What Is A Timeshare And Is It Right For You?

Everyone dreams of going to some fantastic location for their vacation. Going somewhere that will let you get away from it all lets you recharge your batteries and enjoy the downtime. When it comes time for your vacation, one of the biggest issues is where to stay. Your dream location may not have a hotel nearby. Or you may want to have more privacy than a hotel can afford. One way to make sure that you have someplace to stay is to buy your own property. When it comes to buying a vacation home, you have some options. You can buy the property or you can buy into a timeshare. But you might not know what a timeshare is or if it's the right choice for you.

What Is a Timeshare?

With a timeshare, you aren't buying a full property as much as you are buying a period of time you can use that property. You aren't paying the full purchase price of the property, but a particular portion. Generally, when you buy into a timeshare property, you are committing to a particular time as well. For example, you may be assigned to the first two weeks of July. 

Benefits

• Tend to be less expensive: Since you aren't buying the whole property, you will probably save some money on the purchase price. 
• No maintenance: Since you aren't the full owner of the property, you aren't paying to have the property maintained. Generally the property will have a manager, and the manager will handle all of that from the initial fees.
• Guaranteed residence: You don't have to worry about where you are going to stay, you already have that vacation destination and time set. 

Drawbacks

• Limited time: You can't go to the timeshare property anytime you want. You are limited to the time period that you bought. It doesn't matter if you have a fixed time or you have the chance to negotiate as to when you will use it, you can't just take a spur-of-the-moment vacation. 
• Previous users: When you get to your vacation site, you may end up with a damaged site because the previous users weren't as careful as they should have been. 
• No control: Since you aren't the sole owner of the property, you have very little control over what happens to the property. That means you can't change the landscaping or the furniture. You have to go with whatever is there. 

For more information on luxury real estate, contact a local real estate agent. 

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