I was young and got suckered into timeshare as well. I still have it, 20 years later. I think I paid about 12K for a 1 BR condo in Vail - and that was back in 1988 when $12K was a lot of money. I ended up paying it off early, so I own it now, FWIW.

You sound like you may have done some after-the-fact reading, so nothing I'm gonna say will prolly surprise you, but I'll say it anyway.

Timeshares are, in all cases, a bad deal. When you factor in the time value of money, interest paid, maintenance fees, exchange membership fees, exchange fees and whatever other stuff comes up, you end up paying more for a week in a timeshare than you would if you had just booked it outright when you needed it.

Oh, and the timeshare limits you on where you can go, locks you into resort-based vacations as opposed to anything else (like adventure travel), and the supposed cruise benefits suck eggs.

BOTTOM LINE: If there's anyone out there contemplating buying a timeshare, do one of the following:
1) DON'T DO IT. Ignore the crap the salesman tells you and believe what the timeshare-experienced tell you. It's a bad deal in the short AND long runs.
2) IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST DO IT, buy a resale timeshare in the lowest-cost place/resort you can get. Within exchange systems, a low-value timeshare is worth the same as a high-value timeshare in almost all cases.

NOW, as to the OP's question: I know it'll get me negged all over the place on this board, but my advice is to simply stop paying. Let the bank have their stupid timeshare back, write off the lost money as gained wisdom and move on. Yes, it'll be a hit on your credit report - big whoop. I'd take a pretty damned big hit before I paid off $24K on a timeshare I no longer wanted.

If you don't have the stones to just walk away, at least get the interest rate down with a HELOC or 0% credit card deal. 16.9% is freaking outrageous.

So that's my advice. Bring on the RED!

When the rich got tired of paying their debts, they used to move to Florida, put all their assets into a home then declare BK. I don't know if that still works though.

gstylez69 said:I've listed it on a resell website but other people are selling same model/floorplan for cheaper.

Then cut your asking price so that yours is the cheapest. Duh.

gstylez69 said:Needless to say...I was younger...I got suckered
gstylez69 said:I didn't know any better at the time...now I'm stuck
gstylez69 said:this definitely has been draining my paycheck since 06.
gstylez69 said:Anyone want to take this off my hands?

Sorry, but this isn't the right audience to test the greater fool theory on.

Wait, timeshares involve buying condos in other countries for a lot of money and then having to follow some restrictive policies to go on vacation?
I thought "timeshares" are just some 2h meetings you go to (when you have a lot of time to spare), and you exercise your "look serious to whatever crap that guy is blabbering about" skills to get a free trip/cruise/hotel stay/cash...

Ecuadorgr said:Wait, timeshares involve buying condos in other countries for a lot of money and then having to follow some restrictive policies to go on vacation?
I thought "timeshares" are just some 2h meetings you go to (when you have a lot of time to spare), and you exercise your "look serious to whatever crap that guy is blabbering about" skills to get a free trip/cruise/hotel stay/cash...I've done that a few times. In my experience (exactly 5 events deep, not including the time I actually bought one of the damned things), whatever they're giving out is nowhere near worth the time and harassment you'll spend there.

Unless you just thrive on the stife, and there are people like that....

FWIW, if you're gonna leverage timeshare presentations for fun and profit, here are some tips:
1) Say you're unmarried, single, no girlfriends, significant others, ANYTHING. if you let on that there's another person in the mix, they will require that person's presence.
2) Get someone to commit UP FRONT what you will have to do to get the bennie
3) Do exactly what you have to do for exactly as long as you have to, then start forcefully asking for your bennie.
4) Tell them plainly and with no ambiguity that you WILL NOT buy one of their products now, but that you might buy after you have had a chance to thinkmit over.
5) Be prepared to make a loud, obnoxious, impossible-to-ignore scene if you don't get what you want.

Good luck....

germanpope said:kenblakely said: ..... Timeshares are, in all cases, a bad deal. When you factor in the time value of money, interest paid, maintenance fees, exchange membership fees, exchange fees and whatever other stuff comes up, you end up paying more for a week in a timeshare than you would if you had just booked it outright when you needed it..........

new Timeshare purchases are in all cases a bad deal ....

I bought a timeshare on eBay that has maintenance fees of around $600/year --- I get a week in nice one bedroom condo in Hawaii with a kitchen every year which I use or trade (with great trading power) to get a nice condo somewhere else

the rental rates of my timeshare or the ones I trade into are $200/night ($1600/year) --- plus I can stay in my own unit in Hawaii for additional days with bonus time at $75/night

I am very happy with my timeshare purchase

Glad you're happy, and if it makes you happy then more power to you. I'm also not gonna argue this point, since there are other threads where people have battled this question out.

That said, I think if you examine all the expenses, you will find it's a bad deal in all cases.

* You say you bought a timeshare - presumably you paid something for it, probably several thousand dollars. that's a sunk cost that has significant time-value-of-money implications down the road.
* You say you exchange it. in order to do that you have to 1)be a member of the club (Interval International?) and 2)pay an exchange fee. In my experience those two expenses together are about $325.
* If you don't exchange, you are stuck with that place, in that development, forever. It's hard to put a cost on that kind of non-flexibility, but it's still a cost...
* So $600 yearly maintenance + $325 exchange expenses + (presentValue of the purchase price) is prolly approaching $1600

Like I said - if it makes you happy, great. Sleep well, tonight. That's something that you can't put a value on. In terms of pure money tho - timeshares are generally accepted to be bad deals.

One interesting point is that the only people you'll find talking about how great timeshares are are either salesmen or owners.....

Has anyone ever donated one and got a decent tax write-off. I imagine an appraisal would be needed to donate something of this dollar amount.
Bankrate article on donating timeshares

kenblakely said: That said, I think if you examine all the expenses, you will find it's a bad deal in all cases.

* You say you bought a timeshare - presumably you paid something for it, probably several thousand dollars. that's a sunk cost that has significant time-value-of-money implications down the road.
* You say you exchange it. in order to do that you have to 1)be a member of the club (Interval International?) and 2)pay an exchange fee. In my experience those two expenses together are about $325.
* If you don't exchange, you are stuck with that place, in that development, forever. It's hard to put a cost on that kind of non-flexibility, but it's still a cost...
* So $600 yearly maintenance + $325 exchange expenses + (presentValue of the purchase price) is prolly approaching $1600

a)my intitial cost for the timeshare was $1500 (please amortize this for me over 20 yrs)
b)my exchange fee is $100 through Hawaii Timeshare Exchange (HTSE.NET)
c)HTSE runs a special for TWO mainland weeks for my Hawaii week if I deposit early
d) the timeshare is on a neighbor island where I have relatives (I live on Oahu). So I will use it every year. But, I can also trade for TWO weeks and stay at my home resort on bonus time.

SO YES --- after all the math --- and figuring the cost I pay when I am in a Hawaii hotel with no kitchen and living room for my kids --- I know I am getting an excellent deal.

............