How to Have a Vacation Home for Less Than the Cost of One Vacation

How would you like to have your own vacation home? Now this wouldn't be the same place every time you took a vacation, but ideally it would be a lovely vacation home with all the amenities and would be wherever you wanted to go, when you wanted to go there.

Sounds, too good to be true? Do you think that only the rich can do that? Not so. Anyone can own the NEW TIMESHARE vacation home. These are typically condominium type resorts and have wonderful amenities, such as laundry facilities right in your room, full kitchens, spa tubs, concierge services, etc. And what's more, it is completely affordable and probably even costs less than you think.

Most people think that you have to go to a timeshare presentation and sit through the hype and the hard sell and then the prices probably start at around $15,000 and up. The first one we ever saw was $46,000. That seemed way too much to spend and tie up your finances or maybe take out a home equity or other type of financing to pay for it. And you'd probably be paying for a long, long time for your one week of vacation.

But whoever said you have to buy from the timeshare company? You would in fact be paying way too much if you do it this way. Timeshares, while they are very valuable to their owners are not as valuable when you try to resell them. You would actually be better off to hang on to it and rent your week out and make some money that way. At least then you can keep your vacay home and leave it to your children in your will. Buying a timeshare on the resale market is the way to go. You can literally buy a lifetime of vacations for the cost of one timeshare. Buying a timeshare online can save you thousands. The first timeshare we looked at was offered at $46,000. We shopped around and bought the same package for $2700. We would have easily spent that one just one vacation and then had to do it again the next year. This way we've already spent the money once and each year we can go wherever we want without spending anymore. Of course you still have your airfare and souvenirs, etc, but what a savings!

I think it does help if you do attend the timeshare presentations and if possible tour the facilities before you decide to buy, but for the most part they are all very similar. Some companies have some resorts they own and then they use exchange programs like RCI and Interval International. This greatly expands your resort network and allows you to vacation worldwide whenever you want.

Timeshares today are based on points systems and your package usually consists of a set number of points with the option to buy more when you choose, either in the form of another package or just by buying more points. We were vacationing at a beautiful brand new 5 star resort in Orlando and we attended an owner's cocktail party. (there are lots of these gatherings and activities when you own a timeshare) We met a couple who said they are retired and travel one week out of every month. They had kept buying points until they had enough to travel all the time. WOW! That's what I call retirement!

There are yearly maintenance fees but they are usually nominal and it's for upkeep of the resorts as well as maid service, concierge and other features. You would pay way more if you just booked a 5 star hotel for a week. For less than the cost of one vacation you can have a lifetime of affordable wonderful vacation memories.