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Not entirely true or accurate... (by KC):

jayjay wrote:

I would never use Stroman to sell a timeshare since they are just another upfront fee company

I must respectfully disagree with the sheer finality of this statement.

Stroman Realty (which is based in Conroe, Texas) is well established. Stroman has certainly had its' share of problems (and litigation) over the years, no question. That much acknowledged, however, Stroman does indeed successfully sell a whole lot of timeshares for people who don't want to bother selling on their own. Two of the very best weeks I own were purchased directly through Stroman; both of them at reasonable (i.e., at or below resale market value) prices and one of them was not even publicly advertised --- a Stroman agent actually found it FOR me.

You are correct on ONE point stated, however. Sellers via Stroman must indeed first pay a listing fee (it's $200, I believe) AND then also pay a commission to Stroman at closing, the latter being a minimum dollar figure or a percentage of the sale amount --- whichever is more. Stroman is a legitimate, licensed real estate entity which actually SELLS real estate (and timeshares) through licensed agents, unlike the many other unknown upfront fee parasites who are NOT licensed realtors in the first place and who accomplish NOTHING more than just post obscure and useless Internet ads for a truly outrageous "upfront" fee.

Stroman gets a fair amount of bad publicity, largely due to the antics of Mr. Stroman himself it seems. However, I've personally made two great timeshare "scores" using Stroman (while still being able to choose my own closing company), so my own limited experience with Stroman has really been quite positive. I've never rented from them, but if I was a renter I would not hesitate to at least consider them (if they had what I was looking for and the price was right).

Personally, I think it's highly unlikely that a licensed, long established real estate agency like Stroman is going to engage in questionable practices over the relatively "short" money of a timeshare rental. I'd say pursue it --- and get a formal rental contract (clearly identifying refund policy) signed and executed. If you snooze, you may lose...