Read Before Getting a Timeshare!

A timeshare is a form of property in which an individual purchases or rents a property for a set period of time per year. Usually timeshare properties are located near resorts or vacation areas, and thus are commonly used as vacation residences by the owners/renters. Timeshare ownership and leasing can be very complicated and varied, and is not considered an advisable form of real estate investment for those looking to accumulate income.

Timeshares, by, their very name, are governed in ownership based on a pre-agreed arrangement of time, thus guaranteeing use to the owner/renter for a fixed and regulated period. This period of time can vary based on agreement between developers, property owners, or co-owners. Commonly, a timeshare owner has rights to the property for about a week per year (or sometimes two weeks, or sometimes even a month), which, in theory, they would inhabit during a vacation or for business purposes. Timeshares could be rented on a rotating agreement or purchased outright from a company or development group.

A timeshare is typically over sought by A common family property is two bedrooms, often advertised as being able to accommodate 4 to 6 people.

The specific dates in which a timeshare can be occupied vary per agreement. They can be for fixed dates each year (such as, say, Memorial Day Week), rolling periods, (such as the second week in July one year, third week the next), floating (which are then determined by bidding on premium vacation periods, seniority, etc.), or simply on random draw. Time periods on the timeshare are then available to the owner, and generally, within specifications of their owner/renter agreement. Such arrangements can thus be traded, shared, or given as per the owner/renter’s wish.

It is through subletting or renting in which the timeshare can be utilized as a worthwhile investment property, where the owner/renter, if choosing not to use it as a vacation property during the time period, can then sublet it to someone else for a profit. Typically, when a timeshare owner at a given point, chooses to divest themselves of a timeshare, they do so while being unable to recoup their investment; buy-in rates are usually fixed, so profit gain is minimal, and the annual contributions to property maintenance cannot be recouped.

The rules of a timeshare vary per company or individuals, but they are regulated in most countries to specific standards (thus minimizing the potential for abuses or fraud by both property owners and renters).

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