usvi-on-line
Group villa ownership - possible?
leading to another idea....
I'm thinking of starting a lottery. Seems like a great stable profit. Maybe sell shares..... 
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
DH and I have looked into this for a lake house with other couples. It never happened, but one big issue we ran into (although this was several years ago) is getting a mortgage that can be split across multiple buyers. Maybe you're thinking no mortgage, pay cash, and that of course would simplify at least that part.
I agree with those who say to draw up an agreement. Friends of ours have a shared vacation home, and even the best of friends have different ideas about how money should be spent and upgrades should happen. (New deck or fix the driveway? High end appliances or spend more on some artwork?) Everything needs to be spelled out, from who takes care of restocking supplies and hiring a cleaning crew to finding a fair way to decide who gets which week. (If there are 52 owners, how many years do you have to wait to spend Christmas there? Is it by lottery, or do people kick in alittle extra to the monthly assessment fund to get peak season weeks?)
I don't mean to be a nay-sayer, because believe me I'd love to own even a tiny part of a property on STJ!
I agree with those who say to draw up an agreement. Friends of ours have a shared vacation home, and even the best of friends have different ideas about how money should be spent and upgrades should happen. (New deck or fix the driveway? High end appliances or spend more on some artwork?) Everything needs to be spelled out, from who takes care of restocking supplies and hiring a cleaning crew to finding a fair way to decide who gets which week. (If there are 52 owners, how many years do you have to wait to spend Christmas there? Is it by lottery, or do people kick in alittle extra to the monthly assessment fund to get peak season weeks?)
I don't mean to be a nay-sayer, because believe me I'd love to own even a tiny part of a property on STJ!
Timeshares don't necessarily go down in value as mentioned by alw1977. For instance lots of Marriotts properties have gone up in value. Depending upon location and age, but thats true of any real estate. Frenchmans Cove right across on STT has gone up considerably since we bought 3 yrs ago. A family member of mine owns in Park City and their property has more than doubled since they bought 9 yrs ago. Many people gave timeshares a bad rap years ago since it was a really shady business, but they are the next real estate wave when you consider 1.7 million (or even 100's of thousands) for a vacation home and then the hassles of owning/renting the property from a distance.
I think we might be getting off topic here, but since I got called out...
Any person out there is free to do a google search on "timeshares do they increase in value" and will find articles from the Wall Street Journal, Clark Howard, etc, which state that timeshares are historically the worst possible investment in real estate.
That being said, there are certainly exceptions to every rule.
I find that many of those who own timeshares think they are the best thing ever. Those of us who don't, and who've reached that conclusion after researching the purchase of one (as I have), feel quite the opposite. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. Enjoy your timeshare, and I hope the value continues to increase. Different strokes for different folks. (if I could insert a stupid shaking hands icon here, i would. I meant that the icon is sort of stupid, not the sentiment. You know what I mean. I think.)
Any person out there is free to do a google search on "timeshares do they increase in value" and will find articles from the Wall Street Journal, Clark Howard, etc, which state that timeshares are historically the worst possible investment in real estate.
That being said, there are certainly exceptions to every rule.
I find that many of those who own timeshares think they are the best thing ever. Those of us who don't, and who've reached that conclusion after researching the purchase of one (as I have), feel quite the opposite. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. Enjoy your timeshare, and I hope the value continues to increase. Different strokes for different folks. (if I could insert a stupid shaking hands icon here, i would. I meant that the icon is sort of stupid, not the sentiment. You know what I mean. I think.)
Not calling you out in a bad way at all, sorry if it sounded that way. Just wanted to mention that not all timeshares are a bad deal. Thats the way I took your comments.
I don't look at it as an investment necessarily. Yes I would like to sell it for a nice profit, but I plan to get many, many years of use out of it. Thats the true payoff imho.
I hear you on the everyone who owns a timeshare thinks its the best deal ever. Most people who own one do think that way and force that idea on others. I don't though. I am just glad my wife and I were able to buy it early in our life so we can use it for many years. 30 and DINK (double inc no kids) will do that!
I don't look at it as an investment necessarily. Yes I would like to sell it for a nice profit, but I plan to get many, many years of use out of it. Thats the true payoff imho.
I hear you on the everyone who owns a timeshare thinks its the best deal ever. Most people who own one do think that way and force that idea on others. I don't though. I am just glad my wife and I were able to buy it early in our life so we can use it for many years. 30 and DINK (double inc no kids) will do that!
I always thought of timshares as a net present value advance purchase of a vacation. If you know the cost money/inflation its pretty easy to make the decision. There are plenty of good/bad deals around.
My biggest problem is choosing to stay in the same place. I know you can swap, but I want St. John. My lover's parents have Westin timeshares in Hawaii. I expect they'll swap sometime to tag along on one of our trips. That's pretty cool, but I don't want to go to Hawaii.
Cheers, RickG
My biggest problem is choosing to stay in the same place. I know you can swap, but I want St. John. My lover's parents have Westin timeshares in Hawaii. I expect they'll swap sometime to tag along on one of our trips. That's pretty cool, but I don't want to go to Hawaii.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
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Xislandgirl
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