A Timeshare Insider Answers the Basics About What a Timeshare is and is Not

What Exactly is a "Timeshare?"

The word "timeshare" unfortunately has left a bad taste in many people's mouth primarily because of the slick, often unprofessional, high pressure way in which it was sold. Much of that has changed now, but the stigma still remains. But I also know that out of my friends and family, up until recently when I started to sell timeshare that very few of them actually knew what it was. So after educating my friends and family on what timeshare is and is not, I thought I would write this article to help others understand what a timeshare is and if it is right for you.
Timeshare was started back in the 1960's in Europe as most of Europe traditionally takes summer vacations for several weeks at a time. So many people would go stay in hotels on the beach for 4-6 weeks. After a while, a group of entrepreneurs thought there must be a better way than "renting" a hotel when they go there as often as they do. So friends started getting together and buying apartments to use while on their summer vacation and each family would get to use the apartment for a certain amount of time. The more you paid towards the purchase price, the more you got to use the apartment, thus the beginning of "timesharing".

At its core, the timeshare or vacation ownership industry (as it is now called) has changed very little. You purchase a "share" in either a single resort or a network of resorts. You can then use that share every year to go stay in resorts around the world at no cost. And similar to before, the larger the share you purchase, the longer you can stay, the larger the room you can get, and the nicer the resort and season you can travel in.

In today's world of timeshare, most timeshare companies have gone to a points system to allow timeshare owners more flexibility. Instead of being locked into the same time and same place as our friends in Europe started out, you usually will now have the option to use your "points" to stay 1 day or 5 days, in Maui or in Florida, in a 1 bedroom or 3 bedroom condo, your choice. So they really have tried to create a more flexible summer vacation experience for people as lack of flexibility had long been the Achilles heal for the timeshare industry.

Overall, owning a timeshare is great if you use it, but a waste of money if you don't. So if you are going to buy one, make sure you get out there and go on vacation!

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