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Buy Sell Time Shares

Owning time shares has given me:

A family reunion at a ski resort in British Columbia, Canada.
A week of hiking in New Hampshire.
For a family member and his family of five, a week at a Mexican beach resort.
For friends, a week at a resort in Florida.
Many two night stays for a nominal rate at our home timeshare resort.
Plus many more holidays in various locations.

Yes, time shares can be transferred to a family member or even a friend. In some resorts you can rent out your timeshare week.
And no, I have never used my time share weeks to stay at our home resort. But you certainly can if you wish. I have always traded my weeks in order to visit some new and interesting resort. But that is my preference. A timeshare appealed to me years ago and still does because I enjoy visiting new places. I own deeded weeks.

But What Is a Timeshare?

A timeshare is ownership of or right to use a property for a fixed period of time, usually one week or more. Usually the week can be used at a particular resort or traded for a week at another resort of approximately equal value.

The value of a timeshare for exchange purposes and the value or worth in dollars of a timeshare depends on a number of factors:
1. Location, of course.
2. The luxuriousness of the building and setting.
3. The interior furnishings and cleanliness.
4. The recreation amenities: pools, saunas, hot tubs, tennis courts, exercise rooms, party rooms.
5. The available surrounding attractions: beaches, nightlife, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions.
6. The friendliness and competence of the staff.

The more of the above features that a resort has the higher value it will have for an exchange. In other words a timeshare in a campsite is not going to be accepted for an exchange for a luxurious beach resort, but certainly the reverse would be accepted.

Deeded vs right to use

Deeded weeks or points can be sold or passed on to heirs in an estate. Leasehold deeds offer ownership for a fixed period of time.

Right to use weeks or pointsDisney Vacation Club (DVC) offers a deed for a real property interest in a timeshare unit as well as some very flexible vacation points that can be used at DVC resorts or non-Disney resorts.

Exchanging timeshares.

Two of the largest exchange agencies are Resort Condominiums International (RCI) and Interval International (II). Usually a resort is affiliated with one exchange agency. RCI has about 4000 affiliated resorts and II has about 3000. Exchange agencies charge a yearly fee plus a fee for an exchange. Owners can also exchange weeks or points through independent exchange agencies. There are bulletin boards to help owners meet others and trade weeks or points directly.

Vacation Clubs

Major hotel chains (Hilton, Marriott) have their own vacation ownership programs that are based on the points system.

Fixed week

The owner may have a deed to use a unit for a single specified week of the year.

Floating week

Floating weeks allow the owner to select a week from a list of weeks, for example a week during the summer or other season.

Rotating weeks

Weeks available to the owner will be rotated through out the year.

Weeks or Points?

Weeks Programs

Each year an owner is allotted a week or more depending on the purchase conditions.

With most weeks systems an owner may:

1. Use the time at their resort.
2. Rent out their weeks.
3. Give the weeks as a gift.
4. Exchange within the same resort or resort group.
5. Exchange with thousands of other resorts.
6. Sell your weeks.

Points programs

Each year an owner is allotted a specific number of points depending on the purchase conditions. The point system was devised some years after the concept of the weeks program. Genereally the points program is more flexible than the weeks program.
WorldMark and Shell Vacations manage resort point programs.

With most point systems an owner may:

1. Exchange points for airline tickets, resort or hotel stays, travel packages, cruises, car rentals, amusement park tickets and more.
2. Buy more points to add to your own points in order to have a better vacation unit, more time or a better location.
3. Save points or move them from one year to another.

A points program member may often request fractional weeks as well as full or multiple weeks stays. The number of points required to stay at the resort will vary based on a points chart. The points chart will allow for factors such as:
· The popularity of the resort;
· The size of the accommodations;
· The number of nights;
· The popularity of the season;
· and the specific nights requested.

Timeshare Criticisms

Units can be overpriced, especially in Mexico and Florida.
There are complaints about high annual maintenance fees.

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