What about the timeshare market?

[verdoux]

This may or may not apply as actual "real estate" per se, but I'm curious how others have seen the timeshare market affected by the housing problems and economic down-turn.

With deeded properties you have a lot of people trying to break free from contracts. A friend (well, a colleague...) of mine is actually trying to capitalize on this and go into the "Timeshare Relief" industry, you know -- the people you hire to get out a contract you can no longer afford. I don't know, though...the resort market seems different to me from the housing market. Most of the people I know with timeshares aren't ready to sell them QUITE yet, they've had them for so long.

Anyway, to put it another way, what IS the timeshare market? Real estate, luxury, etc?

 

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[fanocks2003]

This may or may not apply as actual "real estate" per se, but I'm curious how others have seen the timeshare market affected by the housing problems and economic down-turn.

With deeded properties you have a lot of people trying to break free from contracts. A friend (well, a colleague...) of mine is actually trying to capitalize on this and go into the "Timeshare Relief" industry, you know -- the people you hire to get out a contract you can no longer afford. I don't know, though...the resort market seems different to me from the housing market. Most of the people I know with timeshares aren't ready to sell them QUITE yet, they've had them for so long.

Anyway, to put it another way, what IS the timeshare market? Real estate, luxury, etc?

As I have come to understand it, time share is when you buy something on time. It can be RE, cars, boats etc. You buy 10 hours, for example, for using that luxurius RE, car, boat or whatever and when 10 hours are up, you either leave it to the owner again or pay more money to use a couple of more hours. Time share in it's essence.

Many people confuse time share with fractional ownership. Fractional ownership is when you actually own part of something (RE, car, boat or whatever). You are on the deed so to speak.

 

[verdoux]

As I have come to understand it, time share is when you buy something on time. It can be RE, cars, boats etc. You buy 10 hours, for example, for using that luxurius RE, car, boat or whatever and when 10 hours are up, you either leave it to the owner again or pay more money to use a couple of more hours. Time share in it's essence.

Many people confuse time share with fractional ownership. Fractional ownership is when you actually own part of something (RE, car, boat or whatever). You are on the deed so to speak.

Good point. Here in the US, though, timeshare and fractional ownership are pretty much synonymous. Buying a "timeshare" immediately calls to mind a resort wherein the buyer is purchasing a deed for a certain number of weeks of use per year (there are different systems). Sorry about the semantics, but that's what I was referring to.

 

[StreetsofSilver]

Timeshares are real estate. In many states, to broker timeshares one must be a licensed real estate agent.

Just to clarify. Timeshares and fractional ownership are not the same thing. There are 2 types of timeshares. A timeshare estate is where the purchaser owns the property during a certain timeframe for an unlimited amount of time. Ex) You own a timeshare during the 2nd week of July forever until you sell your interest. A timeshare use is actually owned by the developer and allows a person to rent the condo for a limited time.

Fractional ownership refers to the common areas of a condo. For example, if the 10 unit condo that you own has a community pool, then you own 1/10 of the pool.

I just spoke to an agent the other day that said she was making a killing in the timeshare market. I'm not sure if that is true, but I am relaying what she told me.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

From a Fastlane perspective, here is my take: You don't want to own a timeshare, you want to sell them. You don't want to buy them, you want to help liquidate them.

That said, go buy a $5 million dollar luxury house and Lake Tahoe and then sell timeshares against it.

Or, create a website to help the thousands of people trying to get rid of them.

As for owning one for purely rest and relaxation purposes, I've heard both good and bad stories.

 

[hakrjak]

What is this, amateur hour? hehe

Yes, Timeshares are officialy the worst investment on the planet, if you could even call them an investment. Like MJ said, you want to be on the selling side -- And it's not easy to sell them, which is why most timeshare companies spend 10's of thousand just to pamper you with enough goodies to get you to come in and see a presentation.

My GF owned a timeshare about 10 years ago, and we get junkmail almost every week from companies offering to buy it for pennies on the dollar, or provide relief, etc... So that idea is already out there in force, it would seem.

The thing about Timeshares that has always irked me is... Why would I pay $15,000 to own the deed, and then pay $700 per year in maint fees on top of that, so I could have 1 week a year at a place? (And it's got to be a special week, and all these BS conditions have to be met, etc) -- When I could just spend $700 and go get a hotel room anywhere I wanted at any given time. Example: My last trip to Cancun, we got an all inclusive deal at a 4 star resort including airfare for $750 each.

Hasta,

- Hakrjak :groove::groove::groove::groove::groove: