Timeshare Buyer FAQ
Most frequently asked questions from buyers
- Timeshare? What is a Timeshare
- What is a Resale?
- What is the difference between fixed, floating and flex timeshare?
- What are timeshare points?
- What is Red, White and Blue?
- What guarantees do I have that the timeshare is paid in full?
- What are maintenance fees?
- What are the differences between new and resale timeshare?
- Where is my money held?
- What is an exchange company?
- What do I do if a family member wishes to use my timeshare?
- What do I do if I wish to Rent my ownership?
- How long will I own my timeshare for?
- How is a timeshare priced from resort prices to resale prices?
- Why are resales generally cheaper than resort prices?
- Can I finance my timeshare purchase?
- How long does the purchase procedure take?
- Why should I purchase a timeshare resale through Visions of the World?
Timeshare? What is a Timeshare?
A Timeshare is commonly know as an interval of time, in most cases a week in a specific unit, apartment or villa. The ownership itself can be one of many different legal types, deeded, right to use, club trustee, escritura etc. When purchasing a timeshare or vacation club be clear of your legal rights as far as the ownership is concerned i.e., length of ownership if applicable, right to use etc. It is best advised to use a company such as Visions of the World who are members of the governing bodies for timeshare in Europe, America and Canada.
What is a Resale?
A Resale with regards to timeshare is a week, or points that has been previously sold before. If an owner has purchased a timeshare or vacation club from a developer and wishes to no longer own their ownership as outlined within their agreement, they have a number of options available to them. One of these options is to sell their ownership to another person, hence the term Resale. This can be done through a number of different methods:
- find a buyer themselves, maybe a family member or neighbour
- use a for sale by owner company who will market their ownership for them, leaving the owner to deal with the offers and transfer of ownership
- or use a Full Service Timeshare Resale Company like Visions of the World who deal with every aspect.
What is the difference between fixed, floating or flex time?
Fixed week timeshare: A fixed week of timeshare is in most cases an agreement with the developer, or managing agent of the timeshare resort where your ownership is owned, to use a specific week number i.e., week 52 of a calendar year which in most cases is New Year week, and this is your allocated week of use each year.
Floating week timeshare: A floating week of timeshare will allow the owner to book a week through the reservation department of the timeshare resort, within the contractual designated season purchased. For example, an owner of a Blue Season timeshare week will have certain weeks available to them for reservation. They will call the reservation department and book one of the weeks within their designated calendar allocation.
Flex week timeshare: A flex week timeshare is very similar to a floating week of timeshare. The owner will have to call to reserve their week for use each calendar year use as they would with a floating week, however you will find that with most flex week programs season does not usually come into play. For example, a Flex A week at the Four Seasons Vilamoura will cover weeks 13 to 26 and 36 to 44, these weeks cover both high and mid season weeks of the year at the resort.
What are timeshare points?
Timeshare points are a relatively new system within the timeshare industry. Points are allocated for each calendar year, and are usable at anytime of year in any size of accommodation, subject to availability. There are many developers using programs that are points based, Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Diamond Resorts International are but two that have very good points based programs. Over the last few years even RCI have developed a Points program (RCI Points), which allows owners not only use of accommodation through their portfolio of resorts, they can also book flights, car hire and cruises.
What is Red, White and Blue?
In timeshare when you here the terms Red, White and Blue they refer to the seasons of the year. They are commonly known as Red for high season, White for mid season and Blue for low season. You will see this within an RCI brochure of resorts. Not all developments will have all seasons depending on where they are located. For example, in the Canary Islands there is only Red season due to there all year round climate. If you are looking to purchase a timeshare that is in the Interval International exchange program, you will notice that they use the colours Red, Yellow and Green. These are still relevant to high, mid and low season.
What guarantees do I have that the timeshare is paid in full?
When purchasing a timeshare or any shared ownership program in general, Visions of the World will guarantee the timeshare ownership is paid in full within a Timeshare Resales contract. We at Visions of the World will make all relevant resort checks necessary to obtain the confirmation that the ownership is paid in full. If the ownership is not paid in full Visions of the World will clear the outstanding amount with the amount due to the seller so that when ownership is transferred the purchaser takes free and clear title.
What are maintenance fees?
Maintenance fees are the annual charge that you pay upon owning a timeshare interest. The maintenance fees are usually billed by the management company for the resort that you are an owner, or by the owners committee. Maintenance fees are evaluated by the number of units and weeks at anyone given resort, coupled with the common areas and facilities. Maintenance fees will vary depending on unit size, resort amenities and other determining factors. When purchasing a timeshare through Visions of the World, your contract will state clearly the current maintenance fees.
What are the differences between new and resale timeshare?
In most cases there is no difference at all between purchasing a timeshare or vacation club through a developer or marketing company verses a timeshare resale company apart from the initial purchase price. If there is any difference at all the Timeshare Resale Company has to make the purchaser fully aware of them. For example, when buying a Marriott Timeshare through any other means apart from Marriott themselves, you will not be afforded the Marriott's Points Reward program that enables you to use their hotels. However you still obtain the full timeshare programs available, including exchanges through Interval International. Again we must state that in most cases there is no difference in usage.
Where is my money held?
Visions of the World have employed the services of the First National Trustee Company for more than 10 years now to act as stakeholder for all purchases made through Visions of the World. The First National Trustee Company have some 2.5 billion worth of timeshare assets, for more than 650,000 timeshare consumers worldwide, they also have an escrow account held on behalf of Visions of the World for purchase funds. The First National Trustee Company recommend Visions of the World to their consumers as a trusted Timeshare Resale Company, Visions of the World are the only Timeshare Resales Company recommended by the First National Trustee Company.
What is an exchange company?
There are a few exchange companies worldwide for timeshare owners to use, the main two are RCI (Resort Condominiums International) and II (Interval International). An exchange company allows an owner of a timeshare interest the ability to exchange (swap) their timeshare for another within their network of resorts worldwide. Essentially they are like banks, you deposit your week at one location with them, and take it out at another location somewhere else in the world. When you purchase a timeshare through Visions of the World you will clearly see within the contract, which exchange network you are able to join.
What do I do if a family member wishes to use my ownership?
If you have a timeshare ownership and are unable to use it on one given year, you are able to gift it to a family member or friend by way of a guest certificate. You will need to contact your home resort for the information that they require so that the guest using your ownership is expected on arrival of your week. In most cases it will be a simply email or fax to the reservation department with the details of the family member or friend using your allocation.
What do I do if I wish to Rent my ownership?
If you would like to rent the timeshare that you are purchasing, again it is very simply to organise. There are a few ways that you can find a rental for your ownership, and the methods are as follows:
- you can obtain the renter yourself through a family member or friend
- you can advertise through a for sale by owner company and liase the paperwork yourself
- or you could use a Full Service Timeshare Resale Company like Visions of the World to organise everything.
You will find that in most cases renting you timeshare week or vacation club will be very similar to gifting it to a friend or family member. You will need to notify your home resort that a guest will be arriving and using your timeshare ownership. If you use a Full Service Timeshare Resale Company they will liase all necessary paperwork for you.
How long will I own my timeshare for?
The length of the ownership you purchase will depend on where you purchase and the program that you purchase. If you buy a timeshare that is deeded in most cases the ownership will be for life, there are other ownership types that will be for a certain amount of time i.e., a leasehold agreement for maybe 20, 30 or even 99 years, and there are also accelerated use programs whereby an owner has the right to use an amount of weeks within a certain amount of years.
How is a timeshare priced from resort prices to resale prices?
A timeshare ownership is priced very similar both from a timeshare resort to a timeshare resale. The prices are usually determined depending on time of year, size of accommodation, unit facilities, resort amenities and location of the resort. You will find that the resorts where demand is high will hold a higher price both at the resort and on resale, and the resorts which have more inventory to sell will be cheaper again in both cases.
Why are resales generally cheaper than resort prices?
One of the main reasons why resales are cheaper than resort prices is the marketing programs used by resorts to sell there ownership. Resort marketing is very expensive compared to resale marketing, typically it is said within the industry that 40% of the initial price of a timeshare purchased from a resort is marketing and administration. When you purchase a resale you will pay the current market price depending on current market trends for that property. Also in some cases timeshare owners are happy to take less than they paid originally because they have had their ownership for many years and had good use from it.
Can I finance my timeshare purchase?
Visions of the World can offer clients who qualify three different options to finance their timeshare purchase.
How long does the purchase procedure take?
It will take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks when buying a timeshare through Visions of the World depending on the resort where you purchase. In some cases the purchase procedure will take longer, however you will be notified if this is the case. The length of time is very much dependent on the procedure which is in place by the resort, or the resorts trustees.
Why should I purchase a timeshare resale through Visions of the World?
There are many reasons why you should use Visions of the World International Timeshare Resales and Rentals Company. We are a well established company with more than a decade of experience within our specific sector of the timeshare industry, we are members of the European, American and Canadian timeshare development associations showing our comment to you the consumer, we use the largest timeshare trustees in the world as stakeholder for all purchases made through Visions of the World, we have a dedicated sales team who strive to make the whole purchase process as easy as possible, we are one of the fastest growing international timeshare resale companies in the world, and we guarantee that once you have purchased a timeshare or vacation club through Visions of the World, you will either buy another or recommend a family member or friend. We continually look to improve our service and better serve you our clients.
Go back to Information on Timeshare
