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Original Message:

My input: (by Andrea G.):

ken1193 wrote:
andrea364 states / asks, in relevant part: >> Are these things worth it? There is no way I could stay on the beach for anywhere $425 per year. I could also buy through Redweek for up to $1500 for a 1 bedroom. This is at Islander Beach Resort a very nice place as I have seen it from the outside, while driving by. Can some one please help me to decide. Are these easy to sell if I loose my job, etc and need to get out or am I going to be stuck for the reat of my life? Also, what about RCI, etc. I know nothing about these things, please help! << ==============================================

I do not know the particular resorts you've mentioned, but the following is universal advice nonetheless:

1. Make sure (directly from the resort, not just from seller claims) that there are no "blackout periods" on float owner reservations. You don't want to find out AFTER purchase that you can't ever even go there during the time frame(s) you WANT to go there.

2. Do NOT buy just to trade. Buy only where you know you would actually like to go. Exchanging is a gamble (and getting to be more and more so all the time) and RCI is (in my personal opinion, anyhow) absolutely the WORST exchange company on Planet Earth. RCI would rather rent out (and ALREADY DOES rent out) the best member-deposited weeks to the general public for big money, rather than making those weeks available to RCI members for "exchange". Much more profit for RCI, of course, but resulting in much less available exchange inventory for RCI members. This is exactly why RCI is currently the defendant in a class action lawsuit (Murillo vs. RCI).

3. Most timeshares are a whole lot easier to buy than they are to sell. It's a non-essential luxury, not a life necessity. Unless this is available and disposable money for you, without borrowing a penny, think long and hard about making the committment. Then again, if you own a decent week in a decent place, you can usually rent out the week for at least (and usually considerably more than) the annual maintenance fee amount in those years when time and/or money might be a bit tight for you.

4. Be careful of eBay "mega sellers" of timeshares. Some have so many auction ads up that they frequently make misrepresentations and very significant mistakes in their descriptions, as they perform their sloppy "cutting and pasting" from one ad to another. It doesn't mean that the errors are deliberate acts of dishonesty, but wrong information is still just wrong information, whether it's intentional or not. You need to know and fully and accurately understand exactly what you are buying. Also be careful of the associated closing companies these eBay mega sellers often force you to use (because they have contracts and /or kickback arrangements with one another). Some of these "closing companies" are slow, sloppy, and some border on outright incompetent. Read and review every single line of every single document for accuracy and return anything with errors for correction of any and all errors BEFORE you sign...

5. Find out from the resort (not from the seller) whether there are any unpaid "special assessments" in place right now, or any others soon pending or imminent. Seller may very well not even know or have any idea whatsoever. This is an unwelcome surprise associated with timeshare ownership, but it happens, particularly in coastal Florida locations which sustain occasional hurricance damage. Even well insured facilities have high "deductibles" --- and owners make up the difference in the form of special assessments when such damages occur.

I hope that some of this helps you. Good luck.

Ken,

Thank you so mcuh for all the help you have given me here and on the phone. I am about to call the resort to ask all these very important questions.

Andrea