Timeshare Consumer Article

The Benefits and Disadvantages of Owning a Timeshare

Just about everything we encounter on the road of life comes with benefits and disadvantages, the key is being able to weigh them and make a wise decision. This same is true when it comes to purchasing a timeshare. You need to sit down and take a long hard look at both sides, before making your decision.

We will go over the benefits that you get from owning a timeshare first, before we get into the negative stuff. The first benefit should be fairly obvious. It is much more cost effective to purchase a timeshare for vacation use than it is to buy a property only for your own purposes that you will only use once or twice a year. Most vacation properties cost well over $200,000, and unless you will be there frequently, is it really worth it? You could stay in a luxury hotel for each and every vacation to come and possibly still not spend that kind of money, not to mention the extra money you will have to layout for maintenance, taxes, landscaping, etc. The typical cost of a timeshare is about $10,000, maybe a little more by the time you add in all of the extra fees that the owners share.

Other than saving money, which is highly important to me, you also get to spend your vacation in a home similar to your own, rather than in a stuffy hotel. Most timeshare homes have at least two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, at least two bathrooms, a den, and a laundry room. It will basically be just like staying at home, only you are in a different location. Timeshare homes are completely furnished as well, and some even have a private pool.

When you have a timeshare property, you don’t have to do any of the maintenance work yourself, you simply chip in for the monthly fees, and someone else worries about all of that. If you have a timeshare manager, you don’t even have to worry about finding staff to do the work, you just pay a portion of the bills.

You don’t have to agonize over your yearly vacation, trying to decide where to go, getting your reservations, etc. You always know when your vacation will be, where you will go, and where you will be staying, you simply have to pack.

Now, onto the disadvantages of owning your own timeshare, so keep reading. One of the biggest disadvantages is that scammers have found ways to scam timeshare owners, and those who are looking to purchase a timeshare, meaning that you really do have to look over your shoulder the entire time, until everything is signed, and all the legal paperwork is done.

You do have to pay monthly fees on the timeshare, which can sometimes, be hard to make, especially if you have a lot of other monthly debt.

Timeshares don’t really gain in value, so when and if you decide to sell yours, you can expect to maybe only get half of what you originally paid for it, which is why timeshares are not good investment ideas.

You may be limited to when and how you can use the timeshare, and if you don’t take the time to read all of the fine print in your contract, you could end up in trouble. You might end up being stuck with a timeshare that you can only use in November, and who wants to go to the beach in November?

As you can see, you have a lot to think about, and you do need to be extremely cautious when purchasing your timeshare, if that is the route you decide to take.