In the beginning, the concept of purchasing a timeshare to make vacations more affordable was a good idea. Over the years the timeshare industry has developed a negative image. Commission driven salesmen will tell you that timeshares are a good deal. In most cases, timeshares turn out to be a better deal for the pushy salesmen and the owner of the timeshare property.

There are many people that love their timeshares and are happy that they purchased a timeshare. Other people were sucked into buying a timeshare at a high pressure sales presentation. They experience “buyer’s remorse” immediately. Most timeshare deals are legitimate but there are plenty of scams and shady deals in the timeshare industry. Over aggressive salesmen use high pressure sales tactics to lure people into buying timeshares. They provide inaccurate information to close the deal. Stricter laws covering the sale of timeshares have help to curve these unscrupulous sale tactics. When you attend a sales presentation, never make an impulsive decision and never sign on the spot.

Timeshare is a shared ownership of a property that is used by its owner at different times, usually in one week intervals. There are different types of ownerships that determine how long you own the timeshare. Ownership means the property is deeded to you and you have a share in the unit. If the property is deeded to you, it can be sold, given away or left to family members in a will. The “right to use” timeshares gives you the right to use the property for a certain amount of years. The property owner retains ownership.

The money that you spend to own a timeshare can be costly. Besides the initial payment to purchase the timeshare, there are maintenance fees. Maintenance fees are use for improvements and the upkeep of the vacation property. Most maintenance fees increase every year.

Many timeshare owners feel burned by the timeshare trap. The promises that were made at the sales presentation never materialized. Timeshares are not a good investment because their values depreciate over time. In these tough economic times, many timeshare owners can’t afford to take a vacation and they can’t afford to pay the maintenance fees or the annual taxes.

If one must purchase a timeshare, he or she should try to buy a timeshare on the resale market instead because when you buy from the developer you are paying for all the marketing, promotions and freebies they give away, to entice you to attend their sales presentation.

The Honua Kai is surrounded by timeshare projects – to the south is the Westin and to the north is the Ka’anapali Beach Club.  We own timeshares and if used properly and wisely they allow for nice vacations.  However, the learning curve is huge.