Thinking about buying a timeshare? Good. Let’s make sure you’re the one calling the shots.
Salespeople love to create pressure. “This deal is only good today,” they’ll say. That’s simply not true. You can walk away, sleep on it, and come back tomorrow. The same deal will still be there.
Here’s how to buy smart, protect yourself, and negotiate from strength.
Record Everything
Always record the entire sales presentation.
Why does this matter so much? At the end of the day, you’re only bound by what’s written in your contract. Not what was said in the room.
Consumer protection agencies, real estate regulators, and the resort developer itself only recognize the written contract. Verbal promises mean nothing legally, even if they sound great in the moment. A recording protects you if promises and paperwork don’t match.
Get Website Access Immediately
You need full access to the resort’s website during your entire rescission period.
This sounds small, but it’s critical. Many new owners don’t get website access right away. By the time they discover the program isn’t what they were promised, the rescission window has already closed.
Don’t let that happen to you. Insist on immediate access before you sign anything.
Check the Resale Market Before You Close
During the closing process, ask to step away for a moment.
Pull up sellmytimesharenow.com and search for that exact resort. You’ll likely find listings for a fraction of what you’re about to pay. Show the salesperson that listing. Ask if they can beat it.
By this point, the pressure of the presentation has faded. You’re negotiating with real numbers in hand.
Get Reservation Guarantees in Writing
Only buy if you’re guaranteed, in writing, that you can confirm a reservation whenever you want with enough notice.
This guarantee only works with fixed or floating weeks. Points-based programs can’t offer this promise. Availability always depends on supply and demand, no matter what you’re told at the sales table.
Research Before You Negotiate
Look into resort reviews and the resale market before agreeing to a price. This tells you the real market value.
Ask directly about the pros and cons of buying from the resort versus buying resale points or weeks. And be cautious of timeshares with little or no secondary market.
Imagine spending $100,000 on points today. Ten years later, life changes, and you need to sell. But no resale market exists. That’s a serious risk worth avoiding.
Decide on Usage Frequency
Will you use your timeshare every year, or every other year? Decide this upfront. It affects pricing, planning, and how the contract gets structured.
Refuse to Pay Closing Costs
Developers love tacking closing costs onto your purchase price. Don’t pay them. Ask instead for the cost to be deducted from your purchase price.
Closing costs are essentially bonus money for sales staff. Vacation points work more like a country club membership, a right to use, not real property. There shouldn’t be closing costs at all. Even if the timeshare comes with a deed, you can still refuse to pay closing costs as all timeshares developers have a bottom line. The today only price is NOT their bottom line.
If you’re buying in Mexico or the Caribbean, be extra alert. These companies typically don’t own the properties they sell. There should be no closing costs or maintenance fees involved.
Request Ten Years of Maintenance Fee History
Ask for a copy of maintenance fees going back ten years. A legitimate company can always provide this. If they can’t, or won’t, that’s a red flag worth taking seriously.
Read the Entire Contract
If you decide to move forward, read every page of the contract. If there isn’t enough time to read it carefully, don’t sign it.
Keep in mind, some issues won’t show up in the contract at all. Over-promised availability is a perfect example. That’s why steps like recording the presentation matter so much.
Use Your Rescission Period Wisely
If you purchased and now have regrets, wait until two days before your rescission period ends before canceling.
Resorts will often drop their price to the bottom line just to save the sale. This is exactly where you want to negotiate from strength.
If they draft a new contract, confirm your rescission period restarts. It’s a new agreement. And watch out. Some states, including Nevada and Missouri, don’t offer a rescission period on certain trial products.
Ask About Resale and Transfer Rights
Before buying, ask if you can sell or transfer the timeshare later. What’s the process? What does it cost?
Try to find out whether a future buyer would receive the same benefits you have. If they wouldn’t, ask yourself honestly why you’d buy in the first place.
The Bottom Line
Everything should be in writing, or you shouldn’t buy at all.
Buying a timeshare isn’t wrong. Buying one blindly, under pressure, without protecting yourself, is where owners get hurt. Follow these steps, and you’ll walk in prepared, informed, and firmly in control of the deal.