If you’ve ever been sold a timeshare, it probably sounded pretty good on the outset: your very own slice of paradise, for a fraction of the cost of owning an actual vacation property. You likely envisioned flying out for relaxing holidays at your timeshare property, basking in the glow of all that saved money. However, if you’ve owned that timeshare for a little while, the realization has probably slowly dawned on you that it isn’t quite the bed of roses it was made out to be. Maybe you’ve even tried to unload the timeshare, to no avail; the same people who sold you on the concept undoubtedly have no interest in taking that “excellent deal” back.
Here at Apex Professionals LLC, we understand your dilemma. We’ve compiled a list of ten things that sales people won’t tell you about timeshares; maybe this will help future potential customers make more informed decisions.
1 – When you try to sell that timeshare, it will be worth only about half what it was when you originally purchased it. The instant that you sign the papers for a timeshare deal, its value basically cuts in half. And that’s if you’re even able to sell it; many places won’t even take a timeshare back for free, leaving you responsible for mounting yearly maintenance fees.
2 – There are various risks inherent in owning a timeshare. That tropical paradise that seems so welcoming might be the location of a natural disaster; if your timeshare is damaged or destroyed and doesn’t have the proper insurance, you can be held responsible for paying a portion of the necessary repairs – or the cost of completely rebuilding it.
3 – If, like most people, you can’t pay for the timeshare in full upon purchasing it, the financing deal you will pay it off on will have ludicrously high interests rates; you most likely won’t be able to deduct it from your taxes, either.
4 – Maintenance fees for timeshares continually rise year after year. These fees are not locked in when you initially purchase a timeshare; in as little as two to three years, you could be paying double or triple what you originally signed up for. Instead of saving you money, that timeshare will steadily begin costing you more.
5 – The attractively low prices touted by sales people conveniently omit the cost of traveling to your timeshare in the first place. Your timeshare will likely be located in that exotic locale that’s also hundreds or thousands of miles away. The cost of flying you and your friends or family out there can be a huge expense, and sales people completely gloss over that fact.
6 – You may go into your timeshare deal fully intending to use your property each and every year. If you are unable to, though, all of that year’s fees are down the drain. And many unpredictable things can occur in a year which may make it impossible or impractical for you to go to your timeshare. Canceling a hotel won’t cost you a lot of money.
7 – Many salespeople will try to make you see a timeshare as a great investment. This is untrue, since timeshares depreciate even as you put money into them; you certainly won’t make any money off a timeshare.
8 – Trading in a timeshare you no longer want is difficult – if not impossible. This is primarily because of how quickly it depreciates – quite a catch-22, and a major thing to keep in mind. You could easily end up with a timeshare that you can’t get rid of.
9 – You can choose to rent someone’s unused timeshare and save a lot of money. Generally, people who can’t unload their timeshare try to recoup some of their loss by renting it out. That’s where you come in: rent the timeshare and enjoy it without all the strings attached.
10 – You can find unused timeshares for sale for half the price. Again, these usually belong to people who can’t sell or return their timeshare. In a desperate bid to get the property off their hands, the price is often slashed.
About the Author: The timeshare experts at Apex Professionals, LLC, concentrate on helping disillusioned timeshare holders to rid themselves of unwanted maintenance fees, unnecessary assessment costs, and to do away with those annoying high-interest mortgages by offering to take over unwanted timeshare agreements instantly. Related posts:
A lot to think about! Good to go well armed when sitting with a salesman trying to sell me a Time Share – but I do like the freebies they give you to sit through a presentation.
Apex pointed out to me in my Vacation Village timeshare contract that I should not expect to, “consider the timeshare for purposes of acquiring an appreciating investment.” The people who sell them are telling you directly in their own contract that is not an investment. Unbelieveable! Thank you Apex!