How Timeshare Refinancing Actually Costs Buyers More Money

Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken a deep dive into the reality of borrowing money for a timeshare purchase. If you’ve been following along, then you’ve become well aware of just how costly the expense can be. At the same time, the general population knows little about the financial pitfalls of timeshare travel. Even the smallest bit of information can save most from buyer’s remorse. While the unexpected fees, liabilities and lender rates of a mortgaged property can alone be devastating, the burden usually compiles when buyers decide to pursue the peril of timeshare refinancing. 

After speaking with thousands of unhappy timeshare owners, we’ve been able to develop a solid understanding of the fractional owner’s perspective. At first glance, many see the purchase as an opportunity to go on vacation for a low monthly cost that fits within their budget. Even when they attend the sales presentation without a single intent to buy, the product intrigues them. After hours of pressure filled sales pitches and distracting incentives, many attendees truly believe they can’t let the opportunity pass them up. 

The problem is, when consumers are sold on possibilities instead of realities, they find themselves chasing expectations throughout their tenure as owners. When expectations don’t transpire, they’re forced to cough up more capital to make the expensive decision worth it. Since they’re stuck in a perpetual agreement, they don’t have much choice. You see, the resort doesn’t want them to know companies like ours actually know how to strategically get out of timeshare contracts.

When buyers are at the mercy of the timeshare, it presents a bundle of revenue opportunities for the resort and its partners – most of which are lenders. They could care less when owners continue to make costly mistakes as long as they remain under contract. This tempts buyers to engage in anything that gives them any type of hope for reducing the burden. Unfortunately, a majority of the solutions presented to owners aren’t favorable.

Should I Refinance My Timeshare to Cut Costs?

Most owners are eager to refinance their timeshare because they’ve been battling high interest since making the purchase. Like we’ve mentioned before, timeshare presentations do a great job of misleading potential buyers. Many would have never signed the agreement had the timeshare salesman not told them they could revise their borrowing rate shortly after signing. Once they realize banks don’t offer timeshare refinancing, they tend to exhaust their efforts to bring the interest rates down.

Whether they restructure their financial obligation with the resort or upgrade into a new contract with lower rates, rarely is either option advantageous. This causes owners to continue revisiting the idea of restructuring timeshare loans with third party lenders – even if it entails unsecured lending or secured lending on assets they own. Once owners make a string of poor decisions, all they can do is hope for some sort of financial relief. But what ends up happening is, buyers find themselves in a whole lot of debt without ideal resources to help them.

So if you’re thinking about timeshare refinancing to shave a little off of your monthly payments, we encourage you to rethink your strategy. Especially if you’re close to paying off the mortgage. While financial hardship might be staring you in the face, you have to remember that the timeshare prefers that you’re at their mercy. Acting out of desperation can be costly. Telling them that you’re considering bankruptcy or threatening to walk away only gives them ammunition. They’d rather talk you into temporary bandaids that enhance their profits over time. 

Timeshare refinancing is the type of solution that fits right into their “MO.” When you think about it, it’s pretty discouraging to know the resort wouldn’t help you out with a lower interest rate because you couldn’t prove the salesman told you so – but they’re willing to do what it takes to keep you under contract once the purchase completely overwhelms your bank account. But you’ve come this far and there’s no need to keep giving your money away. Restructuring once you’ve paid a whole lot of interest is a bad move. 

The Reality of Restructuring Timeshare Mortgages.

In case we weren’t clear before, refinancing a timeshare mortgage is not a solution to financial hardship. If you look up the definition of solution, it means to solve something. If you’re completely in over your head with a weekly interval or point membership, then restructuring payments will only further your problems by adding even more lender fees. In other words, you’re essentially solving nothing. While you may have some strong reasoning to support your stance, allow us to paint the picture for you.

Say you have a loan with 5 years left on the repayment schedule. If you’ve been paying $359 per month for 5 years already, then you’re probably pretty close to putting a dent in the principal balance (close to $6K of the original $20K loan). Since a typical 10-year term that’s paid within this time frame normally carries $23K in interest, about $15K should be taken care of. While this may be eye opening to most of you, it’s the hard reality of borrowing money with an enormous borrower’s rate. Any large purchase with similar financing (nearly 18% on average) would turn out the same way.

When timeshare owners allow the resort to sway them into restructuring a timeshare mortgage, they’re basically enabling the money scheme to continue. When they show they’re desperation, timeshare companies have been known to forcefully upgrade them into new contracts and extend the loan back out to 120 months (10 years). Although the “result” is a more “affordable” monthly payment, the buyer now has to cover additional principal. Most aren’t aware of this or they wouldn’t agree – similar to their initial decision to buy.

Timeshare refinancing resets the buyer’s obligation to pay lender fees, even if 65% of the interest on the original loan has been paid. On top of that, 80% of the new loan’s payments will go towards the reset interest, not the remaining principal balance. Imagine paying tens of thousands for nothing, only to start all over again and extend the burden. If you want to lower your monthly costs then you’re better off cutting back in other areas of your life. As you can see, restructuring your loan with the resort only gives them more of your hard-earned money (in the form of interest) with zero added value to your vacations.

Another Example of Poorly Restructured Timeshare Loan.

One of the best ways to explain this is to compare the decision to that of a refinanced car loan that has almost been paid off. Negative equity in the car is created when you pay additional interest on a depreciating vehicle that you can’t even afford anymore. While the overall cost may seem fitting, you have to consider maintaining the car, out-of-warranty repair costs, upgrades, speeding tickets, insurance rates and even gas. At the end of the day, the borrowed amount of the car loan itself isn’t exactly the problem.

The clear takeaway here is that the best option for the car owner is to give the car back and cease payments altogether; instead of trying to make it work. But it’s not that simple for timeshare owners. Even donating the purchase isn’t always fruitful. Timeshare cancellation services might not be ideal either if you’re worried about additional costs. At the same time, fractional owners know that dragging out unwanted payments just to avoid another purchase else to get rid of the timeshare for you?

Don’t Let Refinanced Timeshare Mortgages Handicap You.

The more consumers allow themselves to be trapped in longer mortgage terms and further contractual agreements, the harder it’s going to be for them to find peace and joy. We’ve helped hundreds of buyers who didn’t even know secondary timeshare loans or resort branded credit cards (backed by Comenity Bank and Barclays) were in their name. The deceitfulness behind the sale of a timeshare can lead you to believe you’re making smart decisions, but you’re really digging yourself into a deep hole. Timeshare refinancing only digs the hole deeper.

If you feel like you’re being forced to look into personalized lines of credit, unsecured loans or HELOC secured loans against your home to create a rewarding experience, something is wrong. Don’t let the mistake of the purchase cloud your judgement. Take advantage of your consumer rights while thoroughly analyzing every method of payment you involve yourself in. In most cases, there was something presented to you along the way that provides you with leverage to escape the clutches of your agreement. 

You have your whole life ahead of you. There are plenty of better things you can buy with the money saved from eliminating fractional ownership. If the idea of timeshare refinancing is your only hope then we’d love a chance to explain all the options available to you. While it can be hard to trust any timeshare solution these days, we take pride in making sure you qualify for cancellation before we even discuss our services. If you’d like to learn more, simply schedule a free consultation or proceed with the qualification form below.