Summer is coming up soon which means it’s going to be time to think about where to go or what to do on vacation. This is a big decision because there are a lot of ideas to consider. You might want to take the family on a road trip to see family, or maybe go on an extended camping trip, or maybe you just want to relax at a resort. An option you may not have considered is a timeshare.
Timeshares are a way of experiencing a vacation property without the hassle of owning and maintaining the property yourself. This gives you some peace of mind knowing you have a place to go to, but don’t need to worry about the day-to-day. If you’re interested in learning about timeshares, check out this info to help you out.
What is a timeshare?
Firstly, a timeshare is a piece of property, like a house, that you pay into as an agreement with others to split the cost and time there. This property is a way that people can experience a vacation without having to own the property themselves. This helps unencumbered you from the paperwork, taxes, and management of buying a new property. Often this is for people who need a vacation property or home, but don’t want to spend the money to buy a place that they may only end up using once a year for a week or a few weeks.
How do they work?
Timeshares work as explained, wherein there’s an agreement between a group on the time that each person will use or reserve the property during the calendar year, but there’s more to it. There are different types of contracts and ownership that will be involved with a timeshare. If you look at RCI VIP, you can see that a timeshare can be simple or complicated, but it’s good to know these differences. Here are the two types of contracts:
- Shared Deeded - This is a contract that divides the property between each person in the agreement. It means that out of the 52 weeks of the year, you and everyone else will be given a specific time that you may use it.
- Shared Leased - Instead of having the shared deed, the leased property remains with the property owner. This means that your share in it can’t be deeded or sold, as it has an expiration limit that must be met.
The three types of ownership are:
- Points System - Usually not as common, the points system means that your timeshare is worth a set amount of points which can be used to exchange for another property owned by that timeshare group. Depending on the timeshare, one may be worth a lot more given factors like location.
- Fixed Week - The most typical example of a timeshare agreement. A fixed week option means you get a fixed week in the year for which the property is yours to use. It can cost you more to change the week you want to reserve as yours and it’s harder to get prime times (Memorial Day weekend, etc.)
- Floating Week - This is where it becomes tricky. The floating week option means that you have to be diligent in getting first in line to pick your time. You will be given some restrictions, but it mostly comes down to who reserves first, so you could end up getting stuck with an unfortunate week.
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What are the costs of a timeshare?
The costs of a timeshare can vary, but you will be paying an upfront cost, say $20 000, then maintenance fees, plus any kind of travel fees you’ll need to dish out yourself. The initial payment is to get you locked into the agreement, then maintenance is to ensure that any damages or cleaning are kept on top of by the property/timeshare group.
What should I look out for?
A timeshare really isn’t for everyone. If you want the simplicity of going to one place yearly, knowing you have it already locked down, then a timeshare is a good option. If you want flexibility, you might want to consider a paid-for vacation instead. Consider how you may end up with an off-season week where there are no other tourists around as well as getting stuck with a long contract if you don’t feel satisfied.
If you’re looking for a simple way to ensure that you can vacation every year, then you might want to consider a timeshare, so it’s good to pay close attention to the information you’ve gained here.
Main photo by thanhhoa tran from Pexels