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My Timeshare Alternative

Our family really enjoys taking vacations but how can a large family enjoy a vacation but not have to buy a timeshare. Let me provide you with a a timeshare buying tip. Here is the only timeshare buying tip you need to know, don’t buy a timeshare.

Taking a few vacations is easy when it is only two people, but larger families have a tough time finding adequate accomadations. When our family grew to 6, we found ourselves resorting to listening to timeshare sales pitches in order to be able to stay at the really nice resorts for an affordable price. We didn’t have any idea that there was a timeshare alternative available.

After doing this a few times we started to actually think that maybe a timeshare was something we should purchase. I mean come on! Why wouldn’t you want to vacation in style at some of the fanciest resorts in Las Vegas, California, Florida and even exotic resort destinations throughout the world. For example, the typical 2 bedroom resort is spacious enough for a family of 6 to spread out and really enjoy the living space. I am willing to bet that these resort timeshares are nicer than how the average person currently lives. The last place we stayed in had real wood kitchen cabinets, granite kitchen counters, genuine leather furniture, plasma televisions in every room, real burning fireplace and an indoor Jacuzzi that could fit 4 adults comfortably. Staying in these types of resorts have produced some beautiful memories for us. Trust me, you will not want to vacation any other way! If you check out my videos you will see what I am talking about.

However, I truly felt guilty that we were staying at such a nice place for a fraction of what it would actually cost us. After all, we were really getting to enjoy how the people with a lot of money get to vacation without having to pay the high cost. My guilt lasted up until the high stakes timeshare pitch. You see there was a price that we had to pay that made me wish we had the money to buy a timeshare so that I could avoid what I called the “timeshare interrogation”.

It might not sound horrible to listen to a timeshare pitch/presentation but in my humble opinion it is. There is no other way to phrase it. We had to listen to a very skilled timeshare salesman pressure us into buying their timeshare. Here is an example of the conversation, “It might sound like a lot of money but consider this Mr. Briant, for only 28,000 dollars you are buying a lifetime of vacations for you and your family. Oh, and don’t let the 28,000 dollars scare you, we offer financing that will reduce that price to only a few hundred dollars a month for 72 months.” The assault usually continued throughout my courteous “I’m sorry but it is still too expensive” and after the 9th time of me telling them that we really weren’t interested but still having to hear about other specials and one time only manager “get away packages”, me and my wife made a promise to ourselves that we would never subject our family to another “timeshare interrogation” again. I am not kidding when I tell you that it was rude experience! When we finally said no to every timeshare package the pleasantries immediately stopped were literally shown the door. We left with a big headache and the thought of never being able to enjoy the spacious timeshare ambience again. We are glad that we didn’t give up on our dream to luxurious vacations without having to spend a fortune.

Not wanting to have to settle for less than I had experience, I made it a goal to find a timeshare alternative. I quickly found that many other people who actually bought timeshares for 20-30K were trying to sell their timeshares for a fraction of the cost. I honestly was really close to buying a 1 week, bi-annual timeshare for a “red week” in Gatlinburg, TN for only 5,800 dollars. The deal sounded really good and then I noticed that there were many people trying to sell their timeshares on the internet. This made me question why so many people were dumping their timeshares for 50% or more of what they paid for them or upwards of 80% of what a new timeshare purchase was being sold for. So, I decided to continue to investigate for a better timeshare-alternative.

I am glad that I did my “how to buy a timeshare” and “timeshare alternative” research. My research exposed legitimate options when looking for a lifetime vacation option. Here are my findings and your current options:

1) You can either purchase a new timeshare at a crazy ridiculous price and a high annual maintenance fee. The price I was quoted was 28,000.{(who has that type of money just laying around)}! You will then have to become familiar with timeshare terms like accelerated use, biennial usage, exchange rates, fixed weeks, floating weeks and much more. I wasn’t interested in learning this new language.

2) You can purchase a timeshare from someone who is trying to dump their timeshare and hope that the company that owns the timeshare “allows” the sale to go through because they often have the right of first refusal. Plus, if you get pass that hurdle you will have to still pay a high maintenance fee and make sure that the timeshare “points” mean the same today as they did when the person who is trying to sell actually purchased the timeshare.

3) You can just forget about timeshares all together and simply pay premium prices for these resorts which can cost several hundred dollars a night. Just go to any of the online travel agencies and see for yourself what a 2 bedroom suite cost in a exclusive resort destination. This wasn’t an option for us either.

4) You can bargain shop on the popular online travel outlets and hope the you negotiate a good deal that works with your travel/vacation plans and only pay a few hundred dollars a night instead of several hundred. I found that all I did was search and search and was simply settling for less.

5) You can use the same timeshare-alternative that we found. We purchased a lifetime membership that grants us privlidged access to the same resorts without having pay anywhere close to that prices that we presented with. No worries about points, quarter shares, RCI transactions, red week restrictions or trading power. This vacation ownership option made the most sense for us.

I don’t want this article to seem like a sales pitch, so make sure to do your own research about the best timeshare-alternative option. So, if you are looking for an alternative to timeshares or vacation ownership packages, realize there is a great alternative to retail timeshare. Don’t get pressured into buying a timeshare. If you do, realize that you have a rescission grace period that will give you an option to cancel the purchase without penalties.

We were certainly happy and excited about our decision and I am extremely confident that you will feel the same way.

Good luck in your timeshare alternative hunting.

Ray
http://www.raybriant.com

Do you own a timeshare ? Do you want to sell it?Have you tried for a long period of time only to discover that there is no resale market? If you are like us you have spent fortunes over the years trying to sell your timeshare only to be ripped off by one scam artist after another.

One alternative to trying to sell your timeshare would be to trade it in for another product providing that product is obviously not another timeshare or points or some kind of holiday club as they are all basically trying to rip you off one way or another.

We tried to sell our timeshare via a number of different companies . We paid them good money and they promised us that they would take our timeshare off our hands but as per usual after the money had exchanged hands we were still lumbered with our timeshare and outrageously increasing maintenance fees.

We finally went for the alternative option and traded our timeshare in for a buy to let property abroad. Not only did the company we dealt with give us an upfront cash lump sum for our timeshare we also managed to secure an off plan property deal which gave us a healthy return on our investment within 36 months. We are now in the process of buying our second off plan purchase with the money we made on the first one.

This may appear to be a strange alternative to some people but we knew we would never get rid of our timeshares and the fees kept increasing rapidly. It took us a while to find the right company and the right investment but after some due diligence it was an absolute no brainer. We turned the increasing annual debt of the timeshare into a savings plan with a guaranteed return on our investment.

The worse case scanario for us if the property investment didnt increase in value was a gauranteed rental income offered by the broker so we could just sit on it until it did make money. The reason why we purchased the timeshare in the first place was because we thought it was an investment in our future holidays and supposedly a long term saving.
Like most timeshare owners we always wanted a property abroad and a timeshare was supposed to be a cheap way of doing it, by owning just a fraction of the property and only paying for what we used. Unfortunately by buying the the timeshare that dream turned into a nightmare.

The Investment agent made us an offer we couldnt refuse by giving us cash upfront for our timeshare on the condition that we simply reinvest a tiny fraction of the monies paid to us into an investment which gave us an even bigger return on our monies in 3 years. Some of you might see the sense in it and some maybe not. We feel its definately worth anyone haveing a look especially if you make as much money as we did. As far as we were concerned we had finally realised our dream because it’s what we really wanted when we first purchased our timeshare.

This option may not be for you but it’s certainly worth looking into especially if you own multiple weeks and the maintenance is over £1000 per year and the thought “how to sell my timeshare!" is constantly on your mind. If you want more details then go to our website. We set the website up to give other timeshare owners just like us an alternative way out because we were sick and tired of all the rip off merchants and scam artists out there just giving false information and taking money under false pretences

How to sell my timeshare is definitely the major thought of most British Timeshare owners at the moment after the rising costs of maintenance fees in the last 24 months . Especially with the large companies in Europe like Diamond ( Used to be Sunterra) or Petchy. According to news articles these large companies are constantly hiking up fees.

With the pound weakened against the euro , the majority of timeshare owners have observed their
maintenance fees double! This is definitely not good news for multiple week owners especially those owners that own 2 or 3 bed apartments.

Generally a 2 bed apartment in most European locations will cost as much as £500 maintenance per week. So if you multiply that by 3 or 4 weeks then add the increase percentage wise based on the euro against the pound then many timeshare owners end up paying in excess of £2000 plus per year.

It's here where the problem is incured as they all own timeshare for a lifetime! So the most important question of the lot is usually "How can I get rid of my timeshare?"?”

If your maintenance fees are extremely high then its not a case of how can I sell my timeshare anymore it’s more of a case of how can i get rid it !

There are a number of different options you could take:

1) Register your timeshare on EBay. In some cases timeshare owners are literally giving them away on Ebay so the competition is quite high but the cost is very low

2)Register with a resale company. Based on the feedback from many timeshare owners like us, we have determined that the timeshare resale agencies dont actually do much to advertise the weeks because they generally have small budgets. They do sell some resale timeshare but
the amount of weeks they sell compared to the amount of weeks they have registered is relatively small so be prepared to wait a very long time !

3) You can offload your timeshare in the UK to a number of credible holiday clubs , simply trade it in as membership against their club. If you still like taking holidays but you have had enough of your timeshare then this could be a good option. There is a cost involved but if you offset that against the rising costs of maintenance then it makes a lot of sense financially.

4) Sell your timeshare to a friend or family member. It’s always worth investigating what friends and family are spending on their holidays each year because they might just be pleasantly surprised how much you could actually save them by selling them your timeshare.

5) If you work for a large organization then it's possibly worth setting up a raffle for the ownership of your timeshare i.e. The winner takes everything. We assume you want a fast sale then sell each ticket for £10 . You wouldn’t have to sell many tickets to raise £2000 .It will take a little work on your part but it all depends on how desperate you are to sell your timeshare.

If you are still asking How can I sell My Timeshare? It may be worth while if you follow a proven formula that has worked for many other timeshare owners. Check out the sellmytimeshare helpline for more advice.

TimeSharePilgrim.com reports that it can be a wise idea to have a timeshare if you purchase in a desirable location, and many timeshare owners are interested in trading points for your location. You also want to consider the time of year your weeks fall into. For instance, the weeks surrounding the Christmas holiday in a popular resort are more desirable, than a non-holiday week in the middle of no-wheres-ville. Get the point? Be on the lookout and careful about timeshare resale scams that have been onthe rise for sometime now. You own a timeshare resort. In the course of time its maintenance cost has become burdensome for you. To add to your woes, your timeshare vacation week does not fit into your lifestyle anymore. You just want to sell it as quickly as possible! But do you think to sell a timeshare is that easy? It can be as long as you know several things: 1. What is the current timeshare real estate market for sellers. 2. How precious do buyers consider your vacation week. 3. How competive is your resort compared to other timeshare developments around the world. Remmber, you are competing with potential buyers from around the world.

The timeshare industry has been ripe for scammers. In some case scammers may even provide copies of agreement contracts as proof to potential buyers. So, just be aware that there are scams out there and be on the guard before you sign anything. When a person is going to purchase a timeshare, charges depend on the time of the year, since premium prices are present for the most favorable time of the year. Many people buy timeshares as an investment, and so it’s no surprise to see them soon putting the property back on the market. Why? Perhaps looking at a timeshare as an investment is not the best way of approaching the transaction. Maybe a better way of approaching a timeshare purchase is looking at it more of an alternative vacation plan. More and more people are finding that there are many timeshare deals to be found online — especially in online auctions.

Others use the timeshare for a while and then for some reason, it no longer fits in with their lifestyle — and they also find themselves putting their vacation unit back on the market. The timeshare resorts are separated into units, which are intervals, points or credits. The timeshare business has developed over the last decade and has become a more popular alternative for vacationers globally. Offering a practically endless portfolio of resort choices, the timeshare industry has finally come into its own.

In recent years, timeshare resorts have become hosts to many family and class reunions. Why? Several resons:

1. The resort developments are typically located in areas where people would like to visit.

2. The resorts know this and are designed with facilities and venues to accomodate large groups of people.

3. Usually it is easy to find attractive room rates because many timeshare owners are happy to rent their units to offset their expenses.

For more tips and complimentary and important TimeShare Reports as well as a free subscription to the famous TimeShare Times eZine, be sure to visit, TimeSharePilgrim.com and TimeSharePilgrim.info.

HTML clipboardTimeSharePilgrim.com reports that many people buy timeshares as an investment, and so it’s no surprise to see them soon putting the property back on the market. Others use the timeshare for a while and then for some reason, things so that it no longer fits in with their lifestyle–and they also find themselves putting it back on the market. Still others can no longer afford the taxes or maintenance costs. Whatever your reason, selling timeshares is much easier if you remember some important considerations.

1) First, you should understand that people who make a profit on timeshares are the exception rather than the rule. So you should be forewarned ahead of time that, if a profit is what’s holding up the sale, you might be waiting a while. There are profits to be made, but if this is your intent, you need to be sure that when you’re buying the timeshare, you’re getting a bargain deal. Only true timeshare deals stand a chance of earning you a profit.

As an aside to this article, TimeSharePilgrim.com is now offering many free TimeShare reports as well as a complementary subscription to the well known newsletter, The TimeShare Times.  All yours at TimeSharePilgrim.com.

2) Don’t kid yourself when it comes to setting a price. If you’re selling timeshares that are studio units, or if it’s an off-season, you’re not going to make as much money. Likewise, you’ll likely get much less if you haven’t kept up with the maintenance responsibilities on the unit. Sadly, even if your unit is in-season, industry insiders warn that they often will only sell for 30 to 50 percent of the price for which you bought it.

3) You’ll get more money if your timeshare is part of a chain of units.

4) All of the above factors lead to this inevitable conclusion: You’ll have to keep the price low, usually much lower than your buying cost, if you want to sell fast. If you want to make a higher amount, and even make a profit, you need to be in it for the long-haul. This could mean keeping the timeshare on the market for many, many months.

5) You’ll increase your odds of selling high if you list the timeshare in a variety of ways. For instance: Obviously, you want to list it with a real estate agency (Be sure the agency belongs to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the trade organization that ensures the agency is not out to scam people like you.

Don’f forget, many many free timeshare reports are yours today at TimeSharePilgrim.com

According to TimeSharePilgrim.com there are situations where a timeshare vacation unit is no longer useful for the owner. It that case it is viable to look for a potential customer. People have been able to make a bit of money on their timeshare by selling their points to other timeshare owners in they meet at the timeshare resorts.

By the way, if you are seeking help to avoid timeshare scams…consider these suggestions:

Tip 1. Do your homework on the timeshare market in the area you have either purchased in or are thinking about buying.

Tip 2: Don’t believe everything you hear.

Tip 3: If it sounds too good to be true - you know the rest.

Usually, timeshare developers select such popular places to launch their hotels and resorts, since most people like visiting these places for their holidays more often. When you decide to purchase a timeshare, you need to be very careful.

As an aside, TimeSharePilgrim.info is offering many free Timeshare Reports for quick download.

By to the article:  If you’re considering a timeshare purchase, here are some suggestions that should help you find the legitimate opportunities and steer clear of the timeshare scams.

A. Make sure you can secure favorable financing.

B. Know what the monthly expenses that you will be responsible for.

C. Make sure you understand how many points your unit represents.

D. Do research and find out how many points you will need to trade them for another resort you’ll want to visit. More and more people are finding that there are many timeshare deals to be found online — especially in online auctions.

The available inventory of timeshare rentals is huge. Just about everything you can imagine is “in stock”. How about a room in an estate overlooking the countryside of England Or perhaps a suite in a villa in Italy? Or maybe even a chateau in France? If you want it, you can find it…and guess what, you can use your timeshare points. timeshares are so popular today that numerous first class hotels and resorts have started offering timeshare vacations as a choice to enjoy holidays. There are some big names like Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and others who operate timeshare companies. Check their resorts out. You’ll be surprised how beautiful they are…and their locations are typically Class A. The timeshare industry has a reputation for over aggressive sales people with less than stellar ethics. However, in todays global market, the timeshare industry has reached maturity. Consequently, many timeshare developers are owned by huge corporate holding companies. Also, in terms of being fearful of ’scams’, in the US, timeshare sales are pretty much regulated by state agencies.

You will enjoy your timeshare ownership more if you know what your overall goal is for that owership. Does that make sense?

Let me explain - First: are you in the group that is seeking a timeshare merely for exchanging it for points? Second: Are you one who simply wishes to spend your vacation at that particular resort? If you have an idea in your mind from the beginning, then you’ll not have unfulfilled expectations of your fractional ownership. Buyers need to know in detail, the steps involved and what it takes to purchase a timeshare.

Don’t forget, according to TimeSharePilgrim.com in a floating timeshare week, buyers may opt to choose and spend their week in timeshare villas during a particular season.

timeshare resale secrets

Many of us have heard the horror stories associated with resale timeshare scams over the years.  We’ve heard of companies doing everything short of holding a gun to your head to make you buy.Most people think the industry is a scam. So how can you avoid getting taken advantage of in this cutthroat business?

I’m pretty sure that you should not and even gotten involved in the first place, right,. Timeshare companies are notorious for saying just about anything to get you to come to their “presentation,” only to then keep you hostage until you eventually drool, your eyes glaze over, and you sign on the dotted line. (At least, that’s what they hope is going to happen.) You’ve seen the advertisements: “free tickets and complementary hotel accommodations for three days and two nights at a beautiful resort. For this, we just want you to take a small tour of our resort. Give us your feedback, and enjoy your stay!”

Sound familiar? Most of us have heard something like this over the years.

However, what you didn’t hear was that the person you’re talking to is actually just taking your money and selling the rights to your tour to some other company.Of course, as things go it’s likely that your reservation, and some of the other things that they promised will end up getting lost or forgotten.

Vacation room? Not likely. Yes, you paid for it, but it’s not likely to be there once you get there.

Then you get to the 90 minute “tour” portion of your “vacation”. What they forgot to mention is that the 90 minutes really turns into 6 hours and it’s not so much a tour as it is a negotiating room. 

They’ll start out by telling you how much money you’re wasting by not owning a timeshare. They position it as you’d have to be some kind of an idiot to not buy the timeshare immediately.

Then they’ll throw out some hugely inflated number that you don’t even spend on several years’ worth of vacationing. And even if you could use this timeshare at that rate, it’s not likely that this business is going to be around for that 20 years, because of course they are a fly-by-night operation.

If you muster up enough courage to tell the first salesman “no”, they’ll look at you like you’re stupid and bring in a “closer”. The closer will then throw another offer at you that is usually less than half the price of the first offer to make you think you’re getting a deal. 

If you still hold your ground and say “no,” someone else will corner you yet again to give you a “survey” that supposedly ascertains how you were treated. But, part of the test is to offer you another deal at about 33% of the first deal.

If you do go, stay firm. Don’t fall for any of their tactics and if you don’t want to buy, don’t. You should never let someone pressure you into buying something you don’t need or want. Not only will it feel like wasted money, but it really will be, because you might walk away with nothing after you’ve handed over your cash. It’s just not worth it, is it?

Do you own a timeshare and want to get rid of it? You are NOT alone. Watch my new free video + learn how to sell a timeshare in 1 week! You can resale timeshare with no work, no waiting and no obligation. They are not telling you everything…

According to TimeSharePilgrim.com buyers have to clear outstanding dues before actually offering it for sale to any other party. The entire selling process can costs as much as the invested amount and buyers lose on great money in the entire process. Timeshare investment has been around for years, but recently has enjoyed a renaissance of interest, investment and vacation opportunity. Timeshare vacation packages are available in two different flavors such as the taste test and the sampler. You can always ask the timeshare salesman which one of these their resort falls into. Or, ask if they offer they offer both.

Timeshares fractional ownership is an ideal option for a perfect vacation outing. Keep in mind that if your vacation week lies in an off-season; its demand would be naturally low. So, you want to make sure your week is in a favorable week. In other words, a week when a large number of people will want to trade your week for theirs. Many reputed timeshare companies have earned billions of dollars and created millions of timeshare owners by such timeshare packages. Sometimes people get frustrated with their timeshare ownership. It could be that the owner doesn’t really understand how to use the timeshare to its fullest. Frankly, many people become frustrated with the point system, consequently not using their timeshare ownership to its fullest.

If you want to rent your timeshare resort you need to advertise your timeshare in the more aggressive online timeshare sites. TimeSharePilgrim.com also states that when a person buys a timeshare they anticipate the advantage of staying in a five star resort at the cost of a cheap hotel, if they can get the point system to work in their favor. Sometimes, timeshare packages include car rentals, transfers, sightseeing and meal plans. Timeshares points usually have enhance the resale prices. So, timeshare purchasers need to be well informed about the particulars of the point system and how to best position their unit in the best light.

The best lesson to learn from timeshare owners, in case they want to sell, is to ask them why they are: 1. Selling out of that development. 2. Are they getting out of timeshare completely? 3. Also ask if they are happy with the management of the resort. There’s also a decent chance that you bought when there was more of a demand for your unit than there is today; it was the “in” thing to do. It is advisable to consider those places, which are high in demand such as Orlando and Las Vegas when seeking to acquire a timeshare.

Also, on another related note, In many countries there are severe limits on foreign property ownership, so this is a common method for developing resorts in countries such as Mexico.

HTML clipboardTimeshare resorts around the world  are giving vacationers the ability to visit
exotic locations at affordable prices.  Thomas Sondheim enjoys traveling and
reporting his findings on his blog at TimesharePilgrim.com.