The process of buying a timeshare has become one that many people now consider. For those who are not entirely clear on what a timeshare is or how it works, this article will give a basic grounding.

This idea of the timeshare originally came about in Europe in the 1960s. A ski resort developer (Hapimag) in the French Alps sold the idea of his resort by suggesting his guests to "stop renting a room" and instead "buy the hotel". Success followed quickly, and the idea was swiftly taken to heart by developers around the world, increasing sales of extra condominium units at a time when the resort industry was going into a slump.

The popularity of this concept brought about a similar range of timeshare services for cars, boats and other high value objects. In the USA, where timeshare options are very popular, there were estimated to be around 154,000 timeshare buildings across the country. This accounts for 6 percent of US households who actually own one.

Across the globe, America accounts for 31 percent of all timeshares, while 25 percent are in Europe and Latin America 16 percent (and Mexico itself has 40 percent of this figure).

Once someone has their timeshare they can do a number of things with. The most common thing to do with it is to stay in it over the allotted period - where there is arguably a great deal of comfort and prestige involved in staying in one. They are however, quite expensive and so if people cannot manage to stay in their timeshare at the allotted time they may decide to rent it out and get at least some of the money back. As time goes on they may decide to give their timeshare as a gift.

If they get a little tired of the geographical location they are in they may well be able to exchange it for a timeshare apartment or condominium within the same resort. Alternatively, a given owner might want to exchange the property externally among thousands of other resorts around the globe. If none of these options seem appropriate then they can simply decide to sell it through various advertising channels, either online or by using a licensed broker to do the deal.

Even in challenging economic climate, timeshare property is big business and it looks as if it will go on being an economic way for people to enjoy the luxury of their own apartment.