In the beginning timeshares were meant to be a cheaper way for people to take a vacation. It was a way for a person with a modest income to take a vacation that was at one time only avaliable to those who were at least in the upper income range. However it’s more complicated than this and in this article I’m going show you what ruined this once wonderful opportunity.
Once Upon A Time…
The great thing about a timeshare is that it would give you ownership in your property that would allow you to take a vacation every year as long as you owned the property.
On top of that it would allow you to also go to other destinations as well. With a timeshare you can exchange the week you have for a different week of your choosing. For example if you own a timeshare in Aruba and you want to go to Hawaii you can as long as you can find a week to exchange with you. However sites like Interval have made this a fairly simple process.
What’s Changed
Now everything I’ve mentioned above still work like this the only problem is that the timeshare companies and other companies associated with timeshares have been changing things.
First off, the timeshare market is in complete shambles. I have read countless story after story of people trying to sell their timeshare with no luck at all. On top of that the people who are buying timeshares are usually not your typical buyers. For most people what happens is they are brought in by a timeshare company and pressured into buying.
In fact when I bought my timeshare the timeshare company held us captive for over 4 hours till we finally caved in and bought, it almost very simular to a boiler room scam.
Second, the fees are getting worse. The average timeshare maintance fee is going up on an average of 10% a year and with some places more than that. In fact when I bought my timshare the maintance fee started at $400 and before I sold it, it was up to $650. On top of that you have exchange fees which are running a $100 or more, finally you have the loans that timeshares are handing out when people buy.
When I bought my timehshare the interest rate was 16% and when I asked them why it was so high they just told me to refinance it with a local bank when I return home. The problem with that is most banks won’t take on a loan like this.
Finally, if you get tired of the maintance fees, exchange fees, and high interest rate loans you may have come to the conclusion you would just like to rid yourself of the entire mess, but that’s the toughest thing to do.
The companies that resell timeshares are worse than the timehsare scam companies who orginally sold you the timeshare. First off, if you counting on getting what you paid for your timeshare think again. You will be likely to get little if non at all.
For example I bought my timeshare for $4500 and end up doing a buy back option with my resort who ended up paying me only ten cents on the dollar in return, but I did it to stop paying the maintance fees.
Has this happened to you? Leave comment and share your story.
