Timeshare Resales

Bill Marriott, the man who spent 40 years as the CEO of Marriott, this week celebrated yet another milestone. His popular blog, Marriott on the Move, reached its five-year anniversary.

As he explains, “…when I started this blog I wasn’t sure what to expect. I love writing and sharing my thoughts with family, friends and talking to associates and customers. So I figured, well I guess so, why not? Through the years, it’s been a great outlet for me and I look forward to hearing from you every time I hit the “publish” button.”

Bill Marriott’s blog does more than inform readers about news and changes at Marriott, even though he does take on the company’s biggest topics and most newsworthy moments, both good, and bad. Marriott on the Move, also allows him to make his brand more personable, as he chats with readers about his dog, Murphy; his experiences becoming a student of Pilates; or the newest movie he’s seen or book on his bedside table.

The Timeshare Authority Blog

We started blogging at VacationOwnership.com and Sell My Timeshare NOW almost eight years ago. Originally, we called our blog, The Timeshare Owners blog. And recognizing an anniversary of our own, we changed our name and overhauled our blog format on June11, 2008—that’s four years ago this week.

You can find most posts from The Timeshare Authority and the earlier The Timeshare Owners blog, archived on our site; there are more than 1800 blog posts we have written over the years. Frankly, there is a lot to say about timeshare. It’s a changing industry and an often misunderstood vacation product.

Timeshare is not right for everyone … but few things are. Yet, year in and year out, survey results of current timeshare owners show that more than 80 percent of owners use their timeshare and are satisfied with their ownership. And as high as 50 percent of purchases of new timeshare come from people who already own and want to own more. Clearly, there is a lot that timeshares and vacation ownership are doing right.

Here at The Timeshare Authority blog, we try to keep you updated on changes in timesharing as well as offering information about how timeshares, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals work. It is important to us to both help those consumers for which timeshare is not a good fit make wise choices about ownership and to spread the word about a great vacation product to the millions of consumers who would love and enjoy timeshare vacations if only they knew more about them.

And while I have yet to write about our family’s dog, and I am more of a jogger than a Pilates guy, Bill Marriott’s insights remind me that the most important reason to blog, is because you want to share.  Thank you for being our reader and following us all these years.

Many in the vacation ownership and timeshare industry know that our company has been making major changes in order to serve both our consumer clients and our industry clients better. On March 30 of this year, we announced our newest brand: VacationOwnership.com. (see: Leading Timeshare Resale Company Rebranding As VacationOwnership.Com)

Rebranding a company, especially one with an internet presence as expansive as ours, is a big challenge. Although our new website www.vacationownership.com is busy with the online activity of timeshare buyers, sellers, and renters through our licensed timeshare brokerage, we are still working daily to expand and improve the website.

We have also had the exciting opportunity of working on our new corporate logo. A process that isn’t—and really shouldn’t be—easy to do. After all, a logo plays an important role for a company. It must communicate, brand, engage, and attract. At the same time, it needs to look good on your website, your golf shirt, or your business card. It can’t be too busy or it will be distracting, nor can it be too plain which would make it boring. Most importantly, it has to speak to others for your company when you are not there to speak yourself.

The number of people who can say they would recognize the CEOs of NIKE, Coco-Cola, or McDonalds if they saw him or her walking by is vastly smaller than the number of people who know the brand marks of those corporations. People recognize certain logos so well that they can instantly identify them even without the presence of the company’s name beside the mark.

Yes, a little logo carries a lot of responsibility on its back. We can’t wait to start unveiling ours. We tried to think of a good hint to share about our new logo but decided that for now, we’d just have to tell you that it makes us feel good about our company every time we see it and we hope that’s how it will make you feel, too.

…watch for it soon!

The Golden Gate Bridge that spans the gateway where San Francisco Bay opens into the Pacific Ocean celebrates its 75-year anniversary this week. Although there are ceremonies and special events scheduled throughout 2012, today, May 27, marks the Golden Gate Bridge’s official anniversary celebration.

The celebratory Golden Gate Festival is being held at Fort Point, Crissy Field, The Presidio, and Marina Green. Related anniversary activities are also being held at Fort Mason Center, Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco Maritime Historical National Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Pier 39.

San Francisco Timeshare Makes Vacationing Affordable

While you never  need an excuse to play tourist in the beautiful San Francisco Bay area, the 75-year anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge certainly adds another great reason to plan a getaway or vacation there. And the opportunity to stay in a San Francisco timeshare resale or rental not only means you can enjoy spacious accommodations, but also makes your California timeshare vacation more affordable than you probably ever imagined.

A few of the many popular resorts in the Bay area include: the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, San Francisco; Wyndham Canterbury at San Francisco; Shell Vacations Club’s two resorts, The Donatello and The Suites at Fisherman’s Wharf.

And while you are planning your trip to ride a cable car, visit the Golden Gate Bridge, explore Chinatown, dine at Fisherman’s Wharf, and take in the many other sites and attractions of the area, here’s an interesting tidbit of Golden Gate Bridge history:

During its 1930’s construction, the Golden Gate Bridge utilized what was at the time, the innovative safety feature of a net suspended underneath the floor of the bridge. Nineteen men were saved by the net, survivors who came to be known as the “Halfway to Hell Club.”

The safety net stretched ten feet wider than the bridge’s width and fifteen feet beyond the roadway’s length. The net gave workers a greater sense of security when working on the slippery steel and caused work on the bridge to progress at a faster pace. However, thrill seekers and daredevils on the crew were warned in advance they would be fired if they deliberately tested a dive for the thrill of it into the net.

Want to learn more about the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, including hearing historic recordings related to the bridge? Follow these links to download free apps for your smartphone: iPhone or Android

With so many financial gurus quick to criticize timeshare, it is both refreshing and reassuring to read the words of a respected financial planner who understands the why and how of timeshare vacations and actually recommends timeshares and timeshare rentals.

Irvin G. Schorsch III, founder and president of Pennsylvania Capital Management, Inc., has an excellent article in today’s issue (May 25, 2012) of the Huffington Post Money Section. In his article, “The Don’t-Defer-Your-Life Approach to Financial Planning,” Schorsch doesn’t encourage consumers to be reckless, extravagant, or foolish with money, but he does point out that if you are always waiting until some future date when your life/finances/etc. are in better shape to do the things you really want to do … well, you run a high risk of never being able to do them at all.

Suggesting ways people can affordably enjoy life now, Schorsch recommends that opera or theater lovers volunteer to work as a theater usher in order experience the arts they love without the cost or that those who dream of getting a PhD. audit courses, typically free at the prestigious universities they have dreamed of attending. Recommending strategies to live better for less, from bartering to using group discount coupons, Schorsch explains that he encourages his clients, “… to abandon the “deferred-life” plan and live life now, rather than in some uncertain, idealized “later” timeline.”

Timeshares, Timeshare Rentals, and Vacation Ownership, Affordable Ways to Live Your Life Now

And for all of us whose vacation and travel dreams exceed our current budgets, Financial Planner Irvin Schorsch says:

“Can’t afford a summer home or ski condo? Rent or buy a timeshare with a family member or friend. While I don’t recommend a timeshare as an investment, it can be a great way for frequent travelers to save on accommodations in their favorite vacation spots. If you tire of going to one place year after year, timeshare networks like Marriott, Disney Vacation Homes, RCI and Interval International allow trades that will give you access to accommodations in those faraway places you’ve fantasized about.”

Finally, a financial planner who understands that timeshares and vacation ownership are not an investment one makes for financial gain. Instead, timeshare resales and timeshare rentals are an “investment” in a lifestyle that makes great vacations and travel possible for millions and millions of consumers.

As Mr. Schorsch says, “An exciting, well-lived life does not necessarily require a lot of money.”

And a timeshare resale or timeshare rental doesn’t require a lot of money, but it certainly can go a long way to helping you enjoy an exciting, well-life right now, instead of waiting for a future that may never come.

Follow this link to read the full text of, “The Don’t-Defer-Your-Life Approach to Financial Planning.”