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Timeshares: Follow the Money

WE READ with interest Carol Sottili's excellent article on timeshares ["Sign Here," Dec. 17]. Special assessments are one item the salespeople would not want to mention to a new buyer of timeshares. We have owned timeshares for 20 years; the special assessments to upgrade properties -- as much as $600 a year on a periodic basis -- are an added burden to timeshare owners in some locations.

Our advice to buyers:

* Buy where you want to stay every year; otherwise, pay attention to the exchange fees, which can add up quickly.

* Buy a resale property.

* Buy one week (rather than multiple weeks or points) and take advantage of the special offers that most timeshare companies extend on a quarterly basis.

Donna and Jim Nicholson, Gettysburg, Pa.

GREAT ARTICLE! Having analyzed this as a financial planner, I looked at it similarly, but with a slightly different angle.

Take Marriott's Grand Vista. If you pay $20,000 plus $723 per year, your opportunity cost (at the 5 percent interest rate you used) is $1,723 ($1,000 income from the $20,000, plus the $723 maintenance fee) per year, or roughly $250 per night.

Can you get a better deal than $250 per night in a resort setting somewhere in Orlando -- or any other part of the world -- at low season? I think so.

If you want to trade to another company, then that cost needs to be added to the $1,723. I believe it is a minimum of $250 per year for membership and exchange. So that pushes the nightly rate up to about $285.

I think you would agree that $285 can go a long way in any season in most parts of the world, but even more so during low season.