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What is a Timeshare?

When numerous owners share one piece of property - both the pleasures of use and the responsibilities of maintenance - that is called a time share. This idea began in the 1960s in Europe. Skyrocketing property costs made it impossible for most people to afford the cost of an individual vacation house, but they discovered that sharing ownership of property dramatically reduced both the costs and upkeep burdens on all parties involved. Real estate developers, who were able to target a wider variety of people, also benefited from this development. Most timeshare rentals are condominiums at resorts, but other types exist: hotel timeshares, motor home timeshares, cruise timeshares, and even campground timeshares. The number of choices available is growing exponentially, but one thing is true: unlike standard home ownership, timeshare rentals are owned by a group of people who do not necessarily have any relationship to one another.

Owning a timeshare means that each owner can spend a certain amount of time actually living in the property each year. In recent years, as the timeshare concept has become more popular, flexible timeshare options have come into play. With a flexible timeshare agreement, owners can choose more than one destination as well as more than one time a year to make use of ownership.

Timeshare properties are usually found in warm destinations like Florida where people like to vacation a lot. This is why you often see Florida vacation rentals listed on timeshare sites. They can also be found in cold weather areas near ski resorts. The timeshare properties are typically furnished in full and usually have one to three bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. It may not come as a surprise if you find timeshare properties with indoor or outdoor pools. They have become a common feature of most timeshare properties nowadays.

The typical duration of a timeshare ownership unit is one week. Depending on what time of the year you own the timeshare, the price may vary. For example, Florida vacation rentals in the month of April will be much higher than in August. So the rates may vary with varying season and demand. Some resorts give color coding to different seasons depending on the demand. For example some resorts term peak season as "red season" meaning the prices of the timeshare will be highest in that season.

Timeshares can generally be handed down to your children just like any other owned property. For this reason timeshares can be a great investment, along with providing great vacation opportunities. One of the possible ways to earn a little extra income is to rent out your timeshare when not in use. This allows you to earn a rent check while also allowing your property to appreciate in value. Most timeshare properties are able to be exchanged with other properties. The only pitfall to be aware of is that it will be harder for you to exchange an off-season timeshare unit with a peak season timeshare unit. On the other hand, if you own a red season timeshare, it will be incredibly easy for you to exchange your unit with a unit in any other season.

Although timeshares can be purchased through a financing arrangement, most acquired on the resale market are purchased through cash transactions. Additional costs to consider are maintenance and management fees that are recurring expenses that are the responsibility of timeshare owners. These fees vary and are one piece of information that should be obtained before making a timeshare purchase.

Timeshare properties offer many affordable options for the vacationer. The most glamorous option for the vacationer is one in which there is a fixed unit for a fixed week of every year. This option is a deeded timeshare in which ownership of the property belongs to the vacationer during certain periods of time each year. A similar option is a leased timeshare in which the vacationers rights to use the property terminate at the end of the lease period. For more flexible schedules, it is possible to enter into a floating time agreement with owners who are eager to timeshare on a limited availability basis.