Dave Says: The Time Share Trap

Dear Dave,

I was wondering why you think time shares are a bad idea? Also, what do you do if you’ve already signed up for the free trip and tour?

- Travis in Spokane, WA

Dear Travis,

Don’t buy it! You get no value for your dollar, and you’re also not building any equity in the thing. Equity implies that you could turn around, sell it and make money off the deal. The reason you can’t make any money off time shares is that there’s virtually no market for them. Nobody in their right mind wants to buy one.
Once you get stuck with a time share, it’s like being lost in a black hole. You never get to use it enough to justify the cost, plus you’ve got things like maintenance fees and the possibility of borrowing the money and paying interest on something you’ll hardly ever use. For what you’d shell out for a time share, you could go to Europe every summer for the rest of your life!

Time shares are a really bad deal, Travis.

- Dave