A lot of people have questioned the financial benefits of timeshare, I believe that if you're one of those people that spends a substantial amount of money on holidays then timeshare can not only save you money but you also upgrade the quality of holiday accommodation.
A Fresh Look at the Math: Buying a Timeshare vs Staying at a Hotel
Does buying a timeshare at £12,000 (resort average price 2013) for a weeks holiday accommodation for the rest of your life sound good to you?
That's the average price paid last year for a time share. Despite that high barrier to entry, the timeshare business is robust. But does it make financial sense to buy a piece of home away from home?Well, in the example above, the cost would work out to about £400 for each week if you had the time share for 30 years.
Like a lot of consumers, potential buyers are always skeptical about the concept of paying upfront for a lifetime of guaranteed annual vacations at the same resort. The initial investment is a major turnoff, and the thought of always visiting the same place runs counter to many vacationers' idea of what travel should be.
Staying at a time share definitely has some advantages over being a hotel guest. For one thing, time-share accommodations generally offer more space than a typical hotel room, which is nice on a long trip with kids. In addition, going to the same resort every year means being part of a community, and time-share vacationers form lasting friendships.
Even if community is not your thing, time shares have come a long way. Virtually all timeshares today are affiliated with global exchange systems, so owning one doesn't mean you're headed to the same resort near Disney World for the next decade.
Still, there's that gigantic initial payment for a piece of resort property.
If £12,000 sounds high, consider this: One in five buyers purchases double that amount of time, according to the American Resort Development Association, the main industry group for time shares.
On top of that, all timeshares also come with property maintenance fees, which average about £700 a year. To recoup that and the purchase cost takes time, and the math can get pretty complicated.
To simplify it and to give you an example
To stay at Four Seasons Vilamoura @ £309 per night for 10 years = £21,630
Buying a timeshare @ Four Seasons Vilamoura £3000 + maintenance for 10 years = £10,000
So in summary over a ten year period you would have saved approximately half.
HALF!!!
Don't forget that if you buy a decent timeshare it will have a resale value, so you can sell it on.
Timeshare can be defended on the economics but the beauty of timeshare is you're at home, you can swap to other resorts around the world (approx 5000 resorts) through the exchange companies and buy additional weeks at knocked down prices.
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