Timeshare

A timeshare is a form of vacation property ownership. With timeshares, the use and costs of running the resort are shared among the owners.

While the majority of timeshares are condominium vacation resorts, developers have applied the timeshare model to houseboats, yachts, campgrounds, motor homes and cruises.

The notion of a timeshare was originally created in Europe in the 1960s. A ski resort developer in the French Alps innovatively marketed his resort by encouraging guests to "stop renting a room" and instead "buy the hotel". The developer was successful in increasing occupancy and the idea spread worldwide. While a useful tool for many, the timeshare industry has also become a magnet for attracting illegal and barely legal methods for the sale and resale of property.

The timeshare industry has been widely criticized and even likened to a travel scam. Unlike the customary renting arrangement, where the customer decides every year on the quality and price of accommodations, timeshare requires a major payment up front. Doubts exist as to whether timeshare buyers ever recover the money spent.

One of the major benefits of the product is the fact that vacation timeshare is real property. Resort developers purchase land in a location and develop a timeshare resort. They are actually selling consumers deeded weeks of real property at a specific location, meaning customers can do what they wish with the weeks they own.

This flexibility includes the opportunity to rent out weeks that are not used or lend them to friends or family. However, the problem is that most people buy timeshare believing it is worry free but, because it is a real property, it does require constant maintenance. With one unit owned by many people, it is very hard to operate in a very efficient or economically beneficial way while fitting the special needs of every owner.