How to use your timeshare

I have owned Nepean Country Club timeshare for 10 years. I have never stayed at the resort. We have only visited it for day-use a few times a year. You can see pictures here. I usually take the kids there for a day, bring some food for BBQ lunch, play tennis, mini-golf, canoe, swimming. A cheap family day out. In summer, we go to Rye beach in the evening before heading home. As member we can use the facility for free as often as we want, just need to ring up and inform the resort the day before.

For an owner, you get one week every year, you will pay maintenance fee every year, for 2009 it is $572. So that's how much it costs to stay there for a week. The week is not fixed, to get a week at peak season, eg Christmas, school holiday, you need to get in early. I have been lucky enough to book a week for January for the last 2 years. Member can book the week online at Nepean CC website. I rented out the week for around $1000, so I made a profit of over $400.

Most of the time, I deposited my week with an exchange company, for example, Dial An Exchange. Membership to this exchange company is free, you have 3 years before the week expired. For example, if one week is deposited in Jan 2009, it will expire in Jan 2012. You pay a fee when you exchange your week for another resort. I have exchanged 2 times for overseas holiday (Malaysia hotel, Thailand resort), have holiday at Gold Coast (once, another time for a friend), Lakes Entrance (VIC), Forster (NSW), Cumberland Lorne (no longer a timeshare resort, now privately owned. I was lucky to stay there once, it now rents for minimum of $200 per night)

I will give an example of accomodation cost for my Gold Coast holiday in September 2009, it costs $572+$105 (exchange fee)=$677 for a week. Usually it would have cost well over $1000 to stay for a week. The resort is Beachcomber International, you can check the real rental price at the site.