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My wife and I first attended a timeshare presentation in Lake Tahoe shortly after we got married and before we had kids. The lure? A US$50 savings bond and a free dinner at an interesting little eatery that featured private hot-tubs for the diners to relax in after dinner.

We didn't buy the timeshare condo. But we enjoyed the dinner, the tub, and in fact, I still have the savings bond.

We've attended more presentations since. They've gotten us a free weekend in Seattle and another in Victoria, among other things. If you have an hour and a half to kill, don't mind sitting through a presentation and a sales pitch, they're worth going to for the goodies alone. Yes. They really do give you the free gifts even if you don't buy.

Two weeks ago we attended another. The lure this time? A dinner cruise. A three hour tour - watch out Gilligan! The surprise this time - the offer was much more attractive than any we had previously attended and, surprise! surprise! We actually bought one.

What set this one apart? Well, let's start by discussing the various different kinds of timeshare arrangement.

What is a Timeshare?

Timeshares, as the name indicates, means buying a share in a condo or luxury apartment somewhere. You can use the time yourself on your vacation or - and this is what attracts most people to timeshares - you can swap your time with others.

Most people buy a timeshare at a favorite resort or in their home city. But who wants to vacation in the same place every year? Most timeshare groups are affiliated with an international timeshare condo broker through which you can swap for time pretty well anywhere in the world.

There are a couple of different kinds of timeshare arrangements as well.

According to an Alberta government resource on timeshares, there are three basic kinds. They are:

• Right to Use - which is a long term lease agreement. It gives you the right to use a specific unit for a specific period of time each year for the length of the lease, usually 15 to 50 years.
• Fee Simple - this is a perpetual ownership of a specific week in a condo. You are, in fact, the registered owner and can sell, lease, lend or exchange your week.
• Vacation Club Membership - you buy a block of membership points which you can trade for usage any time for varying lengths of time depending on the season. These sometimes have time limits as in the Right to Use lease arrangement above.

With all of the arrangements, price varies by season. The year divides into three seasons in the vacation condo market - red season or high demand, yellow season or moderate demand and green season or low demand. The value and cost of these different seasons vary accordingly.

If you buy a week in red season, you can swap it for time anywhere, any time. But if you buy a week in yellow season, you cannot swap for a red week. And the owner of a green week is restricted to a green week.

Most of the condo presentations we had seen before were of this variety. The cost of the red season week was prohibitive and the more affordable green week was too restrictive.

The scheme we saw recently was a sort of mixture of the Fee Simple and Vacation Club types. Your purchase of points entitles you to be a voting member of the condo owners association. By law, each unit sold must be free and clear of encumbrances (mortgages) and is held in trust for the owners association. The ownership is in perpetuity and you can will it to your children.

The attraction for us was that the luxury apartment we bought into was in downtown Vancouver. Vancouver is considered a high demand area year around so a week in Vancouver can be swapped for a week anytime internationally.

But the sailing wasn't entirely smooth. We did run into a few snags which were resolved to our satisfaction. But a prospective condo buyer should go into a presentation with her eyes open.

Timeshare Buying Pointers

We didn't do many of these things, because, frankly, we were going for the free harbor dinner cruise, not to buy a timeshare. We even talked about it while driving into town. "Now we're not going to buy anything, right? We're just going for the dinner." We ended up surprising ourselves, so, in retrospect, here are some things you should consider before you go to a timeshare presentation. Even if you are going just for the freebie!

• Cruise the Net before you go, researching the topic and the market. Find out about the different kinds of timeshares, and the market in the area you are considering. What is a reasonable price for a timeshare.
• If you can, check out the company beforehand. Contact the Better Business Bureau. Do some background checks.
• Don't take everything the sales person says at face value. Ours completely misled us as to what exactly we were buying (though I don't think this was deliberate. He pitched the exchange benefits without explaining the more restrictive domestic usage rights.).
• These type of sales presentations usually offer strong incentives to buy then and there. Be skeptical as to the validity of these claims. Personally, I don't believe any company would turn down someone who came back later, nor would they offer an inferior deal. After all, they want your business.
• If you find the offer attractive, let them know you find it interesting, but since it is a real estate transaction, you want to run the contract by your lawyer before signing anything. (I wish I had done this, but didn't think of it until later.)
• Find out what consumer protection legislation is in place in your jurisdiction. British Columbia, for example, gives consumers the right to rescind such contracts for one week.
• If your state or province doesn't have such legislation, insist that your right to rescind the contract within a specified time limit be written into it. If they refuse, walk.
• Read the fine print of the contract and understand exactly what you are buying. Our salesman pitched the timeshare to us on the basis of buying a flexible week that could be used anywhere, anytime. The fine print indicated we were buying points with no clear explanation that the points could be exchanged for one week anywhere, any time. We went back within the rescission period and had them clarify this in the contract.
• If you decide to buy, make sure you buy for the right reason - the vacation benefits. Do not buy as an investment because, despite what they might tell you, prices often drop in the condo resale market. In many jurisdictions the timeshare company is prohibited from pitching it as an investment.

Conclusion

We bought primarily because we know from personal experience that the cost of hotel accommodation has risen considerably over the last ten years and promises to keep rising. We also know the cost of restaurant meals on vacation is expensive. Most of our vacations have been spent in the back yard or visiting relatives and friends as a result.

Many, if not most condo units, have kitchenettes to save on meal costs. And the annual maintenance fee is relatively low and not likely to rise significantly. In effect, we have bought a locked in vacation cost that will not escalate out of proportion.

We approached this as a way to enhance our vacations. It took us four presentations to come across a deal we liked. So look around. Attend a few presentations and compare them. And maybe you'll find something that suits you as well. And if not, the free gifts are usually worth the hour and a half of sitting through the sales pitch.

Links of Interest

Buying Time Shares - tips on buying timeshares from the Consumer Services Division of the Government of Alberta

Canadian Resort Development Association - this is the website of the industry association in Canada. It sets standards of ethical practice and is a useful resource to visit.

So You Want to Buy a Timeshare? - a detailed article on what you should be aware of before going to a timeshare presentation.

Vacation Timesharing - consumer information from the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont.

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