Time Shares Maine

Timeshares have been around since the 70s and timeshares remain popular today. Today over 3 million people own a Timeshare in the United States and over 7 million people worldwide own one. A Timeshare is a share in a piece of property, usually a resort or condominium where people spend their vacation. Timeshare resorts are beautiful, offering vacationers a vacationing destination with luxurious accommodations. Many people own shares in the same property and they are allowed to use that property for the same time every year, usually a week but it can be more if their share is larger.

Since Timeshares are mostly for vacation purposes, you will find them in premium areas where people like to go on vacation such as Florida, Hawaii and Colorado. You’ll find them all over the United States and abroad but most of the Timeshares are concentrated in a resort area. Resort areas where timeshares are located are situated in the heart of many thriving tourist cities—along beachsides and near popular attractions. Vacationers can visit popular sites or they can relax and unwind while they enjoy a timeshare vacation.

When you own a Timeshare, you basically go to the same place at the same time each year for your vacation. Now for some people, that’s just the way they want it: a time share save a vacationer the trouble of having to seek out accommodations every year whenever their vacation time rolls around. They look forward to it every year, knowing their vacation is already planned and they have a place to stay. For others, it gets old going to the same old place year after year. This is something you definitely want to take into consideration before you purchase a Timeshare. In contrast, many timeshare resorts are owned by a parent company that has more than one resort—the timeshare can then be used at different destinations and gives the vacationer an opportunity to enjoy different vacationing locations.

Timeshares typically come fully furnished with dishes, utensils, linens, and even TVs and DVD players. There is usually a phone in the unit and clocks on the walls.

Some resorts have amenities such as swimming pools, playgrounds, horseback riding, fishing, spa, game rooms and more. Other selling points include nearby attractions such as fine dining, shopping and recreational activities.

Almost everyone at one time or another has been the recipient of a telemarketer’s call or an advertisement in the mail offering a fabulous free trip to Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe or somewhere a lot of people would love to go. It is not always disclosed that you have to attend a Timeshare presentation to get the vacation either free or at an incredibly reduced price.

Once you go on the trip, you tour the resort you’re most likely staying at and then attend a 90 minute high pressure sales presentation that can easily turn into all morning. Since the presenters, who are the sales people have to sign something in order for you to get the deal you were promised, you can’t leave the presentation until they have come around to you individually.

This is when the real pressure begins. The deal they offer you is only good for today, although I can’t imagine them turning down a sale the following week, even at the “incredible” offer they’re presenting to you today. The sales people are very aggressive and they like to use manipulative tactics to pressure you into buying one of their Timeshares.

Some people are very familiar with these resorts and plan their vacations around them, literally. They suffer through the presentations year after year, tour the property and then enjoy the vacation they’re getting for free or nearly free. Others are so annoyed by these sales tactics that they wouldn’t go if everything was free and they got paid. One resort that comes to mind does pay its guests $25 to listen to the presentation.

Be careful before you try to take advantage of such offers. Each resort has their own list of qualifications you must meet before you can take advantage of their offers. Be sure and read all the fine print regarding these offers.

Typical qualifications to attend Timeshare presentations include an income of at least $50,000 and they prefer that you be married but some will work with singles with a high enough income. You must also be a resident of the country in which the presentation is taking place. Most resorts require that you have a major credit card too.

If you are interested in attending a Timeshare presentation, make sure you meet the qualifications or you may find yourself paying full price for your “free” vacation. Also, fully consider if timeshare vacation options are really for you: can you afford the payments involved? Will you use the timeshare every year—even if you don’tyou’re your timeshare you are still required to pay the bill.

Don’t try to fake your way through these qualifications. The sales people at the resort will know everything about you before you can pack your bags. If you only make $15,000 a year and you’ve invented some income to bump it up to the $50,000 requirement, they’ll know that before the ink is dry and when you go to check into your resort, you’ll find yourself paying full price because you don’t qualify.

Even though their “qualifications” may seem a bit strict, over the years these resorts have picked up quite a few Timeshare “groupies” who go to the presentations over and over again just for the free vacation. That has to be expected when you’re giving something away. How many of us have taken a free food sample in the supermarket knowing darn well we weren’t going to buy the food being sampled.