TIMESHARE VACATION  RENTALS

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Author:   Reprinted With Permission 

 www.cici-online.com

Perhaps the best thing about choosing a timeshare resort over a traditional hotel is the extras outside of the room.  Many timeshare resorts offer a variety of entertainment, dining, and recreational options for their visitors.

The overall feel is quite distinct: a timeshare stay could be equated to borrowing a friend’s condo; a private residence club visit is more like renting the largest suite at a five-star resort, then adding a full kitchen, and few more bedrooms.   Services in private residence clubs start with a dedicated concierge who will help plan your trip and book any activities for you.   These activities may consist of spa visits, golfing, hiking, white water rafting, theater tickets and skiing as just a few examples. Timeshare service level expectations are similarly elevated.

Remember, timeshares are not a real estate investment but a membership to access vacation programs, even though it appears you are sharing a specific accommodation.   Rather than thinking of a timeshare as a real estate investment, it is better to think of it as a purchase such as a car.   And, like a car, it is likely depreciate in value.

Timeshare sales in the United States reached $10 billion in 2006, about five times the rate of a decade earlier, according to the American Resort Development Association, the industry's leading trade group.   About 4 percent of American households own timeshares. Sales were up 6 percent in 2007 and have jumped 66 percent since 2003.   Average occupancy was over 80 percent in 2007; including owners, exchange guests and renters.   Sales and marketing are everything in timeshares. Florida's Orange Lake's profit-and-loss profile is typical: sales and marketing run a huge 55% of the cost of a new timeshare unit.

Probably the most lucrative and popular marketing strategy of timeshare sales is to advertise, for an exchange of “just 90 minutes” of the participants time, for a very nice gift.   These gifts, such as in Orlando, can range from an entry pass to a major attraction.   During these “90 minutes” the participants will listen to a timeshare sales presentation.   However, be prepared: the “90 minutes” can often run into as long as three, even four hours!   Sales people of “under-construction” timeshares are the worst.   Their strongest sales pitch rationalization is that you can get in on the ground floor while the prices are “still reasonable.”

So if one is considering a “90 minute tour,” if you are a “polite” person, just be prepared to give up an afternoon of your time.    Or simply be “stern” at the end of 90 minutes and end the sales presentation if you are not sincerely interested in the possibility of purchasing a timeshare.

When one is thinking about purchasing a timeshare it is very important to ask questions and do not sign any contracts unless you fully understand the agreement and are aware of the consequences.   Do not allow yourself to be pressured into signing a contract, and remember that you are under no obligation to purchase after a timeshare sales presentation or tour.

If you are sincerely considering a timeshare purchase, spend the time and research.   Take the time and browse the internet for sites that offer owners the ability to post the sale of their timeshare.   If you are living outside an area that you are interested in owning a timeshare in look online for that areas local newspaper and find their 'real estate for sale' section.   It is very unusual not to find someone that has a timeshare for sale!   Keep in mind that people's circumstances are always changing.   One might be the happy owner of a timeshare then have a family illness consume their time and finances.   One might experience the loss of their job and can no longer afford the timeshares annual maintenance fees.   Others have inherited timeshares and would rather spend their vacations in a tent, eating over a campfire in a secluded forest.   The importance of researching and price comparison of timeshares before buying cannot be overemphasized.   You won't regret it!

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