By the other half, I mean the other licensed real estate agents since one has to have a real estate license, regardless of the state, to sell timeshares. And by “willingly,” it saved us about $2,700 on our hotel costs. I figure, if I can get out of there in an hour (they say play 90 to 120 minutes), that’s not a bad return on my investment of time.

Admittedly, this is not my first rodeo with timeshare presentations. This “once in a lifetime opportunity,” has fortuitously been granted to us on several different occasions. However, since this one was promised to be the unequivocally very last chance to take advantage of this money-saving occasion, I was committed to listen up and learn.

Earlier that morning we had decided to go for a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. We had plenty of time so we donned our hiking gear, grabbed some bamboo sticks at the bottom of the trail and began our short traverse up a beautiful but rocky and mud-filled trail. Once we arrived at the waterfall, we noted an even longer trail off to the left and decided to explore that one as well. This one was slightly steeper, muddier and a tad more perilous than the well-traveled trail we had just been on. This is why we arrived to our presentation — in the nick of time — sweaty, hungry and covered with dry mud from head to toe. We thought this might be a deterrent to the hardcore salesperson that had been given the unfortunate task of presenting to us, but alas, it was not.

He greeted us, offered us snacks, proceeded into the obligatory small talk about where we are from, how we are enjoying our vacations and so forth, and then dove right into the benefits of timeshare ownership. I really wanted to chat with him about the real estate market in Hawaii, but he didn’t seem to know much about it. I understand we are from very different sides of the industry, but I had assumed, since he had to take the same continuing education courses I did, that we could have something to talk about, but it was not to be. He continued on. “You guys seem like a more mature couple (read old), so I’ll just cut to the chase…” he outlined a few different options, showed us some pictures of different resorts and then touted the benefits of investing and ownership.

As a side note, I appreciate him “cutting to the chase,” and I don’t mind being called old. However, I am going to be a bit sensitive when it comes to such a broad definition of ownership in a piece of real estate. I have investment properties. These properties tend to increase in value over time according to market values. However, timeshare properties are not considered investment properties. Rather, they decrease in value over time. Also, while the “use” of a rotating unit for a week out of the year may be defined as “ownership” in the timeshare industry, I have a very difficult time calling this ownership. It is really just prepaid rent.

This may be a good option for some people, but I was hungry and needed a shower. After about 30 minutes, I told him I didn’t want to waste any more of his time. “I appreciate your professionalism and knowledge. I just need to know the final numbers for our permanent vacation rentals.”

He excused himself for a few minutes. My husband turned to me and said, “You’re the one who has to tell him no.” Why I always get the role of bad cop in these scenarios is beyond me, but I agreed to take it.

When he returned, he gave us two different numbers. They each presented a different option. These were just the initial upfront costs. I looked up and said, “It’s a hard no from me.” He began his “overcoming objections” practice.

“What part about this are you struggling with?” he asked. I told him that it was irrelevant because I was hungry, dirty and tired and my answer wasn’t going to change.

His demeanor changed immediately. A switch flipped. He became curt, impolite and abrupt. We were clearly not friends anymore. “You have used our vacation rental, wasted an hour of my time, which I value at about $700 (just wow) and will never, ever get this opportunity again. I was just trying to save you money. But here. Just sign here and let’s get you out of here.”

We signed and left. I turned to my husband and said, “This is why I do what I do instead of what he does. I could never devalue a relationship with someone I had developed just because they decide buying isn’t the best decision for them.”

We returned to the valet to pick up our rental, which we soon learned had been stolen. But that is a topic for another conversation.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com