Ever since timeshares hit the market in the 1960’s, this industry has been growing. There are now around 5,000 timeshare resorts around the world.

The timeshare industry has flourished after only about 50 years. That is a relatively short time for an industry. This is because there are quite a few benefits which are attractive to prospective timeshare buyers. Timeshare aren’t for everyone, and it is important to know what these benefits are and see if they apply to you so you don’t buy a timeshare if the benefits are not for you.

It is a real property

Timeshare came about during the 1960’s when a ski resort developer devised this method to increase his revenue. He realized that the “renting” vs “owning” concept could apply to vacation resorts and presented this new concept of vacation real estate. Thus, the timeshare deed was born.

His concept made the ski resort developer richer by tenfold. He amassed great wealth by increasing the occupancy of the ski resort. All guests were always presented with an option to either own or rent the resort. Guests, of course, were attracted to the idea of actually owning a resort, even if only for a week.

They become owners of the resort by buying timeshare deeds. Timeshare resorts sell potential owners what is called timeshare intervals. Timeshare intervals are also known as deeded weeks. These are deeded weeks of real property at a specific resort. The owners are free to do whatever they want to do with the timeshare deed they own.

It is flexible

Nowadays there are more and more options when it comes to ownership. As more and more people become interested, more and more timeshare ownership options evolve to fit a number of different lifestyles and income brackets. Here are some of the common ones:

1. The Fixed Week Ownership

With “Fixed Week Ownership”, a timeshare owner owns a deed to using a property for a specific single week.

2. The Floating Ownership

This gives more flexibility to the owner as they can pick from a number of weeks, usually in the same season. “Spring Season” for example may consist of twelve weeks from which the timeshare owner can choose from.

3. The Rotating Ownership

An interval is rotated to each of the owners annually so at some point you will get each week of the year. As an example if you own week 5 for this year, you would own wee 6 of next year.

4. The Deeded Ownership

This type of ownership gives power to owners over their timeshares. The deeds are real property and are otherwise known as partial ownership with regards to the concept of timeshares.

5. Right to Use ownership

This is usually a less expensive option but also means more restrictive use. This is not true real estate ownership. It is more of a contract with a termination date. An analogy is that this is similar to a pre-paid membership in a club for a specific number of years.

6. Ownership by Points program

The Points program is another type of ownership available for timeshares. It is an attempt by the timeshare resorts to be able to reach the Class B and C market. The points program aims to entice guests to obtain timeshares by collecting points in the program. When guests reach a number of collected points that is equivalent to the level of ownership, the clients are provided with a corresponding timeshare. These new owners of the timeshare would have an option to schedule their accommodation in the resort if they wish to avail their timeshares.

Those are some of the most popular timeshare opportunities. More are being made all the time as the timeshare industry evolves to become more attractive to more and more lifestyles. So be open-minded when you attend a timeshare presentation. And also realize the type of timeshare ownership being offered. Just because the specific one being sold is not for you does not mean all timeshare are not for you.

So just make sure to keep an open mind. Just because one timeshare presentation presents an opportunity that is not for you does not mean they’re all not for you. Realize this so that one day you are ready when the perfect ownership opportunity comes your way.