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How To Buy Timeshare

Filed under Buying Timeshares.

Most people in America have received a phone call or an email from a timeshare company promising a free vacation, a free show, a free television or some other great incentive to encourage an individual to buy a timeshare. Most of the incentives are accompanied by a 90 minute presentation and at the end, the individual can leave with their parting gifts without any further commitment. However, during the 90 minute presentation most aggressive sales persons will try to convince the guest to buy a timeshare, which averages in price of about $19,000. Before an individual decides to buy a timeshare, it is important to be armed with information about timeshare ownership.

Growing Industry

Timeshare ownership is a growing area of tourism. However, it can be a tough sell during these economic times as individuals are uncertain about their financial futures. Currently, about 3 per cent of Americans are timeshare owners. The industry, however, is still growing despite the declining economic times. In 2007, the industry’s sales revenue reached 10.5 billion. The number has grown since 1997, when the sales were only 2.7 billion.

Florida, California and South Carolina are popular destinations and share 39 percent of the timeshare market share. Las Vegas, NV is also a popular destination for timeshare ownership.

Points To Keep In Mind

When planning to buy a timeshare, it is important to know the quality of the resort network and also what is being purchased: Is the owner buying time, like fractional jet ownership or a deed to a piece of property? This is important because if the owner plans to sell or give away the property later, then he or she needs to know if they have any rights to do so.

Buying a timeshare is typically not viewed as an investment. The purchase may be however a more comfortable, more spacious and more luxurious way to vacation, depending upon the network, for less money than you would spend sharing a small hotel room with a family of four. Buying a timeshare is only more economical, if you plan to vacation a certain amount of time per year, every year for a given period of time. Otherwise, it can be a waste of money.

In the past, the individual would buy rights to a week in a particular location for a given number of years. In order to vacation in another location, the owner would have to find someone who wanted to “trade” locations with him or her during the desired week of travel. This process was restrictive and frustrating to some, because if the purchaser owned in an undesirable location, it was more difficult to trade to a more desirable location.

Flexibility With Purchase

The new process of buying timeshares, involves some of the old constraints with slightly more flexibility. With new policies, it’s almost guaranteed that you can vacation in an any given area for any one week out of the year, with advanced notice. This new process also includes a deed of ownership where an individual can sell, lease, will or rent their timeshare to whomever they choose.

Many of the new timeshares can be quite luxurious complete with all of the comforts of home. However, do your research to determine the consistency and quality of the accommodations throughout the chosen network. Though there is a significant improvement, not all timeshare companies are as reputable as others. Be sure that the company has good business practices before deciding to buy a timeshare.

As individual’s begin to shed luxury items to conserve money, many people have turned to eBay to buy timeshare. Typically, if the individual is not using their week that particular year, an interested party can purchase the week or purchase the entire deed outright. Be sure to read the company’s policy before engaging in a sale over eBay. Although, you may find a timeshare at a fraction of the cost, the deed may or may not be transferable or the property may be in ruins. So the question ‘how to buy a timeshare’ may seem easy to answer at first but as in all real estate transaction you need to be sure to perform due diligence prior to making this type of purchase.

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Sell My Timeshare: Tips On Selling Your Timeshare

Filed under Home.

Are you looking for the best way to sell your timeshare? If you’re thinking of selling your timeshare it’s best to have you bases covered ahead of time.  For many people timeshares are the best way to do a vacation. You purchase a block of time in a home, condo or resort and that block of time belongs to you. For example if you vacation in Florida, you can purchase a week at a resort and each year that week belongs to you. This can be a great from the perspective of convenience. You do not have to worry about booking reservations in preparation for your vacation and you are guaranteed a reservation every year because you have already purchased that block of time. However if you get tired of the same place every year, or simply want the flexibility to be able to vacation whenever you wish, timeshares may not be for you.

How To Sell A Timeshare Tips:

Reselling your timeshare can be a stressful process but remember, it doesn’t matter when you bought your unit, you are allowed to resell it at any period.  Life happens and circumstances change, even if you financed your timeshare and are still making payments you are still allowed to sell it, keep in mind you will be required to pay off any outstanding balance to give the unit a clear title before the sale.

  1. There should be no appraisal fees or commissions when you’re selling your timeshare.
  2. The company’s reputation is also something to look at. Asking for references is perfectly acceptable. If the company does not
    want to provide references, you should probably continue looking. Any reputable company would be very happy to provide you
    with good references.
  3. Accreditation is something else that does not hurt. The National Timeshare Owners Association and the American Resort Developers Association are two organizations that will put their name on the companies that are worthy of the recognition.
  4. Be open minded about the resale of your property. There are many things to consider like the season, age of the property, location and its size. You would want to balance the cost of maintenance.
  5. With many timeshare resorts you may be required to use their agency when transferring ownership.
  6. Compile all the necessary documents in the process of selling your timeshare. This should include tax records, mortgage information, and any other documents for maintenance and developments.
  7. Make a list of all the reputable real estate agencies. You will need to check with an attorney or lawyer for the best options so that you are covered legally.
  8. Place your property on the classified ads of the paper. You have to consider keeping those target audience in mind. You might want to place all your ads in the travel or recreation or leisure and even on the senior publication papers, both on the domestic, regional and national paper. The cost of this ad might be considered as well.
  9. Familiarize yourself with the timeshare related laws in the industry. There may be upfront fees that are illegal in some states. Going to US.gov and type in a search like “selling timeshares” will yield you a wealth of information on the legalities state by state.
  10. Make a documentation and records of the process. Contact a broker and even an agency regarding the responsibilities that they have to fulfil and demand the rights to the property. Notify all the persons who need to be notified of the purchase like the resort managers.
  11. Other resources include listing your timeshare on sites like craigslist.org, kijiji.com can be fruitful, these are also free to list.  If you don’t mind paying a fee you can also list your weeks on Ebay, although the competition will be more prevalent but Ebay does offer a complete tutorial on listing your timeshare to help you along the way

Selling Your Timeshare

The process of timeshare sales can be time consuming and very difficult especially if your timeshare is located a great distance from where you live.  During these difficult economic times there seems to be an increased number of timeshares on the market and increasingly many vendors are in need of funds and are saying ” I want to sell my timeshare now! “.  If you were to call a real estate agent about putting your timeshare for sale they will list it for you, but there are a few things you should consider before consulting a real estate broker to sell your timeshare for you. Remember that real estate agents work on a commission basis and timeshare’s value is not going to be as much as that of a home. Chances are that your timeshare is not going to be marketed as aggressively as they would a house where their commission is much larger. You may find yourself making several calls to your real estate agent asking “why aren’t you selling my timeshare?”

Know Your Resort

Many resorts have their own sales associates that specialize in the buying and selling of timeshares.  There are also many online services coming into the marketplace that specialize in the sale of timeshare properties.   When deciding to sign up with a company there are some qualifications you should look for:

  • Do they offer experienced, fully trained vacation ownership agents?
  • Do they have offices that offer person to person contact between timeshare owners, sellers and renters?
  • Do they offer you immediate access to your listing online so you can update your listing and offers?
  • Do they provide you with a full service ownership transfer?

Timeshare Resale Sites

There are many highly regarded companies will have a broad customer base which will assure a lot of traffic viewing your timeshare for sale. The more people see it, the better chances you have of getting it sold quickly. If there are any fees for the sale of your timeshare, they should be for placement. Most honest timeshare sales sites will list your timeshare for free. For a nominal fee you can get more prominent placement among the other timeshares available or if you choose to pay a small percentage of the sale price
you can have your timeshare featured on the website.

Conclusion

Carefully research the proper evaluation of your timeshare will ensure that it is priced competitively. Check on the prices of comparable timeshares in and around the same area. There is no need to pay for a formal appraisal, but doing a thorough review your timeshare’s value is crucial. Pricing it properly will be the difference between asking “how do you sell a timeshare ?” and finally closing the sale of your timeshare.

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