Rent Your Timeshare Before You Buy
Are you seriously considering buying a timeshare? Whether you take my advice and buying your timeshare on the secondary market or buy your timeshare directly from the developer, here’s a tip: rent your timeshare before you buy it, think of it as a fun little test drive of the timeshare experience.
Would you buy a car without first test driving it? Probably not. So how could you pay thousands of dollars on something you’ll keep for many many years without seeing how it performs? That’s the theory behind renting a timeshare before you buy it. There are limitations to this because brand new timeshares developments won’t have any owners for you to rent from, or the new owners won’t be tired of it yet and won’t be renting it out. However, if you have your eye out on a “used” timeshare, you could rent it before you consider buying it for good.
Where do you go to rent? If you have a specific place in mind, simply call up the management office and ask if there are any rentals available. If you don’t have a specific place in mind, you probably won’t want to rent it for the sake of test trying it out. You can rent a hotel or something in the geographic region to see if that place is for you because timeshare experiences can vary greatly. There’s no sense test trying a timeshare you won’t be getting (unless you simply want to take advantage of favorable rates).
What to look for? Now that you’re test driving a timeshare, take great pains to look at the little things on the property. Is there an adequate level of maintenance? Are the paths kept clean, trash bins emptied, grilling areas clear and pools properly maintained? You’ll be paying a lot of money each year for maintenance, be sure to see that the property is kept in good condition with your hard earned money. Check the rooms for proper maintenance as well, are the showers, sinks, and toilets in good working condition? If you have a kitchen, are all the appliances working properly? How about the windows and sliding doors? Be meticulous about everything. You’ll be writing a check each year for maintenance and it will help your mind to know that it’s going towards maintenance, not some guy sitting around in an office sucking up air conditioning. 
So, before you buy a timeshare, test drive it first if you can.