Timeshare Name CM SA Bldg Apt BR FB TB LV AR List $ LOF Photo Charter Club on Naples Bay NA OI B 10 2 2 2 1240 $6,000 324 Sunrise Bay Resort-River MI WD 1 403 1 2 2 400 $6,500 324 Surf Club MI BE 1 609 2 2 2 1100 $9,000 324 Club Regency MI BE D204 204 2 2 2 809 $10,000 324 Charter Club MI BE S 901 2 2 2 1062 $30,000 324 Sunset Cove-By Winn Dixie MI WI 1 704 3 2 2 1503 $45,000 324

Local real estate agent sees niche potential in timeshare sales

Wednesday, July 9, 2003

By QUENTIN ROUX, Staff Writer

A planned addition to Marco Island's six timeshare resorts has underscored real estate agent Joe Frick's belief that this particular industry is becoming more and more popular.

Or, as he says more directly, "It's the hottest growing vacation industry."

Frick, who is with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, says there are more than 30 timeshare listings

on Marco Island right now, and that he is one of few island agents conversant with the intricacies of this type of vacation option.

"I think I've found a niche that nobody else seems to be interested in," Frick said, adding that he continues to concentrate on residential real estate sales as well.

"The first thing to remember is that timeshare should not be considered as an investment, but a prepaid vacation with today's dollars," he said.

Typically, he said, people would buy a week at a timeshare unit in a condo or resort for around $5,000, with the only additional expenses running between $500 to $700 annually for maintenance and property taxes.

"Most timeshares offer two bedroom units with two bathrooms and a full kitchen — accommodating up to six adults," Frick said, "so instead of staying in a cramped hotel room with no kitchen, there's the luxury and space of the resort or condominium."

In an industry that has accelerated rapidly since the early 1990s, Frick said, options have widened accordingly.

Owners have down the years been able to join "exchange companies," enabling them to take their allocated vacations in other parts of the country or abroad, with the only expenses being that of travel.

But even those costs are able to be minimized through a points system, whereby a purchaser of a $14,000 timeshare might be allocated 1,300 points, for example, but the vacationer can choose to stay in an exchange timeshare unit rated at only 600 points.

"In that case," Frick said, "the remaining points can be used to cover travel costs, because the exchange companies are also affiliated to travel companies."

In Coldwell Banker's case, Frick explained, the company is a subsidiary of National Real Estate Trust, in turn a subsidiary of Cendant — the country's second biggest mortgage com pany that also owns Avis and Budget car rentals.

Membership of an exchange company is optional, Frick said, and runs around $40 annually.

If a Marco timeshare owner wants to find a unit in nearby Sanibel, for example, he said, it's simply a matter of calling an 800 number and applying for available properties on that Southwest Florida barrier island.

Frick said although some buyers become committed to a particular time of the year (on Marco, February and March are the most popular months), if they are unable come for any reason, the condo or resort management teams can rent them out to offset lost value.

Others, referred to as "flex" buyers, are able to vary their weeks in successive years, while actual times bought can vary from a week to three months. Biennials, allowing two periods in a year, for example, are also options. Although timeshare technically represents an intangible property purchase, Frick explained it is similar to a general real estate purchase.

"The good faith deposit is retained in an escrow account, a reputable title company and/or attorney handles the closing to ensure the deed is recorded, and the interval (time) is protected with a title insurance policy guaranteeing a free and clear title," he said.

Marco Island's Sunrise Rotary Club holds a timeshare unit at the Surf Club, and includes it in a vacation raffle for members, who are not limited to Marco, but can indeed use the RCI exchange program.

Past president of the club, Anna Pusz, donated the timeshare. In terms of timeshare in general, Pusz said people should remember they're buying time and not property, but this is offset by convenience and the fact that the maintenance fee is the only continuing cost to owners.

Marco Island's existing time share resorts are the Surf Club, Charter Club, Eagle's Nest and Club Regency on the beachfront, and riverfront properties Sunrise Bay and Marco Resorts.

The new resort, Frick said, is to be called Sunset Cove. It will be situated in the vicinity of the Winn Dixie store, adjacent to the 11-acre property the City of Marco Island is considering for purchase as a community facility that could contain a park and civic buildings.

Joe Frick, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, believes timeshare is the hottest vacation option at the moment. QUENTIN ROUX/Staff

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