Not long ago, NuWire Investor ran an article entitled, “Top 5 Reasons Why Timeshares are Horrible Investments”. And while I wouldn’t have used the word horrible, I certainly agree that you should never buy timeshare as an investment.
But here’s the critical point that people miss over and over again when they preach about what a lousy investment timeshares are: Timesharesare not intended to be an investment!
It is always funny to me that you don’t see articles telling you that a car is a horrible investment and admonishing you not to buy one. We accept the fact that cars depreciate. When is the last time you bought a car, drove it, and then resold it for as much or more than you paid for it?
There is a pretty long list of things that we all buy that do not yield a return upon resale. Besides cars, trucks, motor homes, and boats, there are other items like golf clubs, clothes, new appliances for the kitchen, TV’s, and computers—all of which begin to lose value the moment we take ownership of them.
We buy some things in life because we want to use them and enjoy them. We know they are not likely to appreciate during the time we own them, but we accept that. We want a car to drive to work each day, a microwave oven in our kitchens and a big screen TV in the den. And we want to kick back, enjoy using our purchases, enjoy sharing them with our families, and know that we are getting our money’s worth returned in good times, good experiences, and a more pleasurable lifestyle.
…And those are all pretty good reasons to buy timeshare, aren’t they?
The Timing is Right to Sell Timeshare to Canadians
When the Federal Reserve cut (finally) the prime interest rate a few weeks ago, it brought a small measure of relief to many consumers and homeowners struggling with high interest rates and adjustable mortgages that just keep adjusting.
The down side is that it caused the weakening US dollar to decline a bit more. The value of the Euro is now over $1.40 (US) and the Canadian Loonie—for the first time in over 30 years-is equal in value to the US dollar.
Current US timeshare owners, who want to sell timeshare, can expect strong interest than from potential timeshare buyers in Canada.
Canadian tourists and vacationers have always enjoyed heading south to relax in the more temperate climate US vacation destinations offer. Now the changing economy has created more reason than ever for Canadians to buy timeshare or buy timeshare resales in the United States.
For so many years, Canadians could only buy timeshare resales with Loonies that traded weakly against the US dollar. Now, American timeshare owners who want to sell timeshare can look to a Canadian market that is able to compete on a level playing field with American consumers for the great deals available in timeshare resales or timeshare rental.
So far, the declining US dollar has not significantly hurt tourism in America. And while it does not bode well long term for those who earn their incomes in US dollars, the soft economy has served as a welcome mat for many European and Canadian visitors.
In the Canadian based blog, The National Post, Douglas Porter comments on the fact that Canada has been slow to adjust retail prices to better reflect the strength of the Loonie against the dollar, another factor that will contribute to the attractiveness of US timeshare resales for Canadian consumers.
It’s impossible to think of Canada and not think of hockey. Here’s a great video of the 2007 Canadian Hockey team winning the Gold Medal as they defeated Finland in the Championship game. You Tube video
Keep the waggle in your routine. It is great advice for golf, but have you ever thought about how it applies to everyday life?
Many golfers have a problem they develop, usually because of tension, which causes them to freeze up over the ball before they hit their golf shots. To keep them loose and allow them to execute a fluid swing with good rhythm, they often use the ‘waggle’. A waggle in golf is simply a little shake or wiggle incorporated into the pre shot routine that prevents golfers from being too tense in their movements.
As stressful as life is today, most of us need a little waggle in our routines. And nothing makes it easier to shake loose and relax than using a timeshare resale to enjoy some downtime at vacation lodging you have already prepaid to enjoy.
Gone are the days when timeshare intervals are locked in to one or two week increments. Now most timeshares can be enjoyed in two, three, or four night blocks, and some you can even use one day at a time.
Your hectic schedule may not allow time for you to take 7 days away from your responsibilities, but even the busiest people can usually manage to squeeze in short stays at their favorite timeshare resort.
So to help you get your mini vacation started and create a little waggle in your routine, here’s a video from Sell My Timeshare NOW’s favorite PGA Tour player, Bobby Cole. On the course at Doral Golf Resort and Spa, (an excellent timeshare vacation destination) Bobby tells you why and how to put some waggle in your pre shot routine.
Remarkable Timeshare and Resort Growth in the Middle East
A September 5 article in Hotels Magazine tells us that perhaps as much as 3 trillion US dollars will be invested in Middle East tourism over the next 20 years.
$3 trillion!
So I bet you are as interested as I am in who is spending that money and what they are creating. Here’s the way the Hotels Magazine article breaks down Middle East hotel and resort development:
• Marriott International currently has 22 hotels there and plans to add 16 more.
• Hilton Hotels has 11 properties in various stages of development in the region and anticipates committing to 20 more within the next 5 years.
• Japanese owned JAL Hotels has already opened a new 257 room property, with plans to open two more, even larger, next year.
• India based Flora Group Hotels is opening their sixth hotel in Dubai later this year, with plans for 4 additional properties.
• By 2010, European based, Accor will triple their number of managed properties in the Middle East, with 30 hotels, accounting for more than 8,000 rooms.
• By 2009, Rezidor Hotel Group will add 20,000 rooms, although this number also includes the company’s growth plans for Europe and parts of Africa. Currently Rezidor has 14 Radisson properties in the Middle East.
What is perhaps the most amazing point about this extensive list is that it doesn’t include timeshare developments, the hotel and resort development underway by companies that are actually based in the Middle East, nor does it include the development of any budget brand properties.
The Timeshare Owners Blog writes frequently about the rapidly changing face of the resort and timeshare industry in the Middle East. It’s hard to be a part of the timeshare business and ignore what is going on. Growth in this corner of the world is staggering. Reports say that perhaps as many as one in four of all construction cranes are located in Dubai, and remember, Dubai is only 3885 square kilometers in size, or about three-quarters the size of Rhode Island.
What does this astounding growth and development mean for you as a timeshare owner or someone who wants to buy timeshare?
For starters, owning a timeshare with exchange privileges in a network that includes the United Arab Emirates, Israel timeshares, Egypt timeshares, Lebanon timeshares, Saudi Arabia, Syria, or other parts of the Middle East, means your timeshare should always have good exchange potential. It should also have a decent resale value, as well as good potential for use as a timeshare rental.
But what this incredible growth (much of which is funded by US industry) means for Americans and western culture as a whole, only time will tell.
In today’s blog, I am adding not one, but two YouTube videos. They are very different in content, as the first one follows, in high-energy fashion, the construction of the Burj Dubai-a skyscraper which, when complete, will be the tallest building in the world. As you watch the video, look for the slides near the end that give you an idea of just how tall a roughly 160-story building really is.
After you watch the Burj construction video, take a few more minutes and watch the very serene video about the development of some of Dubai’s outer islands. While this second YouTube was put together as a promotional piece for a company providing water taxi services, the information about some of the residential islands themselves is very close to mind-boggling.
