Thinking of buying a time share? We explore the pros and cons and help determine if time sharing is right for you.
Travel changed in 2020. As travelers, most of us spend a lot more time traveling, visiting destinations closer to home and spending more time in one place.
These changes have led to more and more people buying holiday properties and time shares.
What is time sharing anyway? Basically, time sharing is a vacation arrangement that allows you to share property costs with others with a guaranteed time allocation per year on the property.
Are time sharing a good idea?
Time stocks often have very bad results. Some criticisms are well-founded, but there are also some real benefits to owning a time stake.
Not all time divisions are the same, but generally speaking, most time divisions share some characteristics. If you’re buying a time share, make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into.
Time-sharing professionals
Cost. Time stocks are generally much cheaper than buying holiday properties, especially if they are bought in the resale market. In this regard, you will probably have to pay monthly maintenance fees. Look for transfer fees and service fees.
Exclusivity. Some properties offer places to share time even if they are sold out to the general public. For example, holiday clubs like Disney Vacation Clubs are often completely sold out for weeks, so buying a time share owner there means you may be one of the few who can enjoy the resort at the time.
Convenience. Ease of time sharing is one of their most appealing features. There is definitely something appealing about booking a vacation spot in advance each year, just waiting for you to arrive.
Options: Many time stocks these days are associated with stock companies that allow you to exchange a week or entry for a week at a resort or property elsewhere in their network at no cost. Of course, each time division is different, so check your options when signing papers.
Less practical maintenance and repairs. Most timeshares charge a maintenance fee and are then edited by the resort staff. If you own a time share, you will pay a fee to have someone else do the maintenance, but the daily headaches are not yours.
You can always sell. However, you can sell most timeshare, and that’s the way it is BITAN, be sure to review your timeshare agreement before making a purchase, as some time stakes are difficult to sell and some do not allow a sale at all!
How to sell time sharing
Once upon a time, the only way to sell a time stake was through the resort itself, a newspaper ad (remember those?), Or a possible real estate agent. Fortunately, today it is much easier to say time sharing, with several sites offering an online service.
We quickly inspected around SellMyTimeshareNow to see how the process works, as this is the first search result to appear on Google.
The company is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (one of our favorite places to visit in the US – see our article on family things in New Hampshire). There is also a corporate office in Orlando, Florida. They have been in business for 17 years – since 2003 (we checked by looking for the URL at Internet archive / Wayback Machine).
The site can connect you to a fairly complete package of services, from full property insurance, to resale of up to $ 35,000 through their combined brokerage service and property insurance.
A website allows you to sell your time share, buy a time share, rent a time share, or find a time share. There are a bunch of useful resources, including information about resorts and time-sharing brands, and useful articles about time-sharing details or how to avoid time-sharing scams.
Time stocks are sold in more than 217 countries and territories around the world. Since time sharing is not a traditional type of real estate, it is not necessary to use a real estate agent to buy or sell.
Against timeshares
Potential increase in annual fees. Many people buy a time share, only to find that their annual fees increase every year.
High pressure sales presentations. Timeshare sales presentations can be incredibly high pressure. Many resorts entice prospective customers with a free meal or deeply reduced stay of several nights if in return they attend time-sharing presentations. However, the promised one-hour presentation often turns into a few hours and includes high-pressure sales tactics and salespeople chasing you while you’re on the resort property.
One way to avoid these tactics of selling under high pressure and at the same time save money is to buy used ones. If you buy online, you are even more removed from selling under high pressure.
Most time shares lose value over time. Unlike regular real estate, you probably won’t build capital in time share longer if you own it and you may actually see the value of your time share decrease over time.
You pay for time sharing even when you’re not using it. Even if you can’t visit your time share each year, you’ll still pay annual fees (and loan payments, if you have one).
You may not be able to rent your time share. This one really depends on the resort, but many resorts do not allow you to rent your time share. Of course, there are other resorts that will be happy to rent your time shares, and that will even manage the rental for you (for a fee, of course).
Boredom. Returning to the same holiday property each year can potentially age very quickly. Before you buy a time share, make sure you want to visit that place over and over again.
Some time sharing uses a confusing points system. If your time division is called a “holiday club,” it probably works on a points system. Buy a certain number of points that you can use at various destinations.
You may not be able to rent your time share. This one really depends on the resort, but many resorts do not allow you to rent your time share. Of course, there are other resorts that will be happy to rent your time shares, and that will even manage the rental for you (for a fee, of course).
Your loan may have a high interest rate. Traditionally, time lease ownership loans charge much higher interest rates than traditional mortgages.
Additional fees may apply. Most time sections allow one-time additional fees to help pay for improvements like a new roof. You may be charged a sales fee or a weekly exchange fee for another location at the holiday club.
How to buy time sharing
If you decide that all the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, there are some useful tips on how to make buying a time share much easier, cheaper and less of a hassle.
Buy your resale time. You will generally pay a lot more for your time share if you buy it directly from the resort and new. You’ll probably get a much better deal if you buy your time stakes from someone who’s tired of paying annual fees or who just can’t use their weekly time exchanges anymore.
Find a lawyer. A lawyer who has experience in time sharing can help you avoid a lot of potential pitfalls.
Explain all fees. Most time shares have annual fees, but one-time repair fees and even week transfer fees, as well as other fees, are usually found.
Read your agreement carefully. Time leases can be long, inconvenient and complicated. While it may be tedious, a thorough reading of your agreement can save some unwanted and unpleasant surprises.
Know your notice period. The time share cancellation period is a short period of time when you can withdraw from the time share purchase. In the US, recession periods range from a few days to over two weeks. The break-up period is based on where you buy the time share, not where you live.
If you are buying a time share outside the U.S., you will need to read their cancellation periods. Not all countries are on offer for the termination period.
Try before you buy. You can even try time sharing before you buy by renting a time share at the resort that interests you most. This is not a bad idea as you will gain experience with the building, the location, the people, the dining options and the general atmosphere of the resort.
All in all, while sharing over time can be fraught with problems, there are definitely some benefits for the right person as well. If you are genuinely interested in buying a time share, the resale market may be the best way to save money.
Have you ever owned a time division? What is your experience? Let us know in the comments below!
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