There is perpetual confusion among timeshare owners as to what “maintenance fees” truly are. Why am I paying them, what is being maintained, how do developers determine what they are, who does that money go to? For the most part, there never seem to be real answers to those questions, sort of like “shipping and handling fees” for products bought on TV. Does is really cost $10.99 for someone to ‘handle’ a set of kitchen knives?

But there is a recent posted item from Disney that sheds a little light on what they consider maintenance.

There will be “the refinishing of wood floors or replacing of carpets; timeshare units repainted, and blinds or drapery replaced. Sofas and love seats are to be reupholstered and all one-bedroom and larger timeshare units … will receive the addition of a twin sleeper chair. Kitchens will gain new granite countertops and new hardware for the cabinetry; ceiling fans will be replaced throughout; and new lamps will be added in the living room and master bedrooms. Electronics will receive an upgrade as all televisions are replaced with flat panel units.”

That’s the sort of transparency that all timeshare developers should be using. That way if your maintenance fees increase dramatically or subtly from year to year, at least you’ll know why, and developers would be far less likely to be able to hide what they are using your money for.

From other web references, here are some other examples of what maintenance fees may cover:

• furnishings and carpet
• property taxes
• Insurance
• cable television
• phone and utilities

The explanation for the blanketing of these fees together is so that you “don’t have to worry about them” yourself, but often the developer won’t give you the option to line item these costs, because they don’t want you to be exactly aware of what they’re charging you for, and they probably don’t want to be legally responsible for paying for something specific – they would want to have the option to spend that money on anything they want.

That flexibility, however, also gives developers the right to increase your fee rate at any time without any real explanation, and that is where the trouble usually starts. You ask why you’re suddenly paying hundreds of dollars per year more than you intended, and they can say, “well, the changing maintenance fees are talked about in your original contract …”

With the downturn in the economy, many people have found themselves unable to pay for the things they still owe money on and look to filing for bankruptcy as an unfortunate circumstance of this. Timeshare owners who declare bankruptcy should take these steps.

1 – Be sure to list your timeshare unit along with all your other debts in your bankruptcy filing. Just like other loans, car payments, or overdue bills, timeshare loan payments and maintenance fees constitute debts. Don’t make any assumptions and always read the fine print when listing, but it is better to present more information than less.

2 – Check with a bankruptcy attorney in your state to find out the laws that apply to timeshares locally. Because a timeshare is not strictly real estate, it is an unsecured debt with little or no resale value. Remember, until you sell it, donate it to a charity or surrender it to the bankruptcy court, you will continue to owe any loan payments and the monthly maintenance fees.

3 – Be sure to find out how selling your vacation timeshare will affect your bankruptcy case before you finalize anything. The devil is in the details with these type of procedures, so make sure that something you don’t understand won’t come back to haunt you. Check every law and regulation to make sure you are protecting yourself. Your credit is already taking a hit, make sure it doesn’t hurt more than it has to.

4 – Before looking into putting your timeshare into your bankruptcy declaration, exhaust all options for renting or donating to charity; also, look into free places where you can list your timeshare in order to sell it. Owners who do manage to sell their timeshares often make back only 10 to 30 percent of the amount they paid, but this is still better than defaulting on payments, declaring bankruptcy, going through foreclosure proceedings, or pretending the problem doesn’t exist .

Also remember, though timeshare developers don’t care about your financial strain, they will understand when the time comes that they can get no more money from you, and at this point they will take the path of least resistance. Inform them of your situation and what you intend to do about it, and you may be able to cut a deal where they will legally take back the timeshare in order to avoid more legal and financial trouble.

You spend the money on the timeshare itself, sign the contracts, agree to the maintenance fees, accept the responsibility of having to schedule vacations and trips potentially months or years in advance, and then, you think to yourself, “I’ve done it!”

Well, not quite. You may assume that with these costs and preparations that your perfect getaway is now budgeted, bought, and paid for. All you have to do is show up, right? Bags in hand, sunglasses and sandals on – now this is the good life!

But there is one factor that is often overlooked when considering these purchased timeshare vacations – the cost of travel itself.

One of the ways timeshare resorts seem desirable is by being located in desirable places: sunny, warm, on the beach, by the ocean, in the big city, far out in the scenic countryside. But you have to get there before you can stay there, and that means plane tickets, rental cars, gas, taxis, and all of those other associated costs.

Knowing that you own a condo in Miami is fantastic. You bought a timeshare there because you know your family deserves time off from their busy lives. So you budget your money so that you spend your cash making sure you get this vacation, that you own this vacation. But then after you pay for the timeshare, a funny detail comes up. How exactly do you realistically afford to get your family there?

You spent your reasonable vacation budget on purchasing a timeshare in a beautiful place, but now there are all of these other things to pay for that make that initial timeshare purchase not seem like such a good idea. They didn’t mention travel costs to exotic places when you were at the timeshare meeting. They didn’t talk about how much plane, train, or bus tickets cost, especially during principal vacationing times, and especially for a whole family.

So, when dealing with timeshare and vacation budgets, don’t get caught up in the beauty and the daydream of where you can travel to, thinking that the geographical financial factors were already presented to you during your initial investment. Make sure to think about how often you can pay how much in order to get how many people there.

The reason that timeshare can often feel too good to be true is because they generally are, and travel costs are a big part of the reason for that reality check.

Three are two major types of timeshare ownership, “deeded” and “non-deeded” (also known as a “right-to-use”), and two major types of scheduling, “fixed” and “floating.” On research of these factors, there seems to be some confusion as to how these ownership and scheduling systems relate to each other, but here is some basic information. If you own or are thinking about owning a timeshare, these are very important details to understand, so make sure you at least know what to ask about.

Deeded Timeshares:

In a deeded timeshare, the timeshare owner purchases an ownership interest in a specific piece of real estate. Officially, a deeded timeshare gives timeshare owners true property ownership. The deed is recorded in the county where the property exists, and the property has the same rights of ownership as other deeded real estate.

The  majority of timeshares are deeded.

Non-deeded Timeshares:

In a non-deed timeshare, the timeshare owner purchases a lease, license, or club membership to use a property for a specific amount of time each year for an agreed-upon number of years. Many non-deeded timeshares are located on leased land such as in Mexico and Hawaii.

Fixed-Time Scheduling:

In “fixed-time” or “fixed unit” arrangements, typically the buyer purchases a particular unit and a particular week in the year – this arrangement can either come from the initial agreement you make with the timeshare company or through a scheduled appointment later. In this agreement, the owner will always stay in that same unit during the same time period every year, unless an exchange is made through a separate exchange company.

With this type of arrangement, timeshare owners know exactly when they will be going on their vacations every year. The benefit of this is that there is no stress about deciding when and where the vacation will be. The bad part of this is that it can be difficult for owners to change the time or place if they decide they want to.

Floating-Time Scheduling:

For “floating-time” arrangements, the period during the year when the timeshare owner can use a property is not fixed.  In order to use a timeshare, the purchaser has to make arrangements with the resort to make reservations for the exact time frame the owner wants to use a particular property. There are often extra rules and regulations with these some resorts concerning how early you can make reservations.  Some timeshares have an extra stipulation with them that you can only reserve time within a particular season. This is sometimes called “seasonal floating”.

So, knowing the bare essentials of these four variables, make sure you are aware of them in any situation where it might matter.

with the advent of the Federal No-Call Registry, there are times when you may be cold called by a timeshare telemarketer. There are several ways that this can happen, including friends signing you up when asked “do you know anyone who might be interested in this program?” or loopholes in warranty card registration or requested information about products through mail or the internet.

If these cold calls happen, watch out for these five things:

1. Cold-callers are attempting to be on the phone with the decision maker in the household. They will try to find out right away how many people are involved in decisions and which of you will make the eventual answer. Be aware that this is happening. After they understand who has this power, they can play off that relationship to work to get to their desired goal.
2. They will make the decision seem urgent. Because of the nature of timeshare marketing, the caller may make it seem like you lose something by not making a choice right away, whether that be a chance to have a meeting to get some sort of incentive or a too-good-to-be true deal that you won’t get if you don’t act now.
3. They may try to compare themselves with other timeshare opportunities, giving you reasons why theirs is more appropriate to your situation. Realize that during a one-on-one conversation, there is no way for a voice other than theirs to be in the conversation, and that they’ve had time to prepare for this by researching data about other competing businesses.
4. They will try to find your motivation for purchasing things. A common timeshare tactic is to make you feel guilty about not loving your family enough to take them on vacation more often. This tactic can range from very subliminal to very upfront, and it is preying on the psychology of your desire to show that you care about your family. They will tell you what you deserve and then key in on your motivation to get what you deserve by buying into their program.
5. They will search for the information of why you won’t buy. There are two reasons for this; one, they are looking through their arsenal to see if they can counter your reasons, and two, they are collecting this data so they can find ways of countering these reasons in other people they call later.

Just remember, you don’t owe cold-callers anything. If they are not welcome to call, always ask where they got your information, ask them for their names and who they work for, and remind them if you are on the No-Call Registry. Look out for yourself – they are not looking out for you!

Dealing with salespeople is often a part of making a major purchase. Usually when making these purchases, you have four resources to pull from to help you make your decision: your own personal experiences, the ability to ask other people what they think, competition among people who want to sell you that product, and time to think things over.

Your Friendly Timeshare Salesman

With timeshare meetings, however, the rules change. Because of the methods timeshare presentations use, those resources aren’t available. Suddenly:

• Unless you already own a timeshare, you aren’t going to have any personal experience with that ownership.
• Inside the meeting room, there isn’t anyone for you to talk with about the pros and cons of ownership other than the other people in the meeting with you.
• There are not multiple timeshare companies competing for your attention at the same time, so there is no way for you to compare one with another.
• And lastly, you’re expected to make your decision right away, or you will often lose out on the ‘perks’ that an immediate ‘yes’ will get you.

Timeshare Contract

You enter a timeshare meeting at a distinct disadvantage for these reasons, though timeshare representatives will make it seem as though you’re getting all of the information that you need. Imagine that they know you better than you know yourself, and you won’t be too far from the truth. As a consumer, you are looking to be satisfied; as salespeople, they are looking to satisfy you, but they are the ones with the aces up their sleeves.

Essentially, everything about a typical timeshare meeting is to get you to disregard your natural instincts when it comes to making a purchase. Even knowing that you are at a disadvantage will not take away the sales representative’s ability to make you feel at ease. Take away the advantages that the timeshare meeting presents, however, and you’ll determine the actual worth of what they are selling.

Think for a moment, if you will. If there were a timeshare store where you could go in and shop around, talk to people, compare companies, and come back later to make your decision, how well would that work out?

According to Reuters and recent filings with the SEC, “Marriott International, Inc.  recently announced the completion of a private placement of Timeshare Loan Backed Notes by Marriott Vacation Club Owner Trust 2009-2. The notes were sold without recourse to Marriott or its affiliates.

Marriot which has around $2.6 billion in debt and a negative net worth of more than $600 million is scrambling to shore up its cash flows and balance sheet!

On October 21, 2009, Marriott International, Inc. sold another pool of approximately $380 million in timeshare mortgage loans (the “Mortgage Loans”) to Marriott Vacation Club Owner Trust 2009-2 (the “2009-2 Trust”).

Simultaneous with the sale of the timeshare mortgage loans to the 2009-2 Trust, investors purchased $317 million in 4.809% Timeshare Loan Backed Notes from the 2009-2 Trust in a private placement. It does not disclose who bought the notes.

To the ordinary mathematician these juggling of the books at MAR appear not to add up properly and the SEC is asleep at the wheel.

There is increasing evidence of an economic financial collapse in the entire Travel and Timeshare Industry, while Congress and the United States Air Force continue to negotiate and debate with Boeing and Airbus (EADs which has partnered with Northrup) on the future of a $40 billion contract for 179 Super Fuel Tankers which would buy bankers time to restructure the ailing production schedules of these global manufactures and employers of hundreds of thousands if not indirectly millions of people.

According to SEC filings, “On October 23, 2009, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation renewed its 364-day securitized timeshare receivables conduit facility through October 2010. The facility bears interest based on variable commercial paper rates plus a spread and has a capacity of $600 million”, according to the company’s recent SEC filings.

The mortgage meltdown, many analysts say, was caused by Fraudulent Mortgages being packaged into Trust Securities and sold on the global markets.

Lately, the only institutions able to invest in these fraudulent securities has been those backed by the Federal Reserve Banks who in turn basically just write the losses off into thin air because that is where all money comes from anyway. It’s called currency because it circulates like electricity through a circuitous route, out of nothing into something and back again into nothingness.

The International Bank Activities Reform Commission (IBARC) announced yesterday it is looking into the securities issued and backed by Timeshare Receivables of several large publicly traded companies where evidence of fraud exists due to the high pressure sales tactics of the industry that sucked people into filling out phony applications for loans secured by their interests in Timeshare Properties!

“What these companies are doing is more of the same as the mortgage banking industry just on a different day using other peoples promises to pay (notes are money), very much the same way as Enron and the mortgage industry did. Off balance sheet off shore fundings!

“They securitize these cash flows of receivables but the investors buying the notes usually violate one of the first laws or basics of fiduciary responsibility and common prudence by not knowing their borrowers detailed character directly”, said a spokesperson for IBARC.

In one Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement on September 24, 2009, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation’s subsidiary Sierra Timeshare 2009-3 Receivables Funding LLC issued $175,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 7.62% Vacation Timeshare Loan Backed Notes, Series 2009-3, due 2026 under an Indenture and Servicing Agreement, dated as of September 24, 2009, by and among the 2009-3 Issuer, Wyndham Consumer Finance, Inc., as the 2009-3 Servicer, U.S. Bank National Association, as the 2009-3 Trustee and the 2009-3 Collateral Agent .

The notes are allegedly secured under the 2009-3 Indenture primarily by a pool of pledged loans, each relating to the financing of one or more vacation ownership interests by a consumer, and related pledged assets.

In other words, the loans are backed by the generally hoodwinked consumers who are thinking twice about continuing to pay into an inflated system that keeps them broke and makes the global bankers illusionarily rich.

“What the International Bankers have done in this industry is appalling,” said one analyst who requested anonymity due to his high profile amongst the global investment community. “What they have done and what they are continuing to do is fractionalize the ownership of time and air.”

Marriott International, Four Seasons, Hilton, Ritz Carlton, Starwood, and Walt Disney are among six of the top companies engaged in the Timeshare Industry that are currently being investigated by the investigative journalist group that is supported by foreign interests who are wondering when the frauds are going to end!

There seems to be lots of regulation on the horizon but very little law enforcement going on at the Federal and State levels.

Apex Professionals spends a lot of time writing content intended to inform our customers and the average timeshare consumer in general in the hope that we will be able to shed some light. The timeshare sales process is designed to trick the buyer into paying a lot for something they don’t need in way that disguises the real cost which, unfortunately, will increase yearly and never cease. Occasionally we find that someone else has already said it better. Sean Austin, founder Timeshare Advocacy International, recently wrote this article and we thought it deserved mention. Without further ado… we present:

The Top 10 Timeshare Industry Sales Scams

As far as sales are concerned, the timeshare industry is like any other industry. The sales department is going to promptly find something that will give them the edge over the customer. It is simple, the better equipped the sales rep, the more difficult it is for the customer to say no. Additionally, the sales reps are very well trained in that the sale starts when the first “no” comes out. For many years I have conducted sales training for Navy recruiters across the country and the same theory stands true in recruiting, the sale starts with the first “no”.

Here are the top 10 sales scams that are currently being used in the timeshare industry.

1. Sales reps stating that they are not in sales and they get paid a straight salary. They are there to ensure that all the owners who are assigned to them are taken care of. They call themselves “advisors, counselors, or advocates”. This is to soften you up and get you to come in and meet with them. At the end of the presentation, if you do not purchase anything, they will tell you that they cannot be your advisor unless you purchase more points, or upgrade into something new. I need everyone to hear this, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ADVISOR IN TIMESHARES! Sorry to yell, but this is their best hook.

2. If you own a fixed or floating week, you will be told that you NEED to change to points because everyone will soon be on points and you will no longer be able to exchange your week. They will tell you that both RCI and II are on a full court press to get every owner to make the shift. Although this part is true, the reason is purely from a revenue generation basis. They cannot get rid of your week or make it less valuable. You still own that specific week and that cannot change, and the reason they are an exchange company is to make exchanges. According to ARDA data, there are more fixed and floating week owners then there are pints owners. So, relax and do not get caught up in the hype of points. Now, if you have done your homework and are itching to get into points, you need to really shop around for the best price and really consider the resale option.

3. The good old “dinner party”. This was my favorite because it really made the owners think that they missed something. For those who have not read my blog article covering this topic, here is a snap shot. Developers in good times will go on the road and market to existing owners and have them come into a local hotel for dinner and a very IMPORTANT owner’s update. What happens is you receive a great meal, then get assigned to an “advisor” (remember number 1, no such thing), and then you will sit through a podium presentation that will confuse the most knowledgeable owners. After the podium is over you go and sit with your “advisor” who will then go over your account. This is a sales presentation with smoke and mirrors. You will be told of all the great things that you are missing out on because you have not upgraded in the last so many years. Owners beware!

4. Rental income. Many sales reps are using this as a way to get you to justify making a purchase. New and experienced owners have been falling for this in droves. Here is the deal, you make a purchase for more points and take the points that you are not using and the company will rent them out. Although they do have rental, the odds of you ever getting your weeks rented and make a profit are slim because you still have to cover your cost, maintenance fees, and interest on the loan. Additionally, the developers will rent the unsold inventory every time before an owner’s inventory. They will promise that they will assist you in this because they are your “advisor”. Due to the recent economy, AAA even stated that there are far less people taking vacations now. They are taking staycations. Most of the rental companies will not even take a request for your weeks.

5. Tax incentives. This is a big no-no in the timeshare industry. There are clear and concise rules and regulations governing this. Yet, most timeshare sales reps fall back on this. They will tell you that owning a timeshare is like owning a second home and you qualify for tax incentives. Additionally, you can write of the interest that you are paying, just like your home. Well, this is a complete and utter lie. You cannot get tax advice from a sales person; they are too invested in the process. TIMESHARES do not qualify as a second home, and in the majority of the US do not hold any tax breaks. If you own a business, you cannot purchase a timeshare for DBA purposes except in a very specific circumstance that most do not qualify.

6. If you do not like it, you can always sell it. This is a load of hogwash and you need to know that timeshares are not a financial investment; they are a quality of live investment only. The majority of timeshares are worthless as soon as you get outside of the rescission period, which we will cover tomorrow. Dave Ramsey, and many other financial gurus’ all agree that they are not only a bad investment, they are not worth the paper the deed comes on. There are too many other ways to take vacations and have the same quality stays. There are more timeshares for sale on ebay and craiglist than you can even imagine. Take a look for yourself. It is such a great business, there are hundreds of companies that offer to list and sell your timeshare for a fee. That is for a later time.

7. Exchanges, they will tell you that you can exchange your timeshare anywhere in the world for little and you can do it anytime you like. If you want to go to Hawaii, just put in the exchange request and bam, your there. For all you who own timeshares, you know this to be a real stretch of the truth. Sales reps do not sit down with owners to teach them how to properly understand and use the exchange system and they never tell you the truth about price and timing. Some locations take at least two years of advanced planning. They are not for free and sometimes can cost more than your annual maintenance fees. Which leads me to number 8.

8. Maintenance fees are always a topic that savvy sales reps will tap dance around. They will even tell you that you can offset your maintenance fees by providing referrals. Just give use names and numbers, or addresses and we can eliminate you maintenance fees altogether. Another way to eliminate maintenance fees is to use our Master Card and every dollar spent gains you points that convert to maintenance fee dollars. This is all a load of crap! You would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars every month to even come close. Additionally, you still need someone to come into the resort and take a sales presentation. Then, when they do not buy, the sales rep normally will not do the required paperwork to ensure the owner gets credit. This is a biggie!

9. The old table bump. This is when the sales rep is having difficulty with the sale. The customer has said no and actually meant it. What happens is another sales rep will come to the table pretending to be a manager and find something that may seem to be wrong with your account and will create a diversion to bring the intensity level up. This person will then go away to fix the problem. It may be that you said you could not afford that specific amount. This person will always come back with the best deal of the day that you will never be able to get again. A one-time special that must be taken now. Alas, this too is a lie and you can always walk away and come back and get that deal.

10. The last one deals with your cancellation period. Many timeshare companies will skirt around this issue and not give you the real information concerning your rescission period. They have to tell you how long you have to change your mind, they must counsel you on this, and they must provide you with proper documentation that clearly outlines this. Some companies hide the information in your owner’s kit so you cannot find it when you get home. Here is the deal, if you have second thoughts after you buy, cancel and do some research to see if owning a timeshare is right for you and your family. If it is, you can always go back and repurchase or do what I recommend and buy resale.

Apex Professionals, LLC has three, major goals; to assist current timeshare owners who are no longer willing to carry the financial burden that comes with their unwanted properties, to educate the masses on why timeshares are a bad investment and to help steer prospective timeshare owners away from these unwise, encumbering responsibilities.

We understand not everyone is going to agree with our point of view. In fact many vacationers tend to flat out ignore the sound financial advice we offer. I could pretend that it really upsets us, but the fact is that chances are those individuals will end up being customers of ours in a few years when they decide to off-load that bad investment and find it’s not quite as simple (or profitable) as they thought it was going to be. I promise… we’ll resist the urge to say “I told you so”.

But seriously, if you really do want a timeshare, and feel it would be a great fit for you… allow me to at least save you some money on the front end. The information that follows is certain to save you several thousand dollars on your timeshare. Additionally, this little known fact might finally be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and convinces you that perhaps timeshares really aren’t that valuable.

If you’ve ever been to a timeshare sales pitch, you know that these things are selling new for upwards of $20,000 and, for some of the nicer weeks and locations, can top nearly 4 times that sticker price. How would you like to have that exact same warm fuzzy vacation getaway feeling for less than $10? Enter the 1 dollar timeshare.

Probably the number 1 secret those high pressure timeshare salesmen do NOT want you to know is that timeshares are bought and sold on eBay all day long. Well… more accurately they are LISTED on eBay all day long. There aren’t too many folks bidding on them. The supply far exceeds the demand, equating to rock bottom prices for those who are savvy enough to skip the fancy sales brief and just hop online.

Timeshares on eBay with zero bids.

As you can see from the above screenshot there are many options available for around a dollar a piece with… (Gasp!) no bidders. There is a reason for this. A first-time buyer in the timeshare market generally doesn’t know about timeshares until they are in the sales room hearing the pitch. The people who have already purchased a timeshare have since learned about this inexpensive secondary market after the fact, from information found on timeshare forums. However, people who already own a timeshare have learned a few other things as well.

1) That they don’t want to buy another timeshare… at ANY price.

2) That the REAL cost of a timeshare isn’t the upfront money… but the perpetually rising yearly maintenance fees.

Current timeshare owners are on eBay to sell… not buy. If you are still not convinced that you shouldn’t become the next proud owner of a timeshare, hopefully you will at least save yourself a few dollars and go used. I’ll see you in a few years, and I promise not to say “I told you so”.

William Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name still smells as sweet.” Sadly for old Bill the reverse is also true – a bad idea packaged under a different name, in a different industry, still smells as rotten. And it’s the kind of smell that takes you years – if ever – to get rid of.

Most people are familiar with timeshares these days. For a set amount of money, you own a room at a predetermined location for a couple of weeks out of the year. Usually these weeks are decided by a points balance that you carry on your account. What the time-share people like to avoid telling you at all costs is that when you are the owner of a time-share, you don’t actually own anything.

There is no land in your name and no resale value. A timeshare is not an investment, in the future or the short term. In fact, given the fees, dues, and initial buy-in this “ownership” costs you, you would spend less money traveling to a variety of different locations if you took just a little time to plan each of your vacations. Plus, you’re not stuck in the same badly furnished room you “own” along with dozens of other strangers.

The good news is that people have finally started to reject time-shares for the legal scam that they are. The bad news is that other industries are trying to horn in on the act and take advantage of people all over again.

Luckily, Apex Professionals is on the job, digging around the slime the timeshare industry oozes to get you the truth.

Fractional Boat Ownership

Today, we’re digging into the fractional boat ownership industry. Modeled much like the time-share industry, the fractional boat industry tries to draw you in with a lot of seemingly rational and balanced information: owning a boat is a headache. On top of the initial cost, you also have to pay for a marina slip, fuel, cleaning, routine maintenance, and upkeep. Unless you are financially comfortable enough to pay employees to service the boat for you, owning one is more like taking a part time job than having a hobby.

All this makes the idea of entering into fractional ownership of a boat, where the company does all the work, and you pay a small fee to have use of it a couple of times a year, or for a season, sound pretty good, right? Wrong!

Fact: as a consumer, you should be automatically wary of any ownership opportunity that contains the word ‘fractional.’ Unless you’re dividing up a Fortune 500 company it is very difficult – and usually not financially sound – to own a ‘fraction’ of anything.

Fact: the fees you end up paying yearly on the boat can range from four to seven thousand dollars annually, and like the headaches time-shares can bring, you have to plan far, far in advance which days you want to take it out, provided you have the points leftover from last year.

Fact: fractional ownership companies overbook on purpose, so that the time-share is always in use. This means the companies make money hand over fist, and the consumer gets left with a big headache and a vacation at the least desirable time of the year because they didn’t book their boat weekend a year in advance.

Fact: fractional ownership companies will tell you that they offer classes on boat safety and operation, and keep an on-call repairman available should anything go wrong on the high seas. But when you think about it, if you owned your own boat, you would also have insurance, and can arrange your own classes. And their so-called ‘free’ classes and services are simply built into the lofty fees, or dues you’ll be paying on your membership.

Fractional boat ownership ends up being a bigger headache than owning a boat would be, because at least when you own the boat you’re allowed to use it whenever you like, and if you decide at some point down the road that you no longer wish to own a boat, the resale value of a boat in good condition is very competitive. If you decide to discontinue your fractional ownership you can… usually donate the membership back to the company that sold it to you, because the resale value is worth nothing.

If you’re unsure about committing to buying a boat, don’t despair, and don’t assume fractional boat ownership is a good way to test the waters. There are several companies that offer good rates on weekend boat rentals that will let you take a professional captain out with you to try out your sea legs.