Accelerated Use
A program in some right-to-use timeshare clubs where the booking time that is available to the owner can be used in a shorter amount of time than originally allotted.
Affiliated Resort
An affiliated resort is a resort that has been built by a separate developer and then enters into an agreement with a timeshare club. These properties are typically managed and run by the timeshare club in order to maintain the standards of their vacation Club.
Amenities
Amenities are the special features of a timeshare resort. Popular timeshare amenities include pools, hot tubs, tennis courts, on-site restaurants, in-suite laundry and full kitchens.
Accrued Weeks
Accrued weeks or points are the vacation time that has been saved from previous years which will accumulate and are still available for use by the timeshare owner.
American Resort Development Association (ARDA)
The American Resort Development Association, or ARDA, is the trade association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries, also known as the timeshare industry.
Anniversary Date
When dealing with timeshares that feature points-based booking, the anniversary date, also known as award month or anniversary month, is the date on which the ownership is awarded its points or usage for the year.
Appraisal
An appraisal is an estimate of a timeshare property’s market value, as assessed by an appraiser.
Availability
Availability is the measure of how easily you will be able to book a certain location or time of the year, and is based on the desirability and total number of units available.
Award Month
Your award month is the month that you will be “awarded” your usage and can start booking your reservation for the year.
Banking
Banking has to do with saving points or weeks to be used later. This can be achieved without utilizing a trading company, but often RCI or II is used to preserve the week or points in question.
Biennial
A biennial timeshare can be used every other year, as opposed to the more popular every year timeshare. In this case, odd or even years are assigned to the ownership.
Blue Season / Blue Week
Blue Week, or Blue Season refers to RCI’s term for a low-demand week at a timeshare property. A span of time falling under a blue week generally has the lowest occupancy rates compared to other times of the year.
Bonus Week
A bonus week can be given at a presentation or from a trading company trying to entice you to either buy a timeshare at a presentation or trade with a certain exchange company.
Borrowing
Some timeshare owners have the availability to borrow points from their upcoming use year, allowing them more options for travel locations and times of the year.
Campground Membership
A type of timeshare that caters to travelers who prefer campgrounds.
Check-In Date
The Check-In Date of your reservation is simply the date that your reservation will begin.
Check-In Time
Check-In Time is the earliest time of the day you can check-in for your reservation.
Closing Costs
Closing costs are the costs for employing a closing company for holding escrow, performing title search, rewriting the deed, recording the deed and executing resort specific transfer documents.
Club / Trust Membership
This type of ownership has no underlying deed.
Combination
A timeshare combination is when an existing owner purchases another timeshare and combines it with their existing ownership.
Confirm-First
The ability to view trading inventory prior to depositing your points/weeks, or paying a trading fee.
Cooling-Off Period
Also known as rescission period, this is the amount of time given to a timeshare buyer in which they can cancel their purchase or rescind their contract to purchase.
Credits
Credits (a synonym for points) are a virtual currency that represents vacation time within your club.
Current Fair Market Value
Current fair market value is the price in which a knowledgeable buyer will purchase an ownership from a well-informed seller, based on the current sales of a comparable timeshare interest.
Day Use
A benefit of timeshare clubs that lets the owner use the resort’s amenities without booking ahead.
Deeded Property
Deeded property refers to a timeshare property that carries an underlying deed.
Depositing
Depositing points means to store points or weeks that have accrued for the next calendar year, also allowing them to be used for a greater period of time than normally allotted.
Depreciation
A drop in value when compared to the initial purchase price that was paid.
Developer
The entity that sells a vacation club’s points/weeks or the company who originally built the vacation club’s resorts.
Escrow
The process of holding the buyer’s funds in a third-party account.
Exchange
Timeshare exchange describes when an owner trades their week or points in order to travel to a new resort or gain availability.
Exchange Company
Company that helps timeshare owners facilitate trading their week or points for another time of the year or location.
Exchange Fee
A fee paid to an exchange company such as RCI, or Interval International at the time of each trade.
Even Year Usage
A biennial timeshare that can only be utilized in a year that is an even number. For example: 2016, 2018 and 2020.
Fair Market Value
Fair market value is the estimated value of a timeshare ownership that a knowledgeable and willing buyer would buy from a knowledgeable and willing seller.
First Right of Refusal (or Right of First Refusal)
First right of refusal is a developer right that gives the developer the option to purchase your ownership back from you, preventing a sale to the open market.
Five Star Resort
A 5-star resort is the highest official rating that a resort can receive based on the facilities and the resort experience as a whole. A Five Star resort is the highest designation in Interval International’s resort rating system.
Fixed Unit
A Fixed Unit describes an individual unit within a property that a timeshare owner has bought into to stay at each year.
Fixed Week
A fixed week timeshare will be assigned a specific week number that the timeshare can be utilized during.
Floating Week
A floating week timeshare will be assigned a specific season (range of week numbers) that the timeshare can be utilized during.
Fractional Ownership
A vacation ownership can be described as a fractional ownership, in which owners are deeded only a fraction of the property’s rights. In the case of timeshares, an owner is deeded a specific amount of time for occupancy.
Gold Crown Resort
A rating system devised by RCI, in which Gold Crown is the highest quality of amenities and location.
Gold Season
Gold Season is a term that refers to a block of weeks during the year which hold a medium desirability.
Guest Certificate
A document that permits the use of a timeshare reservation by a guest of the owner; some clubs charge extra for a guest certificate.
Holiday Club/Vacation Club
A holiday Club is a timeshare club who utilizes points-based reservation systems and generally does not carry a deed.
Home Resort
Your home resort is the resort that is listed on your deed. Points-based timeshares may have booking priority for reserving their home resort farther in advance.
II
Interval International, a popular timeshare exchange company.
Interval
Refers to a specific measurement of vacation time. Generally, one week when concerning most timeshares.
Internet Marketing
Internet Marketing in the scope of timeshare resale is extremely important in helping you find the right ownership, or sell your timeshare quickly.
Instant Exchange
A term used to describe an incentivized booking window, within 60-days or less of utilizing a reservation, which gives you a better value when trading with RCI.
Internal Exchange
A term referring to booking at a resort within your resort network that does not incur a trading fee because a trading company is not utilized.
Levy
A synonym for maintenance fees, or other costs paid for use of the timeshare.
Loan Interest
Interest expense is defined as the cost for borrowing funds.
Lock-Out / Lock-Off Unit
Lock off units have the ability to be split into 2 separate units or even 2 separate weeks.
Maintenance Fees
The reoccurring costs involved with owning a timeshare ownership. Fees are used for general maintenance on the resorts as well as funding management and other club-driven initiatives.
Maintenance Week
Some developers refuse to sell one of the 52 weeks for each unit, in order to use the time for renovations or repairs for the unit.
Maximum Occupancy
Refers to the maximum number of people that can stay in a particular timeshare resort / unit.
Mortgage
A mortgage is a loan which is secured by collateral of real property, documented and evidenced by a mortgage note.
Occupancy Level
The occupancy level, also known as occupancy rate, refers to the amount of reservations booked at a particular resort compared to the accommodating space at the resort.
Odd Year Usage
A biennial timeshare that can only be utilized in a year that is an odd number. For example: 2015, 2017 and 2019.
One-In-Four Rule
A rule adopted by certain vacation clubs, that states you are allowed to book a reservation at a specific resort only once every four years.
Platinum Season
Platinum Season is a term that refers to a block of weeks during the year which hold a high desirability.
Points
Points can be thought of as vacation cash that can be spent at any of the resorts in your vacation club.
Points Chart
A points chart is used to help an owner understand how many points it will take to book a particular resort or time of the year.
Points Systems
Points can be thought of as virtual currency that you can redeem for vacations throughout the year.
Presentation
A verbal report using illustrative tools to sell a timeshare interest. Usually gifts are offered to a client for their attendance.
Quarter Share
An ownership where the owner possess one quarter of the property.
Quit-Claim Deed
The grantor of a real property can transfer any and all rights that the owner may or may not have to the recipient or grantee. With this, the owner terminates their right to the property.
RCI
Resort Condominiums International, the most popular timeshare exchange company.
Red Week
A red week refers to a reservation at an RCI affiliated resort during the season in which the property is most desired.
Red Season
The most highly desired season of an RCI affiliated resort.
Resale
Resale is the practice of a timeshare owner divesting in the timeshare and selling to a new owner.
Resale Broker
A resale broker assists a clients in buying and selling timeshares on the secondary market. It is recommended to use only Licensed Real Estate brokerages who specialize in timeshare resale.
Resale Value
The fair market value of a property sold on the secondary market from a private owner or licensed broker.
Rescission
The process of canceling the purchase of a timeshare interval, the rescission period, or amount of time legally allotted to cancel the purchase, differs from state to state.
Rescue / Rescuing
Rescuing means to save leftover points until your next use year as opposed to using them or allowing them to expire.
Resort Clubs
Resort Clubs are multiple vacation properties that have been incorporated into one reservation system, usually through points-based reservations, for the use of many different owners.
Resort Directory
A resort directory refers to a general listing directory for all existing timeshare properties offered by each timeshare company.
Retail Timeshare
When timeshare developers and brands sell their weeks or points to the public at a presentation, it is known as a retail timeshare.
Right of First Refusal
Right of first refusal is a developer right that gives the developer the option to purchase your ownership back from you, preventing a sale to the open market.
Right-To-Use (RTU)
Right-to-use ownerships are not deeded, and feature an expiration date after which the owner cannot utilize the resort.
Season
Seasons are designated time periods throughout the year denoting usage value and/or period of ownership.
Silver Crown Resort
The second highest award given to a resort from RCI based on excellence in certain criteria. These awards are very important when you are trading your ownership week for another.
Silver Season / Silver Week
Silver Season is a term that refers to a block of weeks during the year which hold a low desirability.
Space Banking
A member of RCI can deposit their week or points with RCI in an effort to prolong the amount of time before the usage expires.
Special Assessment Fee
A fee that is in addition to annual maintenance fees, generally charged only in times of emergency for major repairs or renovations to the owner’s resort. For example, if a tornado knocks down the resort you own in Florida, the owners will most likely be charged a special assessment fee in order to rebuild the resort.
Special Assessment (Housing)
Special assessment is defined as a unique charge that government units can assess against real estate property for various public projects.
Tax Deduction
Tax deduction, also known colloquially as a “write-off”, is a deduction of gross taxable income for various items relative to business expenses.
Timeshare
A fractional ownership in which owners are deeded only a piece of ownership rights. Fractional ownership ensures life-long vacations at high-end resorts for very low prices when compared to hotels.
Title
A title, in timeshare terminology, refers to the proof of ownership of a property.
Title Insurance
Title Insurance, in regards to timeshares, is an optional insurance available for the buyer of a timeshare. Title insurance is used to protect a buyer against potential loss in the event that there are discrepancies within a title of ownership, such as back taxes, and unpaid liens or fees.
Trading
Timeshare trading occurs when you trade or exchange your ownership for another ownership through private owners or with the use of a trading exchange company.
Trading Power
Refers to the ability of a particular ownership to trade for other desirable ownerships or times of the year.
Triennial
Timeshare ownerships where the owner can travel every three years.
Unit Size
Refers to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms for a timeshare unit.
Use Week Calendar
Shows which calendar date corresponds to each week number. Also known as timeshare calendar.
Use Year
The year in which a timeshare ownership will be awarded its vacation time or allotment of points.
Vacation Club
A Vacation Club is a timeshare club who utilizes points-based reservation systems and generally does not carry a deed.
Vacation Ownership
A synonym for timeshare, or fractional ownership.
White Season / White Week
A White Week is an RCI term which refers to a block of time at a resort that has medium desirability.