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Timeshare Resale World
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Timeshare Facts/Information
What is Timeshare?
The basics: Timeshare offers flexibility, choices, and a vacation lifestyle year after year. You can return to your "home" resort or visit another resort in a different location.
There are different types of vacation ownership. You can own a deeded property; it may be a leased property, or it may be based on points. All of these situations have the same basic concept. A timeshare is a piece of real estate that can be bought, sold, rented, willed, or traded.
Timeshare became popular in the US in the 70's. It was too expensive for a family to own a vacation property, to only visit once or twice a year. So, vacation properties started to have multiple owners who shared the cost of maintenance. This then lead to the idea and development of today’s timeshare industry. According to the American Resort Development Association, otherwise known as ARDA, in 2006 there were over 1,600 timeshare resorts in the US and over 4 million US timeshare owners.
Timeshare is an investment in your family, your health, and your vacations. In today's society, vacations have become a necessity. Everyone needs a break, a chance to relax and forget the stress of everyday life. Timeshare makes that not only affordable to do year after year, but it gives families the opportunity to see and stay in some of the world's finest destinations.
The flexibility of owning a timeshare comes from using the exchange companies with whom your home resort is affiliated. The two main exchange companies are RCI and II. Their websites are www.rci.com and www.intervalworld.com.
Glossary:
| Accrued Weeks: |
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Weeks from the previous year that are available to use in the current year |
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| Affiliated Resort: |
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A resort developer that owns more than one resort in other locations are "affiliated" and when you purchase with said resort, you can use your week(s) at any of the "affiliated" resorts. Exchanging through an exchange company is not necessary.
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| Space Bank: |
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You can choose to "bank" your vacation time with an exchange company and use it at a later date. You generally have 3 years to use banked weeks. |
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| Annual: |
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Your vacation time is based on every year usage.
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| Bienniel: |
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Your vacation time is based on every other year usage.
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| Deed Property: |
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A deed is recorded with the county where the property is located. You have the same rights of ownership as with any other deeded property. You have the right to sell, rent, will, or give it away.
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| Developer: |
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The company or person that owns, designs, and builds the timeshare resort.
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| Exchange: |
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Trading a week of vacation at one resort for a week at another resort. This allows timeshare owners to vacation in several destinations all over the world, at different times of the year. |
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| Exchange Fee: |
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The fee charged, by the exchange company, for the ability to exchange your week for another week. |
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| Exchange Company: |
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There are 2 main exchange companies affiliated with most timeshare resorts. They are RCI and II. When you purchase, you will be notified of which exchange company is affiliated with that resort. |
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| Fee Simple: |
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A type of real estate ownership. The owner of timeshare that holds a fee simple deed, has all rights accompanied with owning real estate. They may sell, rent, will, or give it away.
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| Fixed Week: |
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The purchase of a fixed week of timeshare ensures that the owner has the same week every year to take their vacation. For example: You buy week 1 in said resort year after year, you are guaranteed week1 at that resort forever. |
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| Fixed Unit: |
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This is similar to a fixed week, in that the purchaser is GUARANTEED that particular unit on that particular week every year. This would be important if you wanted a unit facing the beach, the pool, or perhaps a beautiful view.
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| Floating Week: |
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When you purchase this type of week, you are locked into a certain time of year, not a specific week. The resort may divide the year by low, mid, and high season. If you purchase floating time in low season, you can vacation any week within that season. If you need to vacation in the high season, and you own the low season, you can request the week in high season and usually pay a nominal upgrade fee for that year. |
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| Home Resort: |
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The resort where you initially purchased your week(s). |
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| Interval: |
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The interval period is the week you are assigned. There are weeks 1 through 52 or 53. Your specific interval week is a 7 night/8 day period based on one of those weeks. |
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| Interval Calendar: |
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This is a yearly calendar that shows the entire 52 weeks, starting with the check in and out dates of either Friday-Friday, Saturday-Saturday, or Sunday-Sunday. |
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| Lease: |
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Some states, as well as, countries, use lease hold or right to use ownership. This gives the purchaser of the timeshare week(s) a set period of time that they "own", have the right to use, the interval time they purchased. This is usually based from 20-99 years. The developer of the resort maintains actual deeded ownership. |
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| Lockout Unit: |
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This is a condo unit that has the ability to be separated into 2 separate units. i.e. You may have purchased a 3 bedroom lockout. You can use it as a 3 bedroom in its entirety, or you may choose to "lockout" the 1 bedroom side, where you essentially have a 2 bedroom unit and a 1 bedroom unit. This enables the owner to get 2 weeks of vacation from the purchase of 1 unit. |
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| Maintenance Fee: |
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This is a fee that is collected on a yearly basis for the up keep and maintenance of your home resort. The fee may pay for new furniture, appliances, painting of interiors/exteriors, landscaping, pool up keep, utilities, insurance, etc. The fee varies according to the home resort, as well as, the size of the unit purchased. |
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| Odd or Even Year Usage: |
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This correlates with biennial ownership. You have purchased every other year usage....either odd years or even years. |
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| Points: |
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This is used by some resorts to give added flexibility in your vacation options. The resort sets a value on the points and depending on the number of points owned, you can vacation in various size units, separate into multiple weeks of vacation, or even use on a daily basis. |
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| Property Taxes: |
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This is a fee regulated by the state in which your home resort is located. Some resorts include this fee in the yearly maintenance fee, or they may charge this separately. |
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| Resort Ratings: |
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RCI and II rate their affiliated resorts. They range from Gold Crown, International Distinction, to 5 Star, and so on. The exchange companies give these ratings based on the resort meeting certain criteria they have set forth. |
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| Season: |
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This is based on resort and location of resort. The different seasons determine the exchange value of a particular unit/week purchased. |
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| Trading Power: |
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This is an assigned value given by the exchange company. It is used to determine the exchange value of a purchasers' week deposited. Trading power is based on several factors, to include but not limited to, the time of year or season of the week, how far in advance the week is deposited, and the location of the home resort. i.e. Orlando Florida will have higher trading power than say Boise Iowa. |
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| Vacation Club: |
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This is a type of vacation ownership where the purchaser is a member of the club and can vacation within the clubs affiliate resorts without using an external exchange company, such as RCI or II. |
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