My Timeshare Albatross

December 3, 2013 6:33 PM

The timeshare market is awful, and due to new financial emergencies, I absolutely cannot afford to pay rising maintenance fees and assessments on a very nice 1 bedroom timeshare I own on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Donate for a Cause does not want my timeshare, and I've been listing it on ebay for almost a year now, with the price ranging from $.01 to $99. I've offered to pay the transfer fees. No takers. I've contacted various charities and NOBODY wants this condo. I've checked into TUG and it appears there are no reputable resellers. The developer will not buy my property back. I don't owe any money on the place, it's just the annual fees. There are no fees for the 2 weeks per year when I'm there, but I can't afford the maintenance and assessment any more. How do I get rid of this thing??? I owe it until 2035 and I can't afford it any more. And suffice it to say that I've asked and nobody I know and nobody in my family wants this place.
posted by kinetic to Travel & Transportation around Paradise Island, The Bahamas (9 answers total)

How much are the fees?
posted by shew at 6:41 PM on December 3, 2013

can you find out who owns the block of time just before and after your block? they might want to double their vacation time, who knows? you could leave a note for the after-person scotch-taped inside the medicine cabinet or on the bottom of the toilet seat.
posted by bruce at 6:55 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

How much are the fees? What are the "catches" that others might be seeing?
posted by floweredfish at 7:05 PM on December 3, 2013

Probably a dumb question but ... why not just let it go? Are you worried about a ding on your credit?
posted by jayder at 7:23 PM on December 3, 2013

Is it possible you could at least break even by airbnb-ing away your share every year?
posted by kmennie at 7:44 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

How much are the fees? Where do you live? What happens if you don't pay your fees?
posted by J. Wilson at 7:48 PM on December 3, 2013

No chance to rent it to at least cover some of the fees?
posted by sammyo at 9:17 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Answers: I live in Boston. The condo is at Club Land'Or, which is in the Atlantis Marina Village, inside the Atlantis complex. The maintenance fees are between $500 and $1000 annually. They are floating weeks which means I can book 2 separate weeks there whenever I want. There have been assessments on the place, and THOSE have ranged from an extra 1 to 2k a year.

Having 2 weeks in Paradise Island for a one-bedroom condo that sleeps 4 for about $3000 a year at most is pricey but still a reasonable vacation.

I am wondering how I would let it go. Call the company and tell them I don't want it? Would they even take it? As to what happens if I don't pay the fees, I have read that the developer has sued owners in the past for this.
posted by kinetic at 3:33 AM on December 4, 2013

Call the developer and see if they can rent it out for you. I stay in plenty of other people's timeshares all the time.

Or offer it for rent on VRBO. (Vacation Rentals By Owner).

I'm sure you can rent out one week to cover the cost of the maintenance. Then you can enjoy the other week, or rent it out at a profit!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:19 AM on December 4, 2013 [4 favorites]