Financial advisors should warn clients that getting out of a time share on a vacation home may be harder than getting into it, says Thomas Parenteau, chief operations officer of Reed Hein Associates, a company that specializes in helping people get out of unwanted time share contracts.

“It’s not easy to get rid of a time share. You’ve signed a contract and are obligated to live up to it,” says Parenteau. “If you have a low mortgage and the vacation unit is in a good location, you may be able to sell it, but otherwise they have little value.”

Reed Hein and Associates, based in Lynnwood, Wash., with offices across the United States, has been in business for six years.

The first step in possibly getting out of a time share contract is to determine whether there is a buyback provision in the contract or to see if the developer will negotiate a buyback, Parenteau says. “Finding a real estate company that has no up-front listing fee for offering the unit for resale also helps.”

“People should think before they buy a time share. Are you really going to want to go to the same place for 30 years?” he asks.

The time share industry is evolving in part because of the problems many owners have encountered, he says.

Instead of buying a specific vacation unit, companies now offer memberships where a person can buy points that can be used for a variety of vacation spots. The owner can buy more points if he or she wants to go to a more luxurious unit in a more desirable vacation spot. Some companies also offer an option to buy fewer points in future years.

Developers are meanwhile consolidating, which means each developer has more units to offer, says Parenteau.