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The Finances of Florida Timeshares
The finances of a typical Westgate offer are often out of line with other similar purchases. Here are some figures that I have run. If you want to see the actual story from which each situation came, go to the Timeshare Complaint Listing and click on the matching story with the same user initials.Base Prices
Typical Starting offer (to M.K.): $24,000 (1 week)
Typical Final offer (to I.L.): $5,600 (1 week)
Sales Team's reaction to requests for a few days to think about it: they exploded in anger and yelled
Highest Price I found on current EBay to OWN a prime week at Westgate Florida: $1,500 (1 week)
(many sales went for much lower)
Interest Rates
Recently quoted Westgate Interest Rate (to G.B.): 17.75%
Standard credit card interest rate: 15%
"High" condo interest rates during the War in Iraq: 5.79%
Yearly Payment Issues
Yearly Payment for your Westgate Timeshare at their rate (30 yr loan): $4,291.90/yr
Current Maint + Taxes Additional Charge (G.W.): $585/yr
Total yearly cost (for one week stay inc taxes): $4,876.90/yr
June week at Disney's Grand Floridian, the top rated hotel/spa in Orlando: $2,688 (1 week)
Current eBay listing for rental at Westgate Florida in June: $450 (1 week)
Note this is less expensive than the MAINTENANCE charge the owners pay
Better Uses for your Money
Most owners who write in never even got to their Westgate timeshare because of timing issues, or went once and had problems with broken windows / dishwashers / sinks. $24k is a lot to pay before you have proven you will use it and enjoy it more than once. If you're intent on the image of luxury that Westgate offers, consider Ebay. Even if you choose to buy, you can save $22,500 by buying your Westgate week on eBay. You get your timeshare and STILL could:
- Send your child to a GOOD private college for a year (source)
- PERMANENTLY save 1,250 acres of rainforest from destruction (source)
- Cover costs for 562 African children to go to school for a year - for many, the only meal they receive each day is at school. (source)
- Sponsor 125 Indian children for a year, allowing the child to be fed, clothed, and educated (source)
- Provide PERMANENT food and income for 120 families with a "Gift Ark" (source)
- Completely pay for 28 Habitat for Humanity Houses (source)
- Support 21 schools in Afghanistan for a year, helping them bring boys and girls into the modern age (source)
Now multiply these savings times the number of people who sign the contract in a Westgate Resorts or other timeshare seminar each day.
Westgate Resorts Timeshare Complaints - Main Page
Lisa and Bob's Travelogue Homepage
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