How the Apparent Thrill of Buying a Timeshare Can Turn Sour Fast

by Legal S. Real Estate Attorneys in CA and NV

Buying a timeshare appears to be an exciting decision as it means that you are now the owner of a vacation home. Timeshare attorneys hear from clients that the resort unit is presented as a place that you can visit every year to go and relax and spend quality time with family and friends. No more wondering where to go and wondering whether the choice is the right one since you already know what to expect.

When a months and years go by, however, the vacation club likely loses its excitement, and you may want to exit the membership or sell it to another person. Timeshare resale is not very easy as it sounds, as it usually is quite difficult to get buyers who are willing to invest in that particular location as well as finds the time of the year suitable.  One should consider all these points before you think of investing in a timeshare resort. 

When you’re unprepared for a timeshare “tour” or unaware of what the ownership entails, the resort sales rep sounds very convincing. Timeshare attorneys report that consumers buy timeshares simply because they’re uninformed. Anyone with a rational mind, that takes the time to truly investigate the expensive membership, will clearly see it’s not worth the money. Something that may seem like a needed getaway for an affordable price can easily turn into a costly experience.

One particular timeshare owner spent 4 hours being pressured into buying into a point system with a well-known resort. She visited previously and was coerced into signing up for a program to allowed her to save up for a potential down payment if she came back for another presentation. 

So, she listened for a while and decided that it wasn't something she could afford. Her resort sales rep told her, "If you didn't come with the intention on getting the timeshare, then you broke the contract and we will have to charge you the full price for your stay". She said she agreed to come back because she was still curious but it is not something she could afford right now. She was not expecting to come yet but had no choice as she received an email stating the program was only valid for 1 year and was expiring and could not be refunded.

The timeshare owner said OK then what happens to our money? Is it used for the room or refunded? The snarky sales rep said “neither, it doesn't work that way.” The realization that she was going to lose 3000 dollars and be charged an additional 3000 dollars was terrifying. She kept telling him I want to go, that we've been there a long time and we hadn't eaten lunch and were starving, even pleading that she wanted to enjoy the sunset. She was so worried we finally relented to get away from him. They then made us pay another down payment after repeatedly told them we really didn't have money to spare at the moment.

She eventually realized that she was clearly scammed. Unfortunately, the scare tactic that we may have just thrown away almost 3000 dollars and that we would be charged an additional 2000 dollars worked. 

Getting out of the timeshare contract is a difficult task for most timeshare owners. The multitude of timeshare sellers flooding the resale market devalues the timeshare’s sale price.

How am I able to sell my timeshare? The very fact is that sooner or later, all timeshare owners want to sell and find out. Situations change, and what suits you at only once might not be what you would like or need years later. Since this can be a frequent question, I made a decision to try to a real case study for you. I’m selling a timeshare myself immediately, so let’s practice it all step by step.

There are a pair of the way you'll be able to keep company with selling: (a) Sell through a reputable timeshare broker, or (b) Sell it yourself. In this case study, I’ll be prying option (b) – Sell your timeshare yourself. The timeshare you’re selling are going to be in competition with people selling the identical or similar things. Researching the competition will facilitate your position your own timeshare unit. A timeshare owner's main challenge is competing with other similar timeshares currently out there on the resale market. These are appealing on to the identical pool of possible buyers that you just are attempting to achieve — people that want to shop for a resale timeshare.

If your timeshare currently has resort tour going on with thousands of new owners signing up, that’s another piece of competition, but it’s quite a bit different. they need a high-powered sales system that you simply don’t have, and they’ll usually be selling for a far higher price than you're. Also, their target market could be a bit different than people trying to find resales. So, it’s good to begin by researching other resale timeshares that may be competing with yours. some places to test on resale timeshares are:

- EBay

- Redweek

- TUG (Timeshare Users Group)

- General Google search

Unfortunately, most timeshares do not get anywhere near the original sale price from the developer. If you paid a lot for a timeshare, do not expect to get it back when you sell.

Yes, you may list it for that 30,000 dollars that you just spent, but if your research showed that people are selling the identical thing for 1,000 dollars, you’re not finding a buyer who wants to pay 30 times the value. 

Advertising. Well-known websites to list a timeshare for sale or rent include EBay, Craigslist, Redweek, TUG, and many others. you'll also come up with many other possibilities — post it on your Facebook, on a bulletin board at work, within the local newspaper.

Closing. It's possible to arrange closing documents yourself, but it’s safer to use an organization that's experienced in timeshare closings. TUG may be a good place to research available companies, and see what experiences others have had with them. you'll then contact specific companies and learn their prices or other details.

Escrow. Depending on a timeshare's selling price, say if it's a lot of money, you might not want to use an escrow service. If there’s much money involved, using an escrow service can give the purchaser some peace of mind and a feeling of security. Once again, TUG is a smart way to go for research.

Once again, TUG may be a good place to try and do some research. As far donating a timeshare goes, a recent survey found that donation timeshare unit values are greatly inflated. Appraisers affiliated with the corporate provided timeshare owners with valuations for his or her properties that greatly exceeded the particular market price. The IRS has analyzed timeshare appraisals provided by defendants, and located that the timeshares sold, on average, on eBay for under 3-4% of the appraised value.

Since the resale timeshares that are for sale outnumber the buyers, the many sellers are stuck with their property. At times they feel compelled to sell their unit at a price that is much lower than the amount they originally paid. This is when the sellers may consider consulting with a timeshare attorney to approach the timeshare company to cancel it. This is also quite difficult, due to the complexities of timeshare law, but it is possible. There are solid timeshare lawyers who are specialists in this field and will make sure that you are able to cancel successfully.

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Created on Sep 17th 2020 14:43. Viewed 266 times.

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