It’s vacation season, and if you plan to stay at a resort, you’ll likely be asked to attend a timeshare presentation. The perks can be tempting — everything from free meals to deeply discounted hotel stays.  But is it worth it?

The timeshare industry is huge. According to the American Resort Development Association, it’s a $10.5 billion industry. That’s comparable to the $11.6 billion Major League Baseball brought home in revenue last year.

But when you buy a timeshare, you’re locked into paying maintenance fees that average $1,500 to $2,500. It’s important to know it is not like buying real estate, says Rich Folk, a former timeshare executive who now leads Timeshare Compliance, a timeshare exit company.

Deanna Dewberry: “Your timeshare is not actually an investment. Your timeshare may actually lose value. Can you speak to that?”

Rich Folk: “Yeah, that’s one of the things that we hear a lot is that they [timeshare salespeople] represent it as a real estate purchase. They use scare tactics like foreclosure, mortgage. The truth of the matter is it’s an unsecured debt. It’s not different from a credit card or a gym membership. It’s a right to use.

Deanna Dewberry: “In fact, if you try to sell your timeshare, you find so much competition because there’s a huge supply of other folks just trying to get out of the maintenance fees, right?”

Rich Folk: “The average person just is unsuspecting and they think there is a resale market, or the developer sold it as something they can rent out, which obviously is not the case  It’s hard to give these away, frankly.”

Deanna Dewberry: “Let’s talk about perpetuity clauses because there are many timeshares that have that in the small print. Can you speak about that?”

Rich Folk: “Yeah, that would be in perpetuity, which means it goes on to your kids and your grandkids.”

Folk says there are benefits in owning a timeshare, but you need to research the company. Ask questions like:

— Does it give owners exclusive benefits or access not available to hotel guests who are paying for nightly stays? 

— Do owners get priority when you’re making a reservation? 

— And is your family going to use it at least once a year?

If you attend a timeshare presentation just for the freebie, be prepared to hold your ground. I’ve found timeshares of the property for sale on the resale market selling for a fraction of what’s being offered during the presentation, and then taken copies of those resale timeshares to the meeting.. It shows them that you can’t be pressured because you’re aware of how inexpensive the property is posted for on the resale market.

Don’t be pressured into doing something that just doesn’t feel right.  It’s your time, your money and your choice.