ARDA

In my last two blog postings, I have talked about timeshare vacation property as a regulated industry, and also about upfront fees in the timeshare industry, and what those fees really mean.

Let’s look at one more topic that sometimes confuses both timeshare owners and people who are new to the world of timeshare: the many different ways to own timeshare.

Timeshare owned as “right to use” property means just what it sounds like it means. You don’t own any portion of the property, but you do own the right to use that property. When you buy right to use timeshare, you purchase the right to use the property (usually a specific unit) for a predetermined period of time, or for a predetermined number of uses.

Right to use timeshare does not provide the timeshare buyer with a deed or any ownership of a percentage of the resort, nor does it create any percentage of ownership of an individual timeshare unit. Most vacation club memberships are examples of right to use timeshare ownership.

Leasehold timeshare is similar to right to use, except it is actually “owned” (without a deed) for a stated period. In other words, leasehold is defined by the number of years you hold the lease. When the lease ends, so do your rights to use the timeshare. Leasehold timeshare is common for Hawaii timeshares, and in other geographic areas where leasehold ownership is frequently used by the real estate market in general.

Timeshare can also be held as a right to use property with no limitations on how long the timeshare owner can use the property. In other words, a timeshare can be a right to use ownership, where the rights extend into perpetuity (forever).

Many timeshares, especially in the US, are owned as fee simple real estate. Fee simple ownership is deeded timeshare ownership, and is typically structured very much like the way most people own their personal residences. Often, similar to the way people own condominium properties, a fee simple deed includes a date, on which the individual timeshare owners, stop being individual owners and become tenants in common. When that date is reached, the tenants vote on whether or not to continue the structure of individual ownership. For example, they may decide by majority vote, to sell the timeshare resort as a total property, in which case, each timeshare owner will receive his or her appropriate percentage of the total sale.

Don’t be overwhelmed because there are different options for timeshare ownership. The diversity of ways you can take advantage of vacation ownership is exactly what makes timesharing so attractive.

Before you buy timeshare from a developer or take advantage of the opportunities in timeshare resales, I recommend that you get in touch with people who know and understand the different ways to buy timeshare and sell timeshare, like the timeshare resale and timeshare rental specialists at Sell My Timeshare NOW. Ask lots of questions up front, so that you become an informed timeshare buyer or timeshare seller.

The bottom line is simply this: timesharing works and works well for a lot of satisfied owners. Research prepared for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) shows that timeshare owners report high satisfaction rates with their timeshare purchase, and over three quarters of all timeshare owners say that owning a timeshare has increased how much they look forward to vacations.

You can become one of the satisfied majority, enjoying vacation planning ease, luxurious resorts, incredible flexibility, and all the benefits timesharing has to offer. And Sell My Timeshare NOW is the perfect place to start.

The chairman of the Maui County Commission, Riki Hokama, is being quoted as trying to put a cap on Maui timeshare growth. According to the Maui News, Hokama has introduced to the county council a draft resolution to limit the number of Maui timeshare units to 2,200.

So here’s the first problem: not only does Maui have 1,974 timeshare units already, but there are hundreds more in development or almost ready to open.

Hokama’s rationale for the resolution, which he introduced to the council without discussion, says that hotel vacationers spend more than twice as much money as Maui timeshare users.

His criticisms include the allegations that timeshare companies pay workers low wages and also that Maui needs hotel rooms in order to accommodate a growing market of convention groups, educators and local families.

Does this make sense to you?

Donalyn Dela Cruz, the executive director of the Hawaii chapter of the national timeshare trade group says they don’t understand why timeshares have been targeted. She points out that timeshare owners have an investment in their Hawaii timeshare and on average, stay longer in Maui than do hotel guests.

The Council Chair’s statement that hotel tourists spend more money than do timeshare guests is generally unclear and hard to follow. Does he mean that timeshare owners spend less per day on their actual accommodations than do hotel guests? If so, he’s probably correct in that regard, because timeshare owners have locked-in tomorrow’s vacations at today’s prices. But as Ms Dela Cruz so accurately points out, many Hawaii timeshare vacationers extend their stays and enjoy longer vacations than do visitors who stay in hotels. And this fact is borne out by the research prepared for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which shows that occupancy rates for timeshares averaged 80.9 percent in 2006, but only 63.4 percent for hotels during the same period.

Maui timeshare owners may in fact, spend less money dining in restaurants than do hotel guests, because the kitchens and dining areas found in most timeshares makes in-suite dining so convenient. But whether a traveler has $500 or $5000 set aside for vacation money, if he or she spends less on food, there is simply more money to spend on other vacation pleasures from surfboard rental to souvenirs to pina coladas.

If you have been to Hawaii, you know that the cost of living there is substantial. Employees won’t work for timeshare resorts if they can earn more money doing the same job in a hotel. Hawaii timeshares have no choice but to remain competitive with hotels for employee salaries and benefits. And with so many timeshares today either owned or managed by hotel companies, you know that they are not making it a practice to underpay employees within their vacation ownership divisions, while appropriately paying their hotel employees.

In fact, the Maui News article includes the following information from Ann Baran, whose company provides the management for Maui Schooner Resort in Kiheai. Baran told the Maui News that even though the resort has only 58 units, it still pumps almost $4 million into the economy annually through taxes and tourist dollars. More importantly, she pointed out that the timeshare employs 23 people and has a payroll of almost $800,000, which averages out to almost $35,000 annually, per employee in salary or salary plus benefits.

ARDA released a report in February of this year showing that timeshares “returned back to local economies…an estimated $62 billion in spending; 565,300 jobs; over $21 billion in salaries and wages; and more than $8 billion in tax revenue.”

I have heard local lawmakers in other areas occasionally argue the same points that Hokama raises and I have to say, I never understand it and I always wonder what’s really behind it…

Timeshare resorts seem to make an easy target when politicians or concerned citizens want to speak out against development and what they perceive as too much growth, noise, and construction in their hometowns. Mr. Hokama is a second-generation public servant in Maui and perhaps his interest is genuinely in preserving Hawaii as he remembers it.

But timeshare developments are too often singled out as a culprit, when in fact, they are no more responsible for the changing looks and demographics of an area than are residential condos, hotels, motels, and any other businesses that cater to tourists.

When politicians want to slow development in areas they represent, they should say exactly that and prepare themselves for the outcry by those in their constituencies who depend on growth and development for their livelihoods. But play fair when you address measures to cap growth and don’t just pick on timeshare resorts!

The sale and rental of new timeshares and of timeshare resales benefits the economy both directly and indirectly.

The American Resort Development Association, known as ARDA, recently released statistics on the economic effect of the timeshare industry in certain geographic regions. The study showed that the timeshare industry positively impacts regional, state and local economies in measurable ways. In fact, resale timeshares specifically are a significant and sometimes overlooked economic contributor within the industry.

The studies prepared for ARDA by PricewaterhouseCoopers and released by ARDA International Foundation, show that the Florida timeshare industry contributed $12.3 billion to that state’s economy in 2005, and the Nevada timeshare industry contributed $2.8 billion to the Nevada statewide economy during the same period. While many states in the US gain considerably from the presence of the timeshare industry, Nevada and Florida head the list, with California and South Carolina coming next in line.

Timeshares positively impact the economy through the sale of new and resale timeshares, job opportunities created by the industry, direct and indirect expenditures of timeshare vacationers, and revenues realized through local property taxes. Every time someone buys a timeshare resale, two positive things happen. First, a new owner takes possession of the timeshare unit, begins to use it, and feeds money back into the economy where it is located. But secondly, a person who no longer wants or needs that particular timeshare is relieved of the on-going cost of vacation property ownership and is freed-up to put his or her money into something else, including even new timeshares.

Research recently conducted by Ernst & Young, LLP for the International Foundation of the American Resort Development Association shows sales of new US timeshares increased by 16 percent during 2006. But what does it really mean when new timeshare sales are booming? Does the sale of new timeshares compete with timeshare resale companies like Sell My Timeshare NOW and timeshare for sale by owner?

No, not really. Timeshare resale companies, timeshare developers, and timeshare companies that sell new or pre-construction timeshare offer different ways to buy timeshare. Collectively they meet the needs of a broad market by giving consumers a choice of ways to buy, rent, or sell timeshare.

ARDA research shows that 80.3 percent of timeshare owners are satisfied with their purchase, and more than 75 percent say that owning a timeshare has increased their anticipation for upcoming vacations. But as wonderful as it is to those of us in the timeshare industry that there is an 80 plus percent satisfaction rate, that still leaves nearly 20 percent of timeshare owners who are (at least to some degree) not satisfied.

With over 4 million timeshare owners in the US alone, the dissatisfied percentage translates to roughly 871,000 people— that’s nearly one million timeshare owners who could be looking to sell timeshare.

When you want to sell timeshare, one of the easiest ways is to find a highly reliable timeshare resale company to advertise and market your property for you. It is hard for an individual to publicize their timeshare resale to a vast global marketplace. But it is not hard to let Sell My Timeshare NOW do it for you.

And when you want to buy timeshare at the most competitive prices, go to Sell My Timeshare NOW and shop their incredible inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.