“The timeshare market is overcrowded, and it might be hard, if not impossible, to sell a timeshare.” —Federal Trade Commission
1960s when one of the first hotel-condominium timeshares was created in Maui. California has the second highest percentage of the timeshare market, 8%, but that’s dwarfed by the No. 1 state, Florida, which has 24% of the market, according to the Timeshare Associates blog. WorldMark Windsor, a resort located in a touristy area of Russian River Valley managed by a company that has
What is a timeshare? According to Merriam-Webster, a timeshare is “an agreement or arrangement in which parties share the ownership of or right to use property (as a resort condominium) and that provides for occupation by each party especially for periods of less than a year.” Timeshares began in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. The U.S. timeshare industry can also be traced back to the
resorts worldwide, is an example of the more common kind of timeshare. North Bay residents have participated in timeshares presumably for decades without the industry making headlines here. However, that doesn’t mean everyone had a good experience. When Joe Flower purchased an interest in a conventional timeshare with a New Orleans-based company, his experience was anything but upbeat. “Worst investment I ever made,” says Flower, who was living in Marin County at the time. “My now-ex-wife and I got talked into a timeshare in the French Quarter in New Orleans.” The couple paid five figures for one week in the off-season in January. “One main attraction was the idea that we could swap our week for places all over the world. But the off- season week was not very valuable, so we could only swap for less-valuable places and times elsewhere. And none of the resorts and such on offer were to my taste at all, just massive resorts, high rises, at crowded beaches. We used our week once, maybe twice,” Flower said via email. Flower’s complaints are not unusual for people who have purchased timeshares, regardless of where they live. The Federal Trade Commission warns people to approach buying a timeshare with caution—especially when it comes to selling the timeshare. “Getting out of a timeshare might be tough,” according to the FTC website. This proved to be true for Flower. “When that marriage ended, I ended up saddled with trying to sell [the timeshare] and split the proceeds.
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30 NorthBaybiz
April 2024
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