Travel Paradise Blog

One of the biggest reasons why many people get caught up into traps and scams is that they do not know their legal rights when buying a timeshare. It is always a good practice to know your rights when you are signing any contract or agreement. As with any other industry the timeshare industry is also prone to unscrupulous tactics by some people. Everyday you hear a story of somebody being duped into buying a timeshare and the property doesn’t even exist or in some cases, is not up to the standard and what they were promised. Here are few things that you should remember while buying a timeshare.

To understand our rights let us understand different types of timeshare plans first. They are basically of two types. A deeded and title timeshare and the second one are right to use also as called license to use timeshares. A deeded and title and ownership means the buyer owns the timeshare and acquires a specific facility for a specified length of time each year, for a specified number of years (generally 40 years) and a deed. A right to use timeshare means the buyer has the right to acquire all the above mentioned things except the deed i.e. title. A deeded timeshare is inheritable whereas a right to use timeshare is like a lease which expires after certain number of years.

The timeshare industry has also acquired the reputation of the used car industry in terms of the selling tactics they use. It starts off with an invitation to a presentation offering you an expensive gift. When you actually go there it turns out to be selling session of a used car dealer who doesn’t want you to go out unless you sign a paper. And the expensive gift also turns out to be a mere gimmick. And the people have to go through the trauma of sitting through the presentation which can go on for two hours also sometimes. But as per the law the people are supposed to be informed about the length of the time they have to sit before receiving a free gift. Also they must be informed about the physical condition of the facility. The timeshare companies are also are not legally  permitted to misrepresent the market value of the timeshare property. They are also not supposed to misinform you about the resale or exchange potential of the timeshare property.

The law also prohibits the timeshare companies from not including the oral promises that were made before the purchase of the property in the written contract and also including any kind of fees that were never ever mentioned orally. The rules may vary from state to state. Some states also have a cool-off period usually of two weeks to allow you to cancel your contract should you change your mind.

Apart from these rights one should also consider things such as do you really want to buy the timeshare? Did u check out the facility? Did you contact the better business bureau? Did you talk to existing owners in the timeshare property? Do you plan to rent it? Do you plan on reselling it? Do you plan on exchanging vacation sites frequently? The answers of all these questions should be found out before making a final decision about buying a timeshare.

There are lots of questions to consider when thinking of buying a timeshare. Such as, does it make financial sense or does it make sense at all to buy a timeshare? Well the answer can be both yes or no depending on who is buying and for what purpose it is being bought. In this article we will discuss why it makes sense to buy a timeshare. One of the most traditional answers could be that you own it, but when you rent something you don’t own it. The Timeshare industry has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in this country and many notions that people had earlier have been clarified. Timeshare is no more a small business. Big hotels and resorts are into the timeshare business now. It is estimated to be a Five billion dollar a year industry worldwide and approximately two million Americans have timeshares. You might be wondering what lured so many people in America alone to timeshares. Here are some reasons.

Consider this fact you pay rent to stay in a hotel. You pay the rent for staying in a hotel for a week. Suppose it is $900. If you consider a period of 30 years, multiply the cost of living in a hotel for 30 years with $900. It will be $27,000. You spend that much amount and only get a suite with only a bathroom. Now consider this, if you buy a timeshare for $10,000 which has a maintenance fee of $450 annually. The cost for 30 years will be $10,000 plus 450 multiplied by 30. The answer will be $23,500 which is $3,500 less than renting a hotel suite. But here is the interesting fact. You still get to own your timeshare property which will earn some money if not the original price. So your actual expenditure on your vacation will be way less than renting a hotel suite. Then who can ignore the comfort of a home in a timeshare property. A typical timeshare unit has two or three bedrooms, more than one bathroom, a kitchen, a laundry room and a pool plus not to forget all the resort facilities.

Does it make sense now? It does because it also saves you from the hassle of planning your vacation each year.

How many hotel rooms can accommodate large families and friends? With a timeshare vacation you can invite who ever you want and can host reasonable size gatherings.

A timeshare is like money lying safely in your bank. You can sell it whenever you want. Not only that if you buy a deeded plan, the timeshare gets inherited to your heirs also.

Compare the timeshare with buying a vacation home. You don’t have to worry about upkeep and maintenance also. The management company will take care of everything. You just have to pay the maintenance fee for that. But what a pleasure you can live like you are living in a hotel and still get a feel of your home and have to do nothing.

Apart from these benefits, timeshare companies offer you so many discounts like bonus weeks, discounts on airfare, car rentals, attraction tickets, restaurants and much more.

Over several decades the popularity of timeshares has grown by many folds so much that over two million Americans have timeshare properties in the USA and abroad. But with the rise of the timeshare industry arose all types of scams and frauds. More recently the timeshare industry has been plagued by all sorts of unscrupulous activities. Notwithstanding these serious problems with timeshares a new breed of alternatives are emerging. One of the main reasons why people were attracted towards timeshares was that it will be an expensive affair for a big family to vacation every year at a hotel or a resort. Timeshares proved to be an economical solution to all that.
But on the flip side of it, buying a timeshare requires large upfront fee and the timeshares typically range anywhere from ten thousand dollars to fifty thousand dollars also. On top of that the buyers have to pay the annual maintenance fee, property taxes, management fee etc. which could range from few hundreds to over a thousand also. People have begun realizing that why pay more money and still use the same property every year for only one week.  And people get bored of going to the same place again and again. Although some timeshares offer exchange program which would allow owners to exchange their timeshare units across different resorts and locations but it is not that easy with exchange costing more bucks. And when the owner wants to sell a timeshare unit it is not that easy task. Timeshares are one of the most difficult properties to sell. Even when they sell they sell at 30%-50% lower than their original price.
Now a new era of concepts is taking vacation industry by storm. And this era is represented by concepts such as resort memberships and condo hotels. A resort membership is a one time investment i.e. you have to pay the membership fee only once and you can enjoy the benefits of the resort life long.  You are not required to pay any maintenance fee or taxes. Resort memberships can cost anywhere from few grand to few hundred grand. Some resort membership may also have yearly fee. But if you do a good research there are some resorts within the range of affordability. The best deal that one can get is may be a lifetime member ship for around three grand and a limited five year membership for two grand.  And the members have access to not only the resort they have membership in but they can choose from hundreds of resorts worldwide available in resort company’s network. And there is no limit on number of times you want to go and at what time you want to go, your vacation is always assured.
Another concept that is getting popular is condo hotel which is a relatively new concept and only very few people own condos in hotels. But the concept is receiving good reviews and is gaining popularity with time. The way it works is it allows people to buy condos in luxurious hotels and utilize the benefits of all the amenities available in the hotel. If the owner is not using the condo he can put his condo for rent and can receive percentage of the revenues it produces. A condo hotel in comparison to a timeshare offers more flexibility, is better furnished, and has better amenities, better services and many locations.