Price Range is puzzling ??

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Original Message:

Price Ranges --- no real mystery... (by KC):

jimo26 wrote:
I'm looking on RedWeek.com at 2/2 Bedroom (High) Weeks for sale at Marriott Ocean Pointe, Palm Beach Shores, FL, I'm puzzled by listed prices ranging from $9,500 to $29,500. Are not all these weeks essentially the same value, with a master suite and ajoining lock out? Why would there be such a range of prices for what is essentially the same type of unit?

One explanantion which no one seems to want to discuss or admit above is that some people simply believe (...or want to believe) that what they paid a developer for a timeshare has any relevance whatsover to the value of the same product in the resale market. It doesn't --- and it never will.

If, for specific example, there are five identical weeks / units advertised (and occasionally selling) in the resale market at "Resort X" for around $5,000 each, then the current market value for such a week at "Resort X" is approximately $5,000. Period, amen, plain and simple. That's the marketplace.

However, "John Doe" paid the developer $32,000 for the same unit / week at Resort X. Now John wants to sell, and is willing to "take a loss" and sell his week for $25,000. John Doe's asking price doesn't change or influence the fact that four or five other identical weeks can be bought, today, on the resale market for $5,000 (or 20% of what John Doe is seeking). No buyer cares what John Doe paid the developer (except, perhaps, Mrs. Doe, who also signed the developer contract). Smart, informed and careful buyers, reasonably and understandably, ONLY care about what they can buy the same thing for NOW in the resale market. They couldn't care less what the seller paid a developer.

It's a fact of life that a timeshare week purchased directly from a developer is the ultimate, definitive "depreciating asset". It is immediately worth 10-25% of what that unsuspecting developer-direct buyer would pay for that same thing out in the resale market, before the ink is even dry on the developer-direct purchase contract.