Timeshare ownership was considered a good investment

Vacation packages are an affordable way to have a discounted vacation at luxury hotels and resorts. Time share presentation attendance is often required as part of the package. The benefit is the extremely low rates, top service and accommodations.

Timeshare vacation ownership was born in the '60s, the age of the commune. When you buy time shares, you buy time and you share a vacation property, whether condo, home, or boat. If you buy a timeshare, you're getting tomorrow's luxury resort vacation at today's prices--in perpetuity.

As the timeshare business has evolved, it's become more complicated, though the premise remains the same: the timeshare owner buys tomorrow's luxury vacation in a highly desirable location today, reducing the cost of future vacations to a low timeshare maintenance fee.

In order to tap the vacation market, timeshare developers use promotion strategies. They offer inexpensive vacations in resort areas to tourists willing to attend timeshare presentations as a part of their vacation package to encourage you to buy a time share. It's a win-win approach to buying and selling.

Timeshare prices and costs

Time of year and desirability of location determine your purchase cost, with average prices ranging from 7K for studios to 13K for a three-bedrooms, according to timeshare giant RCI. You'll pay taxes, cleaning and maintenance fees, and annual dues whether or not you use the property. Your timeshare will be affiliated with an exchange company, so you can trade your vacation time and location for another of equal value, if you choose. You'll pay a nominal exchange fee.

Timeshares: buying time

Timeshare time can be floating (choose your week) or fixed (same week each year). Fixed weeks run January-December, so Week 7 is President's Day and Week 51 is Christmas. Holiday or peak season (Red) weeks are the prime "real estate" of the timeshare market. White or Amber weeks have middle value, Blue or Green off-season weeks have least. Time value trades, so don't buy off season unless you really want it.

The timeshare market

The average selling price for a time share week in 2002 was $10,600 globally and $14,200 in the United States. That year, timeshare sales reached $5.5 billion. The potential market for timeshares is large: less than 3% of American households currently own a timeshare, even though the vast majority of timeshare owners (84%) enjoy their timeshares.

The average American timeshare owner is mature and married, with a median income of $79,000. If you enjoy great deals on vacations, consider purchasing a timeshare and investing in your future travels.

Discounts, incentives, and vacation packages

Timeshare resorts offer discounts and vacation packages to potential buyers. Crammed with freebies and incentives-- tickets to tourist attractions, meals, or gift vouchers-- these "vacations" include an ownership tour and sales presentation. Don't go, if you can't take pressure. Go to be able to get the timeshare experience. Be sure to talk to other owners. Ask about the quality of maintenance and whether they'd buy again.

American or global timeshares?

About 1,600 of the 5,400 time share resorts scattered around the globe are located in the U.S., with the bulk of those in sunny Florida and California. However, adventurous owners can buy in China or South Africa or 270 other countries.

Timeshare purchases in the U.S. and Europe are protected and regulated by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) and the Organisation for Timeshare in Europe (OTE), which protect buyers and discourage unethical sales practices.

Recommended Timeshare Resources

Corinne Walker's Timeshare Purchaser's Checklist  <www.tug2.net>
Resort Condominiums International <rci.com>
The Timeshare Beat < www.thetimesharebeat.com>

Timeshare is also spelled as time share. The most popular spelling is a single word- timeshare. If it is spelled as timshare or timeshared or timeshares, time shares, it is still the same as time share.