The Ideal Timeshare Checklist

Potential timeshare investors seldom review the crucial factors determine the purchase of a timeshare property. This results in many buyers being caught in a catch 22 situation when its time to take the final decision. That being said, buyers today are a lot more aware of the ramifications of their actions to their predecessors were. Due to easy accessibility of information via the internet and search engines, buyers today can undertake more intensive research prior to acting on their plans. The availability of a wealth of information can also be detrimental because of conflicting information from varied sources.

Yet many investors seem puzzled when asked if they have a checklist of things to consider before buying a timeshare. The objective of this article is to enable investors to create an extensive checklist that will help any timeshare investor to choose the timeshare best suited to their requirements.

The first most important step is decide whether the purchase will be made through a broker or if the owner is going to contact the developer directly. If the purchase is through a broker, he should be licensed, with a good reputation and high success rate in handling timeshares. To check if the broker has in depth knowledge about the timeshare, an owner must ask the following questions, which should be validated with another source.

- Maintenance fee of the resort and if the fee is raised every year, if yes what is the annual increase?
- The chances of getting the best timeshare at a particular time of the year?
- What is cut off point to which is still early enough to make a reservation?
- The possibility of additional benefits being available for the timeshare?
- Whether the timeshare company offers any bonus week programs?
- Whether the timeshare company offers any bonus week programs if reservations are made at low seasons?
- The owner exchange or trade the timeshare without joining an exchange company?
- Whether the broker or the brokerage firm offers a point system?

Sometimes purchasing a resale property could be viable option as against a new property. This is a crucial aspect which should be discussed with the broker. A fundamental cost determining factor would be the high demand for a particular week in the year or in a season for a specific location. The size of the unit greatly affects the price as bigger units are easy to trade in and exchange hence are in more demand. Another factor is reputation of the firm owning the timeshare resort . If the company has had a high success rate then the demand for their timeshares would be higher and could result in a higher appreciation rate for the property.

Some investors purchase their units sight unseen if they want a quick escrow. This is okay if you wish to own the property for a very short period. However, if this is serious investment , always inspect the property prior to signing the deed of ownership. This is because in sometimes the descriptions provided by the timeshare company or the re-seller turn out to be distinctive or lacking in actual details like the property location or the size of the unit. Alternatively, if the prospective owner cannot see the unit, always request a reliable source residing in the vicinity to view the property and send feedback based on the checklist or pre-determined specifics. In case of a resale unit, getting feedback from older neighbors about the property management and amenities can be a useful source of information. A potential list of questions to ask neighbors are:

- Overall feedback on the resort?
- The period of time since the older neighbors have been vacationing at the resort?
- Ease in booking a vacation and or exchanging to another property?
- Feedback on the responsiveness and professionalism of the management?
- Overall satisfaction with services offered by the management company?
- Possibility of hidden maintenance and other or fees?
- Consistency in fees
- Frequency of increase in fees and the percentage increase?
- Developers plans or intention on improving the overall appearance of the property in the future?

Doing a background check on the prices in the area of interest and viewing sites like mytsmp.com comes handy when its time to take a decision. Reading the fine print first will always result in a sound decision as the owner would be aware of any exceptions. If the owner is purchasing a resale, the first question to ask is the underlying reason for the sale. Is there any issue with the management company or the neighbors or the quality of construction of the unit? Also a fact to keep in mind is that the unit should be close to half the price of a new timeshare unit sold by a developer. Getting a feel of the potential problems assist in deciding the purchase of the unit. If attention is paid to all the important factors, a wiser buyer will be able to take a smarter decision on the purchase of an ideal timeshare.