Timeshares are the best investments ever created when you know what you are doing. I've bought over 90 timeshares just this year EXCLUSIVELY for investment purposes.
Why?
1. On a given day, someone is buying a product for $20,000 that you can buy for $2,000. That represents a HUGE margin opportunity. To make significant money, you only need to buy for $2000 and sell for $4000.
2. When you purchase timeshares for rental purposes, it turns positive cash flow instantly. Can't do that with residential real estate. Not that tough to make 25-50% return on invested capital.
3. No property management hassles. Someone else does all the hard work for you.
4. You can buy them easily for under $1000.
5. You can purchase them on a credit card. You can buy and sell them in the time they give you for the 0% APR credit card. You can use other people's money to finance your business.
6. There is very little competition because almost nobody knows enough about timesharing to properly capitalize on it. And, sites like TUG promote the absolutely WRONG conventional wisdom that timeshares are not GREAT investments.
7. If you don't want to do any work rental or selling, you can travel inexpensively by trading up via weeks exchange companies. My average cost for a 2 bedroom unit for a week including all capital costs is about $350-400. That includes staying in Hyatts, Marriott's, Disney's, Hiltons, Four Seasons, Westins. It would cost me easily 5-10 times more to stay in those units that it costs me. That is a huge return without even having to sell anything.
So, please STOP saying that Timeshares are not great investments. They are about the single best investment EVER created for savvy families. It would be better to say that Timeshares are great investments, but I just haven't figured out how to capitalize on it yet. That would be more factual.
Timesharing is one step above sliced bread and one step below the microwave on the all time list of greatest human inventions.
I am composing this message from a Grand Villa at Old Key West. Disney rents this unit for over $1100 per night in the slowest off season month. The general public can have it for about $8500 for this week after taxes. You can rent it from a Disney owner for about $3500 given how many points it requires. My cost was $710.
Here are pictures of the unit:
More pictures on this link