There is a T shirt that says: “He who dies with the most toys, wins”. It seems many people tend to subscribe to this thinking. If you are very rich and want to have every toy under the sun “God bless you”. I think the average working person needs to be savvy and careful about every item you buy. Necessity or toy, buy wisely. For the average guy this T shirt slogan is pure bravado and ludicrous.
It seems reasonable to me that with todays hectic life you may only have time for one or two “toys”. If you don’t have time for a toy anymore, get rid of it, or never buy it in the first place. Otherwise you may be part of the chapter 11 crowd.
My wife and I really like the “weeks” timeshare we purchased seven years ago. It has been an influence and enabler to take great, reasonably priced vacations. Timeshares aren’t for everyone. If you are interested in the concept of timeshares, do yourself a favor, and study the concept. I intend to drop some thoughts on the pros and cons of timeshare in the Tz Blog. More than likely, on individual issues of timesharing, each in its own blog installment. This installment will be focussed on timeshares being one of life’s toys.
I have lots of hobbies and interests. Gardening is cheap and saves your health and money. Computers and Keyboards (music) are expensive but (in my case) make me money. My two real “toy” hobbies/interests are Harley riding and travel. They both tend to be quite expensive. The obvious need is to keep your costs minimal. If I find I’m not traveling, the timeshare should be sold. If you don’t ride or use your toy, get rid of it.
Timeshares are expensive to buy, and “spendy” to keep. So vacationing should be in your yearly schedule or budget if you are to own a timeshare.
Timeshares are also a bad investment. If you can’t put yourself on a minimum of ten years of non-stop use by vacationing to recoup your loss, don’t even consider buying. I’ve heard it said, you lose twenty cents on the dollar for timeshare resale. This may even be conservative if you bought a bad deal to start with.
To purchase a decent timeshare expect to spend about as much as you would on a new car. That is, if you buy it from a the builder or from the timeshare property developer. I’d recommend buying from an owner who is selling and not the developer. You’d immediately could save 50% or more if you know what you want and what to look for. There are many, many timeshares up for sale on the internet. It has become big business. I’m not familiar with some of the sharks swimming in this pool, so again, you need to educate yourself.
Here’s some of the things I feel you need to look for to help make your timeshare purchase optimum.
Deeded property: there is small print here too, but deeded is a must.
RCI or II rating: Look for a property with “Gold Crown” for RCI or “Five Star” for Interval Int’l
Property includes a lockout: You buy a unit that can be divided and broken up to double your time.
What is the maintenance fee? After you buy, this little annoying bill returns each year to haunt you. This fee
is very similar to condo fee. To me, this fee can be the deal breaker. It usually goes up yearly too!
Weeks or points? Points started coming into vogue a few years ago. Personally, I’m a weeks only guy. Too
long and draw out discussing why. It seems to work for some folks, I think it’s a bad concept.
Weeks: Is your designated week floating, or assigned? Each resort has a white, blue, red calendar mockup,
Basically, this points out high, medium and low season for the resort location. Low season is cheaper, but
less desirable. Resort and resort status and season designation will be given the handle “trading power”
by developers. It’s a favorite slogan rattled on endlessly by sales fins.
Resort location: Is your resort in driving distance to you? If so, are you going to use your weeks at your resort
or trade to travel to other resorts? Now we are getting to the part of timeshare ownership that is more
based on you and your vacation preferences. Do you want to fly to your resort, or drive only? If you DON’T
want to bank your weeks and swap to other resorts and you only want to drive, this would narrow down
your needs considerably. Families with children may find it less stressful and cheaper to drive.
Most timeshare developers have sales “come ons”. They put you up at the resort or a nearby hotel/motel for two nights and maybe give you meal or check for $50 in return for putting up with a sales pitch about their resort. This is an excellent way to find out about timeshares. It can also be a tad irritating as these sales guys are as sharky as they get. By the way, the sales meetings are never 90 minutes. Figure a minimum of two to three hours. The deal they offer you will only be offered that day. Unless you have gone to, at least, eight to ten or more of these timeshare sales spiffs, DON’T buy. Even then you need to be educated and understand what you are getting into first. That’s the only reason to try out these annoying freebees. I would suggest, if and when you feel you are ready to buy, you look into buying from someone selling, rather than from a sharky developer.
Here’s a lifestyle notion that works for Lori and I. The majority of timeshares have kitchen facilities in each unit. Many more have gas grilles on a deck or somewhere around the grounds. If you like to cook your own meals, as Lori and I do, you can save a ton of money and eat better on your vacation. We consider this to be a major advantage with timesharing, as opposed to putting up in a hotel and eating out. If you have a big family (kids) the savings is really obvious. Your expensive toy can now be considered vacation budget tool.
When gas was way over $3 a gallon, I tried to use my motorcycle for around town errands. These are examples on how to try make your toys less expensive.
Finally, consider this: Have you taken at least one big vacation a year up to this point in your life? Count them up. Figure a good life expectancy is 80 years old. Subtract your age from 80. Now, figure one great vacation a year till you reach 80. Add that to the vacations you’ve already taken. Do you find the sum of those numbers comforting or just plain scary?
Now,reconsider this: Try to make every day a bit of a joy. Take more weekend and smaller mini vacations. If not timeshares or travel, find time to vacation somehow. Plan for it and just do it. Life’s too short for all work and no play. The saddest line I’ve ever heard: “We’re gonna travel when we retire”.
Can you just imagine all of the power that the Google servers eat up in a days time. I’m sure their electric bill isn’t pretty. Google is usually on top of things though, and they are in this situation with the use of solar power, in particular “solar trees.”
