This chapter will involve what to do now that you have your timeshare. The main thing is to plan your vacations well in advance. I usually do this in the fall. I get my kids vacation schedule and see when could be the best time to take a trip. I usually go somewhere in the Spring for a week, and I’ll do 2 weeks in the summer. Wait I am getting 3 weeks of vacation for my one week of timeshare I own. Yes that is right. You see once your a member of RCI and HSI,( The two largest exchange companies )you get all these travel offers. Such as trading 1 week for 2. You may have to pay 2 maintenance fees, but if you will be using the the vacation rental, its well worth it. Also, you will be offered bonus weeks for 2-5 hundred dollars.
So what do you do if you can’t travel one year. Rent it out. Its really not that hard. I usually advertise on Craigslist and Redweek.com. Do not use one of these agencies. They usually just take your money and do nothing. Since I usually exchange 1 week for 2, I have had to rent out my timeshare out a couple of times. In both occasions I was able to to cover my advertising costs, exchange fees, and most of my maintenance fees. I met one couple who had purchased 8 weeks of a particular timeshare(all resales), was exchanging 2 for 1 weeks, so now they controlled 16 weeks of vacations, and was leasing 12 of the weeks. With the revenue they were generating, they were able to essentially pay for their entire vacation of 4 weeks, including air fare, food, car rental, & activities.
