Why Never to Buy a Timeshare

By Ric Edelman From Inside Personal Finance.
I’ve spoken to a lot of people who love ‘em. For a set number of days a year, you have a vacation home you can use as you wish. And the best part is it’s an investment ... until you want to sell it.

I recently took a call from Jim, who epitomizes the time-share investor. He owns one in San Francisco and hasn’t been able to use it during his prearranged vacation times because of work conflicts. This has led Jim to consider getting out of his investment. What can he do?

He can try to swap his property with another time-share owner.  Not only must that person want his property, they must want it for the same week as Jim has it. And Jim must want theirs, too.  A difficult undertaking to say the least.