The chairman of the Maui County Commission, Riki Hokama, is being quoted as trying to put a cap on Maui timeshare growth. According to the Maui News, Hokama has introduced to the county council a draft resolution to limit the number of Maui timeshare units to 2,200.

So here’s the first problem: not only does Maui have 1,974 timeshare units already, but there are hundreds more in development or almost ready to open.

Hokama’s rationale for the resolution, which he introduced to the council without discussion, says that hotel vacationers spend more than twice as much money as Maui timeshare users.

His criticisms include the allegations that timeshare companies pay workers low wages and also that Maui needs hotel rooms in order to accommodate a growing market of convention groups, educators and local families.

Does this make sense to you?

Donalyn Dela Cruz, the executive director of the Hawaii chapter of the national timeshare trade group says they don’t understand why timeshares have been targeted. She points out that timeshare owners have an investment in their Hawaii timeshare and on average, stay longer in Maui than do hotel guests.

The Council Chair’s statement that hotel tourists spend more money than do timeshare guests is generally unclear and hard to follow. Does he mean that timeshare owners spend less per day on their actual accommodations than do hotel guests? If so, he’s probably correct in that regard, because timeshare owners have locked-in tomorrow’s vacations at today’s prices. But as Ms Dela Cruz so accurately points out, many Hawaii timeshare vacationers extend their stays and enjoy longer vacations than do visitors who stay in hotels. And this fact is borne out by the research prepared for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which shows that occupancy rates for timeshares averaged 80.9 percent in 2006, but only 63.4 percent for hotels during the same period.

Maui timeshare owners may in fact, spend less money dining in restaurants than do hotel guests, because the kitchens and dining areas found in most timeshares makes in-suite dining so convenient. But whether a traveler has $500 or $5000 set aside for vacation money, if he or she spends less on food, there is simply more money to spend on other vacation pleasures from surfboard rental to souvenirs to pina coladas.

If you have been to Hawaii, you know that the cost of living there is substantial. Employees won’t work for timeshare resorts if they can earn more money doing the same job in a hotel. Hawaii timeshares have no choice but to remain competitive with hotels for employee salaries and benefits. And with so many timeshares today either owned or managed by hotel companies, you know that they are not making it a practice to underpay employees within their vacation ownership divisions, while appropriately paying their hotel employees.

In fact, the Maui News article includes the following information from Ann Baran, whose company provides the management for Maui Schooner Resort in Kiheai. Baran told the Maui News that even though the resort has only 58 units, it still pumps almost $4 million into the economy annually through taxes and tourist dollars. More importantly, she pointed out that the timeshare employs 23 people and has a payroll of almost $800,000, which averages out to almost $35,000 annually, per employee in salary or salary plus benefits.

ARDA released a report in February of this year showing that timeshares “returned back to local economies…an estimated $62 billion in spending; 565,300 jobs; over $21 billion in salaries and wages; and more than $8 billion in tax revenue.”

I have heard local lawmakers in other areas occasionally argue the same points that Hokama raises and I have to say, I never understand it and I always wonder what’s really behind it…

Timeshare resorts seem to make an easy target when politicians or concerned citizens want to speak out against development and what they perceive as too much growth, noise, and construction in their hometowns. Mr. Hokama is a second-generation public servant in Maui and perhaps his interest is genuinely in preserving Hawaii as he remembers it.

But timeshare developments are too often singled out as a culprit, when in fact, they are no more responsible for the changing looks and demographics of an area than are residential condos, hotels, motels, and any other businesses that cater to tourists.

When politicians want to slow development in areas they represent, they should say exactly that and prepare themselves for the outcry by those in their constituencies who depend on growth and development for their livelihoods. But play fair when you address measures to cap growth and don’t just pick on timeshare resorts!

With so much in the news about homeowners trying to refinance home mortgages, I thought it was a good time to also look at the question of how to refinance timeshare.

At Sell My Timeshare NOW, we are sometimes asked if an owner can sell timeshare when they still owe money on their timeshare mortgage or loan.

To sell timeshare that you do not own free and clear is just like selling a home on which you still owe money. Selling property requires that you be able to provide the buyer a clear deed or title to it, whether it is a single-family residence, condo, or timeshare. If you still owe the mortgage company for your timeshare, you must arrange to pay the mortgage or lien holder before you can provide the deed to the new owner.

For example, if you own a timeshare that you financed, and you still owe $3000 on the debt, you will want to try to resell that timeshare for $3000 or more. Any amount of money you receive in the sale that is above what you owe to the lender is yours. If you sell timeshare for $5000, and you must pay the lien holder $3000, the remaining $2000 is yours. This money is held in escrow during the transaction of the sale, until everything is completed.

But there are other approaches to sell timeshare on which you still carry a loan. You can borrow money from another source, such as a home equity line of credit or low-interest credit card and pay off your timeshare debt. Under these circumstances, the timeshare itself does not collateralize the debt. While you will now owe money to a new lender, you will own your timeshare in entirety, without mortgage debt on it.

This frees you up to enjoy the timeshare, which is now financed at a lower rate or better terms. It also means you can sell the timeshare, keeping all of what you make on it for yourself, or using those funds to pay off the new debt you took on in order to gain full title to the timeshare.

How Can Timeshare Owners Refinance Timeshare?

There are not as many options for refinancing timeshare as other types of property, but timeshare is legally considered real property and you do have some choices. One resource to investigate is Tammac Financial. Another possibility is any lender who will loan you money based on your good credit or other measure of creditworthiness.

As I always tell you, I am not a financial advisor. Paying off your timeshare mortgage can mean that you lose the option to deduct your mortgage interest from your state or federal income taxes, and the lower interest rate is not worth the amount you lose in mortgage interest deduction. It is always advisable to turn to a reputable tax or financial advisor to help you determine what is best for your individual circumstances.

Last week, SeacoastOnline ran an article about Sell My Timeshare NOW. Here’s part of what they had to say about us, “Sell My Timeshare NOW is among the many Internet-based companies speaking out loudly about the Nov. 1 expiration of the Internet access tax moratorium.

…Although the company has a storefront at its Dover corporate office, it primarily reaches its customers via the Internet. Last year, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com presented over $233 million to timeshare owners who wanted to sell timeshare or rent timeshare they no longer used. An Internet access tax could hit this timeshare resales and rentals company with a double-whammy, subjecting it to new taxes while also adding new taxes on the company’s customers who need Internet access to reach it.”

The article captures our feelings precisely here at Sell My Timeshare NOW. As businesspeople and as individual consumers, we don’t want to pay taxes for internet access. We don’t think you want to either.

On Thursday, Sept 27, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat, pulled the Internet Tax Freedom Extension Act from a list of bills scheduled to be amended and approved that day. Inouye was quoted by Grant Gross of IDG News Service, as saying, "further negotiations are warranted."

You will probably never have an opportunity to get all those existing taxes removed from your phone bill and other communications services, but here’s a chance to speak out and put a stop to the internet access tax before the current moratorium expires.

Not long ago, NuWire Investor ran an article entitled, “Top 5 Reasons Why Timeshares are Horrible Investments”. And while I wouldn’t have used the word horrible, I certainly agree that you should never buy timeshare as an investment.

But here’s the critical point that people miss over and over again when they preach about what a lousy investment timeshares are: Timeshares are not intended to be an investment!

It is always funny to me that you don’t see articles telling you that a car is a horrible investment and admonishing you not to buy one. We accept the fact that cars depreciate. When is the last time you bought a car, drove it, and then resold it for as much or more than you paid for it?

There is a pretty long list of things that we all buy that do not yield a return upon resale. Besides cars, trucks, motor homes, and boats, there are other items like golf clubs, clothes, new appliances for the kitchen, TV’s, and computers—all of which begin to lose value the moment we take ownership of them.

We buy some things in life because we want to use them and enjoy them. We know they are not likely to appreciate during the time we own them, but we accept that. We want a car to drive to work each day, a microwave oven in our kitchens and a big screen TV in the den. And we want to kick back, enjoy using our purchases, enjoy sharing them with our families, and know that we are getting our money’s worth returned in good times, good experiences, and a more pleasurable lifestyle.

…And those are all pretty good reasons to buy timeshare, aren’t they?