I have a friend who is part of a timeshare in Colorado. He actually gets good value out of it. The difference is, it's a private timeshare he split with longtime family friends. He didn't buy it from a timeshare re-seller.
Basically, his family and about 5 or 6 other families formed an LLC, bought a property under the LLC and then basically meet once or twice a year to divvy up who's going to use the unit and when. They split the property taxes evenly and then split the upkeep/maintenance costs proportionately relative to how much time each member spends at the property. There's no corporate overlord involved, just a split between longtime friends. Originally, there was one more family involved, and when they wanted out, the group just bought back the family's "shares" in the LLC at the current valuation of the property. My friend said there was no bad blood, everything was by the books, nothing shady.
If things were done this way, all good. But when you get "Always Be Closing" scam artists on the case, well, things just tend to go south.
Sounds like a dream to me, as I live my life on a 3 city rotation like this. Practically speaking, I just rent a house seasonally which is not so hard to do. There’s a small premium, but then I get to keep my equity in the market instead. A lot less headache and someone else gets to worry about the hurricane heading right for my Oct to Jan rental.
This is an area I’m passionate about and am willing to start something if I can see the demand. Setup a form here if you want to reply: https://forms.gle/A6u433hGYSsybeig6
The equity part is a good point. I think the math can work out so that it’s similar to the existing buy vs rent issue people have for a main house.
A nomad style appeals to some people for a (often short) window in their lives. As you say, mixing that up with a bunch of property ownership seems a lot less appealing as a practical matter.
Plus, several times now we have changed one of our bases for a new city. Much easier to call up a short term rental agency and get a new furnished rental.
Basically, his family and about 5 or 6 other families formed an LLC, bought a property under the LLC and then basically meet once or twice a year to divvy up who's going to use the unit and when. They split the property taxes evenly and then split the upkeep/maintenance costs proportionately relative to how much time each member spends at the property. There's no corporate overlord involved, just a split between longtime friends. Originally, there was one more family involved, and when they wanted out, the group just bought back the family's "shares" in the LLC at the current valuation of the property. My friend said there was no bad blood, everything was by the books, nothing shady.
If things were done this way, all good. But when you get "Always Be Closing" scam artists on the case, well, things just tend to go south.