One of the worst investments of all time is the infamous time share. Notorious for pushy salespeople that put car salesmen to shame, time shares have always been one of the biggest ripoffs that occur to put people in debt. Now, in a deprecession, the time share boom is finally being exposed for what it is.
U.S. timeshare sales dropped 8.5 percent last year to $9.7 billion from a peak of $10.6 billion in 2007, excluding the luxury fractional business and private residence clubs, according to an Ernst & Young LLP study prepared for ARDA. The decline was the industry’s first since 1975 and is being driven by tighter credit, a higher personal savings rate and the loss of 6.9 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007.
ANDMark Massarelli, who runs Dynasty Limousine in Boston, has been trying to sell one of two timeshares in Hollywood, Florida, that he and his sister inherited from their mother. He has been advertising a one-bedroom, one-bath unit on Craigslist.org for six months. It’s at a full-service oceanfront property with access to an 18-hole golf course.
Massarelli, 46, hasn’t received any inquiries even after cutting the price twice.
“I am offering it at $3,995 but its value right now is probably around $8,000,” Massarelli said in a telephone interview. “I tried to sell it a couple of times for a higher price but nobody bit. The maintenance and taxes on the unit are getting expensive. So I cut the price to attract more buyers, but nothing so far.”
Hey Mark, if you can't sell it for 3995, then its value is NOT $8000, its whatever you sell it for!!
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