Timeshare Maintenance Fees | What Are They Used For?
What are timeshare maintenance fees, and what are they used for? How much is the maintenance fee on a timeshare and does the fee increase over time?
What It Is Used For & Costs Covered.
Most nice things in life will typically require some type of upkeep. Owning at a vacation resort is no different. The yearly or sometimes monthly maintenance fees on your timeshare cover these upkeep costs.
The following are some of the things that the maintenance fee is used for on your timeshare. Each resort calculates their upkeep fees differently so keep in mind that this is not an all inclusive list.
- General property upkeep
- Insurance payments
- Landscaping
- Management companies
- Utilities
- Staffing
- Property Upgrades
- Taxes
- Security
As you can see, the maintenance fee on the timeshare cover general upkeep of the property, and security so that owners do not have to worry about the upkeep or security aspect of owning their property.
How Much Is The Fee?
How much are maintenance fees? Generally the fee ranges from $300.00 to $700.00 per year to more than $1,000.00 a year for the larger, more expensive timeshares with lots of amenities.
How much you will be charged for your timeshare maintenance fee depends mainly on the unit size, location and your amenities as of course, the more amenities and the bigger your unit is determines the difficulty of your units general upkeep.
Is It Charged Yearly Or Monthly?
Timeshare maintenance fees are generally charged yearly or annually however some resorts charge a monthly fee so keep that in mind if you are thinking about purchasing.
Before buying, it's a good idea to check with the resort to see how often they charge for the upkeep fees on their timeshares so that you don't run into any surprises after you've agreed to become locked into any sort of agreement or contract with the resort.
Does It Increase Over Time?
One thing to keep in mind is that the fees are not set, or locked in. Timeshare maintenance fees can increase over time to keep up with operating costs, cost of living and of course rising inflation. In fact, they WILL increase over time.
If you are thinking of purchasing, it's a good idea to go over the different fees with the resort and ask plenty of questions about how and when they calculate the maintenance fees on their timeshares, what's included as well as how they determine fee increases for upkeep.
I Can't Afford The Increasing Costs, What Do I Do?
So what can you do if you find yourself in a situation where you are no longer wanting to use your timeshare or are no longer able to afford the increasing cost of maintenance fees?
While you do have the option to sell your timeshare to get out of your fees, know that timeshares depreciate in value, and tend to sell for only a fraction of the original cost on the resale market.
Need help understanding your timeshare better? Visit our FAQ Page on timeshares.