Example of a really misleading press release..

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Team Arleen Realtors Keller Williams Named Preferred Agent for MainSail of Beaufort

I always get a chuckle out of these "press release" sites which churn out one misleading article after another- all in the name of search engine optimization! This one is especially laughable as the author twists information about US timeshare ownership to try and promote this fractional..

.........Popular in Europe for decades and successful at ski resorts out west, co-ownership is relatively new in North Carolina with less than a dozen like developments. In co-ownership, the buyer purchases one or more shares of the property and is allotted an appropriate amount of usage. This spreads the financial burden of purchasing and maintaining the property over several owners. MainSail limits the number of owners to 10 per unit. Each one-tenth share entitles owners to at least five weeks of use.

Differing from timeshare, a contract for usage over a set time period, co-owners receive a general warranty deed. Timeshares generally loses value annually holding zero value at the end of the contact. On the other hand, MainSail deeds are for real property which maintains its value subject to real estate market fluctuations. Timeshare accommodations are often nothing more than hotel rooms, where at MainSail the buyer is a partial owner of a 1,925 square-foot private townhome. Additionally MainSail owners are able to rent out their unused time, as well as sell, mortgage and will their deeded interest independent of the other owners.

[Articulon Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Articulon]

Help me understand your point

As the PR representative that posted the release, we are always interested in being factual and accurate.

In your post you state that information is misleading in the press release, but fail to clearly identify what information is misleading or what facts you are basing your claim on.

Please be clearer so that I can make sure the information I put out properly differentiates between Timeshare and Fractional Ownership.

Thank You

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Not Rick, but
Most of US timeshare also receive deed and are real estate. They just has less value since you and other at least few hundredish owner share the decision.

And TS stay is definite not hotel. They are more like condo stay, and some TS are close to luxury 3 or 4 BD condo, some are close to regular home.

Fraction also share the decision rights between owners, so it does not really go as regular real estate.

Jya-Ning

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Welcome to the forums.. Please spend some time here to learn more about the industry, and about how the vast majority of timeshare interests in the US are sold!

You'll probably be very surprised to discover that most US based ownerships are actually very similar to the MainSail product, and that the only significant difference is the percentage of the fractionals.

Hopefully you'll be willing to spend some time and attention here, and provide viewpoints from a different perspective..

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

It appears to me that there is little difference between timeshares in the US and fractional ownership. You can accomplish the same thing with a timeshare simply by buying more weeks. I do see a lot of advantages to timeshares vs fractional. Timeshares are more flexible as you can exchange your weeks, buy different weeks, etc. US timeshares are typically deeded properties. Contrary to the article, many timeshares are luxury resorts with all the amenities and service of a 4* or 5* resort.

[Articulon Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Articulon]

Thank You

Thank you for your welcome and cordial responses.

[SteveChapin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SteveChapin]

It appears to me that there is little difference between timeshares in the US and fractional ownership. You can accomplish the same thing with a timeshare simply by buying more weeks. I do see a lot of advantages to timeshares vs fractional. Timeshares are more flexible as you can exchange your weeks, buy different weeks, etc. US timeshares are typically deeded properties. Contrary to the article, many timeshares are luxury resorts with all the amenities and service of a 4* or 5* resort.

Some fractional ownership, particularly at resorts that also have timeshares, can be deposited as weeks in II or RCI.

Come to think of it, though, the only example of this that I'm 100% sure of is outside the US. I'm thinking of Castaways Cove on Grand Cayman island, adjacent to and affiliated with The Reef resort. Owners of fractionals (or whole units) at CC can deposit weeks into II for exchange. I assume, but maybe that's flawed thinking, that the luxury hotel chains that operate both timeshares and fractionals operate similarly.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Fractionals or quartershares that I know of that deposit weeks in RCI are Deer Park (NH) and the Grand Summit group and I'm sure there are others. Quartershares or other fractionals do have the decided advantage of lower fees (other than taxes) per week than similar timeshares. The only real disadvantage that I can see is the number of weeks- which may be more than some can use.
There was another fractional or whole ownership resort in Lincoln, NH that I stopped to check out a few years ago-and they deposited weeks in RCI but management had a very negative opinion of RCI exchangers and soon afterward they terminated their exchange relationship.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

I've stayed at timeshare places that were nothing more than a made over Holiday Inn. ( SC , CA ) Also, I stayed at motels that were on or above some standards set by timeshares. By far the best thing to do is rent last min. from the resort a non used timeshare spot. No ties !

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

I feel so sorry for you....

I've stayed at timeshare places that were nothing more than a made over Holiday Inn. ( SC , CA ) Also, I stayed at motels that were on or above some standards set by timeshares. By far the best thing to do is rent last min. from the resort a non used timeshare spot. No ties !

Bing must be the unluckiest person in the entire world of timeshare, to have such consistently negative experiences and yet still be compelled to stay so involved!

Hopefully, Bing is much luckier in all other areas of life....


Floridays Resort on International Drive in Orlando is another condo-hotel that packages fractional and whole condo ownership with exchange privileges via interval international.

Meadow Lake in Montana is another example. Both intervals and fractionals are sold there, with enrollment into RCI points available to each. It's one of the few RCI point properties I often recommend!

We should also include the Ritz Carlton ownerships as an example...

And perhaps large point contracts within the Wyndham or other similar point system that offer multi-week potential.

There is nothing wrong with fractional ownership, it is simply another version of interval ownership. They simply hope to service a consumer looking for longer stay durations. It makes perfect sense that many are beginning to affiliate with some type of exchange system to give their owners more flexibility.