Any timeshare owner surfing the web is sure to see a few red flags about timeshares. Even CNNMoney.com has recently warned that timeshares can become a trap for unsuspecting owners. Some timeshare owners are led to believe that purchasing a timeshare is comparable to investing in real estate. The only similarities are the fact that they both pertain to property assets and they both imply usage rights. The difference is that real estate purchases typically designate full ownership of all land and usage rights, while timeshare ownership is usually limited to reservation and the right-to-use. In addition, real estate values tend to increase over time whereas timeshare values decline almost immediately after purchase.
A timeshare should not be purchased as an investment; rather because there is a desire to continually use the property. Timeshare prices are often inflated by up to 50% to cover the various costs related to selling them. There is a lot of advertising and promotion put into in sales because timeshares don’t effectively market themselves. Most timeshares are still sold through timeshare salesmen, whom often target visitors at hotels and resorts. Many of these guests are pressured into attending seminars that are a sales pitch in disguise.
Timeshare owners pay extremely high upfront costs along with maintenance fees because the resorts spend a lot of this money to convert more visitors into timeshare owners. Resorts will often give away free gifts to visitors in order to increase the likelihood that they will want to return year after year. Timeshare salesmen use high pressure sales tactics, provide vague answers to guests’ questions, and will often say anything to convince people that purchasing a timeshare is a worthy investment. Soon after these people decide to purchase a timeshare they become bound by contract for long periods of time.
The value of a timeshare on the resale market will almost never be close to the initial cost of the timeshare. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to find a buyer for your specific timeshare. Timeshare owners often become trapped in their investment because there isn’t a dependable supply of buyers on the resale market. The financial burden often drives many timeshare owners to look for alternative ways to get rid of their timeshare.
If you fall into the timeshare trap, services such as Transfer America can provide useful information about how to get rid of your timeshare. There are no upfront fees associated with these companies and Transfer America even hosts free seminars for interested timeshare owners. The idea of a timeshare sounds great, until you realize what you could have bought with the money instead. Don’t let your timeshare and maintenance fees cause more stress than they already have, get rid of your timeshare with Transfer America today!
