During these economic times, now more than ever, it's a buyers market.
As a consumer, you have the upper hand in exercising your purchasing power and an informed consumer can find some great vacation deals.
But in order to be informed, you have to have the right information.
There are a huge number of misconceptions out there about timeshare ownership and its supposed benefits.
Here is a breakdown of three "timeshare myths" commonly used by the timeshare industry.
Myth #1: Owning a timeshare is an investment that will save you money.
The marketing of timeshares to potential buyers is fraught with heavily skewed statistics and broken logic.
Timeshares have traditionally been represented as a means to trim vacation costs and save the consumer money, but in reality, they often prove to be a costly expense that don't live up to their expectations.
Timeshares frontload your vacation costs making you pay upfront for your vacationing over an extended period of time.
In order for you to make your investment translate into money saved, you would need to use that timeshare every year without fail, over a long period of time.
The idea that timeshares save you money is based on a structured equation that requires you to fit the seller's criteria perfectly and never change your plans.
But let's face it, life throws curve balls and plans change.
What if a job is lost or unexpected home or medical costs take their financial toll in a given year? Wouldn't you like the freedom to not pay for a vacation in a time of crisis? Or less dramatically, what if a family reunion is planned or a trip planned to visit friends who moved away.
Wouldn't you like the freedom to choose your vacation destination and not be stuck in a situation where you're forced to take a vacation because of a contractual obligation? The inflexible costs don't take into account an ever-changing market.
While the unexpected financial crisis that arose in 2008 has taken many people's vacation funds away, for others it has given them opportunity to take advantage of low airfares and hotel bargains.
Again, the inflexibility of timeshares leaves those, who now don't have the money to travel, paying for vacations they cannot afford.
And for those who can afford to travel, it takes away the possibilities to take advantage of trips they previously would've been unable to take or hadn't thought to take.
Myth #2: It's best to buy your timeshare "new.
" It's no surprise that timeshare developers and resorts encourage potential buyers or renters to buy new and directly from them.
A large chunk of the timeshare price tag is comprised of overhead costs-from advertising and marketing costs, to signing perks and any other incidental costs that the developer or resort wants to recover.
A savvy consumer knows that overhead can be avoided by looking at alternative purchasing avenues.
By avoiding purchasing a new timeshare, you can cut the fat off your expenses by not wasting money on unnecessary expenses that only fatten the wallets of the timeshare sellers.
Developers and resorts also stress that buying a timeshare from directly them comes with numerous benefits - everything from bonus weeks, discount tickets to local attractions and discount car rentals.
As well as this, developers claim that they will provide you with more financing options.
But no number of "benefits" and "perks" can outweigh the fact that renting a timeshare is a much better idea than buying one.
Especially in this economic climate, there are great rental deals to be found, and there is no better time than the present to negotiate some very low weekly rates.
It's even possible to rent units on a nightly basis.
When you're able to enjoy a timeshare vacation without the contractual obligation why would you choose to buy? For one week at a timeshare, you might even find yourself paying less than the owner's annual maintenance fees at the same resort.
And if you're still looking for those "perks," developers do actually offer some great incentives to renters at their resorts as a way to entice them into becoming buyers.
Myth #3: You can easily rent or sell your timeshare at any time.
Even in good economic times off-loading a timeshare is nothing less than an ordeal.
Frustratingly, this feat is now even more difficult given the flooded timeshare resale market.
Timeshare owners looking to cover their costs are trying to rent or resell their timeshares instead of using the units themselves, inevitability creating a massive influx of rental and resale listings.
Between November and January, Redweek.
com witnessed a 40% increase in timeshare rental postings.
If you want to rent or resell then you've got a lot of other owners to compete with and you should be prepared to rent or sell your unit at dramatically reduced rates.
As a consumer, you have the upper hand in exercising your purchasing power and an informed consumer can find some great vacation deals.
But in order to be informed, you have to have the right information.
There are a huge number of misconceptions out there about timeshare ownership and its supposed benefits.
Here is a breakdown of three "timeshare myths" commonly used by the timeshare industry.
Myth #1: Owning a timeshare is an investment that will save you money.
The marketing of timeshares to potential buyers is fraught with heavily skewed statistics and broken logic.
Timeshares have traditionally been represented as a means to trim vacation costs and save the consumer money, but in reality, they often prove to be a costly expense that don't live up to their expectations.
Timeshares frontload your vacation costs making you pay upfront for your vacationing over an extended period of time.
In order for you to make your investment translate into money saved, you would need to use that timeshare every year without fail, over a long period of time.
The idea that timeshares save you money is based on a structured equation that requires you to fit the seller's criteria perfectly and never change your plans.
But let's face it, life throws curve balls and plans change.
What if a job is lost or unexpected home or medical costs take their financial toll in a given year? Wouldn't you like the freedom to not pay for a vacation in a time of crisis? Or less dramatically, what if a family reunion is planned or a trip planned to visit friends who moved away.
Wouldn't you like the freedom to choose your vacation destination and not be stuck in a situation where you're forced to take a vacation because of a contractual obligation? The inflexible costs don't take into account an ever-changing market.
While the unexpected financial crisis that arose in 2008 has taken many people's vacation funds away, for others it has given them opportunity to take advantage of low airfares and hotel bargains.
Again, the inflexibility of timeshares leaves those, who now don't have the money to travel, paying for vacations they cannot afford.
And for those who can afford to travel, it takes away the possibilities to take advantage of trips they previously would've been unable to take or hadn't thought to take.
Myth #2: It's best to buy your timeshare "new.
" It's no surprise that timeshare developers and resorts encourage potential buyers or renters to buy new and directly from them.
A large chunk of the timeshare price tag is comprised of overhead costs-from advertising and marketing costs, to signing perks and any other incidental costs that the developer or resort wants to recover.
A savvy consumer knows that overhead can be avoided by looking at alternative purchasing avenues.
By avoiding purchasing a new timeshare, you can cut the fat off your expenses by not wasting money on unnecessary expenses that only fatten the wallets of the timeshare sellers.
Developers and resorts also stress that buying a timeshare from directly them comes with numerous benefits - everything from bonus weeks, discount tickets to local attractions and discount car rentals.
As well as this, developers claim that they will provide you with more financing options.
But no number of "benefits" and "perks" can outweigh the fact that renting a timeshare is a much better idea than buying one.
Especially in this economic climate, there are great rental deals to be found, and there is no better time than the present to negotiate some very low weekly rates.
It's even possible to rent units on a nightly basis.
When you're able to enjoy a timeshare vacation without the contractual obligation why would you choose to buy? For one week at a timeshare, you might even find yourself paying less than the owner's annual maintenance fees at the same resort.
And if you're still looking for those "perks," developers do actually offer some great incentives to renters at their resorts as a way to entice them into becoming buyers.
Myth #3: You can easily rent or sell your timeshare at any time.
Even in good economic times off-loading a timeshare is nothing less than an ordeal.
Frustratingly, this feat is now even more difficult given the flooded timeshare resale market.
Timeshare owners looking to cover their costs are trying to rent or resell their timeshares instead of using the units themselves, inevitability creating a massive influx of rental and resale listings.
Between November and January, Redweek.
com witnessed a 40% increase in timeshare rental postings.
If you want to rent or resell then you've got a lot of other owners to compete with and you should be prepared to rent or sell your unit at dramatically reduced rates.