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Have you ever heard of this company?
kathrynd37 wrote:We were approached (cold call) by South Bridge Realty. Their office is located at 1170 Peachtree St, Atlanta GA. They claim they have a purchaser for our timeshare in Cozumel. Has anyone ever had dealings with this company?
I've never heard of them. Their website was just created on June 2nd, 2014. The name Southbridge Realty, Inc. was filed in 2000, but it looks like it was just a name being held, was dissolved in 2012, and then was reinstated in 2014 by the current owners.
Anytime anyone calls you out of the blue to tell you that they have a buyer for your timeshare you should avoid them at all costs.
J V.
kathrynd37 wrote:We were approached (cold call) by South Bridge Realty. Their office is located at 1170 Peachtree St, Atlanta GA. They claim they have a purchaser for our timeshare in Cozumel. Has anyone ever had dealings with this company?
Let's analyze this for a minute.
1) How did they know your name and phone number? 2) How did they know you owned a timeshare in Cozumel? 3) How could they have a buyer for it if you did not even have it advertised for sale?
Enter their address on Google Maps or Google Earth and you will be very enlightened as to what you'll find.
By the way, here's how the scam usually plays out. They try to paralyze you with excitement and stop you from thinking rationally by telling you they have a buyer who will pay you an obscene amount of money for your unit. Then while you can't hold in your excitement anymore, they tell you that this lucrative deal is all set but you just have to pay a Mexican tax (somewhere in the hundreds or thousands of dollars) in order for your cashier's check to be released to you.
They don't have a buyer and, if you're foolish enough to pay them, they'll disappear with your money and you still own the timeshare.
Lance C.
Southbridge Realty, Atlanta, GA is still working and they offered to sell ours as well. We signed an exclusive sales contract after I told him we would not pay anything in advance. He said, "Never do that. That would be a scam!" Then when the title company from Minnesota Called to close, they asked for the money in advance. We said no! Now he is threatening "Big Trouble". I filed a complaint with the FTC and the Georgia Real Estate Commission. Do you any recommendations or anything else I can do to get them to shut down?
Ann J.
I was trying to help my mother determine whether or not to use Southbridge Realty, Inc to sell her timeshare. They offered her a large sum of money on a one page contract that I found odd. It had no length of time and there wasn't much on the page in the way of details. After reading some of the comments above, I think we'll avoid this company. Does anyone have a company they have used to sell their timeshare and compeleted the transaction?
Sylvia R.
sylviar70 wrote:After reading some of the comments above, I think we'll avoid this company. Does anyone have a company they have used to sell their timeshare and compeleted the transaction?
You and your mother are very wise to avoid companies like this.
Chances are that, like over 95% of the timeshare units out there, your mother's unit is worth about zero dollars. You can hire a licensed real estate broker. Some reputable ones can be found at Ltrba.com. They will be upfront and honest with you about the value of your mother's unit. Keep in mind that they also charge a minimum commission of $1000 and, like I said before, chances are your mother's unit is worth a lot less than that. The agents at ltrba.com will let you know that.
If her unit is indeed worth less than $1000 on the resale market and you want to get rid of your mother's unit there are some practical steps you can take. First is you can try to list it for sale here on RedWeek. Just keep in mind the reasonable resale value when you list a price.
If you realize that the unit is worth about zero dollars, you or your mother can try contacting the resort's Homeowners' Association (HOA) and ask if they will take it back. Explain your mother's situation (eg., elderly, poor health, can not travel, limited income with not enough to pay maintenance fees, etc.) The HOA might agree to take it back but might require that your mother pay the closing costs (about $250) plus the next year's maintenance fees.
Another option is to list it for "sale" on sites such as here on RedWeek. List it in the Bargain Basement section for one or zero dollars. Other reputable resale sites are Bidshares, My Resort Network, E-Bay, and Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) If your mother is committed to getting rid of the unit you can offer to pay the closing costs plus the next maintenance fee.
With all that being said, never ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, market, or "cancel" your timeshare. Most are scams or, at best, questionable operations.
Lance C.
ritab80 wrote:Have you ever heard of sellmytimesharenow?
YEs, there have been numerous discussions about Sell My Timeshare Now (SMTN) including the former owner, Jason Tremblay, coming on here defending the company.
The low-down is this. SMTN is an advertising company. However, it's a very expensive advertising company. It charges about $500 per ad. If there is an interested buyer, that buyer would contact you then you and the buyer would have to negotiate all the details. SMTN does not get involved in the negotiating or closing process.
If you want to find cheaper advertising, try here on RedWeek. You have to pay an annual $15 membership fee plus $60 for each ad. Some other reputable and more reasonably priced advertising sites are My Resort Network (about $50), E-Bay, and Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; free ads with your annual $15 membership fee). Bid Shares is free as is Craigslist but the downside with Craigslist is that you will get countless responses from spammers and scam artists.
Just remember to have a good idea what your timeshare is worth on the resale market and price it accordingly. You might come to the realization that your unit is worth about zero dollars.
Lance C.
ritab80 wrote:...is there any value in donating your timeshare to a charity?
The only value is that you will no longer be the owner and responsible for maintenance fees. But let's get something clear. Charities will not let you donate a worthless timeshare for free. They will charge you probably around $3000 to do so.
If you want to spend less money giving your unit away, try advertising it (like I mentioned in the post above) for free giveaway. Maybe even offer to pay the closing costs (about $150 with Legal Timeshare Transfers) and possibly even the next maintenance fee. That will cost you a lot less than paying a charity $3000.
Lance C.
Ok, thanks for advice, but I don't think my timeshare us totally worthless. However, sellmytimesharenow.net will charge me over $900 to advertise it and I really have no clue how to go about dealing with prospective buyers. If I find a buyer, then what do I do? How do I know what process to go through? Those guys seem to tell me that they are going to act as an intermediary between me and the buyer and that I wont have to pay closing costs because the buyer will. All I want is to not be out of pocket for selling costs and get rid of the weeks before the 2016 fees are due. One is a red week and one is a white week at a Myrtle Beach beachfront resort, but I don't know saleability. I really am willing to just be divested of all the bother.
Rita B.
Like I said before, try advertising your unit here on RedWeek. Other good sites are TUG, My Resort Network, Bidshares, and Craigslist. You can advertise for a lot less than with SMTN. Make sure you know all the details of what you own because one thing that really turns off potential buyers is the owner being under-informed of what he owns.
As you use those sites, check what similar units are listing or selling for and price yours comparatively and competitively. Just be careful with listing prices that you see because some owners are listing with unrealistic expectations. One recommendation is to check E-Bay's completed listings for similar units. That will tell you what buyers actually paid.
When you do advertise and a prospective buyer contacts you about your ad, you and he have to come to an agreement on the price and who pays transfer and closing costs. Once you and the buyer have agreed to all of that, then you probably would want to hire a professional closing company. They will charge anywhere from $150-$300 for their services. Some recommended ones are Legal Timeshare Transfers, JRA Closings, and Timeshare Transfer (among others).
Once you agree on a closing company, they will send you papers for you to sign and get notarized. Then send the papers back to the closing company and they will take care of legally transferring ownership to the new buyer.
Lance C.
Thanks for outlining the process of selling myself. I unfortunately signed up with SMTSN a couple of days ago and am now notifying them I want to cancel which the contract says you can do within 10 days by notifying them in writing. They are very hard sell. There are no other timeshares in my resort to compare to so I am going to just set a reasonable price. The building is a mix of timeshares and whole ownership and has only 36 units. Small and beachy. I have owned it for 20 years and it probably has a few bucks of value to some nice family.
Rita B.
