Timeshare Title Companies

I'm thinking about selling my timeshare and have read many comments about title companies. However I have one question, do I contact the Timeshare title company prior to listing my unit or do I contact them once I have a buyer? Thank you

judithf35 wrote:

I'm thinking about selling my timeshare and have read many comments about title companies. However I have one question, do I contact the Timeshare title company prior to listing my unit or do I contact them once I have a buyer? Thank you

A well informed timeshare buyer should want to select his / her own closing company, so you as the seller should not attempt to select or dictate the closing company to handle the transaction (unless you, as the seller, intend to pay the closing costs --- not usually the case). Identification of a closing company is usually initiated AFTER a willing buyer and a willing seller have agreed to terms of purchase / sale. The closing company will also handle escrow of the transaction funds.

There is no point in contacting a closing company until such time as a willing buyer and seller have agreed to purchase and sale terms, since the closing company will require payment in full (by either the buyer or the seller) before any further processing ($300 is a representative fee). Closing co. handles funds, deed prep & recording, resort notification, but they DON'T engage in negotiations between buyer and seller; sale details should be fully resolved BEFORE hiring the closing company.

P.S. Timeshare closing entities usually are NOT "title companies". SOME closing companies MAY offer title insurance (but at considerable additional expense). Closing entities which literally ARE "title companies" may insist upon title insurance for the transaction. In several decades of timeshare purchases & sales, I have never bought title insurance, but the personal choice of your future buyer might be different, depending upon the dollar amount of the transaction.

The big challenge for you in the current sour market conditions will be finding a willing buyer; the closing company part is easy. Good luck.

Do you have recommendations on finding a reputable closing company?

davidg649 wrote:

Do you have recommendations on finding a reputable closing company?

I always used www.timesharetransfer.com as they are very reputable in the industry.

In a separate post within this very same forum, with a subject topic of "Elite Resort Transfers" (or some such similar name close to that) I have identified three separate closing companies I would recommend. All of them are independent, competent, long established and respected. (I have no personal affiliation with ANY of them, just for the record). All of them also use an attorney for legal review. JRA Services SEEMS to be the least expensive at $275, but since they charge separately for the county recording fees (which Timeshare Transfer does not), JRA usually ends up being just slightly MORE expensive than Timeshare Transfer (at a fixed $300). PCS Closings is a bit more expensive than either of the other two, but is nonetheless eminently honest and competent.

Transfer fees which might be imposed by a resort for an ownership change (...a cost which varies and which can be anywhere from zero to several hundred dollars) are, understandably, NEVER covered within a closing company's fee, regardless of which particular closing entity you utilize. Usually, this is a cost paid directly to the resort by the new owner, although sometimes the buyer will pay it to the resort via the closing company, which will forward that payment to the resort along with the new owner deed copy . "Transfer fees" are a completely unnecessary ripoff, essentially charging a fee to merely change the owner identification information in the resort records. Nonetheless, some resorts and resort "chains" routinely charge such a fee anyhow --- simply because they CAN.

Most closing companies identify at least some specific states in which they will NOT handle closings (usually because of time consuming tax or other paperwork requirements by the state, or other bothersome nuisance requirements). Of the six New England states, for example, I believe that Massachusetts is the one and only state for which TT will handle closings. The "state" of determination for the closing company is the state in which the timeshare itself is physically located, regardless of the state of residency of either the buyer or the seller.

Hope this helps you.

We just closed on a sale and used JRA. We were very happy with the experience. I would use them again.

I was wondering which company you used for your timeshare. trying to sell mine

pf32 wrote:

I was wondering which company you used for your timeshare. trying to sell mine

The topic of this thread is closing companies / title companies, which don't actually sell timeshares at all. They handle ownership TRANSFER details; estoppel, new deed prep and recording, escrow of funds, etc, but they are NOT involved until buyer and seller have ALREADY found one another and have their mutually agreed purchase and sale terms ALREADY firmly in place.

janisa6 wrote:

We just closed on a sale and used JRA. We were very happy with the experience. I would use them again.

I agree wholeheartedly. Janet A. is competent, reliable, efficient and professional. I have used JRA Services on numerous occasions in the past and will surely do so again in the future without hesitation.