Timeshares, Maintenance Fee

28 October 2023

It's a common misconception that when you purchase a timeshare, the maintenance fees will stay the same forever. Unfortunately, that's not true, and I'll tell you why...

Owning a timeshare resort is very similar to owning a condominium.

For example, when you purchase a condominium, your condominium ownership covers your unit from the walls in. That is the space that you own and can customize to your heart's content.

However,

• You do not own the land that the building sits on.
• You are not responsible for maintaining or repairing the building yourself.
• You do not have to pay the gardeners or other staff who keep everything in working order.

Someone else does that!

Instead, the common areas of the property are governed by a home owner's association, commonly referred to as an H.O.A., which is tasked with managing the property wisely.

To do so, they collect a monthly fee from each owner, so the money can be used to maintain the property for everyone's enjoyment. This monthly fee is called the H.O.A. fee or dues.

Similarly, timeshare resorts are managed by an H.O.A.

An H.O.A. is a board made up of a group of owners who are chosen by the other owners. This board creates a plan and a budget for the ongoing expenses of the property. They decide how much each owner needs to pay.  And they then carry out the plan to keep the property in top condition.

When you become a timeshare owner, you are purchasing the right to stay at the resort for a limited amount of time. And because each resort must be maintained like any other property, each timeshare owner pays a proportionate share based on how much access they have to the property.

It is much more affordable to pay maintenance fees for a timeshare rather than a condominium, because the cost is distributed among many more owners and prorated for how much you can use it each year.

And of course, the costs to maintain a property can go up over the years based on different factors such as inflation, repairs or deferred maintenance. Because these costs tend to rise over the years, the board will do an annual evaluation and then vote to increase the amount each owner must pay if necessary.

It's important to note that if these maintenance fees were not collected, the expense fund to maintain the property would eventually run out, the property would fall into disrepair and the resale value would drop.

Not to mention, it would become very uncomfortable to stay at the resort if, for example, the roof leaked, the pool was not cleaned or the grass was not cut.

Therefore, it is to be expected that maintenance fees will be collected on a regular basis and they will go up over time.

The idea behind timeshares was to make it possible for owners to make vacationing more affordable. In addition, when staying at a timeshare resort, it feels more like you're staying at a friend's house with amenities like a full kitchen or a washer and dryer. So by paying maintenance fees to help the developer keep up all of the properties that you get to stay at, it is a small price to pay for access to this amazing world of resort vacationing.

Post in the comments below and tell me which resort you've enjoyed the most and why. 

But if the maintenance fees are becoming a problem, let me know by scheduling a free 30-minute timeshare rental training call with me by clicking the button below.