How to get out of a timeshare?

StevieTimes

StevieTimes

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StevieTimes
Not me, but a relative is having trouble getting out of a timeshare resort in Mexico.

Is the best way to hire a lawyer to help?

thanks

OH YEAH, and they fly there. (now it's aviation related)
 
wsuffa said:
Disclosure: I know nothing about this outfit...

https://timeshareexitteam.com/
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I saw the commercial, did a little research, and it seems like they hire lawyers. I was thinking about "cutting out the middle man", so to speak, and just going right to a lawyer. I'm not sure if they provide extra services that are worthwhile or not.

Thanks for saying that though, that's what I'm looking for is stuff like this.
 
StevieTimes said:
Not me, but a relative is having trouble getting out of a timeshare resort in Mexico.
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Did they buy it from the developer? Or was it purchased on the secondary market?
 
gasmatch-img_4194.png
 
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I didn't know they still existed.

My in-laws bought one twentysome years ago and I think the deed was taken from them when they quit making the annual payments. I never understood how anyone could buy one when just the annual upkeep payments were the same as you'd pay to rent a unit for a week.
 
Having bought a time share once, I rescinded within the 10 day grace period after having discovered the lies they told me at the sales pitch. A huge lesson learned. Anything that requires a salesperson is likely not a great deal. I see ads from lawyers especially this time of year, some even giving guarantees or no fee. I would definitely hire a lawyer, and negotiate a fee. I am skeptical that doing it on your own based on legal advice from the internet is going to work, unless you have some background in real estate law.
 
Gerhardt said:
I didn't know they still existed.

My in-laws bought one twentysome years ago and I think the deed was taken from them when they quit making the annual payments.
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You would think that that's what happens . These days, the timeshare scamsters have become quite aggressive in pursuing the ongoing payments. They will send you to collections, file suit etc. Thats particularly egregious where older follks were scammed into buying the things 'as an investment that can be handed to your kids' and now 15 years later the buyers don't need it and have a hard time making the ongoing payments out of their limited income.

I never understood how anyone could buy one when just the annual upkeep payments were the same as you'd pay to rent a unit for a week.
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High pressure used car sales tactics and lies. That's how.

20 years ago, my then girlfriend and I got a weekend in Orlando for $99 out of one of the timeshare companies. In exchange, we had to spend 90minutes in their sales pitch. All the kid who is working you needs to get is a credit card number for the down payment and a signature and they work hard to get there. They gave up when I insisted on a copy of the contract paperwork and a financial statement so I 'could have my accountant and my lawyer look it over'. I kept saying 'no really, I want to buy this, but this has to go through the attorney and the lawyer (I had neither btw.). They kept squirming and claimed that they could only give rhe paperwork to me if they get a credit card number to charge the down payment (which of course is 'fullly refundable'). The price kept dropping in decrements of $3000 with every higher 'manager' they kept trotting out. Finally the 'genral assistant supevising assistsnt manager' told me 'look buddy, if your accountant sees this, he'll never allow you to sign'. I made the most surprised face I could muster and we were ushered out to the shuttle van. 90 minutes of my time to get $400 worth of hotel stay for $99 was a fair deal.

10 years later, I stayed as a regular paying guest at the ''Hilton Grand Vacations Club' they were trying to sell me at 'super duper pre-construction pricing' at the time. And yes, I paid less for 5 nights in a apartment style room than the annual maintenance fee would have been.
 
They can be a reasonable deal IF you know what you’re doing.

I own three, two (used to be three) in Steamboat Springs and one in Mexico/USA. The Steamboat Springs units are actually fractional ownership that allow me to spend three months skiing every year. One pays for itself with rental income the rest of the year and the other costs me ~$1000 a year. The Mexico one will expire in about five years and allows me to spend a week (~$1000) after ski season on the beach warming up.

That said, if you’re interested, NEVER BUY FROM THE DEVELOPER. They’ll charge mega bucks for stuff you can get for 1¢ to $5000 on eBay. Just search for timeshares. I enjoy an occasional cheap 4 day vacation for $199 for the “privilege” of agreeing to listen to the BS for 90 minutes. I start off telling them they can waste my time and theirs or just sign me off and leave. After I tell them what I have and how I use it, 50% they call the next guy up, we chat for 15 minutes and I’m out of there or the other 50%, we talk about what ever comes up until the gong rings. Last guy I met used to be an A&P so we talked about airplanes for a while.

IF you know what your doing and don’t listen to the sales weasels at the property, it can work. But....usually not for the majority of people.

Cheers
 
They bought a time share in Mexico......
 
I sometimes stay in Diamond resort properties in Sedona since I can get a nice place for the price of a motel 6 during promotions. The only place on the properties with no firearms signs is the sales room. That alone tells me enough about what goes on in there.
 
lowtimer said:
I sometimes stay in Diamond resort properties in Sedona since I can get a nice place for the price of a motel 6 during promotions. The only place on the properties with no firearms signs is the sales room. That alone tells me enough about what goes on in there.
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?

People taking charge of their own defense as the Mexican police are...well...
 
Sedona AZ, I'm thinking they don't want someone shooting their "high pressure" sales people who don't want to let you leave without "investing" in a timeshare opportunity.
 
Had one until recently. Played hard ball with them, got the price waaaay down. Used it for many years since 1995 and actually saved about 1000 bucks per year over what similar resorts would have cost me.
Stopped using it sometime ago, and deeded it back to the resort....for a fee lol, but the fee was about the same price as 1 year maintenance/taxes, so it was a wash to move quickly.
So I'd second the notion to try and deed it back to the resort.

With AirBnB, VRBO, etc., the game has changed.
 
X3 Skier said:
They can be a reasonable deal IF you know what you’re doing.

I own three, two (used to be three) in Steamboat Springs and one in Mexico/USA. The Steamboat Springs units are actually fractional ownership that allow me to spend three months skiing every year. One pays for itself with rental income the rest of the year and the other costs me ~$1000 a year. The Mexico one will expire in about five years and allows me to spend a week (~$1000) after ski season on the beach warming up.

That said, if you’re interested, NEVER BUY FROM THE DEVELOPER. They’ll charge mega bucks for stuff you can get for 1¢ to $5000 on eBay. Just search for timeshares. I enjoy an occasional cheap 4 day vacation for $199 for the “privilege” of agreeing to listen to the BS for 90 minutes. I start off telling them they can waste my time and theirs or just sign me off and leave. After I tell them what I have and how I use it, 50% they call the next guy up, we chat for 15 minutes and I’m out of there or the other 50%, we talk about what ever comes up until the gong rings. Last guy I met used to be an A&P so we talked about airplanes for a while.

IF you know what your doing and don’t listen to the sales weasels at the property, it can work. But....usually not for the majority of people.

Cheers
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My Dad lived in Phoenix. Aunt & Uncle in Buffalo, NY. They would spend Jan & Feb in Phoenix with Dad. Favorite weekly activity was spending 60-90 min at these sales attempts for (pick one or more) dinner, couple nights in Vegas, couple nights somewhere else, etc....No problem - Dad was a retired used car salesman. (*evil laugh*)
 
lowtimer said:
I sometimes stay in Diamond resort properties in Sedona since I can get a nice place for the price of a motel 6 during promotions. The only place on the properties with no firearms signs is the sales room. That alone tells me enough about what goes on in there.
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My wife and I did that in Sedona last April. Got a great jeep tour and a nice two bedroom unit for less than the cost of the normal Jeep tour. In turn, we agreed to the presentation the following morning. They realized within 30 minutes that we knew the game and were pros at saying "No". They cut their losses and sent us happily on our way.
 
I should say that many moons ago, my girlfriends dad owned the third week in January at a ski-in/ski-out property in Austria. I don't know whether it was a wise financial investment, but it was neat to have a nice place to go to during prime season every year. He and wife #2 would go sat-wed and we took the rest of the week. That one worked well because it was a prime week in a location easily drivable from where we lived. That applies to very few timeshares, as there are 52 weeks but only a few that are interesting to own.
 
My wife and I bought into Disney and Hilton. It's worked well for us. We looked into a beach house, but the HOAs can be quite high. Of course, renting can offset the expenses , but we didn't want to deal with it.
 
Timeshares.... to me this is one of those situations where "why own when you can rent" sounds much better...

We have some friends the bought into this and got hurt in 2008 when they were both laid off. They were very diligent on letting everyone/creditors know of their situation and worked out some arrangements. However this was not good enough for the timeshare people. They had offered them a "deedback" on the property and some other option that was going to allow them to walk away... all said and done the timeshare still came after them... it was then they threatened them with litigation it surprisingly they went away...

Getting back to the high pressure sales pitch... this happened to us in Mexico once... I simply asked a gent where I could get a taxi, next thing I know our arms are being twisted to sign a contract... I wasn't until I screamed 'what part of the F------ing word no are you not understanding..." that they backed off... You could have heard a pin drop in the lobby as my wife and I walked away....
 
When I was 30 I went to one of the pitches. I liked the prize I might have won, but didn't.

After about 5 minutes I said, I'm just here to see what I won. I'm not going to buy anything. He says, "you have that much time to waste?" And I said, "yes, it's a nice day to drive along the coast with the top down."

He then started to explain that I could make that drive AND have a place to stay.

I complimented him on his persistence when I left, which seemed to be a year later. :)
 
I designed my entire life around not talking to annoying salespeople about products I have no interest in. Why in the world would I spend my vacation with them?

I’ll gladly pay full price to keep those wastes of oxygen away from me.
 
The first time I was in Mexico on a charter trip, the Captain told me that a good way to get "free stuff" was to go to timeshare presentations. I've gone to a few, and have gotten free snorkeling, sunset cruises, and ATV adventures. But I am good at saying "no", and I am not the type to voluntarily go to big resort areas for vacations.
 
Is the time share called "El Grande Vista".?? He wouldn't be a member of the "el Presidente club on O'Kelly's private yacht, would he.??
 
We own Disney Vacation club. Spent a week at Aulani in Hawaii in August. The rack rate for our 1 bedroom villa for the week was $5500. We spent 21K acquiring the timeshare points. The timeshare will pay for itself in 4 trips to Aulani, then we get to vacation for the cost of the annual dues/maintenance. Wasn't a bad expenditure of capital.
 
sferguson524 said:
We own Disney Vacation club. Spent a week at Aulani in Hawaii in August. The rack rate for our 1 bedroom villa for the week was $5500. We spent 21K acquiring the timeshare points. The timeshare will pay for itself in 4 trips to Aulani, then we get to vacation for the cost of the annual dues/maintenance. Wasn't a bad expenditure of capital.
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You left out the yearly fee.
 
"then we get to vacation for the cost of the annual dues/maintenance"

So you are saying this is under, and will continue to be under the cost of renting a similiar place? So much so that spending the Capital was worth it?
What do you think the yearly increases on this Maintenance will be?
How many years do you expect to take this same vacation?
 
ja_user said:
"then we get to vacation for the cost of the annual dues/maintenance"

So you are saying this is under, and will continue to be under the cost of renting a similiar place? So much so that spending the Capital was worth it?
What do you think the yearly increases on this Maintenance will be?
How many years do you expect to take this same vacation?
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IMO, timeshares are worth it if you can afford to vacation. There are annual fees, but in the end, I feel that we come out ahead. The people that don't have time or money to travel are the ones that get hurt because the annual costs are still there whether or not you use your points. Between disney and Hilton, my wife and I can go to numerous locations. My one complaint with Disney is that some of their locations are getting harder to find times that work for us. Hilton Head is a favorite location for my wife, and Disney's resort is always packed during the summer. Fortunately we are based there with out Hilton grand vacation points.

It's truly a personal decision, and I wouldn't recommend one for just anyone. It has to fit your situation. Much like owning a plane .lol
 
I have a free Hilton Head time share .....if anyone is interested. I want out....you just pay the transfer fees. ~$275.
 
LDJones said:
My wife and I did that in Sedona last April. Got a great jeep tour and a nice two bedroom unit for less than the cost of the normal Jeep tour. In turn, we agreed to the presentation the following morning. They realized within 30 minutes that we knew the game and were pros at saying "No". They cut their losses and sent us happily on our way.
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Just decided to go to Sedona a couple days last night and booked "The Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort" 2 bedroom lockout (a studio and a one bedroom with adjoining doors, my kid thinks he's a king with his own place) for $79 a night (under $200 total with tax and fees). Booked directly thru the property website.

You don't have to go to any sales presentations or anything like that. They will ask you to go to another desk to pick up your discount coupons, my understanding is that this is where they try to talk you into the presentation, I just skip it.
 
lowtimer said:
Just decided to go to Sedona a couple days last night and booked "The Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort" 2 bedroom lockout (a studio and a one bedroom with adjoining doors, my kid thinks he's a king with his own place) for $79 a night (under $200 total with tax and fees). Booked directly thru the property website.

You don't have to go to any sales presentations or anything like that. They will ask you to go to another desk to pick up your discount coupons, my understanding is that this is where they try to talk you into the presentation, I just skip it.
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I think we paid $59 for the $79 Jeep tour and got a free night...well free, minus the 30 minutes at the presentation, which actually lasted about 12 minutes because we're good at "No".
 
ja_user said:
"then we get to vacation for the cost of the annual dues/maintenance"

So you are saying this is under, and will continue to be under the cost of renting a similiar place? So much so that spending the Capital was worth it?
What do you think the yearly increases on this Maintenance will be?
How many years do you expect to take this same vacation?
Click to expand...
We'll likely keep going to Auliani even as the kids (4 and 11) get older. They loved the beach and pools. We loved the fact that we can have them go to the on property kids club (included) and have some adult time. Can also go to WDW (Fiancee's bucket list). I think the expenditure of capital was worth it for the time being, when it stops being worth it, there's the resale market to offload the points.
 
rbridges said:
IMO, timeshares are worth it if you can afford to vacation. There are annual fees, but in the end, I feel that we come out ahead. The people that don't have time or money to travel are the ones that get hurt because the annual costs are still there whether or not you use your points. Between disney and Hilton, my wife and I can go to numerous locations. My one complaint with Disney is that some of their locations are getting harder to find times that work for us. Hilton Head is a favorite location for my wife, and Disney's resort is always packed during the summer. Fortunately we are based there with out Hilton grand vacation points.

It's truly a personal decision, and I wouldn't recommend one for just anyone. It has to fit your situation. Much like owning a plane .lol
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Same point I was trying to make, albeit less eloquently.
 
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