Timeshare Buyer FAQ

What is Timeshare?
Timeshare makes it possible for you to own a personal vacation home without any of the year-round costs and responsibilities of being the sole owner.

Your timeshare purchase takes the pleasure of being on holiday to its highest level. No guessing whether your accommodations will be first rate or not. With timeshare resorts, you know before you go that your rooms will be safe, comfortable, sparkly clean, and conveniently located near all the sights and attractions you want to enjoy.

When you buy timeshare property, you gain exclusive rights to holiday in your vacation home, enjoying true ownership, from the day your vacation begins, until the last moment before you shake the sand out of your sandals and return to your real world routine.

Your timeshare resort is all yours during your selected week, every year, for as long as you choose to own your personal vacation home. When you make your timeshare purchase, you pre-select your specific vacation week.

Fixed weeks are usually identified by number. For example, the first week of January is, Week 1, and the last week of December is, Week 52. And most timeshare fixed weeks begin on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

With fixed week ownership, you can celebrate your autumn birthday every year by hiking Appalachian mountain trails and watching maples, oaks, hickory, and sweet gum trees turn to glorious shades of amber and bronze. Or perhaps you'll choose to mark wedding anniversaries on the warm golden sands of Maui's Kaanapali beach.

But your fixed timeshare week is only fixed until you decide to trade it.

Timeshare purchases do not tie you down to vacationing at the same destination during the same week, year after year. In fact, your timeshare purchase or timeshare resale will open up new opportunities to travel the globe. You can spend one holiday in a Caribbean resort timeshare, the next in a North America timeshare, and the following year in a Red Sea resort.

There are several timeshare exchange companies, but two of the largest are Resort Condominiums International (RCI) and Interval International (II). RCI and II exchange companies are affiliated with over 5,000 resorts around the globe. More than 1.5 million timeshare exchanges were processed last year alone by these two companies. And joining an exchange is easy and affordable. You can become a member of your home resort exchange company, or use the services of any independent resort exchange companies that best meet your specific travel needs.

And fixed weeks or exchanging for the same week at another resort are only the beginning of your options. Perhaps you will choose a float week. Float weeks are any calendar week you select, contingent upon availability. Also, some resorts offer flex time, which permits even more alternatives.

Flex time weeks usually allow you to trade your week for another available week within the same season. Your flex time may be called a winter flex, a summer flex, the blue timeframe, or perhaps the white timeframe. The terminology varies between various vacation resort companies.

Colors typically serve as the rating of the overall desirability of a particular week at a timeshare resort. RCI uses a color system of: red for peak season, then white, and lastly blue for a resort property's slowest season. Interval International also ranks the peak season as red, but distinguishes their secondary season as amber or yellow, and their slowest season as green.

If, for example, your timeshare buy is a flex time winter week at a ski resort, you may select any week that falls within the defined winter months. But because demand typically is higher during the winter ski season, availability may be limited. Before buying timeshare flex time, be sure you investigate which seasons are considered the peak or busiest season at the timeshare resort that interests you.

You may prefer to return to your home resort year after year. Or you may trade for a vacation week at any of the thousands of affiliated resorts throughout the world. The exciting opportunity to exchange the resort week you own for a week at any of the over 5,000 other timeshare resorts in 80+ countries worldwide, is one of the reasons that buying timeshare or timeshare resales is so very appealing. It is this kind of owner flexibility that has catapulted the timeshare industry from a great idea 30 years ago to the multi-billion dollar industry it is today.

Speak to our expert staff and learn more about the exciting timeshare exchange opportunities available when you buy timeshare on the timeshare resale market. From Orlando to Auckland, from Reno to Rome, Sell My Timeshare Now is your international gateway to a lifetime of luxury vacations. Click here to browse our exciting online inventory.

And while no one deserves a vacation more than you do, sometimes it is just not possible to get away. That's when you'll be interested in spacebanking your week at your timeshare purchase.

Spacebanking means to deposit your week with a timeshare exchange company to be saved for use at a later time. You may spacebank a week for later use at your home resort or any other resort affiliated with the exchange company.

At SellMyTimeshareNOW, we offer an extraordinary inventory of discounted timeshare resale opportunities throughout the world. Click here to browse our inventory.

Read on to learn the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about timeshare purchases and timeshare resales.

Q. Does owning a timeshare vacation home make sound financial sense?
A. Timesharing offers you a lifetime of luxury vacations, at the price you lock-in today. Most people discover that about 6 years after buying timeshare, they have more than recouped their initial investment, when comparing their timeshare buy with what they would have paid to vacation elsewhere.

From that point forward, aside from a nominal maintenance fee, your vacation property is available for your use every year thereafter as your cost-free vacation home. When you buy timeshare, essentially you have turned a luxury expense into an equity position. And if your timeshare buy is a deeded property, you can even will you property to your children or loved ones.

Deeded timeshare purchases are real property, but they are not the only way to enjoy the fabulous amenities of timeshare resorts. You can deed, lease, or license ownership of your timeshare vacation or timeshare resort property.

Q. What is the difference between Deeded, Leased, and Licensed Timeshare?
A. Most timeshare ownership is owned by deed, or it is leased for a specified number of years. A deeded timeshare is like any other real estate purchase in that the person named on the deed, owns the timeshare property outright and forever. Deeded property can be sold, rented, or willed to whom ever you wish.

A leased timeshare property gives the owner the right to use a specific week at the vacation property for a specified number of years, typically ranging from 20 to 99 years. When the lease matures, the right to use the property terminates and normally returns to the selling resort.

Although gaining in popularity, licensing, is the least common form of timeshare ownership. A licensing arrangement normally involves membership in a vacation club. As a member in good standing, you have the right to use the club and all of its amenities.

Q. What is a Float Week?
A. A floating week may be used any time during the calendar year based on a resort's availability. Typically, resorts will accept requests for specific weeks by the owner as soon as the annual maintenance fees are paid. Therefore, the earlier the maintenance fees are paid the better the chance that the owner can pick a specific week.

Q. Do I need a lawyer to handle the closing?
A. No. Sell My Timeshare Now can recommend licensed and bonded title companies. These companies can handle the closing process from start to finish including deed preparation, escrow of funds, estoppel certificate, closing statements and recording fees, all for one low flat rate. The title work is attorney reviewed and guaranteed to be free and clear.

Q. How is pricing determined for timeshare resort properties and timeshare resales?
A. Pricing of timeshare resort and timeshare resale resort weeks varies depending on many factors including: time of year, location, resort amenities, the size of the unit, and of course, market demand.

Timeshare purchases are generally far more luxurious than most hotels, offering a wide array of owner amenities and services. Most resort locations are in magnificent settings, conveniently located near attractions and activities. Many offer fully furnished kitchens or kitchenettes, spacious living areas, TVs, VCRs, and ample sleeping arrangements for many family members and friends.

A daily program of on-site sporting, recreational, and social activities often is available for both adults and children. Many timeshare resorts offer swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, horseback riding, skiing, and other amenities, typically all on-site. And most timeshare resorts are staffed with well-trained hospitality professionals whose sole duty is to make your vacation as fun and stress-free as possible.

Q. Why are prices so low on the timeshare resales market?
A. Upwards of 50% of timeshare resort developer costs are sales and marketing related. When you purchase directly from the resort, unfortunately you are paying an inflated price to absorb all of the administrative and marketing costs associated with the sale of the property. When buying on the resale market, you only pay for the true fair market value of the property.

As a timeshare resale purchaser, you enjoy savings of 30-50% or more, while enjoying a beautiful vacation property that you own!

Q. Is financing available?
A: Attractive financing options exist! Ready to buy timeshare? Click here to apply for resort financing online!

Q. If I own my vacation property, why do I have to pay a maintenance fee to the resort?
A: Because this is the only upkeep on your personal vacation home you will ever have to pay!

Owners share the costs of maintenance of their unit as well as the common grounds of the resort property by paying a maintenance fee typically ranging from $200 to $700 annually. These fees, when pooled, pay for ongoing property maintenance, beautification, capital improvements, and general upkeep. The maintenance fee also provides you a well-trained hospitality staff to attend to your needs on every visit. This is luxury and service at the highest level.

Q. What are points?
A. The points system (sometimes referred to as credits) is a newer approach to timeshare ownership. Owners can purchase points to be used for travel during specified seasons of the year. The more points purchased, the more flexibility offered when traveling during the red (the busiest) season.

Likewise, purchasing more points may mean a larger unit or a more popular resort. Another advantage to the point system is that it provides you with the flexibility to use a certain number of your points towards a one-night stay or up to the maximum number of weeks purchased. Flexibility is a major advantage to the point system, although everything is based upon availability.

Q. What is a bi-annual timeshare?
A. Bi-annual timeshare ownership allows the owner use of the resort every other year (alternate years).

Q What is a Five-Star resort? What is a Gold Crown resort?
A. A Five-Star resort is the most desirable rating for a resort in the Interval International (II) system. A Gold Crown resort is the most desirable rating for a resort in the Resort Condominiums International (RCI) system.

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