When you buy a timeshare, you best believe that there will be some obligations and responsibilities on your part. One of the most obvious obligations is the fact that you must pay a monthly mortgage on the property, that is, if you didn’t purchase the property in cash.
Besides mortgage, there are other financial obligations you’re required to pay for as a timeshare owner, including the following.
Property Taxes
Just like you pay for property taxes for your primary home each year, you’ll also be obligated to pay for the annual property taxes on your timeshare property.
In some cases, your property taxes may be bundled into your timeshare’s maintenance fees or rolled into your mortgage payment, if application. Or, you may have your property taxes billed separately. In the end, those taxes come out of your wallet, so make sure you’re financially prepared.
Utilities
Typically on an annual basis, you’ll be in charge of paying for the utilities of your property. The fees you owe for utilities will depend on the days or weeks of the year that you were assigned to visit the timeshare property. However, even if you did not use all your allocated time for that year, you’ll still generally be required to pay utilities for that entire time period.
Special Assessments
The board has the right to charge special assessment fees to timeshare owners. These assessments may be levied to help in the event that there’s a costly repair that needs to be made to the property or if the board’s budget needs to be raised based on their current expenses.
Usually, there’s only a certain percentage that the board is able to charge in special assessments each year.
Maintenance Fees
With multiple people using a timeshare property over the course of time, you bet that there is going to be some maintenance to be had on the vacation home. Yes, those fees fall back on the owners of the timeshare. The average annual cost of timeshare maintenance fees is around $1,000. The maintenance fee you pay may go up each year.
So, what do maintenance fees cover, you might ask? The money goes towards any upkeep, upgrades, or enhancements made to the resort. The fees also go towards the employees working hard to maintain and improve the property.
All the obligations associated with having a timeshare can be enough to make your head spin. And if you’re wanting out of a timeshare, you’re probably even more worried about figuring out a successful exit strategy.
It may still be possible to get out of a timeshare. Visit https://acagroup.org/how-do-i-get-out-of-a-timeshare to learn more.
Conclusion
Owning a timeshare seems all fun and games. However, with fun and games comes big responsibility. Apart from paying for the property itself, you’ll also be on the hook for property taxes, utilities, special assessments, and maintenance fees as a timeshare owner. So, it’s no wonder that owning a timeshare isn’t for everyone and that some people want out of the deal.