How exactly do ‘timeshares’ work? How many of you have them?
July 27, 2009 by Timeshare Vacation and Fractional Ownership Tips
Filed under More Timeshares Answers
Can you answer Andrea H’s question about Timeshares?:
A lot of you mentioned having co-owners. Can you own a timeshare alone? Or do you have to have someone go in with you on one?
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A lot of you mentioned having co-owners. Can you own a timeshare alone? Or do you have to have someone go in with you on one?
How to Make Money Online
Timeshares Feedback: my bf has one. We go once a year. Its like a mortgage once you pay it off you own it. Great way to vacation.
Timeshares Feedback: timeshares are a great idea in theory. If 52 people bought a condo and each used it for 1 week, you could have a great vacation spot for not a lot of money. However, there are some problems. For instance, you must pay for all costs: maintenance,
insurance etc. etc. also, what if someone doesn’t pay his share? and there are tons of scams out there. I have owned one, would not again.
Timeshares Feedback: You share in rent or ownership of something. Usually a cabin or cottage in or near a vacation resort. You work it out with the other owners if owned, or if renting the landlord works out the details as to who stays when. I tried it and DIDN’T like it.
That is ownership. Renting may be ok.
Timeshares Feedback: You buy a specific amount of time, usually, theres also a yearly maintenance fee. I dont think its worth prepayying for a vacation. I would be careful with this timeshares stuff. I dont like it.
Timeshares Feedback: Its like having a ton of roommates to split the rent with. Except the roommates actually pay rent and they are never there when you are.
Timeshares Feedback: There are many forms of time shares. The most common form is to organize a group based on a year divided into equal parts, say 52 parts, each part or share equal to one week of the year. People buy as many shares as they want, until all the shares are sold. You have, then, a right to use the house- condominium- whatever, for as many weeks as you have shares. Or you can rent it out, or trade it with some other property also held in time shares.
Most properties sold as time shares have an manager paid to live in or near the property to arrange for rental, maintenance and so on. Often the manger is a co-owner.
The real problem is that everybody blames every body else in the group for lack of rental income, high mainteneance and predictably, all the owners want to use the property at the same time, during summer acations, Christmas vacations, Holy Week and so on. These of course are also the times that the chances of getting paying renter is best. In some time share ownerships the buyer can buy a specific time period if he pays extra for the week(s) he want to occupy or rent it out.
I have never heard of any time share property return even a 5th of the promised income and I live in COsta Rica where time sharing of condominiums is very popular, at least until the buyers get burnt.
Time sharing of property for straight out trade of time without ownership and naive dreams of income do work out.
Usually it is done through a broker who keeps a registry of property up for trade. You put your property up for the time you want to have the house occupied. In return you get an equal amount of time in some property. Usually you do not directly trade with the occupant, you may go to a house whose owner goes to some other house, not yours, and some body else uses your house. The broker gets a fee for the service. Deposits are usualy made to garantee against damages or overstays. Most people are fairly happy with these arrangements although often it is not nearly as cheap as promised and again often the house is sparsely furnished and not quite as well located or convenient as promised.