resale of a timeshare

[ejwisdom]

I have listed my Holiday hills with Resort mart in branson for 2 years with no luck. I am now very leary of giving anybody money to sell my timeshare. Is there a place to sell timeshares on consignment or with some sort of guarntee?

[Eric B.]

Hi Ej welcome to the Forum!

This is the first I have ever heard of Resort Mart, but after digging deeper they have an unsatisfactory record with the BBB and the website is unranked and virtually has no traffic (I am not surprised you haven’t sold yet). When you are selling your timeshare you have to put it where buyers can find it first and foremost! Then you have to price is correct. Silverleaf Holiday Hills is a nice timeshare and does generate offers (well at least at sellmytimesharenow.com it does). What I would do is compare your unit to others out there on the resale market and find the current asking price. When it comes to a company to work with sellmytimesharenow.com has the most top ranked buyer terms out there but if you want to compare companies rankings go to google.com and type in buyer terms (that way you know the site your listed on will be found) like "buy timeshare" or "buy Branson timeshare" or "buy Silverleaf timeshare". When you contact companies about selling you should always ask for: Offer reports, traffic stats & guarantees (make sure you get them in writing).  By gathering all this information it is giving you the best company to spend your hard earned money with to get the results you are paying for! BTW it doesn't hurt to post it on free sites while you are selling on a professional site. 

As for guarantees to sell, any company that guarantees a timeframe or price you can sell at is lying to you! No one knows when a buyer will make an offer on your property so they can't guarantee when it will sell for how much!

I have listed my Holiday hills with Resort mart in branson for 2 years with no luck. I am now very leary of giving anybody money to sell my timeshare. Is there a place to sell timeshares on consignment or with some sort of guarntee?

[Gator1]

You may also want to try using a timeshare broker to sell your timeshare for you. They should be licensed real estate brokers and may be able to sell your timeshare for you with the cost taken out in commission after the sale. Try TimeshareHotDeal.com and see if they can help you.

[Frank Coleman]

I would never pay an upfront fee to sell privately. If the resale company knows what it is doing then they will market your timeshare effectively and may should even recommend the price you charge. If they have no upfront fees and advise you on the price, then list the timeshare with them. As they have no upfront fees and have a simple commission for the sale then you can be assured that they are confident in their abilities and they will 'earn their money'. One word of friendly advice...dont be greedy. You can expect to get back between 30 - 50% of the developers current asking price.

[Eric B.]

There are brokers out there that charge on the back end, HOWEVER they charge REALLY high commission rates (20% to 40% is common) and they are difficult to find when selling your timeshare. I also have to REALLY disagree with your statement on paying an advertising expense. If people or business didn't pay for advertising nothing would be sold. For example I found out Transformers the movie was coming out last Tuesday thanks to advertising , I also found my current vehicle online thanks to advertising. So you have to spend money selling your timeshare, the key to getting results is researching the places your considering investing with. Industry statistics state that over 90% of people looking to buy a timeshare resale use the internet to find their desired property. So if you are not marketing online you are shooting yourself in the foot! Also once consumers get online over 70% of them use Google to find their desired website to shop on. So if the company you list with doesn't rank well in Google then your property most likely wont be found! Now once the consumer finds your property you need to have an attractive asking price to generate an offer. This is the main reason SellMyTimeshareNOW is so successful in generating offers for our clients, we rank number one in Google for THOUSANDS of primary keywords and we are upfront with our clients on the value of their timeshare. If you can find me a broker or ANY other resale company that has generated over a 1/4 BILLION dollars in offers then you should list with them instead!

I would never pay an upfront fee to sell privately. If the resale company knows what it is doing then they will market your timeshare effectively and may should even recommend the price you charge. If they have no upfront fees and advise you on the price, then list the timeshare with them. As they have no upfront fees and have a simple commission for the sale then you can be assured that they are confident in their abilities and they will 'earn their money'. One word of friendly advice...dont be greedy. You can expect to get back between 30 - 50% of the developers current asking price.

[Irv]

Sounds like there are some good companies and not so good to sell and buy, just like anything else.  Does anyone have any experience with a company called Hotel Timeshare Resales International?

[wwanda]

any opinion on timeshare by owner? they've contacted  me to buy

[Eric B.]

They contacted you to help sell your timeshare or sell you a timeshare?

any opinion on timeshare by owner? they've contacted  me to buy

[wwanda]

i am interested in selling my timeshare; they said they would list it at $25,500  (wyndham daytona 189,000 pts, paid $15,300 in 2001).  i didn't get further details (like how much will i put in my pocket when all is said and done).  have decided not to use this co as the better business burea report isn't good.

[Eric B.]

And the fact that they WAY over quoted your selling price. There is really no way you will get $25,500 for 189,000 annual Wyndham points (assuming they are annual). I am surprised you only paid $15,300... usually that is biennial points pricing. On the resale market you can find most Annual Wyndham points for 5 cents to 7 cents per point. So you shouldn't price your points over $13,000! if it is biennial, your looking at 60% of that ($7,800 or less).  I am glad you didn't list with them and saved yourself a headache and some money.

i am interested in selling my timeshare; they said they would list it at $25,500  (wyndham daytona 189,000 pts, paid $15,300 in 2001).  i didn't get further details (like how much will i put in my pocket when all is said and done).  have decided not to use this co as the better business burea report isn't good.

[walkerfamily]

I am very new to the time share selling business - in fact I am just trying to get out of one of mytimesahres with Diamond Resorts (formally sunterra) I am willing to take a huge loss to stop paying raising maintence fees.  I just read that the points for my resort are not transferrable - I take it that this deminishes what little value my property has.  I want to have as little to do with the sale as possible - I have tried other pay services before and I have found that they are all theives - much like timeshare sales people.  Also if I am interested inrenting my timeshare - what is best way to about finding potential vacationers. Thanks for any help people can provide.

[Eric B.]

I am sorry to hear your troubles with your timeshare. You're correct that the points are non-transferable and the value has diminished. However not every resale company is a crook and you should be careful with the accusations. I have put up a "how to sell your timeshare" post in the advice section, I recommend you take a gander at that first. There are brokers out there and the one I recommend inquiring with is www.timesharehotdeal.com.

I am very new to the time share selling business - in fact I am just trying to get out of one of mytimesahres with Diamond Resorts (formally sunterra) I am willing to take a huge loss to stop paying raising maintence fees.  I just read that the points for my resort are not transferrable - I take it that this deminishes what little value my property has.  I want to have as little to do with the sale as possible - I have tried other pay services before and I have found that they are all theives - much like timeshare sales people.  Also if I am interested inrenting my timeshare - what is best way to about finding potential vacationers. Thanks for any help people can provide.

[Bob K]

Advice: Timeshares are not investments and you should not expect to make money on them... They are for our enjoyment to use as vacation spots. Don't buy if you have no plans on using them or expect to make money on them. They are valuable as far as personal enjoyment comfort during your vacation stays and they are better than staying in motels and hotels... of course like anything else. There are better timeshares than others. so be carefull in choosing your vacation spots.. Enjoy your timeshare and don't worry if your making money on them...because your not... If you feel that your maintenance fees are getting to high to be worth while. Sell low and get out. Don't look at it as a lose but look at it as getting free from a debt.

[skateshred]

Hi Eric B - I have talked to a couple of other timeshare resellers but now SellMyTimeshareNow contacted me.  Although I have a listing on e-Bay I liked the pricing mentioned and the testimonials on their site.  But SMTN is not a member of BBB and it says unsatisfactory record, although high volume and disputes resolved or to-best-of-ability. 

Question 1: You are employed by SellMyTimesharesNow?  But you direct people to other brokers?  That's interesting.  You sound objective and savvy, so hats off to you.  Your referencing others makes you more credible but I don't ever want to run into another scam!  TELL me it's not a scam.
Question 2: Does SMTN have a storefront where buyers in Florida can walk in and learn more?  Does it have resort pictures? 
Question 3: Can you give me a rough idea of the ratio of sales website to storefront?   Do you know an *average* sale time for a reasonably priced listing?
Question 4: The online inventory looks enormous, but the testimonials are stellar.  Are they legit?

Finally, although you're on their payroll  do you think this is a good service despite the upfront fee?  The prices on the site are better than other brokers are offering.

Thank you kind sir.

[Eric B.]

Hi Eric B - I have talked to a couple of other timeshare resellers but now SellMyTimeshareNow contacted me.  Although I have a listing on e-Bay I liked the pricing mentioned and the testimonials on their site.  But SMTN is not a member of BBB and it says unsatisfactory record, although high volume and disputes resolved or to-best-of-ability.

Not sure where you saw that but we are a member of the BBB with a satisfactory record (there is a BBB logo on our homepage).   

Question 1: You are employed by SellMyTimesharesNow?  But you direct people to other brokers?  That's interesting.  You sound objective and savvy, so hats off to you.  Your referencing others makes you more credible but I don't ever want to run into another scam!  TELL me it's not a scam.

Yes I am employed by SellMyTimeshareNOW and I do recommend consumers do their homework before choosing a resale company to work with. That may be a different approach for a timeshare resale company, however we are VERY confident in our marketing strategy and google rankings so we know we are the right choice.

Question 2: Does SMTN have a storefront where buyers in Florida can walk in and learn more?  Does it have resort pictures?

SMTN is an online marketing company, we do not operate like a real estate agency or timeshare resort. We do have the occasional local timeshare owner stop by to list their property (this is a rare occasion).
 

Question 3: Can you give me a rough idea of the ratio of sales website to storefront?   Do you know an *average* sale time for a reasonably priced listing?

There is no average sale time. The speed of the sale is dependent on many different factors (price, location, week #, resort, etc.). 

Question 4: The online inventory looks enormous, but the testimonials are stellar.  Are they legit?

Every thing displayed on our website is legit and has been verified. 

Finally, although you're on their payroll  do you think this is a good service despite the upfront fee?  The prices on the site are better than other brokers are offering.

I am on the payroll, however I am here because I believe in the service. There is a charity organization I have been working with that has listed well over a hundred properties on this site and has had tremendous success. There have also been folks that list and get poor results. We can only do so much, the ball is really in your court. We are the easiest timeshare resale site to find on the internet, however if your ad is inaccurate and over priced it wont be effective for you. That is why we recommend pricing aggressive and keeping up to date on your listing. The bottom line is if you follow the resale guide lines you will achieve a successful sale.

-= Eric =-