Should You Sell Your Timeshare?

Questions For You - The Answers Are Important

1. Is it paid off; if not, how big a balance is left?
2. Did you originally pay retail price or purchase on the after market?
3. How long have you owned?
4. What was your main motivation in buying this?
5. Have you used it at its location or did you trade or rent it?
6. Has your vacation style changed since ownership?
7. What type of timeshare: fixed week, floating week, points based, right to use or deed, or multi-resort?
8. All timeshares will have the ability to trade with the two major exchange companies if you want to pay an exchange fee plus your yearly maintenance - important to know if yours is affiliated with RCI or II or both.
9. Is your ownership considered High Season, Mid Season, or Low Season. If you own a floating week then what weeks does it float and are those High, Mid, or Low?
10. Is your timeshare a membership with no expiration date that can be passed on to relatives? Is it based upon points or fixed or floating weeks. Is it at a specific location or is it a multiple resort that lets you book your week or days at a number of resorts without having to pay an exchange fee?

It is truly incredible the number of owners who don't even understand what they purchased or how to use it. Whether you sell it or keep it, you need to know the details of use and ownership. Knowledge is power. You could find once you understand how to use your timeshare that it fits your vacation style and you actually enjoy it once you figure out the details of use.

If you purchased your timeshare and paid retail price, you can rest assured that you overpaid anywhere from at least 60-80% more than you would have paid if you had purchased on the secondary market.

Did you finance your purchase and still have a good sized balance left; if so, you should forget about selling it as you would be the one coming up with additional funds; not only for the commission on the sale but a resort transfer fee and possibly the current maintenance or any back owing fees unless the buyer agrees to pay that. Not a pretty picture.

Note: Never pay a commission upfront to anyone claiming they have a buyer, etc. There are tons of owners who have been ripped off by paying as much as $1,500 up front and, of course, one or two years later they still own the timeshare. I used to own three timeshares myself and can tell you that there are an incredible number of these companies out there who solicit through regular mail, e-mail, and the internet.

Do yourself a favor and tear up any solicitation you receive in the mail or over the phone trying to get your attendance at a seminar where they say they want to purchase your timeshare. The reality is their main thrust will be to scare you into giving up your timeshare in addition to paying THEM thousands of dollars to take it off your hands.

Timeshare owners are very vulnerable when someone tells them not only can they get back the entire amount they paid on their original purchase but their timeshare has increased in value. By the way, there are many states that make it illegal for a resort to refer to the timeshare as an investment that implies increase in value. Consider what happens when you buy a brand new car and drive it off the lot. Is it worth more or less? Definitely less than you paid for it. Timeshares purchased directly from the resort are inflated even more.

If your timeshare is paid off and all fees are current, you are in a much better situation and have more options available to you:

Do you still want to vacation but don't want to go to the timeshare you own and don't wish to exchange it thru one of the major exchange companies and pay an exchange fee for that particular year then - you might want to consider swapping timeshares with someone who owns in an area you would like to go to most years.

If your vacation style has changed or your health has deteriorated so vacation isn't on your immediate horizon you can - research donating it to a charity and receiving a write off on your income tax or keep the timeshare and rent it out to others. If you own a prime fixed ski week, you will be able to rent it out for far more than your maintenance.

I am not trying to talk you out of keeping or selling your timeshare; merely trying to make sure you have enough information to base your decision. My objective in writing this article is first of all to help a current owner decide whether to keep or get rid of their timeshare. Secondly, i want to educate any potential purchasers of a timeshare of some of the pitfalls and also the good reasons for a purchase and how they can save money and end up with a timeshare that fits their vacation style among other things.

If, you purchased at a greatly discounted price on the after market and you are a well-informed buyer who knows why you want that particular timeshare and also understand the type of timeshare it is, etc. and you plan to actually use it yourself and have compared the yearly maintenance for the week vs what you would pay if you purchased a week somewhere off of e-bay or through a wholesale travel company.

Bottom-line, It comes down to the amount of your total purchase cost and how long it would take to make that back against compared to what you would be saving. Remember, you still have to add your yearly maintenance into those figures. You might want to refer to another Hub of mine entitled "When A Bargain Isn't A Bargain" where I explain a simple way to figure out whether the price you have paid for a garment is truly a bargain. it helps to be able to step back and analyze cost vs benefits objectively and take some of the emotion out of the buying process. By the way, if you already purchased a timeshare and paid retail but are enjoying the timeshare, the longer you keep it the better it will pencil out not only because the number of times you have used it but if you purchase a second or third one on the resale market and average your cost, then it is like you paid less for that first one.