PROPERTY TIMESHARING

Abstract

Property timesharing is a form of real property ownership in which a single piece of property, such as a unit in a condominium, is shared by many owners, sometimes as many as fifty. Each owner is entitled to occupy that property for a certain period, say one week, in a year. Ownership may be in fee-simple, non-fee simple or as a cooperative. The timeshare concept originated in Europe and is currently popular in the Western countries, particularly the United States where the industry is experiencing rapid growth. It is viewed as a cheaper alternative to owning a second home. Development of timeshare properties is similar to condominium development except for extremely high marketing costs incurred in the former. Management is in the nature of a combination of condominium and hotel management. Problems experienced by consumers/purchasers have resulted in several countries enacting legislations governing development, management and ownership of timeshare properties. Valuation of timeshare properties involves the application of the same principles and techniques used in appraisals of other forms of real estate, namely the comparison, cost and income approaches. Some of these methods require only slight modifications when used to appraise timeshare properties. Although the timeshare concept is most popularly applied to vacation resort developments, it is gradually making headway in city centres in the form of urban timesharing. This caters for visitors on business trips or conventions. Singapore, an urban centre as opposed to a resort centre like Hawaii, is more suited for urban timeshare developments.