Buy Timeshare 

The cost to buy timeshare depends heavily on where and how you buy. Location and the type of timeshare resort, whether a stand-alone resort or part of a larger hotel brand, can have a significant impact on the cost of a timeshare. Buying new at the resort or “preloved” on the resale market will have the biggest effect across the board, regardless of what or where you buy.

Locations such as Florida or ski seasons in Breckenridge, Colorado tend to be more in demand than, say, a January week in Ocean City. Location and time of the year will play a major part, so establish where and when you want to spend the majority of your vacation time.

Once you’ve set your destination and time of year, start looking at the available resorts. Single-site, independent resorts could provide great deals, but you would be limited to that resort unless you participate in an exchange program. Branded resorts offer the flexibility of internal exchanges within the brand’s network. This can make these timeshares more expensive.

As far as the new vs resale debate, buying resale will save you a significant amount on the cost to buy into a timeshare. New sale prices average just over $24,000 per interval according to the American Resort Development Association. These prices include sales and marketing costs and commissions that do not factor into a resale price from an existing owner. That can add up to at least a 50-60% discount for timeshares resales on the secondary market.

From a sales standpoint, timeshare resorts typically fall into two categories: in-sales or sold out. Those which are in-sales are selling timeshare onsite through sales teams based at the resort. These tend to be newer resorts or established resorts which have inventory and hire marketing agents to sell the timeshares. Sold out resorts are the older, primarily single-site resorts that have filled the majority of their timeshares and no longer sell onsite. At these sites, only resales are an option.

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is it depends on how you buy a timeshare and how much you intend to use it, since timeshares are really worth the cost for those who take vacations every year.

Timeshare is considered a use product, meaning the real value is in using the product. Often called a lifestyle product, timeshares provide great vacation units – larger with multiple bedrooms and more amenities than a standard hotel room – at better overall prices than a comparable hotel room. But you need to use it in order to value it, and some people either don’t understand how to use a timeshare or just stop going to the resort.

For fixed week owners, they know when they take their vacations every year and plan accordingly. For points or floating week owners, there is longer advance time needed to get the better reservations – sometimes as long as 12 months in advance. The ones who understand this and make their bookings well in advance tend to have higher satisfaction rates and don't feel ripped off. Even so, the overall satisfaction rate of timeshare owners is 85% according to the American Resort Development Association.

As with many products, price can determine the worth of a product. This is why the resale market plays such an important role in whether timeshares are really worth it, because of the significantly discounted prices. In a resort at any given time, a unit could be occupied by an owner who bought new at the resort. Next door could be an owner who paid 60-70% less for his ownership by buying resale. Same resort, same level of comfort, but big difference in price.

This is why we encourage everyone thinking about buying a timeshare to research the resort, even take a vacation there, but ultimately review the online resale options on platforms such as BuyaTimeshare.com to get the best deals possible. Then it’ll be worth it.

Certainly, anyone can buy timeshares as long as they have the funding needed to make the purchase. The issue isn’t whether you can buy a timeshare, but how much it will cost and whom you buy it from.

There are basically two ways to buy a timeshare – from the resort/developer or from a private owner. Buying at the resort directly from the resort usually includes a tour of the facilities and an “extended escort” from one of the salespeople employed to sell you a timeshare. After the supposed 90-minute tour than can take up to four hours or more, the sales negotiation begins. Prices go up and come down until a “final – today only” price is presented. This is where many people who swore they would not buy going into the tour then sign on the dotted line.

The transactions at the resort primarily involve financing as well, meaning your timeshare is now more expensive when you factor in the interest paid on the loan to buy the timeshare. The average price of a “new” timeshare is over $24,000 according to the American Resort Development Association, not including the added interest payments. This is why buying on the resale market is such a great bargain in comparison to the resort.

When you buy a timeshare as a resale, you are buying from an existing owner looking to sell on the secondary market. Whether they are advertising the timeshare themselves on websites such as BuyaTimeshare.com or through a third-party resale broker, their ultimate aim is to sell privately to a new owner.

Because there are no sales and marketing costs and incentives like there are in the resort prices, buyers can save 60% or more on a resale timeshare compared to resort prices. Sellers or broker agents take care of all the paperwork and a closing company completes the transaction. All you would need is the proper identification and the required funds.

Because of the variety of timeshare resorts, diversity of destinations and range of experiences, it is tough to say which is the best timeshare to buy. This really comes down to personal preferences such as the places at which you like to vacation and the type of activities you enjoy.

If you like to visit a particular town or region each year, then a single-site timeshare or a branded program with several resorts in a given location may work for you. For instance, families who travel to Orlando every year to visit the Disney theme parks might want timeshare ownership in the Disney Vacation Club, where there are multiple Disney timeshare resorts in a central area.

Vacationers who want a variety of experiences may choose a branded program offering more of a Club experience, with timeshare points being the vacation currency used within the program. Clubs such as Hilton Grand Vacations or Marriott Vacation Club offer multiple resort options within their respective networks, enabling owners to visit a different resort each year depending on the type of vacation they desire.

One year you may want to visit New York City. The next it could be a beach vacation, then perhaps heading to the mountains of Colorado. Points-based club programs give you the flexibility that single-site, independent timeshares cannot offer without the use of an exchange provider such as RCI or Interval International.

Such exchange companies definitely extend the vacation options for timeshare buyers regardless of the type of timeshare you purchase. Even if you own in a Club, there may be a location you want to visit with no club resort. Using an exchange company can get you there.

Once you’ve narrowed down the best timeshare to buy, review the resale marketplace for the best deals. Resale timeshares can be purchased at big discounts of 50-70% off resort prices. Make sure to also review the timeshare reviews to verify your decision. 

A timeshare lasts as long as the resort is in existence. The more relevant issue would be just how long does timeshare ownership last. This can vary from the new short-term club ownership products which can be as little as three years, up to the more traditional timeshare ownership which is in perpetuity.

The length of ownership depends on the timeshare, the company and what you own. For instance, Disney Vacation Club sells a 25-year ownership product based on points that are linked to a specific resort in their network. Mexico timeshare resorts operate what is called a right-to-use product, which gives you the right to vacation in their resorts – many on a 99-year lease. Other Mexico brands sell their timeshare ownerships on 45-year leases.

Other programs such as Bluegreen Vacations operate points on a trust model. Even though the points are deemed deeded real estate, the ownership is in the legal framework of a trust.

In most cases, timeshare ownership lasts for as long as you own it, which could be until the very end. And even then there is often provision in the documents for your ownership to be willed to someone else. The best way to get out of your ownership before then is to sell it and at least recoup some of the initial costs.

The short answer is that the timeshare usually reverts back to the resort when a timeshare owner dies, unless there is a provision in the will for the timeshare to be inherited by a beneficiary. This is where it can become complicated.

Because inheritance laws can differ from state to state, the beneficiary needs to understand the language in a will and how it could potentially lock them into receiving the timeshare ownership, even if it is not specifically identified in a will. The timeshare could come under generic language that covers all items owned by the deceased. In some cases, the parties may feel that an ownership structure such as a trust be set up to protect the beneficiary from ownership liability after the owner dies. In others, the timeshare could be rejected as part of an inheritance.

It is best that the will be reviewed by a lawyer to understand the exact potential liability involved by the beneficiary when it comes to a timeshare after the owner dies.