10 Secrets Time Share Resorts Won't Tell You

7. Trading Isn't Near as Easy as Claimed

When you hear the time share sales pitch, the sales representative will make it sound like you will be able to trade your unit with others around the world with ease. Rarely is it easy to exchange, and often you will have to pay additional fees to make a trade happen, if it is possible at all. If you won't be going to the exact same spot year after year, a time share won't save you any money and will likely cost you a lot.

8. If You Can't Pay in Full, It's a Terrible Deal

Another issue that the time share sales representatives will often leave out during the calculations is the cost of financing a time share. Banks know that time shares will lose their value and therefore don't consider them real estate in the loans they provide.

Instead of low rates that are tax-deductible, a time share loan will come with a double-digit interest rate and in most cases will not be tax-deductible. When you add the cost of this financing to the overall cost of the time share, it makes little financial sense to purchase one if you can't pay for the unit in cash.

9. Travel Is Not Calculated When Comparisons Are Made

One of the tricks time share sales representatives use when attempting to show you what a "great deal" time shares are is that they will include your travel expenses when calculating the cost of your current vacation, but conveniently forget to include travel costs when calculating the cost of the time share. If you aren't paying attention, you may believe you're getting a deal when in reality all the savings came from leaving out the travel expense that you must still pay.

10. Hotel Prices Are Increasing (But So Are Time Share Fees)

Another one of the tricks time share sales representatives use is telling you how much hotel prices are increasing and then telling you that your time share will still be the same price 15 years from now. What they fail to tell you is that the time share fees are not locked at the current rate and will also likely increase as time goes on so the time share can be upgraded to keep up with newer competition. This means all that money you were supposed to save is unlikely to ever materialize.

Keeping the above information about time shares in mind when deciding whether a time share is right for you will go a long way toward keeping you from making an extremely costly mistake.