?your questions are questions that all timeshare owners/prospective buyers should be asking. there are no real answers . it is very personal. different situations have caused folks to have to rent out their units. maintenance fees have gone up. airfares have gone up. kids have grown and left home.
ebay........dunno if i would chance it.
bankruptcies........well the "aruban timeshare resort" had huge issues with mismanagement, bankruptcy, courts, fraud shutting down from mid december 2009 til feb 2010 and it was a nightmare. (the aruban btw has some units for real short money) most folks will not consider that place til they see the new management company be successful.

timeshares do not work for everyone.
timeshares for some are a terrible investment.
timehares for some are a terrible thing.
then....
there are others that LOVE the idea.
they are happy with their investment.
*** disclosure- my husband and i have a lot of timeshare at lacabana. we converted many fixed weeks into FLOAT using Bluegreen program and have no huge issues other than sometimes the units are not available for our choices.

some places are "deeded" (the timeshare owner owns for perpetuity and can pass on the unit in his/her estate)
other places are "right to use", meaning the contract goes for 30 yrs or 30 usages. cannot be put into one's estate...not for perpetuity.

aruba has more timeshare than one can really imagine.

[Arubalisa]

Jmho:

• Buying a specific week you are at the mercy of the airlines and their fares.
• You are at the mercy of management and directors for extra assessments for renovations, sometimes $1000's of dollars.
• If you buy a deeded timeshare now and the maintenance is affordable now at "x" price, what is not to say that in 20 years from now the maintenance will be "y" price.

...and just my dh and myself...we have enjoyed staying at 7 different resorts on the island in the past 14 years sampling everything that Aruba has to offer.

Is that to say we would not buy a t/s? Dh and I are discussing it for someday when the time is right for us, but it would have to be a "bargain".

And as a last thought regarding eBay...prices may seem low but there are additional fees and you must watch the auctions very very carefully. Most auctions do not heat up until the very last moment so prices at first may be deceiving.

[Andrea J.]

more timeshare talk........
i know of a man that owned a few units all back to back weeks at lacabana.
3 yrs ago when lacabana put in a $1000 +/- special assessment for the renovations he walked away from his units. brought the deeds to the office and said "they are yours"!
he had been using his weeks at lacabana for 15 yrs. with his fixed income and financial situation he had no choice. his maintenance fees were over $2900 per yr and add on about $5000 in special assessment.
he told me he got 15 great years and was now done.

maintenance fees and special assessments can be a nightmare.

[Arubalisa]

I know someone who sold their unit at LC for the exact same reason.
...AND wasn't Marriott Ocean Club's last assessment even more $$$?

http://www.aruba.com/forum/f7/regulars-aruba-43510/
A lot more thoughts on this same subject.

Marriott OCEAN CLUB 2010 Maintenance fee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 Maintenance fee

1 Bedroom
2010 Operating Fee $632.21
2010 Replacement Reserve $309.93
2010 *Utilities $147.26
*The Utilities expenses relates to the Electricity and Water/Sewer line items in the 2010 budget.
Total: $1,089.40
plus the final $337.30 2010 Special Refurbishment Assessment fee.
Grand total of: $1,426.70

2 Bedrooms
2010 Operating Fee $832.56
2010 Replacement Reserve $420.72
2010 *Utilities $204.90
*The Utilities expenses relates to the Electricity and Water/Sewer line items in the 2010 budget.
Total: $1,458.18
plus the final $484.25 2010 Special Refurbishment Assessment fee.
Grand total of: $1,942.43

[Arubalisa]

I went to the eBay site and found a "bargain" at the Ocean club.
5 bids currently at $610.00

Sounds cheap!?

Reading the "fine print"
1 bedroom (Ocean View unit), 1 bath, 1 week annually, floating, Gold season. Deeded as Unit AB 32/AB 5311, 60 year membership agreement expires in 2029.
First year available usage is 2010.
Annual fees for 2010 are approx. $1426.70.
Past due fees are approx. $3716.51 (includes 2009, 2010 fees and attorney fees). Transfer fee: $25.00.
A document preparation fee of $225 will apply.

Adding up the additional fees I get a number of $5400+ which have to be tacked onto the winning bid price.

[sunnysmiles]

My husband was just looking at some Aruba Timeshares on Craigslist. Personally I wouldn't be able to trust that or eBay.
We've been talking about getting a timeshare for a couple years but we are both hesitant. We're following our gut for now, not to say we'll never own.

[Arubalisa]

Some good info on craigslist scams

craigslist 2010 site:clarkhoward.com

[serene56]

When we were looking at buying a time share I learned a lot online.

I did not want to be locked in on the same week each year and a few places do that.

I wanted a time frame-- so we booked a season 2 which runs from April til Dec 15th with black out dates in July.

For us that worked out perfectly as I can go down any week where the rates are cheaper.

Another thing that I had to look at is the day of the week. Many time shares are Saturday OR Sunday arrivals.

you will not be able to get a Wednesday to Tuesday deal.

We rented our time share for this year (september for the costs of the maintenance and the AI fee for a week. $1895. for two people.

[amarg]

It seems to be that it makes more sense to rent other people's timeshares than buy your own. Quite often, TS owners are willing to rent for the cost of their maintenance and cheap deals can be found. The market is flooded with rentals and resales! It's a renters/buyers market and those who bought timeshares thinking they could sell them for what they paid or make money, are misled. The other "gimmick" I've now heard through contacting a TS seller is that I could rent it out for a profit if I can't use it. Apparently TS are "easy to rent and in high demand." Well for the number of emails and responses I got when I asked for a rental, I don't believe very many people are easily renting out their TS or making much or any profit above their maintenance fees. I believe the only reason to ever buy a TS is if you want a spot to stay in a place you love year after year. It's not an investment and other than guaranteeing you will take vacations since you have a TS and may as well use it, there are no other guarantees or benefits to owning one. The whole exchanging and trading thing seems complicated and difficult too. I've been told by many that they were promised they could trade anywhere around the world and found they had to do it over a year in advance for anywhere desirable and most of the properties exchanged for weren't very nice ones.
I think I will stick to renting too.