With 1,500 timeshare resorts in Europe an advisor is a good idea

There are 1,500 timeshare resorts in Europe, so having an adviser with a menu of choices is a good idea. "They all have their idiosyncrasies," says Re/Max agent Jay Kozlowski, a timeshare specialist based in Orlando.

For example, some companies exclude timeshare buyers from their point systems if buyers don't purchase from the parent company. Marriott is in that category, but Hilton is not. Buying a resale timeshare is almost always much cheaper than buying a new one; Kozlowski says savings can be 50 percent or more. Either way, annual maintenance fees are extra and generally run $300 to $1,000.

Swapping weeks is one way to squeeze more fun from your timeshare. Parent companies have systems for trading for other properties within their group. For example, Marriott has five European properties, in Spain and France. Hilton has one in Portugal and a couple in the British Isles.

You can also trade outside your group through other organizations. Interval International (www.intervalworld.com), one of the largest, charges $238 a year ($84 for membership plus a $154 international-exchange fee) to facilitate a swap for overseas properties. The general rule in swapping is that you can't trade up; the property you swap for can't be more valuable than yours.

Trading is fun, but selling can be painful. Expect to pay a commission of 20 percent to 30 percent, whether you sell through the timeshare parent or an independent broker. Some timeshare companies have a right-of-first-refusal clause, which means you may have to sell your timeshare back to them. One ironclad rule: Never pay anything up front for selling services.

Why are commissions so high? The industry says that selling a timeshare takes as much time and effort as selling a house. On a $300,000 house, the standard 6 percent commission earns the broker $18,000; but a $40,000 timeshare would yield only $2,400.

• U.S.-OWNED: Marriott's Village d'Ile-de-France, near Paris. Two-bedroom unit, off-season: $18,900. Three-bedroom place in the high season: $49,900.
  Marriott's Playa Andaluza, in Spain (www.marriott-timeshare.com). Two-bedroom unit, off-season: $18,300. Luxury three-bedroom, three-bath unit, high season: $77,300.

• EUROPEAN-RUN: DeVere Resort Ownership (www.devere-resorts.co.uk) has four resorts in England and two in Scotland. Two-bedroom lodge: $15,500 in the off-season, to $42,500 in the high season. Three-bedroom unit: $20,500 to $47,500.