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5 Ways to Sell Your Timeshare
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When it comes time to sell your timeshare, keep these tips in mind to make the experience as easy as possible.
First, have a realistic picture of how much your timeshare is worth on the resale market. How much you paid from the
developer and how long ago has little to do with the resale value. The resale market is supply and demand driven compared to
retail purchases, which are usually accompanied by a free weekend stay at the resort, a presentation with many promises of
trading power, and numerous gift certificates to entice you to buy.
List With Your Resort
Ask your resort if they will sell the unit for you. Resorts that are actively selling resale units should have a good idea of
the amount they can sell your unit for. Resort guests may be invited to participate in a presentation for a gift package in a
format that closely resembles the retail purchase. As a result, your resort can likely charge a premium for their properties,
which may yield you more for your unit; even after the resort fees or commissions are considered.
Use the Services of a Timeshare Resale Broker
Using a timeshare resale broker will likely be the least amount of effort, but will also be the most costly. Choosing a
reputable and successful resale broker to assist with the selling process is crucial. I have spoken with many clients who have
listed their timeshare with a timeshare resale broker for hefty listing fees of $500 and up, only to have no activity on the
listing for more than a year. These fees may also be referred to as advertising fees, don't buy it; if fees are charged up
front, it is generally a bad deal for you. Learn from these examples; once a broker has received money upfront to sell your
timeshare, they have made their profit and no longer have incentive to do the work it takes to sell your unit.
Do your research before signing any listing agreements. Ask how your property will be advertised and how much commission will
be charged. Broker commissions can range anywhere from 10 - 40% of the resale price.
List Your Timeshare Online
There are numerous timeshare websites that offer listing services. Fees can range from free listings to 10% of the sale price.
The name of the game when using this technique is exposure. A website with only a few thousand hits per month is not likely to
be as successful in generating offers on your timeshare as a site with hundreds of thousands of hits. Redweek.com and My Resort
Network are two of the most common names in the industry.
List the Timeshare on eBay
For the "do-it-yourself-er", listing your timeshare on an auction site can get the job done, but be prepared to do some
legwork. Once your auction is active, you are likely to receive a broad range of questions from the seasoned timeshare
purchaser to the first time buyer. This can take time to respond to all the questions, particularly if you don't have all the
information readily available. Auctions can last from seven to thirty days on eBay. The reserve feature is a comforting option
to use in case you don't receive many bids on your listing, you won't have to sell for below your reserve price. A how to book
can be written on this subject alone; I'd suggest looking at the closing price of past auctions for your resort or similar resorts
in the area to determine the expected sale price.
List Your Timeshare in the Classifieds
Selling your unit in the classifieds is possible, but it probably isn't the most efficient way to find a buyer for your timeshare.
There are two issues with classifieds: first they are geographically targeted, which is fine for items likely to be bought by
consumers in your area. However, timeshare owners can live anywhere in or outside of the U.S, despite the location of the unit.
Remember, many timeshare owners never visit their home resort, opting to trade their unit instead. The second issue is your
lack of control over targeting your advertising to potential timeshare buyers. Your classified ad in a major market newspaper
will be distributed to several million readers, most of them not at all interested in purchasing a timeshare. Timeshare buyers
know the best sources to find deals and will be visiting those sources most frequently; the classifieds won't be the first place
they look. If you choose this option, you are playing the numbers game, hoping that out of all those readers, a few people will
call to inquire.
Sell Your Timeshare to a Timeshare Resale Company
I listed this as one of the last options to choose, even though my company periodically buys timeshares from individuals in much
the same way. The bottom line is if a company is going to buy your timeshare, they are going to do so with the intent of selling
it for a profit. To do that, they will have to buy your property at enough of a discount to cover their costs. While this may
mean you receive less for your timeshare than you originally planned, the benefits of a quick sale translate to savings on
maintenance fees, listing or advertising fees, or commissions you may have had to otherwise pay.
Donate Your Timeshare
Do a search for "donate your timeshare" on the Internet and several sites will be listed. Be sure to check the background
of the organization you will be working with. Also check with a CPA or tax advisor on the tax advantages of donating your
timeshare.
Things to Remember
Everyone is out to get a deal in the resale market, it's important to have a good handle on the resale value of your timeshare.
This will help you avoid selling your timeshare for too little, and avoid the frustration of receiving offers well short of your
expectations.
Also check to see if your resort exercises right of first refusal. This means that if you receive an offer on your timeshare,
your resort must first review the offer and determine if it will exercise its right of first refusal. In this case, the resort
will buy the unit from you for an amount they specify, rather than have your buyer purchase the unit for a perceived lower amount.
Supposedly, this tactic protects the value of the resort's units by preventing owners from selling at prices below market value.
In my opinion, the resort is simply profiting by purchasing a unit at favorable pricing that they can then sell to uninformed
guests at retail prices.
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