What is timeshare?
From its beginnings in the 1970s, timeshare today is the fastest-growing segment of the travel and tourism industry. Worldwide sales reached $13 billion in 2005.
Timeshare offers the opportunity to own a premier vacation or timeshare resort property, without the exorbitant cost of year-round ownership.
Timeshare ownership can be deeded, leased, or licensed. It gives you the exclusive right to vacation and enjoy ownership at a specific timeshare resort during a specific interval each year, for as long as you own it.
Timeshare weeks and points are priced according to several factors, including time of year, location, resort amenities, and size of the unit. By “locking in” at a particular purchase price, owners are essentially guaranteeing a lifetime of luxury vacations and getaways at today’s prices.
Timeshare resorts are generally far more luxurious than most hotels, offering a wide array of owner amenities and services. Most resorts are nestled in spectacular settings, with many offering fully-furnished kitchens, spacious living areas, TVs, VCRs and DVD players.
Most one- units sleep four, with one bathroom; two-bedrooms sleep six, with two bathrooms; three-bedrooms sleep eight, with three bathrooms.
A daily schedule of on-site sporting, recreational, and social activities is normally available for adults and children. Many timeshare resorts offer swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, horseback riding, skiing, and numerous other amenities and often all on-site. Most timeshares are staffed with well-trained hospitality professionals whose sole duty is to make your vacation as fun and stress-free as possible.
Another very attractive benefit of timeshare ownership is the opportunity to exchange your resort week for a week at other resorts around the world.
As a dues-paying member of an exchange company, you may choose to return to your home resort year after year, trade for thousands of affiliated resorts around the world, or alternate back and forth between the two!
Does timeshare ownership make sound financial sense?
Timeshare offers a lifetime of luxury vacations at a price you lock-in today. Most people discover that after six to eight years of ownership, they have more than recouped what they have paid for their timeshare vs. what they would have paid to rent those vacations.
From that point forward, aside from an annual maintenance fee, your vacation property is available for your use every year thereafter without any additional cost. When deeded, it may even be willed to your heirs.
Over many years of enjoyment and memories--even at retail prices--timeshares is a sound financial value. Add up a typical annual maintenance fee, exchange membership and exchange fee--the total is a fraction of what comparable accommodations would cost to rent.
How do timeshare exchanges work?
There are several timeshare exchange companies. The two most prominent are Resort Condominiums International (RCI) and Interval International (II). These two companies are affiliated with over 5,000 resorts across the globe. The concept is really quite simple. Timeshare exchanging means to trade your vacation week at your resort for another timeshare owner’s week at another resort. You never actually meet the other owner; the exchange companies handle all the banking and exchanging for all members. Between RCI and II, over 1.5 million exchanges were processed last year alone.
As one of our lucky auction winners, you may become a member of your home resort's exchange company, or use the services of any of the other independent resort exchange companies which may meet your specific needs.
What is the difference between deeded and leased timeshare?
Most timeshare ownerships are either deeded forever or leased for a specific number of years. A deeded timeshare is like any other real estate purchase in that you own the timeshare outright, forever. Deeded properties can be sold, rented, given away or even willed to your heirs.
Leased timeshares give you the right to use a specific week at the property for a specific period of time, typically 20 to 99 years. When the lease matures, the right to use the property terminates and normally reverts to the selling resort.
What is a lockout?
Also known as a "lock-off," a lockout is a timeshare unit that can be divided into two sections, each with its own separate entrance. One advantage to owning a lockout unit is that two parties may use the timeshare during the same time interval.
Best of all, both sides of a lockout unit can typically be exchanged for a total of two weeks in regular timeshares, either consecutively, or at different resorts in different times of the year.
What is a fixed timeshare week?
That's a specific week during the calendar year usually identified by a number. Most fixed weeks begin on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Each week is given a number starting with the first week of the year and continuing through the end of December. Ownership of a fixed week allows you the use of the unit for that specific week annually for as long as you own it, or exchange for that week at another resort in a like-season.
What is a floating week?
Floating weeks may be used anytime during the year, based upon a resort’s availability.
What is flex time?
It's similar to a floating week; however, you cannot use all fifty-two weeks of the year. You may be able to use time frames such as; winter flex or summer flex, blue time frames and white time frames.
For example, if you own a winter week at a ski resort, you may use any week that falls within the defined winter months. Due to competition among existing owners for prime weeks, availability may vary. High and low seasons vary from resort to resort. Be sure to investigate this before purchasing a flex week.
What are points?
The points system (sometimes referred to as credits) is a relatively new form of timeshare ownership, which has evolved to meet vacationers' more flexible needs.
Owners purchase points to travel during specific seasons of the year, and for varying lengths of time. The more points purchased, the more the options. It takes more points to stay in high season vs; low; more points to stay in larger units. vs. small.
Rather than traditional seven-night, eight-day timeshare weeks, points allow the flexibility of as little as a one-day stay, to the maximum number of days that one's points total may provide.
What does it mean to spacebank a week?
It means you “deposit” your timeshare week with an exchange company to be saved for use at a later time. In many cases, weeks may be accumulated. You may spacebank weeks for later use at your home resort, or other resorts affiliated with the exchange company
What's the difference between red, white, yellow, blue and green time?
Each color serves as a rating of the overall desirability of a particular week at a timeshare resort. Red is considered peak season and the most desirable time of year to own. In RCI, red is followed by white (mid-season) and blue (low season). In II, red is followed by yellow and green.
Seasonal colors are important, as in most cases, you can trade down in color but you cannot trade up.
What is bi-annual ownership?
It allows the owner use of the resort every other year (EOY), traditionally for half the annual maintenance fee.
What is a Five-Star resort?
It's the highest rating awarded to a resort in the Interval International system.
What is a Gold Crown resort?
It's the highest rating awarded to a resort in the Resort Condominiums International system.
Why do resorts charge maintenance fees?
Owners share the costs of upkeep of their unit as well as the common grounds of the resort property by paying a maintenance fee typically averaging from $200 to $800 annually.
These fees, when pooled together, pay for ongoing property maintenance, beautification, capital improvements, utilities and general upkeep. The administration of the maintenance fee also provides a highly trained hospitality staff to extend to you the highest level of luxury and service with every visit.
Why are prices so low on the timeshare resale market?
Up to 50% or more of a resort developer's costs are sales and marketing expenses. When you purchase directly from the resort, you are paying an inflated price to absorb all of the administrative and marketing costs.
When buying through Timeshare Recycler on eBay, you pay exactly what a competitive market will allow. It's clean, fast and efficient -- and can be extremely profitable.
Do I need a lawyer to handle the closing?
No! We GUARANTEE clear and marketable title to every property we sell. To protect buyer and seller, we use Timeshare Transfer Inc., a fully-licensed, insured and bonded escrow company. They process all the paperwork and deliver all the legally recorded ownership documents to buyers.
How can I use your services to sell my timeshare?
Click here for complete details.
--Sarah, Fred and Jonathan
Your Timeshare Recycler team
Questions? Write us: tsrecyler@aol.com
Return to top
eBay is a trademark of eBay Inc. |
