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Why I’ll Never Buy A Timeshare

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 75 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Find out the 5 reasons to never buy a timeshare. This is a great list!Lately, I’ve been hearing about more and more people buying timeshares.

Someone I know recently dropped $15,000 on a timeshare. I know of another person who has bought multiple timeshares with their student loans. I recently read on Facebook that another person is trying to sell their timeshare for $1, and there aren’t any takers yet.

Sure, I have an open mind and perhaps sometimes timeshares are an okay idea, so I won’t completely discredit them. However, I’ve never met someone who bought a timeshare and was happy with their purchase years down the line.

I’ve only heard horror stories about timeshares.

Due to this, I’ve never really understood the appeal of timeshares.

And I’m not sure I ever will.

I’m not writing this post to offend anyone. Like I said, I’m sure there are cases out there where you a person found a great deal on a timeshare and they know they’re going to actually use it. I won’t ignore the possibility of that. However, I know that each and every year many people buy timeshares thinking they are a great deal when in reality most of the time they are not.

According to Debt.org, there are more than 9,000,000 timeshare owners across the world and approximately $10 BILLION in timeshares are sold each year. Also, according to that same website, approximately 7% of U.S. families own a timeshare.

I had no idea that the timeshare business was this large. Maybe I’m missing something, but the negatives seem to significantly outweigh the positives so I am shocked that there are that many timeshare owners out there.

If you are interested in learning even more about how to get rid of a timeshare, please read the free guide The Consumer’s Guide To Timeshare Exit.

Below are 5 reasons not to buy a timeshare.

 

1. The upfront cost is high.

Timeshares are expensive.

According to the American Resort Development Association, the average price for a one week timeshare is approximately $19,000, with an average annual maintenance fee of $660 on top of that.

That is a TON of money.

On top of the expensive costs, many people end up taking loans out for their timeshares. This means that your timeshare might end up costing two or even three times the cost over the duration of the loan due to interest.

If you are asking the question “are timeshares worth it” or “why are timeshares bad,” this section right here should help you find your answer.

 

2. There are maintenance fees.

As I said earlier, the average annual maintenance fee on a timeshare is $660, and in many cases it can be upwards of $1,000 a year. I did some research and I found some timeshares that had annual maintenance fees of over $2,000 a year.

Maintenance fees need to be paid year after year, regardless if you use the property or not.

Also, the annual maintenance fee tends to increase over time as well, and you have no control over that.

Are timeshares worth it in this case? Nope!

 

3. Timeshares are hard to sell.

If you decide to sell your timeshare because of the high annual cost and/or because you are tired of paying monthly payments on your loan, you will have a hard time selling it.

Timeshares do not appreciate like a normal property would.

If you do a quick search on eBay, you will find hundreds of timeshares going for just $1.00, which is another reason I am unsure of them. If they are such a great deal, why are people trying so hard to get rid of them?

Are timeshares worth it in this case? Nope!

 

4. You have to pay for the timeshare regardless if you use it or not.

Like I said earlier, maintenance fees need to be paid year after year, regardless if you use the property or not.

Also, with a timeshare, if you have a bad income year and don’t have the money to take a vacation, you still have to pay the maintenance fees.

A lot of your money is tied up in the timeshare, and could probably be invested in other better ways.

Are timeshares worth it in this case? Nope!

 

5. There are cheaper ways to go on a vacation.

Timeshare salespeople try to find buyers by claiming that timeshares are a great way to save money on a vacation.

I just do not understand that.

Spending $19,000 on a timeshare where you only get around one week annually seems very expensive.

There are PLENTY of ways to go on a more affordable vacation. You could shop around for the best prices, use credit card rewards, visit during the off season, bundle your trip, and more. I’m sure you could spend less on an annual vacation than what it would cost to own a timeshare.

Plus, if you are still wanting the “timeshare feel,” you can rent timeshares from other owners for a FRACTION of what they have paid. You can usually find them for a couple hundred dollars per week, whereas the owner is still paying the maintenance fees each year that are most likely twice or three times as much.

Are timeshares worth it in this case? Nope!

Related articles: 

Do you have a timeshare? Why or why not? Would you ever buy a timeshare?

If you have a timeshare, I would love to hear from you. Why do you own one? Do you find it worthwhile?

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Laura says

    March 25, 2015 at 3:19 am

    I’m with you. I have never seen how this even became popular. Just simply not being able to take a vacation during a rough or busy year is enough to tell me it’s not a good deal.
    I’ve sat through 2 timeshare presentations and one was a ridiculous amount of pressure. My husband being a nice guy almost gave in just to get out! Luckily I was there 🙂

    Reply

  2. diane @smartmoneysimplelife says

    March 25, 2015 at 4:04 am

    Timeshares are a bit of a scam… They were very popular in Australia but I think that’s over now. At least I haven’t heard much about them recently.

    My family used to own one. We bought a relinquished share for the outstanding maintenance fees, which I think was around $500. It worked for us. My folks would stay at our home share every year and every couple of years my family would do a swap (cost of about $100) to an interstate resort. When it stopped working for us we sold it for about $3.5k… I’m guessing there aren’t that many stories like mine though.

    I don’t know how people justify spending tens of thousands of dollars on time share. I’m not sure where the benefit is in that kind of equation.

    Reply

  3. Victoria@ The British Berliner says

    March 25, 2015 at 4:27 am

    Timeshares are absolutely not worth a penny and are a total scam!
    My husband and I went to the Dominican Republic before our son was born (he was 13 on Sunday LOL), and somebody approached us on the beach. We decided to go for a laugh and because the “agent” would earn $10 because we came…..but as soon as we got there, they seperated us and started pressurising my German husband. Thankfully, his English then was not as good as it is now, and he was over-whelmed, and insisted on my being there. As soon as I heard what they were saying, I realized that it was a time-share scam.

    I’m a woman and we were soon to have a family. Er. Absolutely not!
    I grabbed my husbands’ hand and walked straight out!

    Reply

  4. Kemkem says

    March 25, 2015 at 6:23 am

    I have sat through a few of those talks in Mexico, Big Bear etc. They used to give you like 3 nights stay or something, but you had to sit through the speech. I was never tempted as l had and have no intention of spending a week in the same place for years on end. My friend got suckered into one in Florida, and they visited for like 4 years before trying to unload it. I’m still not sure if they sold it..imagine paying so much money monthly just to spend one lousy week..I laugh when anyone buys a timeshare on Househunters International..

    Reply

  5. Christopher says

    March 25, 2015 at 6:45 am

    I recalled attending a presentation in 2011 after my wife signed up for a free gift card and four days and three nights at a seasonal vacation resort in Virginia. The place was nice, but the 90 minute seminar ended up from 0830 to 1300. It was funny to see different people wanting to negotiate a deal with us after our refusal from the past three representatives. We became a broken record refusing the offers. We were tired and wanted to go home. The timing to leave the place was bad due to heavy traffic coming home. My original intention was to see how timeshares work, but came to a point of analyzing the the cost difference over time with maintenance fees.

    To end this story short, we finished the long day with acquiring my wife’s gift card for her Ipad, the 4days/3 nights to a Florida resort, and 4 days/3 nights to the timeshare. Jokingly, I told my wife that the gift card was towards her ipad gift, which I managed to spend 50 bucks using this card and other discounts. I think we never used the vacations after hearing my folks telling us their funny story with timeshares when I was a kid and my mother signed up for a free seminar in Florida. But that is another long story.

    Reply

  6. Holly@ClubThrifty says

    March 25, 2015 at 6:46 am

    I wouldn’t buy a timeshare for all the reasons you mentioned. I can’t imagine buying something that requires a long-term commitment but is difficult (or impossible) to resell. There are plenty of other vacation options out there.

    Reply

  7. Tara @ Streets Ahead Living says

    March 25, 2015 at 6:54 am

    I think time shares for the most are a scam, although there are some that are worth it, especially those that let you use your time share at multiple resorts across the US and/or globe and don’t limit the time frame you can use it. My aunt and uncle have a Disney time share and then one of their two daughters also has one as well. Since Disney’s timeshare is based on a point system, you can use it anywhere Disney has a resort across the globe, plus you can combine points with other time share users. The amount of points needed depends on location, how fancy that individual hotel is (if there’s lots of resorts in one Disney area like Orlando), and time of year. If you want to go in “off-season” like they did to Disney Land in February (who wouldn’t want to go to southern California in February?), you can get sweet deals like they did combining their points (one week rental with a two bedroom two bath unit with full kitchen for the two families and a single hotel room for my aunt and uncle). If you have kids and they love Disney, I definitely recommend their program. It’s probably one of the few legitimate time share out there, though.

    Reply

  8. Michelle says

    March 25, 2015 at 7:06 am

    I just don’t get the appeal of a timeshare. Every time I go to the mountains I get asked to sign up and I’m always very nice about it but I always get out of there as quickly as possible. I’ve never heard of a person having a positive experience with them. Also, I travel all over the world and when I travel and when a unit might be available might not match. So, no thanks!

    Reply

  10. Fervent Finance says

    March 25, 2015 at 8:43 am

    For the most part the only good stories I’ve heard about timeshares is when someone else owns one and can’t use it, so someone else gets it for free 🙂

    But hey, if you have want to spend the money and have a consistent vacation where all you need to do is cut a check, it seems pretty easy.

    Reply

  11. Gen Y Finance Guy says

    March 25, 2015 at 8:45 am

    I inherited a timeshare from my grandfather, so it was free. It does have about $800/year in fees tied to it. The home base is in Vegas right next to the Belagio hotel. We have also transferred it to Tahoe.

    But most years I don’t use it. However, the management company has a service to rent it out. I have never had a problem renting it out and collect enough money to breakeven on the fees.

    I only hold onto it because I am sure that one of the bigger casino’s is going to one day buy it out and the time share owners will get a big pay day. We will see 🙂

    Cheers

    Reply

  12. Barry @ Moneywehave says

    March 25, 2015 at 9:01 am

    I remember watching the documentary The Queen of Versailles and people were buying timeshares with no second thoughts put into it. I imagine the salespeople were good at selling luxury for a “low” monthly payment. Personally I know what the real costs are and have no interest in timeshares.

    Reply

  13. Chonce says

    March 25, 2015 at 9:09 am

    It sounds there there are plenty of better ways to spend and invest your money instead of having it tied up in a timeshare, and I know there are cheaper ways to vacation as well so I’d rather go that route.

    Reply

  14. Melody says

    March 25, 2015 at 9:22 am

    I don’t get it, either. I know a lot of friends who have gone to the presentations simply to get the free “sit through our presentation” bonus, but the reason they offer those bonuses is because it’s such a hard sell that so many people just can’t say no to! Like someone commented above, even if I got a good deal on one, I would not want to limit my vacation to the same place each year. Besides, with so many killer deals on AirBnB or VRBO, you can get a sweet-ass place for a week in exotic locations for a fraction of the cost of a timeshare, and often just for the cost of what a timeshare’s maintenance fees would be. Timeshares are just another scam that looks good on paper and in actuality, is quite a ripoff in my opinion.

    Reply

  15. Ashlee says

    March 25, 2015 at 9:28 am

    Every time we go to the Smoky Mountains, there are people standing on the street, hollering, “Are you 25?” One time we slipped up and said yes and almost got conned into going to their seminar for a “free” $100. I finally convinced my husband that this would be a waste of our time! (whew) Now when they ask if we are 25, we just say NO!! and keep walking.

    Reply

  16. Carrie @ Season It Already says

    March 25, 2015 at 9:29 am

    The reason I don’t ever want a time share is simple: FREEDOM. When you’ve paid that money, you feel obligated to go somewhere that your time share allows you to… and you really have to make the dates work.

    I like the freedom to go wherever I want, whenever I want and spend as little or as much as I want based on my current budget situation!

    Reply

  18. lisa says

    March 25, 2015 at 10:57 am

    I went to a couple timeshare presentations just to get cool and useful freebies. Single ma on food stamps..haha, they almost had me convinced I could afford it! It was like a job to be there but we got free food and gifts.

    Reply

  19. kammi says

    March 25, 2015 at 11:19 am

    Three words on why I wouldn’t buy a Timeshare “Queen of Versailles”. If you have one, after you look at that movie, you’ll feel like you were really scammed. They go so far as to call the people who buy them “Johnny Lunch bucket” or schmucks, essentially, all the while living lives of luxury while people struggle to pay for them. I grew up in a culture that is about owning your own land. We have a phrase in my country; “Land doesn’t spoil”. I’d prefer to own land, build a place up and rent THAT and make money off of that and then use part of the money to go to any place in the world I want to, rather than be stuck with a timeshare arrangement.

    Reply

  23. Nikki Frugal says

    March 25, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    I don’t own a time share and will never own one. One of my BFF’s recently bought “into” one and kept saying how she can transfer it to Italy or some random far away place..when I asked how she was going to afford the plain tickets over there she admitted she had never considered that….There are far better ways to travel that are way more friendly on your budget then time shares! lol

    Reply

  24. Nick Tedesco says

    March 25, 2015 at 3:45 pm

    I’ve also only heard negative things about timeshares. The sales tactics involved are obviously some of the most aggressive compared to any other industry. South Park did a pretty good job of making fun of time shares as well.

    Reply

  25. No Nonsense Landlord says

    March 25, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    The best thing about timeshares is the freebies they give you for a 2-hour presentation. I was in Hawaii and went to a presentation every day at 8 AM. It gave us great tickets to many events we would not have otherwise went to.

    Of course, those freebies are paid by someone who pays the $19K…

    Reply

  27. Abigail @ipickuppennies says

    March 27, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    The very word “timeshare” makes me angry. Why? Because when my FIL got his profit-sharing money from his old company, he paid off the timeshare rather than the house. (The reason? The house was in bad shape thanks to my BIL who has anger issues and an incontinent dog. So it wasn’t worth what they paid. Ugh.)

    So when he got laid off from his new job, guess what they had to sell at a huge loss?

    It was just such an incredibly stupid move that it makes me angry 7 years later. Perhaps partially because similar moves are why they now live in our guest house.

    Point being, timeshares are almost always a bad investment. And I say “almost” because there are probably a few people who are completely happy with their investment. Maybe the people who bought it for $1.

    Reply

  28. Tre says

    March 28, 2015 at 7:25 am

    I know two people that did not regret buying a timeshare. Both bought in popular ski resorts within driving distance. The timeshare was good because they were able to buy extra time (from those people not using theirs) at less than the cost of a hotel.

    I would not buy a timeshare. I would rather buy a condo and rent it out by week.

    Did you ever see the movie about the guy in Florida who got rich on timeshares? Then his fortune collapsed when the real estate market collapsed.

    Reply

  29. Fig says

    March 28, 2015 at 9:45 am

    I’ve never understood the draw of timeshares. I guess they work for some people sometimes, but I have no desire to buy one ever either!

    Reply

  30. Jason @ Phroogal says

    March 28, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    I’ve had family and friends buy timeshares and they never use it the way they thought they would. I too will never get one and that’s probably just my passion to explore different places.

    Reply

  32. Lisa says

    March 30, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    I wouldn’t buy one either! However, my fiance’s uncle bought one in Hawaii and I’m glad he did because he’s letting us use it for our honeymoon as his gift! Lucky us 🙂

    Reply

  33. zut says

    April 2, 2015 at 9:42 am

    I own a timeshare in Breckenridge and don’t have any complaints. We’ve traded our bi-annual week twice to go to Maui. In fact we are headed there in July again. I’ll send pics. Pair up our paid off timeshare with free frequent flier flights and our week in Maui is pretty cheap. Not to we are staying at a $500+ resort / night. So each week is equivalent to $3,500+. It only takes a few years to make your money back + I’ll have the timeshare for the rest of my life and can pass it down to my step-daughter.

    Sure there is a small maintenance fee each year and I budget for that. We have free day use of the facilities/ resort and free parking at the resort when we go up there. Also we can get bonus time at the resort for less than $100/night. Try getting that rate anywhere near Breckenridge, not to mention our resort is slope side. Not to mention I can buy cheap weeks at other resorts if I don’t want to exchange my week or want another vacation.

    Sure selling a timeshare is impossible, but that’s just a risk you need to understand before you buy. I have mine paid off and would never sell. In fact eventually I may buy a few more and rent the weeks out.

    For me this is just an easy & affordable way to see the world and still have a place close to home in the mountains.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      April 2, 2015 at 10:29 am

      Hello! Thanks for your input. I’m glad someone who enjoys their timeshare finally commented on this post 🙂 Like I said in the post, I’m sure there are positive experiences out there but for many who don’t do it like you did, it turns out negative.

      Reply

      • zut says

        April 2, 2015 at 10:49 am

        I would equate buying a timeshare to buying a car for someone who can’t afford it. For those who can buy one and pay it off, it lessens the amount of monthly debt one owes. If not, it can be a bad experience.

        Reply

  34. Caleb says

    April 21, 2015 at 2:04 pm

    A very useful article. My wife and I were on the fence of getting into the timeshare universe but this helped in our decision making. We were already leaning towards no, but during our research we came across this article and it help solidify our decision.

    Reply

  35. karrie says

    October 18, 2015 at 11:27 pm

    We went to our second time share seminar in exchange for tickets to a park in Playa del Carmen valued at 100 p/p. Thats the only reason we went, fully knowing we wouldn’t buy and fully knowing it’s very frustrating high pressure sales. I’ll break down why time shares make absolutly 0 sense. We stayed at a 5 star all inclusive resort (airfare, hotel, food, drinks, tips and airport transfers) for 9 days and paid 2400 dollars total. The time share they wanted to sell us was 36,000 dollars. “THAT’S ALL! 36,000.00 DOLLARS!!” she said. Plus 750.00 dollars in yearly maintanance fees that could fluctuate every year, and we all know that means fluctuate up not down. And 35.00 dollars a day p/p for the all inclusive food and drinks, which is 70.00 dollars a day total per couple, a steal I’m telling ya!! So Im playing along, getting this time share sales person pretty excited, through my excitement at what a great deal this seems to be! When she was done I asked for a piece of paper and pen, got out my phone calculator and proceeded to make her look like a total idiot. I wrote – $1000.00 in airfare for 2. + 560.00 all inclusive food and drink for 8 days, even though your departure on the 8th day is in the a.m. + 750.00 maintenence fee every year + 100.00 airport transfers + 150.00 in tipping money for the resort employees, as I know they don’t make squat. My total came up to 2,560.00 dollars. So still playing dumb I said “wow!” “This looks like a great deal!”. She said “I know!!”, with a big smile. Then I lifted an eyebrow and asked her if she was smoking crack? (My husband was mortified, but that’s how I roll when people treat me like an idiot.) She then looked confused and asked what do I mean??? I told her that according to the calculations I just wrote down for you, I’d basically be giving this resort 36,000.00 dollars for NOTHING! Absolutly nothing! As well as paying more for a weeks stay, not even including the 36,000.00 dollars. Then with the back peddling and sending over of 2 other sales people who I guess thought they were smarter than her at conning people out of outrageous sums of money, they came down to 20,000.00 dollars. I told them that was very kind of them but in all actuality we came here with no intentions of buying, we just wanted the free tickets. They then tried again at 16,000.00, explaining that they couldn’t believe they were willing to offer this to us at such a crazy low price., its 20,000.00 dollars off!! I simply crossed my arms, sighed, and said no. Then they came back again with a 1 time, take it or leave it offer, of 6,000.00 dollars. It was a repo and I had to “BUY IT RIGHT NOW! THESE DON’T EVER BECOME AVAILABLE!!! IT JUST BECAME AVAILABLE 5 MINUTES AGO AND I’M THE LUCKY ONE WHO GETS THE FIRST SHOT AT IT!!! I’D BE CRAZY TO SAY NO!!!” I again explain that- I’m not in the habit of just giving away large sums of money to con artist who take me for an idiot. I’m not giving you 6,000.00 dollars for absolutly nothing. “Now give me my tickets as your time is up. It’s been 90 minutes and that was your deal, 90 minutes no strings attached. So they had no choice other than to give us our tickets. I smiled and said thank you and that maybe your next couple will be dumber than me. So, in short, time shares are a rip off that give you absolutly nothing in return as you still have to pay the same amount for a weeks vacation or in some cases more! You’re handing over obscene amounts of money for absolutly no reason. Go online, book an all inclusive resort and keep your 36,000.00 dollars, your 20,000.00 dollars, your 16,000.00 dollars and even your 6,000.00 dollars. Oh and another little tip- If they sold the same room to 50 different people over a years time, at 750.00 dollars in maintanence fees, that’s 37,500.00 dollars just in 1 years time. Seems like they could do some outrageous, over the top maintanence and renovations to that room every year for that kind of money, but they dont. Hopefully this money break down helps people see exactly what these company’s are doing and actually how much money they are raking in on a yearly basis, that’s going nowhere of a benefit to you, but straight in their pockets. Don’t get scammed, just say NO!! 🙂

    Reply

  36. Renee says

    January 16, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    Okay, we are in the minority on here. We have 5 timeshares and are happy with all of them.

    Here is our story though… those timeshares on eBay for $1… we bought those. With closing costs added none of them cost over $500. Four of them have maintenance fees currently ranging around $500 annually. One is closer to $800 but we only own a week every other year and only pay the years we own. We have not joined RCI or any company with additional fees to “trade” points or other vacation destinations (resulting in additional fees.) All of our places are less than 5 hours driving time from our home. All are locations we like to vacation. Four of them are within walking distance to the beach, one is ocean front, one has an ocean view, two have bay views. All of them are summer “in-season” weeks.

    We generally go to one or two of them a year. Because husband is a school teacher and has 9 weeks of summer we have them time to go. (I’m self employed and choose to take off much of the summer as well.) We rent the ones we don’t use to other teachers. We usually add about $200 to the annual maintenance fee and make a tiny profit. We have always had more people interested than places to rent. So $500 – $700 for beach housing (all but one have a least two bedrooms, kitchen, and living room) is a pretty economical vacation for us or a fellow school teacher.

    We also have a pop-up camper that we vacation in. Every other summer we take a long trip in that. Those vacations provide us with new experiences and variety while the timeshares are places that have become familiar and comforting. We haven’t gotten “bored” because we do change things up with our other trips.

    My advice would be to do lots and lots of homework. My husband spends hours reading owner membership newsletters, online reviews, even town council minutes regarding the places we consider buying. All of this can be found online. He has researched and walked away from many of them. (Honestly, it’s like a game or a hobby for him… to find the best deal.) Read the fine print!! We bid on and won one place which was listed on eBay as a “fixed” July week. (Meaning it was the same week every year.) When we got the paperwork the deed showed the week was a revolving week which moved each year over a quarter of the year. This means that some years the week would be during the school year. We walked away from that one. ALWAYS buy on the secondary market. You will never get a deal from the resort.

    Finally, don’t go in farther than you are willing to loose. If we needed to walk away and sell for $1, we would be satisfied. We have gotten use and enjoyment out of all of them. We have recouped our purchase price by renting out the weeks we don’t use.

    Reply

    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      January 16, 2016 at 2:43 pm

      It definitely sounds like you are happy with your decision. I don’t think you are the norm, but you are proof that there are good timeshares out there. Getting one for $1 sounds like the best way to go. I just don’t get how some people pay tens of thousands of dollars for them!

      Reply

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