Timeshares, also known as fractional ownership, is something that has been around since the first extended family decided to save on the cost of their vacation by sharing the cost of renting a cottage or vacation property.
An important thing to decide is whether you need fixed or floating timeshare? Actually, it depends on your lifestyle and job. If you always take your vacation the same time every year, then a fixed week is the best bet for you. Families with children who like to take their vacations during school breaks are the typical consumers for fixed week timeshares. People with more flexibility in their scheduling and those who don’t like being forced to schedule their vacation a year in advance will best benefit from the floating week timeshare.
If you decide to finance your timeshare, you also need to consider the added cost of interest, which can inflate your timeshare purchase by several thousand dollars if you are financing for 5-10 years. It is better to use cash for buying a timeshare, but if you do need to finance the purchase, try and minimize the cost by only financing for a couple of years.
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