10 �Must Know� Tips for Selling a Timeshare

1. First, NEVER, EVER, under any circumstances pay money upfront to get your timeshare sold. If you haven�t figured it out yet, these are sucker bets. They�ll hit you for hundreds of dollars for nothing more than an advertisement. They�ll promise you giant sums of money for your timeshare. They�ll promise you a sale so fast you�ll be cashing the check before the week is out! BUT FIRST! They need your credit card number for a tiny little �advertising� fee (or �appraisal� fee or any of a number of different excuses). Don�t be fooled, don�t be conned, and don�t be scammed. Would you give a real estate agent money before they sell your house? Why do you think this is any different? Pay for results only. You get the property sold, they get paid. No excuses, no exceptions. Not exaggerating at all, we get easily 15 calls a day from folks who were scammed once, twice and sometimes even three times before they figured out it was all a con. They still own their timeshare, and someone else has their money. Sad, but true; there are many companies out there who are in business for collecting upfront fees, not for selling your timeshare. One red flag is that they call you, not you calling them. These are usually boiler rooms set up with hundreds of phone lines designed to bring in as many suckers as possible. Don�t be one of them. CLICK HERE FOR LISTING AGREEMENT.
2. Know who can legally sell your timeshare for you, and who can�t. By LAW, the only company who you can hire to sell your timeshare for you must be a licensed real estate brokerage. Every state in the U.S. now considers timeshares to be a real estate transaction. This is true whether your timeshare is deeded or not, and whether your timeshare is in the U.S. or not. If the company you hire is not a licensed Real Estate Brokerage, they�re nothing more than an advertising agency. They can put an ad on the internet, among thousands of others, and wish you luck. These companies will usually cross the line and promise you great things, all for just a small �advertising� fee of a few hundred dollars. But they deliver nothing. If a buyer calls them, they legally cannot answer questions about the timeshare on your behalf (that becomes an agency relationship and requires a real estate license and agreement between agent and seller). They cannot collect a deposit on your behalf (that constitutes having an escrow account which is governed by law. Only a licensed Real Estate Brokerage, title agency or title attorney can provide escrow services). They cannot write a contract on your behalf. In other words, all they can do is give the caller your phone number! And for this you paid an upfront fee!
3. Become a buyer for a day! Not really, but pretend. Before you hire a company, give them a test run. Call their office and ask for information about a listing on their web site (pretend to be a buyer, not a seller). Or, ask for help in picking out the right one. Or simply email them about one of their listings. Put some questions together and see how they reply. This is how the buyer of your timeshare is going to be treated when they call in or email. Is the company working on your behalf? Are they responding quickly to calls or emails? If not, why are you even considering them? CLICK HERE FOR OUR LISTING AGREEMENT
4. Set your price realistically. If your home is worth $300,000 and you price it at $900,000, how long will you own your home? Right, for a long time to come! Timeshares are the same. Here’s the cold, hard facts you need to know:
   1. Timeshares lose value, PERIOD. If you bought it at the resort, you’re going to take a bath. (There’s just no nice way to put this. We’re not going to sugar-coat this and we know you want to get the straight scoop). Timeshares on the resale market typically sell for 30-40% of resort prices; some for more, many for even less.
   2. You can get the true value a couple different ways. One, you can talk to a broker and get an honest opinion. Make sure it’s a licensed real estate agent, who charges no money up front. (Reason is they know they have to give you the highest and best price they think they can sell the timeshare for. They know if you list with someone else they have no chance of making a commission. But if they give you a value too high, it won’t sell and they still don’t make a commission. An “upfront fee” company will tell you anything you want to hear since they make their money on upfront fees, not by selling timeshares). Or, look at different web sites and the various prices for comparable prices. Here you have to look at the listings as if you were a buyer, not a seller. You have to realize that a buyer is going to spend 3-4 hours on the internet shopping and comparing. They’ll see our web site along with many others. Ask yourself, “If I were a buyer, would I buy my time share for the price I’m asking? Would I deal with the company advertising the timeshare?”
5. Understand that a buyer needs to be able to find your listing. A web site with thousands of listings tells you something. It tells you that the company is probably charging upfront fees and selling nothing at all. Their money is made by upfront fees, not by sales of timeshares. Thus, the listings just continue to pile up. A good company will have a manageable inventory. They’ll post “Sale Pending” on listings that are spoken for so buyers and sellers both can see results and know that listings are actually moving. CLICK HERE FOR LISTING AGREEMENT
6. Understand that a buyer is VERY skeptical and wants to be sure they’re not about to be conned. Just like you and I would want, they want to be assured 100% that all this is legit. Thus, they’re going to want a licensed Real Estate agent involved in the process. They’re going to check out their license and ask about complaints. They’ve read about the scams on auction sites. They’ve heard about the fake escrow companies. They’ve seen friends get scammed and lose their money. These are all reasons it is so important to let a licensed real estate company handle this for you. We’re trained in knowing what a buyer is looking for not only in the answers they get to questions, but also the way the contract looks and the way the closing is handled. If there’s even a whiff of something not being right, they’re gone.
7. Selling your timeshare on your own can be dangerous to your wallet. Scams abound and certain individuals know the ins and outs of this stuff much better than you do. From fake escrow companies to corrupt contracts, you can easily find yourself having signed away your time share, owing money for it still, and having received nothing in return. There are so many ways you can be taken it would make your head spin.
8. Using a licensed brokerage will probably end up costing you less than selling it on your own. We’re trained to know the market and to get you the highest price possible. A buyer will also want a broker involved in the transaction for protection of their money and rights. Thus, they’ll pay a bit more for a property if they can be 100% assured everything is going to go as planned and they won’t be conned. If buying direct from a seller, they know they’re taking a risk. Thus, they’ll want a sizable discount (just like you and I would). CLICK HERE FOR LISTING AGREEMENT
9. Beware of fake guarantees. Here’s a classic that’s been around for a long time: “We’ll sell your timeshare for you before anyone else does. If not, we’ll refund your fee in full”. Here’s how the scam works. First, you have to understand that this type of company is hitting you for an upfront fee. You’re going to fork over, $400, $500, maybe as much as $900 for their “services”. They’ll quote you a price that will get your attention. Say you have a property that’s worth $5000 on the resale market. They’ll tell you it’s worth $12,000. Since you paid $14,000 for it, you’ll think this isn’t so bad and you run to get your credit card. Plus, you know that you can’t lose since if another company sells it first, you get your money back! Here’s the catch. The guarantee says that if any other company sells it within 10% or 20% of your original asking price; you get your upfront fee refunded. Since the price is way above market value, no one is going to sell it including the company who took your money! If you lower the price eventually, all bets are off since the guarantee specifically states “10% of your original asking price”. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?
10. By not using a licensed broker, you may end up owning that time share a second time! Here’s something few sellers know. The law in most states dictates that a timeshare real estate contract must contain certain language and certain disclosures. This is true no matter who sells the timeshare, even if you do it yourself. In Florida, in fact, the law even specifies that the font in certain parts of the contract must be different than the rest! If your contract is not perfect, the buyer may opt to rescind the contract UP TO A YEAR LATER!. Imagine this scenario: A buyer comes along and purchases your timeshare. They use it, then deposit two years ahead through RCI and take two more vacations that year. Nine months later, you get a letter from the buyer’s attorney. Since the contract was not written according to the law, the contract is being declared void by the buyer. They demand an immediate return of all their money. In addition, you will need to reimburse them for the cost of their closing and maintenance fee, In addition, they may also ask for attorney fees if you give them any grief whatsoever. In addition, you realize you’ll need to pay a second closing to get the title back into your name. And, depending on the resort, you may owe those two maintenance fees for the banked future weeks the buyer used. And their attorney is going to point the finger of blame directly at you for trying to “mislead” their client with an unlawful contract. Think buyers don’t know this? Think there’s not more than a few buyers who take their vacations this way? This is why you have brokers out there. They’ll keep you away from these sort of scenarios.

So there you have it, Ten Tips for selling your timeshare. There are many, many others we could discuss, but you’d eventually get bored and stop reading. Besides, you get the picture. Use a licensed Real Estate Broker, like us, and things go smoothly. If you have other questions, just pick up the phone and call us or drop us an email. Our listing agreement can be accessed by clicking this link. It will fully explain our program.

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