Sell My Timeshare

Paying to Get It Sold

As with anything else, the more you are willing to spend on selling a timeshare, the better the potential for success. Assuming you have decided not to keep your unit or use it for timeshare rentals and your forem0st thought is “sell my timeshare“, you might want to think about some of the options discussed here.

Timeshare Liquidation Companies

There are any number of companies out there who will purchase your timeshare directly. This may be the way to go if you need to get out quick and are willing to take much less than what you paid for the unit. The value here is not having to wait for the sale. This saves you from having to pay maintenance fees as you wait for the unit to sell. In the current environment, the wait could be substantial. How long depends on the popularity of your unit. If you decide to go this route keep a couple of things in mind. You will not get anywhere near what you paid originally. (unless of course you got a major steal on the unit to start with) Make sure  you are dealing with someone you can trust. Do some research on the web. Check them out with the Better Business Bureau or the equivelent in your region. Search for complaints about the company or better yet posative reviews.

Real Estate Brokers

Traditionally, realestate agents aren’t necessarily good at selling timeshares. It’s not their normal area of expretise. There are some exceptions to this, however. Agents who work specifically in the area where your unit is located are sometimes used to dealing with timeshare resales. If you go this route make sure the agent has some experience with timeshares. First look for agents who advertise as such. Next ask them to elaborate on why you should choose them to sell your unit. Someone who is confident in their ability to market your unit will be able to elaborate on why and how. Though this method may be effective in some markets, you will end up paying a fairly large commission for the sale. 10% or more of the sale price is not uncommon.

Paid Advertising

This method of marketing your timeshare, can be one of the most effective and/or cost effective if you find the right situation. The problem, however, is that there are a whole lot of companies out there performing this service. Not all of them are necessarily to be trusted. It is this writer’s experience that some of them will promise you whatever you want to hear just to get the sale. Be aware of paying up front for these type of services. You will be better off paying for results if and when you get them. With that said, there are probably a few advertising venues out there who are worth while paying for exposure. Particularly web based advertisers who get a lot of traffic to their sites. Your best bet for finding a reputable company is to read reviews written by people who have direct experience with the particular company. These can be found by performing a search for reviews or visiting forums set up for timeshare owners. You can start by visiting some of the sites advertising on our site.

Whatever method you choose, be sure to do some research into the reputation of the individual or company you are dealing with.

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Keep it, Use it, Rent it?

When all is said and done, you may have some difficulty selling a timeshare. You might not be willing to go as low as it takes to get a sale or you may not have a very marketable unit. Regardless of the reason, you may end up having to hold on to the timeshare. This article will discuss some things you can do to mitigate that burden.  If you own the unit outright this will be a lot easier to tolerate. If you are making payments you can’t afford, you may end up having to let the original seller take it back.

 

If you are like me, you might want to use your timeshare once and a while to keep yourself convinced that there is still some value to paying the ongoing maintenance fees. It is assumed that you bought it in the first place because you liked the location or at least the locations you could trade it for. So why not go ahead and get some value out of it and get away once in a while. You can also let friends and family use the unit in most cases. This may gain you some favors down the road when you really need them :) Most timeshares are linked to some sort of exchange company such as RCI or Interval International. Why not explore some new places and trade your unit for a vacation somewhere you haven’t gone before.

 

Now let’s get down to what can be done to mitigate some of the costs you are burdened with. This would be, at a minimum, your maintenance fees and possibly payments you are making toward the original purchase.  First off, the friends and family we discussed before may be willing to help pay a portion or all of your maintenance fees in exchange for the use of the unit. It’s value should be somewhere around double the cost of the fees so it isn’t an unreasonable thing to ask. In most cases, you could also rent the unit. Some timeshare groups manage timeshare rentals on your behalf. Most of these will take some percentage of the rental income as a fee for managing it. This is a good way to go because if the renters cause any damage, it won’t be up to you to foot the bill. You can also rent the unit out yourself and keep all of the profit. This is against the official rules in many cases. You will need to understand the risk you are taking if you do so. At a minimum, you will be liable for any damage caused to the unit. With this in mind, it would be wise to either know or at least check out the prospective renters. Depending on the popularity and demand of your unit, renting can easily pay for your maintenance fees and possibly bring in some extra cash each year.

 

If your association has access to popular destinations for trade, you may want to consider grabbing some of the popular destinations each year and renting them out. (again, if it is acceptable within your timeshare group) This may mean that you will need to reserve destinations way ahead of time. This is normally a concern for people because they don’t know if they can commit to spending the airfare to get there when the time comes. If you are going to rent the property to someone else, this is no longer a concern.

 

Hopefully, if you want to sell your timeshare, you can do so by visiting some of the links on our site.  However; if you are unable, we hope this helps you cope a little better. Remember, you aren’t the only one out there crying sell my timeshare now!

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Low Cost Marketing Alternatives

Sell my timeshare you say? There are many available methods for selling a timeshare. Though some of the lower cost methods aren’t quite as effective as some of the others, many of us don’t have the extra cash to spend. This article will address some of the options available to those on a tight budget (or those who want to keep more of the profit from their sale :) )

User’s Groups/Forums

Many user’s groups have forums and classified ad areas on their sites. These tend to be the most reasonable areas to advertise your timeshare for sale. These sites are also a great place to list timshare rentals. A lot of people who own timeshares are enthusiasts and the average enthusiast owns more than one timeshare property. Many of them join user’s groups in order to socialize with others who have the same passion. For this reason, these forums and their classified ad spaces are great places to advertise your timeshare for sale. Most only require that you register or become a member in order to advertise on their site. Most are free to register with. Others such as “The Timeshare User’s Group” charge a small fee to join. User’s groups or social sites specific to the timeshare industry are the best places to advertise.

Classified Ad Sites

Probably less effective but just as reasonably priced are various themed classified ad sites. There are thousands of places to list your ad for free. It might be a good idea to advertise in specific geographic areas known to vacation in the area of your timeshare property. This can also be done on a national or world wide site for more exposure. If you are going to do this type of advertising, it is suggested that you stick to sites which have relevancy to what you are trying to sell. For instance, a classified ad posted to a site where the theme is vacations or travel would be much more effective than one posted on a general classified add site.

Paid Advertising

The last method we will discuss, is not the most cost effective but it is still less expensive than paying a percentage of the sale to a broker. There are many companies, specifically in the business of marketing timeshares by web and various other methods. The fees range from reasonable to the ridiculous. We caution you not to get caught up in the sales pitch some companies will give you. There are a couple warning signs. One is the price. If their fee is in the hundreds of dollars range, be cautious. The salesman will tell you they are worth it but I can tell you from personal experience, that is not necessarily true. I paid over $500 once to advertise my timeshare on one of these sites. The sales pitch led me to believe I was paying a premium to get a quick sale and that their results would be fantastic. My timeshare still has not sold nearly 2 years later. I got only one inquiry from this add and they wanted to sell me their timeshare! This is not to say that some of these options aren’t legitimate or worth the fee. Just be careful before committing to anything with a large fee. Research the company on the Internet. Do a search looking for reviews and/or complaints. Check with the Better Business Bureau or your country’s equivalent. Lastly, if you are being pressured to close the deal it is probably not a good idea to proceed.

Now that you are armed and dangerous, follow some of the links on our site or visit some of our advertisers to begin your search. Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of the other articles on our site.

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