My Place in OC

Memories from vacations past

Leaving Ocean City at the end of my vacations has always been heartbreaking for me. As a child I spent many a  summer in Ocean City enjoying the beach, boardwalk and rides with family and friends. In those days the high rise condominiums did not yet exist and my family stayed in cottages in West Ocean City. I cannot remember the name of those cottages that sat at the corner of Golf Course Road and Route 50, but my family affectionately called them ‘Hotel Debunk.’ In later years we moved down Golf Course Road to Fisher’s Harbor Court cottages to be closer to the marina. My father and the men would leave early to go fishing while us kids slept late into the morning. When the men returned with their catch we would all drive into the beach, hating if the draw bridge went up and cost us precious beach time.

The men fished along the bay and harbor where Shanty Town once sat. I have fond memories of watching July 4th fireworks from West Ocean City across the bay, the ferris wheel and rides a backdrop to the fireworks. Some evenings we would drive back into town to a restaurant or the boardwalk. Other evenings we would enjoy dinner and shopping at Shanty Town.

Staying in West Ocean City always made me feel like I lived there and began my dream of someday owning my own place. It would be many years before that dream became at least a partial reality.

As staying at a place with a pool and on the beach became more important my family “moved” from those West Ocean City cottages into Ocean City staying at various hotels including the old Westward Ho with its bay side pool, the Shangri La (the green and yellow place my mother called it) and the Sea Hawk in north Ocean City or renting various condos.

Making the move

As an adult I moved north to Rehoboth Beach, renting a mobile home from a friend, and again I was back to making the drive into the beach and boardwalk.  Although Rehoboth was somewhat more quiet I missed Ocean City. When my friend decided to sell the mobile home I was offered the option to purchase it but being far from the beach and ground rent precluded me from that purchase, yet the dream remained alive.

It was one day when I was doing a random internet search on properties I came across the website of Ketch Real Estate, a business specializing in timeshare resales. I knew nothing about timeshares, never thought it made any sense and had no idea Ocean City had any timeshare condos. I was intrigued enough to give Rob Sauer of Ketch Real Estate a call.

A place of my own (at least part-time)

My main objective was to own my own place in Ocean City. What I learned is through timesharing I could make this happen and I could be right in Ocean City, even on the ocean if I chose. Buying a timeshare for me has been a wonderful experience. I now own at Club Ocean Villas II on 120th Street. By owning, I have the same condo every year at the same time each year. As an owner I can bring my dog, something I was never able to do when renting. My timeshare condo features a fenced yard, deck, a private hot tub (all mine!) and plenty room for my dog to happily spend outside. I also enjoy amenities like a heated indoor pool, outdoor pool, tennis and racquetball courts, and boat slips. Yes, I do have to pay a yearly maintenance fee, but there are expenses with any property owned.

For me, timesharing combines ownership with apartment-like features. My maintenance fee includes all taxes, insurance, water, phone, grass cutting, snow removal, repair/replacement of appliances and furnishings at no extra cost to me, and is about half of what I was paying to rent a condo for a week.  On-site management by Defender Resorts provides peace of mind that my property is being looked after when I’m not there.

In today’s market, resale timeshares are available at very affordable prices across all seasons. Ocean City has many timeshare communities located anywhere from on the boardwalk, oceanfront, ocean block and bayside. For anyone who loves Ocean City as much as I do and is looking to own rather than continue renting, I find that timesharing is the way to go.

Today I own two timeshare condos at Club Ocean Villas II in North Ocean City, far from West Ocean City and  the action of the boardwalk.  I never thought I’d enjoy being bayside, but walking my dog  at sunset as the sun sinks into the water, its reflection reaching from the horizon to where I am standing, sparkling and playing on the water,  turning the sky shades of gold, pink and mauve is a dream come true.