Timeshares, Vacation Clubs, Real Property, and Right to Use?

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.