Original Message:
Re: BUYING DEVELOPER vs RESALE (typical scenario) (by Stuart S.):
A couple weeks ago my wife and I bought a timeshare for $15,000 directly from the developer and paid a $1,500 deposit. We were on vacation when approached by the sales rep and urged to attend the presentation and receive a few gifts. We reluctantly signed on and the sales person convinced us to make a purchase of a one red week fee simple share with 2 extra weeks as incentive. This was our first "sucker" purchase of a timeshare. We were told the prices would go higher later, so get in now. Now I find the online listings for resales of comparable units at the same resort/development for about $5,000 to $10,000. I am attempting to determine if we can simply bail out of this purchase with only the loss of our deposit. We have not yet made the first mortgage payment. Would the developer pursue legal action if we backed out of the purchase or would it be happy to keep the deposit and let us escape from the contract we signed? It is too bad I did not search the internet for info on timeshares until after we returned from our vacation, which meant the 5 day recission period was over. -- Stuart