12 Questions you need to answer before buying a Timeshare!

How do I figure out What Timeshare is Right for Me?

Easily one of the most common questions we get here on TUG! For those interested in Timesharing, figuring out which ownership or system is the best fit for you is truly the key in not only saving tens of thousands of dollars, but to ensure that you buy something that is going to work for your Vacation Travel needs!

These questions actually serve more to ELIMINATE timeshares and systems that simply are not a good fit, and thus allow you to focus your research on the remaining systems as options to buy (resale of course)!

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis?

The first step in narrowing down your options is to decide what geographic area you prefer to vacation in! west coast? Florida? skiing in Colorado? Mexico your fancy? being realistic with your answer here can absolutely establish which systems will provide you the sort of vacation destinations you want to visit with your ownership!

2) Do you prefer to visit your home resort or are you more interested in exchanging for other locations?

This is how we determine which of the two main strategies in buying a Timeshare apply to you! Do you want to buy a timeshare at a specific location you want to travel to? or are you buying a Timeshare for the allure of trading/exchanging for multiple destinations?

there are absolutely pros and cons to both, so much so we have an entire advice article that defines and describes these two unique strategies to buying a Timeshare!

Leaning more towards one or the other is one of the best ways to narrow down a large group of options, into a small few!

3) What are your 5 top Timeshare Exchange destinations??

a followup to questions 1` and to that will determine which systems provide resorts in the locations you want to travel to most!

4) How many people do you usually travel with on Vacation, including yourself?

the options for trading or renting for studios and 1br units is FAR greater than folks who always travel with friends and or family and require 2br or 3/4br options at minimum!

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

Given that family travel is greatly impacted by children's school schedules (spring/summer/Christmas breaks), if this is a limitation it will certainly alter the options you have available and what resort systems will work best for you!

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

Same as above, being honest about your usual vacation travel planning is key in making sure not only that you focus on a resort system that works for you, but even if Timesharing is a valid choice for your vacation travel needs! for many folks it simply is not and there is no problem with that as you can always RENT vs own!

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

while it is becoming more common, many ownerships dont provide for easily taking short stays or weekend stays while some others make this process very easy and readily available! knowing you cant ever travel for a full week is most certainly going to narrow down your options!

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

This one can be so subjective, its almost like asking if you prefer Coke to Pepsi or if Olive Garden is nicer than Chilis!

While ownership can be biased, there are CLEARLY different tiers within the timeshare system and if you demand a minimum level of accommodations to meet your expectations, it can eliminate the lower tiers instantly!

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

very much in line with the previous question, as you go up in tiers/quality even the initial purchase price (resale) begins to rise! There are options from free all the way up to likely as much money as you want to stroke a check for, so if you want DVC quality for motel 6 prices that is likely going to be an unreasonable expectation!

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?

same as question 9, but unlike the initial purchase price your annual maintenance fees come every year! If you look at it another way, this is going to be the annual "cost" of your vacation, and these costs across the board tend to rise year in and year out!

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

While this question isn't likely to narrow down your choices, it can indicate if Timesharing itself is right for you! The best way to extract the most value from any Timeshare ownership is to learn and use the product itself leveraging all the tips and suggestions from the TUG community. Unfortunately in most cases this requires some significant upfront (and far out) planning! For those who just want to go wherever the wind takes them at the last minute, renting from other owners or relying on last minute inventory might be a much better use of your vacation dollar!

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?

TUG exists to provide the cold hard facts about Timesharing and any potential buyer needs to be made painfully aware of this fact before even entertaining the idea of buying! While buying resale absolutely reduces your initial cost buy thousands of dollars thus offsetting years of annual fees compared to buying retail. There still comes a time in every owner's lifetime where an exit strategy is required! Understanding that many ownerships can be far more difficult than others to give away or give back should absolutely factor into your decision when buying a Timeshare for the first time!

Believe us, there are thousands upon thousands of owners who have found TUG and wish more than anything they would have learned this ugly truth before buying the timeshare they did! It absolutely factors into the decision making process!

The bottom line is that timesharing is not for everyone, but for those who do take the time to do research ahead of time you can save an absolute fortune and parley that savings into many years of wonderful family vacations you might not have taken otherwise without your Timeshare ownership!

The answers to all of these questions make it easier to define what works best for your vacation wants and needs and in most cases will result in a much shorter list of Timeshares and or Point system ownerships to research further!

Final word on Buying your first Timeshare!

It is our hope that one day every Timeshare owner is able to glean the experience and knowledge of the TUG community before buying their first Timeshare! We guarantee those that do will be much happier with their decision going forward!

Knowing about TUG ahead of time means you likely already know about the resale market and will be THOUSANDS of dollars ahead of the game.

Combine that with the questions above allowing you to really understand what Timeshare or Point system will work best for your Vacation Travel needs will ensure you avoid the two most common mistakes made when buying a Timeshare for the first time! Paying Too much, and buying the wrong product!

If you want a more interactive Q&A session, copy and paste these questions right here on our Timeshare Newbies forum and get feedback/advice from tens of thousands of other Timeshare owners who have all been in your position before!

Also take a look at our comparison chart of all the major Timeshare Point Systems ownership programs it is available here for free!

Questions you NEED to answer before buying a timeshare