Investing

How many times have we tried to justify a big ticket purchase to our partner with the old excuse “but it’s an investment.”

Buying in to a timeshare holiday property falls in to that category (“we’re investing in and prepaying our future holidays”) along with the classic car, gym membership (“I’m investing in my health”), costly clothes purchase (“I’m investing in my appearance”) and the list goes on.

Any of these purchases can be a good idea for a whole range of reasons but don’t con yourself into thinking the major benefit is they’re a good financial investment.

Just to check we weren’t alone in being wary of timeshare investments we checked with two of our property guru mates, Chris Gray of Empire Property and Louis Christopher of SQM Research, who had similar concerns.

Timeshares are where you buy into a property, usually a resort style apartment in a holiday complex, with a group of other investors. Your investment entitles you to a certain number of week’s use of the property each year.

Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Lock in future holidays at today’s prices with the flexibility to swap weeks at another resort.