According to the American Resort Development Agency (The ARDA), which is in charge of the American timeshare industry, time share sales hit about $8.5 billion dollars per year. As of 2005, 4.1 million American households own at least one timeshare. The beginning of the summer is a hot time for the timeshare salespeople. They know you are thinking about vacations.

HOW TIMESHARES WORK:

The term “timeshare” covers any sort of vacation ownership where you share the costs with other people for a fraction of the time per year. Typically the “shares” are broken into week-long increments. Each share allows the owner use of one week of use of the property per year, and own 1/51st of the property. The standard is for there to be 51 shares with one week of maintenance by the maintenance company.

SHOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER IT?

Pros:

• They tend to be good properties. In order to be sold multiple times, they have to be. Even those adamantly against timeshares such as the author of “Scam School” and “Easy Money,” Chuck Whitlock, say that timeshares tend to be valuable properties.
• The costs are less than buying it. Of course they are. The idea behind a timeshare is that you share the time.

Cons:

• Time share companies are known for shady sales tactics.
• Sometimes owning a time share costs more than a person would spend going to a regular resort.
• The timeshare is a fixed property so you would have to vacation in the same location every year. For some, this can get boring.

A TIMESHARE IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF…

• It’s the perfect location for you and you wouldn’t mind visiting it every year. It’s a more of a second home with limited access than a vacation “spot.”
• You have no financial problems. The only way to get value from it is to visit the share every year. It’s a large expenditure and there rarely is a return on investment.
• You normally spend upwards of $150/night on vacations. If you spend less than that normally, you’d actually be spending more on the timeshare than you’re used to.