Some timeshare buyers know almost instantly that they’ve made a mistake. Other owners struggle for years with loan payments and ever-escalating annual fees before they’re ready to throw in the towel. Even the happiest timeshare owners may decide they want out of their contracts, perhaps when they are no longer able to travel.

In my latest for the Associated Press, how to get rid of a timeshare.

Many people are desperate to shed their timeshares. That provides bargains for timeshare enthusiasts like Angie and Mike McCaffery of Los Angeles.

The retired couple has paid as little as 50 cents for “used” timeshares. They’ve parlayed their timeshare weeks at four mainland U.S. resorts into affordable stays in England, Spain, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.

“You hear all the nightmare stories, but if you know how to work it and you can plan ahead, it’s the best thing ever,” says Angie McCaffery, 71.

In my latest for the Associated Press, what people who are happy with their timeshares have in common.