Timeshares

Generally speaking, the two most common types of time share ownership fall into one of these two categories. If you own a week, you’ve been deeded a specific week in a specific unit at a specific resort, that is set aside for you every year. That doesn’t mean that you can’t exchange it for a different week or location, though, and be aware that every resort is different—sometimes you’re deeded a week for inventory purposes only, and have in actuality a floating ownership.

Points, on the other hand, come in a wide range of amounts and are what you’d use to exchange for weeks with the resort or the resort’s preferred exchange program. On the whole, points programs are seen as more flexible (and often, points can be used for things like airfare and car rentals, too), but on the flip side, you won’t have any week guaranteed, which will mean you’ll have to be proactive about making reservations for the time periods of interest to you as early as you can.

“Deeded” usually means the ownership is yours for life, although there are some memberships that are technically deeded with expiration dates (they’re rare). RTU stands for Right to Use, and indicates that there’s a designated end date to the lease agreement. RTUs might expire in a certain year, or be “in perpetuity,” meaning they can be continually renewed to last forever, acting as de facto deeds.

Mexico timeshare properties, for example, will always have RTUs instead of deeds. If you’re interested in an RTU property, it’s a good idea to establish the expiration date before you make an offer—it could expire next year or in 2099, greatly affecting the value.

You might have privileges to use your week or points every year (annual usage), twice a year (biannual), or every other year (biennial). With biennial usage, you’ll usually be further designated to either even or odd years, which simply specifies which years you’ll be able to use the timeshare. If you have a biennial odd membership, for example, you’d be looking at usage in 2015, 2017, 2019, etc. Seldom, memberships with triannual, triennial, quadannual, and quadrennial usage are also available (three times per year, every three years, four times a year, and every four years, respectively).

The Pros of Timeshare Resales

1. Better accommodations. In most timeshare suites, you can expect to find kitchens, washers/dryers, separate living spaces, and much more.
2. Affordability. On the resale market, you can purchase timeshare ownership for a fraction of the cost of timeshare on the primary market.
3. Value. In most cases all the benefits that are given to retail timeshare buyers also transfer to resale buyers. There are some instances where not all benefits transfer, but you can always supplement these with an exchange club membership that allows you to travel to other resorts and destinations.

1. Timeshares do not increase in value like traditional real estate.
2. Timeshare can be costly if you purchase on the primary marketing or don’t do your research (some programs have high annual fees that make the expense of ownership less cost-effective).
3. If your program is not part of a club, you can get locked into vacationing in the same place each year. Thankfully, you can join an independent exchange company to solve this problem, but there will be an added expense.