There are always many topics to blog about in the world of timeshares and vacation ownership, but there are some questions that come up so frequently, I want to take a few blog posts and really focus on them.

So here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions that I receive about timeshares, timeshare resale, timeshare rental, and the whole industry of vacation ownership.

Q. Can I trust the timeshare industry? I’ve heard about timeshare fraud and unethical practices.

A. YES you can safely buy timeshare and sell timeshare! Timeshares in the US (and for the most part worldwide) are a highly regulated industry. I think timeshares got off to a rocky start because 30 to 40 years ago, when the first timeshares were established, they were an entirely new business model. There just weren’t existing laws in place to regulate their development and sale because there had previously been no product like them.

Because of this, there were growing pains, while developers, management companies, hoteliers, consumers, and legislative agencies worked out what types of guidelines and restrictions needed to be implemented. Today, in the US, every single state has laws on the books to protect the consumer in buying and selling timeshare.

Some states wrote new laws unique to timeshares and vacation ownership, while other states adapted for the timeshare industry, laws and guidelines that govern other types of real estate transactions.

Yes, there have been scam artists along the way, but these types of people exist in every industry. There are also people who use heavy-handed sales tactics, and other approaches that do not put the consumer first in the transaction. But most of those people go out of business when faced with the competition of legitimate companies, offering worthwhile and straight up opportunities to people who want to buy timeshare.

In fact, often, when you hear about timeshare scam today the fraudulent business is not about the sale of individual timeshares to buyers, but refers to schemes designed to entice people into investing in the development of timeshare resorts.

I am not dancing around the fact that there are still disreputable people in the timeshare industry. There are also disreputable doctors, lawyers, ministers, schoolteachers, and pizza delivery boys. No industry, no matter how tightly regulated it becomes, can entirely eliminate shysters. Sadly, crooks will always find a new angle as long as there are consumers who buy in haste, don’t research what they are getting into, and fail to get reliable answers to important questions.

The warning “caveat emptor” used so frequently in real estate transactions applies just as much when you want to buy timeshare or sell timeshare. Caveat emptor means literally, let the buyer beware.

Important Tips about Timeshare Resales

So here are some important tips you can apply to help you make wise decisions when you buy timeshare or timeshare resales or you look for a company to help you sell timeshare you already own:

1. Contact the Office of the Attorney General for the state in which a timeshare company is located and check that the company has a clean record, without complaints filed against them. If you have never done this before, it’s simple to do, because consumer protection is one of the main purposes of this division of state government. You will find the Attorney General’s Office to be easily assessable and very helpful.
2. Go on line and search the timeshare company by name. Look at their website. Find out how long they have been in business. Read the comments of actual timeshare owners and learn from their experience.
3. If you buy new timeshare from a timeshare developer, don’t let anyone rush you into your decision. Study the contract. Ask questions. If the deal seems “wrong” or “too good to be true” – walk away from it.
4. Before you sign a contract to buy timeshare, know the rescission laws for timeshare transactions in the state or country in which you are buying. In some states, you may have only 24 hours to change your mind. In others states, you will have longer. Know this information before you sign the contract.
5. When you buy timeshare in other countries, be doubly cautious. The laws that protect you in the US, do not protect you when you sign contracts in foreign countries.
6. Above all else, take your time. There are many opportunities to buy timeshare and to buy timeshare resales. You can purchase from a developer, from a timeshare broker, or directly from the current owner. Shop around. There are too many options in timesharing and too many different types of timeshares on the market for you to settle for something that is not a perfect fit for you.

Timeshares are one of the fastest growing segments of the hospitality and leisure industry. Don’t let the old image of timesharing stand in the way of you enjoying one of the best opportunities in vacation accommodations available today.

Check back in on Monday. I’ll be continuing in the next Timeshare Owners Blog post, responding to frequently asked questions.

Sell My Timeshare NOW reported strong third quarter results in a business synopsis officially released this week.

The synopsis looks at website traffic for Sell My Timeshare NOW, as well as offers to buy timeshare and rent timeshare. It also reports on overall revenues within our timeshare resale and timeshare rental advertising and marketing divisions.

Here’s a very important perspective on the strength of the timeshare market and the stability of Sell My Timeshare NOW, which appeared this week in a corporate press release:

“While many timeshares today are held through deeded ownership as real property, much like residential homes, timeshare resales are not suffering from the types of problems that have hurt the real estate market across the country, nor have sub prime mortgage issues affected them. Instead, timeshare vacation ownership remains one of the fastest growing segments of the vacation and tourism industry. Both the sale of new timeshare and timeshare resales continue in a growth mode with Sell My Timeshare NOW reporting a 20 percent increase in total dollar amount of offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare over the third quarter results in 2006.”

Right now, our timeshare resale and timeshare rental advertising and marketing company is on track to present $278,900,000 in offers to buy or rent timeshares to our customers for 2007.

You can read the full press release at: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/10/emw559977.htm

You can also click on the link below to read the 2007 Sell My Timeshare NOW Third Quarter Statistical Synopsis. http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com/media/pdf/third_quarter_report_2007.pdf

Before I get in trouble with the knitters of the world, let me make it clear that I’m not making fun of knitting. I recognize that knitting has become seriously popular in recent years. Many people have taken up their knitting needles as both a creative and relaxing outlet.

But I have to admit that I was a little surprised to learn there is a market for knitting-themed cruise vacations. Next February, Norwegian Cruise Line is offering The Great Balls of Yarn Cruise. The cruise was started two years ago by the owner of a chain of knitting stores in Florida, and brings together knitting enthusiasts along with celebrities from the world of knitting.

During these cruises, you can take classes to improve your technique, learn to knit a different garment each day of the cruise, and socialize with other knitters at yarn sales that masquerade as cocktail parties.

The next Great Balls of Yarn Cruise tours Belize and Honduras, which is really what caught my attention most. Belize happens to be one of the most incredible vacation destinations on the planet. I could easily devote all my blog posts for the month of October to the wonders of Belize and never cover the same information twice.

And while I applaud anyone who recognizes the value of a hobby, especially one that is as productive, yet rhythmic and relaxing as knitting, it makes me cringe that visitors to Belize might be distracted by any endeavor that caused them to miss the splendor of this tropical getaway. I’ve used the word “un-Belizeable” to describe this amazing country so frequently on our Sell My Timeshare NOW website that our marketing department has tried to ban me from saying it again.

Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America. It is where the tropical Caribbean meets ancient Mayan ruins and is culturally both Caribbean and Central American.

The Belize Barrier Reef is over 200 miles of lacework coral, second only in size to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. A Belize vacation not only means swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, and sport fishing, but the opportunity to explore ancient ruins, an amazing network of inland caves, and some of the most pristine jungles in the world.

Hotels in Belize tend to be a bit pricey, which is one of the reasons that Belize timeshare vacations are so attractive. You can take advantage of a Belize timeshare resale or a Belize timeshare rental at a great price, leaving you plenty of vacation dollars for exploring, renting scuba gear, or even buying more knitting yarn.

If you have your heart set on cruising, you’ll be interested in Forbes Magazine’s recent article on the, “World’s Most Unusual Cruises”. Who knows, you may even be able to exchange timeshare points through your timeshare exchange company for an Elvis cruise, a motorcycle lovers cruise, or that knitting cruise you’ve been dreaming about.

Yesterday, the Timeshare Owners Blog told you about Disney’s expansion plans in Hawaii. The planned Oahu resort will occupy 21 acres of prime oceanfront property and will be Disney’s first hotel and timeshare resort that is not part of a theme park. While other sources list the property as yet unnamed, the Honolulu Star Bulletin calls it the: Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Ko Olina Family Resort.

COURTESY WALT DISNEY PARKS & RESORTS

From a business perspective, there are several ways to view Disney’s move to expand in Hawaii going there without the benefit of thrill rides and mouse ears as a draw for tourists. Even Disney Vacation Club timeshares currently only offer two locations that are not at a theme park destination: Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort.

In some regards, Disney is a relative newcomer to the hotel and resort industry. The Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, which opened in 1955, was the first Disney-branded hotel, but it was not owned and operated by the Walt Disney company until 1988.

Still, nearly 19 years in the hotel business, is long enough for you to learn some of the ups and downs. And long enough to establish that not everything Disney touches thrives, despite magic pixie dust to help it along.

In the 1990’s Disney planned a project in Newport Coast, California, which was subsequently cancelled, and the land later sold to Marriott, who built the very successful Marriott Newport Coast Villas on the site.

Disney also planned hotels for Beaver Creek, Colorado, and in New York’s Times Square, but neither ever came to fruition. There’s a reason that Disney has shied away from the hotel business in areas that don’t have theme parks and maybe it’s been a good one.

Without Magic Mountain and twirling teacups, a Disney hotel is, well, just another great hotel, and perhaps not even as great as some of their competition. The developers of the property at Ko Olina were also in negotiations with Four Seasons, Trump Entertainment, and Ritz-Carlton for the land Disney has acquired. Recognizing that the Hawaii hotel and resort market is not one of the easiest—after all it’s not a drive-to destination for anyone—you have to wonder if Disney beat out the competition, or if the other hoteliers were wisely more conservative.

As with most things, time will tell. But if you are a member of the Disney Vacation Club, then maybe you’re in luck, and in the near future, a Disney Hawaii timeshare vacation will be in your plans.

Until then, here are only a few of the other excellent options for your Hawaii timeshare vacation:

• Marriott’s Kauai Beach Club
• Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club
• Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club
• Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club
• Shell Vacations Club at Kona Coast Resort I Resales
• Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas Rentals
• Whaler on Kaanapali Beach Rentals
• WorldMark at Kapaa Shore Rentals
• WorldMark at Kihei Resales
• Wyndham Hawaii at Kona Hawaiian Resort Resales
• Wyndham Hawaii at Royal Sea Cliff Resales