Originally Posted by
escapefromphl
I am surprised that this makes sense, everytime I look at timeshare it seems the yearly fees & upfront cost outweigh the value for me, unless perhaps you plan to return to the same spot year after year?
The key, IMO, is to minimize the upfront cost which can be done buying resale. Ebay is probably the best place to look, but there are others (redweek.com, etc.) Buying resale you can expect to get a sizeable discount off of the price buying direct from Marriott. 80% or more off is not all that unusual (ie; buying a $20,000 unit for 4K, etc.)
To me, the maintence fees are pretty resonable. Most 2br units for a week run ~$1500 in maintenance fees except for place like Hawaii, etc. That's a little over $200 per night and the units can sleep 8 in most instances. You would need at least 2 hotel rooms to hold the same capacity.