Originally Posted by
happymommy
I have to say, having bought our week at Ko Olina (EOY odd) that I would have bought more if I'd known this was really coming!
HTH
Be glad you didn't - you could save a bundle purchasing on the resale market. As it stands now, you only got ripped off for the week your purchased.
Originally Posted by
Copilot23
I opted for a fixed rate home loan many years ago when Adjustable Rate Mortgages were all the rage. ARM's are killing people financially now.
Actually ARMs were a better deal at various points during the last decade. My 5/1 just adjusted down to 3.25% for the rest of the year. And if I refi now I can get 4.5% on a 30-year fixed which is the lowest rate on record. I don't know anyone getting killed on ARMs except for the subprime borrowers who probably should not have been underwritten in the first place. People with fixed rate loans are generally doing refi's now (if they haven't already) , but there is no way for them to get back the interest that they overpaid by taking a 30 year fixed product with a higher initial rate.
Originally Posted by
joshua362
Boy, Timeshares are starting to sound more and more like all the Wall Street derivatives and other mortgage "products" that nearly sunk the country 2 years ago. Just keep adding options and confusion until the regular guy without an MBA can't keep up.
As a non-owner, I just can't see what the fuss is all out. For the first time ever, I stayed at a MVC at Grand Vista, Orlando paying $169 less a $30 night credit - in lieu of a normal hotel. Just me and 1500 other units sharing the same tiny pools off the side of a highway.
Yes, the rooms were larger and nicer than a normal hotel but to lock yourself in at these rates, year after year, is it just me that's crazy?
Agree 100%. Timeshares are a ponzi-like scheme but perhaps similar to FF mileage programs than social security. Demand will always be very high for peak weeks and peak properties, such that those who own lesser properties may find it difficult to trade for the prime weeks. And the maintenance fees will only go one direction (over the past decade they have doubled on my brother's SVO week). Hence many strapped owners are selling their units for next to nothing just to escape the burden of maint fees.
That being said, both my parents and my in-laws get good value from their timeshares vs. the cost of booking resort hotel rooms for the entire extended family. They are able to do so because they are able to make reservations for peak weeks as soon as the schedule opens (365 days @ 9am) or trade for peak weeks at the earliest opportunity.
But for many of us it would be a ripoff, and we all know how points inevitably get depreciated. Not good news for Marriott owners.