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Mail : itsr@shaw.ca
Phone: (250) 768-1961
Fax: (250) 768- 1561
ABOUT TIMESHARES
A time share is a method of owning a vacation property without having to step up and pay the whole cost of the vacation home. Very few of us can afford the two or three hundred thousand dollars required to purchase one of those beautiful condos on the beach or the golf course, especially when we can only use it for one or two weeks a year. About thirty years ago, someone got the idea of sharing that property among a number of other owners, all of whom just wanted to pay for the time they would use the vacation property, and along came TIME SHARING. While we found it difficult to justify paying for a whole condo, many of us now found that we could easily justify the purchase of one or two weeks use of that property. We all owe a debt of thanks to that person, because he opened up a whole new world of vacations for all of us!
There are two major types of Ownership available to Time share purchasers: Fee Simple, and Right to Use.
Fee Simple (Includes: Deed, Title, Registered Undivided Portion, and Fractional Title)
Fee Simple means outright ownership of the title to the unit or week. Typically, time share units are located in Condominium style buildings. Each separate unit has a separate title. There are generally 51 owners per unit, with the 52nd week being reserved for maintenance. Each owner holds an undivided 1/51 share of the ownership of the individual unit. The actual week is usually established by way of a master lease and a lease back arrangement to the owner for his or her individual week. The time you get to use your unit will be either Fixed, Floating or Points depending on the resort. See Glossary for more information on these types of Use.
With a fixed week, you always have the same week every year, with Floating time, you have to book the time you want each year. With Points you have a certain number of points and can use them to book time at your own resort, or at another points based resort.
Right to Use (Includes: Certificate, Trust, Right to Use, and Exclusive Use Agreements)Right to Use, means that the purchaser has the right to the use and occupancy of the unit for a specific period of time. The actual Right to Use documents take many forms. Some are on formal leases, and many are based on a Certificate of Occupation. Most are governed by Trust Agreements, where the Trustee agrees to hold the title to the resort properties in trust for the certificate holders.
As we pointed out above, most Vacation Properties are Strata or Condominium style buildings. Just as we have maintenance fees to pay for our residential condominium properties, there are maintenance fees to pay for your vacation property. Maintenance fees range from a low of about $300.00 to a high of over $1000.00 per week per year. The average however, is about $500.00 per week per year. It is important to note that you only pay the maintenance fees charged by your home resort. You do not pay the maintenance fee for a resort you trade into.
This is an area where resale purchasers in addition to saving money on the purchase price, can save a good deal more money on the annual cost of vacation over direct buyers. A resale purchaser has the opportunity of analysing the two most important aspects of a timeshare before purchasing.
If you buy direct you are offered only one or two properties, whereas if you buy a resale, you have hundreds of properties to choose from. You can take the time to analyse the Trading Power and Maintenance Fees and find the most economical combination for your needs.
What you want to do is find the resort and week with the highest possible trading power and the lowest maintenance fees. That way you can trade into and stay at the best resorts at the lowest overall cost to you.
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Mail : itsr@shaw.ca
Phone: (250) 768-1961
Fax: (250) 768- 1561
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REV RAB 02/21/04