When you are first presented with the opportunity to purchase a timeshare, you probably aren’t thinking about the end of your ownership journey. Few people think about that part of the process in advance – at the time of the sales presentation, you are only thinking about the fun vacations you would be able to have if you were a timeshare owner. And, of course, the salespeople make the opportunity look awfully enticing, which makes it pretty hard to resist making the purchase.
Unfortunately, life tends to come at you fast, as the saying goes. Soon enough, you might be wondering why you got yourself into the situation of owning a timeshare in the first place, and what you might need to do to get out. Can you just walk away? Would it be possible to simply leave this whole experience in the past and move on with your life? We’ll explore those questions and more in the content below.
The Basics of Owning a Timeshare
When you purchase a timeshare, you are buying the right to use a given vacation property for a certain amount of time each year. The specifics of timeshare ownership vary wildly from one situation to the next, but the general idea remains the same across the board. You pay an upfront price to become an owner, and in exchange for that money, you gain some rights over what facilities you can use, and when you can use them.
In some cases, buying into a timeshare involves purchasing access to a single facility. There might be a beautiful resort in one of your favorite destinations that operates as a stand-alone timeshare, and you may decide – likely after a persuasive presentation – that you want to become an owner at that resort. Alternatively, there are timeshare programs that are based on points and provide owners with access to countless different locations around the world. The largest include access to thousands of properties, which makes it easy for owners’ minds to become filled with visions of taking one luxurious trip after the next.
To get back to the question from the title of this article, yes, you own your timeshare in perpetuity until you are able to end your ownership in one way or another (more on that later). It’s important for timeshare buyers to understand exactly what they are committing to when making this big purchase. Too many buyers think about the fun part at the start and discount the financial responsibility that they are taking on.
Those financial obligations are too significant to take for granted, however. For one thing, if you have to finance the purchase of the timeshare, you’ll be paying down that loan for a few years, along with the interest that it carries. Further, there are ongoing maintenance fees that you have to pay when you own a timeshare, and while they might sound modest at first, the numbers add up as the years go by.
That’s not where the financial obligations end, either. Timeshare owners are typically on the hook for occasional assessments as well, which can be one-time charges to raise money for things like updates to a resort or repairs after some damage is incurred. While assessments don’t happen all the time, they are always lingering out there as something that could jump up and endanger your financial situation. The fact that you do own your timeshare in perpetuity starts to look a little scarier when you think about the fact that these obligations are hanging over your head and won’t be going away anytime soon.
It’s Not as Easy as Just Walking Away
So, in the previous section, we have highlighted some of the issues that come with owning a timeshare, and it should be clear by now why many people will want to get out as soon as possible. With that in mind, can you just walk away from your ownership of a timeshare, ending those responsibilities and giving up your right to use the resorts in question? Unfortunately, it’s rarely that easy.
To be clear, some timeshares do offer a “give back” program that allows owners to exit the timeshare if they wish to do so. However, those programs are not always available, and may have restrictions that don’t make them a viable option in your case. If you don’t have the option to hand back your ownership to the timeshare company, you will need to work on seeking another way out when you are ready to be done.
Be Sure to Care for Your Credit
If you do start to think about ways to get rid of your timeshare, one important factor to keep in mind is the health of your credit score moving forward. Whether you are happy about it or not at this point, you do legally own the timeshare, and not holding up your responsibilities as an owner will have implications on your credit. Specifically, if you fail to keep up with payments on the loan that you used to purchase the timeshare, or if you stop paying maintenance fees or assessments, your credit is certain to take a notable hit.
That doesn’t mean that you should just sit back and remain a timeshare owner if you no longer want to have this be a part of your life. It simply means that however you decide to move forward, you should do so in a way that isn’t going to impact your credit, or is going to impact your credit as little as possible. It is likely to be a tricky process, and it might not transpire as quickly as you would like, but there is hope to find a light at the end of the tunnel.
What About Selling Your Timeshare?
Just like a house – which you also own in perpetuity until you move on – it’s possible to sell your timeshare to put an end to your ownership. If you sell the timeshare, you’ll receive something in exchange for the rights and responsibilities of ownership, and the new owner will need to deal with things like maintenance fees and assessments. So, if you are ready to move on, selling the timeshare is certainly going to be an appealing possibility.
There is only one problem – finding a willing buyer. It’s difficult, and sometimes virtually impossible, to find a buyer for a timeshare, even if you are basically willing to give it away for nothing. As you are now fully aware, the owner of a timeshare takes on responsibilities like paying the ongoing fees that come with that ownership. So, most people won’t take that obligation lightly, even in the face of being offered a timeshare for as little as a single dollar.
It can be difficult to get your mind around the fact that a timeshare you may have paid many thousands of dollars to purchase can be virtually worthless. That’s a tough reality to face, but it’s often how it goes. There simply isn’t a strong market for timeshares to be sold, and with so many available, the few buyers that are out there will have plenty of leverage to get the best possible deal. Any thoughts you might have had about recouping a significant portion of what you spent on the timeshare are going to fly out the window once you start to experience the realities of the market.
Looking for Ways to Move Forward
By now, it’s probably setting in that you aren’t in a great position as a timeshare owner who would rather move on. That’s frustrating, to be sure, but don’t let it get you down for long. Instead of dwelling on the situation that you are in, start to work on making progress on getting out of this tough spot so you can look forward to a brighter, freer financial future.
There are a variety of options for trying to get away from your timeshare, with some being more effective than others. You’ll need to think carefully about your situation to determine how you want to proceed. As a starting point, as was mentioned earlier on this page, you can simply contact the timeshare developer or resort directly to ask about any programs that they might have available. Negotiating directly with the developer isn’t always going to work out, but you don’t want to dive into other approaches until you at least give it a try.
From there, you can attempt to use other strategies, including using a company that specializes in timeshare exits. When going this route, be sure to partner with a business that is going to use a third-party escrow
service to hold the money you pay until the end of the process. Paying upfront for a service that may or may not wind up being successful would just be setting yourself up for further disappointment and frustration.
Get Help Today
Ready to take real, meaningful, concrete steps toward getting away from timeshare ownership? We’d love to help. Give us a call today at
833-416-8796 to discuss your options and learn more about what might be possible with a little help from experts in this space. Alternatively, you may wish to contact us through the chat feature right here on our site. Either way, no matter how you get in touch, we are looking forward to helping you move on with a brighter financial future.