What is a time share?

Question

I have heard of tons of people who say they go on vacation using their time share but what is it? How much do they cost? Is there a lot of places you can go?

Answer 1

Timeshare at its core is essentially a group of people sharing the cost of a vacation home.

The word "timeshare" has grown over the decades to include a wide variety of vacation products and plans. Also known as "vacation ownership" "holiday ownership" and "interval ownership" , its umbrella covers traditional deeded timeshare ownership, fractional ownership, private residence clubs, points clubs, and more. Some would even broaden the term further to include campground memberships and the " condo hotel" concept, in which a condo is purchased outright but the owner is only allowed to use it for a specific periods of time and it is rented by a hotel management company for the remainder of the time.

Regardless of how loosely or rigidly you choose to define the term, the basic premise of timeshare is simple. You and a group of other people share the purchase cost of a vacation accommodation, in increments of one week (or more) per year of use, thus guaranteeing your ability to use that accommodation during the period of time you choose, either for life or for a specified number of years. Accommodations range from hotel rooms to condos, from cabins to luxury houses and castles, from yachts and cruise ships to RVs and houseboats.Owning timeshare in the traditional sense means a condominium/villa/house/hotel unit, etc. is subdivided into 52 separate units of time (52 weeks in 1 year), and usually sold to a maximum of 51 owners (leaving one week each year closed down for annual renovations and/or maintenance). Each owner would own 1/51 of the unit. Each share repesents one week of vacation. Each owner is entitled to ownership rights and privileges of the shares that they purchased.

This system makes vacation home ownership possible for many people who cannot afford a second home or who otherwise would not be able to enjoy such resort facilities. It is important to remember that purchasing timeshare should never be viewed as a financial investment with the expectation of gaining a profit in either reselling it or renting it to someone else. Timeshare is an investment in lifestyle, in future holidays, in family time together, and when viewed that way it can be a good investment indeed.

Answer 2

A timeshare is a system whereby a number of people (that know each other or not) invest a certain amount of money, say $25K, so that they can all stay at a certain vacation property, at different times, typically for one two-week period each year.  There are also more elaborate timeshare arrangements that allow you to pick from a number of properties around the world, but the investment in this type of arrangement can be considerably higher.  The upside is that it would allow you to spend a week or two in each of say Florida, Mexico, and Hawaii, just for example.  And if you decide at some later date that you want out, you simply put your share up for sale.