I need EVERYONE'S opinion please!

I have a Wyndham ownership and I am looking to get rid it, but realize I would never get enough to pay it off, lol. So, I have an idea and want to get ALL opinions please.

I am thinking of doing a raffle for it. $50 per ticket. Here's the catch, I must sale a certain amount of tickets. If I don't, EVERYONE will receive a refund for their ticket. Also, ANYTHING over the certain amount of tickets set will go to my Church since it is really struggling financially. If i do this, I would put a vid of the drawing on Youtube or somewhere like that so that everyone could see that it was REAL and not just taking peoples money. I would also have a celebrity do the drawing. I would MASS advertise it, anywhere that I could. Flyers locally, classifieds, Ebay, timeshare forums, etc. What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? I mean, it would help me and my Church I think. How many tickets do you think I would sell at $50 each over 6 months??

kenh186 wrote:

I have a Wyndham ownership and I am looking to get rid it, but realize I would never get enough to pay it off, lol. So, I have an idea and want to get ALL opinions please.

I am thinking of doing a raffle for it. $50 per ticket. Here's the catch, I must sale a certain amount of tickets. If I don't, EVERYONE will receive a refund for their ticket. Also, ANYTHING over the certain amount of tickets set will go to my Church since it is really struggling financially. If i do this, I would put a vid of the drawing on Youtube or somewhere like that so that everyone could see that it was REAL and not just taking peoples money. I would also have a celebrity do the drawing. I would MASS advertise it, anywhere that I could. Flyers locally, classifieds, Ebay, timeshare forums, etc. What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? I mean, it would help me and my Church I think. How many tickets do you think I would sell at $50 each over 6 months??

Ken the short answer is a big NO!

In most if not all states you would be breaking the laws and violation of most gambling laws. If it was this easy as to just run ads and collect $50.00 a ticket and pocket what ever money you would like and donating rest to some company or church every timeshare owner would do it.

You would need to hire a law firm that deals with raffles to stay legal and then deal with a legal organization that can receive donations to even come close to this being legal.

You state you want to run ads all over and hire a celebrity to do the drawing and this would cost you a bundle for a celebrity if you could even find one to do this.

Sounds like you are thinking way over your head on this issue and fifty dollars a ticket would never work when most cheaper timeshares can be had for a dollar. Even if you have a top resort not many people will give you fifty dollars for a chance to win any timeshare.

IMHO I would forget this idea and be careful if you try it or we might see you on most wanted list on TV.

PHILL12

I guess I'm confused .... just what are you raffling? You can't raffle an unpaid timeshare to someone else ..... that would be fraud. Also, winning a timeshare is not necessarily a good thing since the winner would be responsible for all future maintenance fees and possible special assessments. You can find nice timeshares on Ebay every day of the week for $1.00 and some even 1 cent.

What if, instead of selling raffle tickets to your friends, you asked them where they would want to go on vacation? If you get five or six people, you could make them chip in and cover some of your expenses or at least some of your maintenance fees. (just a thought) Or, you could get out a calendar and see what the big holidays are coming up and reserve as soon as possible-13 months in advance. You could always cancel if no one is interested.(30 days in advance) I'm still trying to figure this out myself.

I say "just give it away"---------to anyone who will take it. Cut your losses, if that is the reason you're trying to unload it.

karik27 wrote:

I say "just give it away"---------to anyone who will take it. Cut your losses, if that is the reason you're trying to unload it.

It would be almost impossible to give it away when he still owes on the timeshare.

Bottom line is pay it off first!

I don't know if its even possible to have someone take it over and get the names changed on the loan papers. If this was bought from a developer I doubt they would do it and probably don't even carry the loan!

Best thing at this point is for the owner to keep paying and start using it for few years.

Lets face it in that the only smart reason to ever buy a timeshare is for your families future vacations for many years and that is it.

PHILL12

Ditto to what Phil said .... it's impossible to sell a timeshare with a lien ..... try to use it, rent it or exchange it until the loan is paid off, and even then, you won't get anywhere near on the resale market what you paid the developer if you can sell it at all in this bad economy.

That's why lots of people "just walk". The resort is then faced with foreclosure. Or, there is a timeshare refinance company. I don't have their information here at home but if "Kenh" will email me at work, I have it taped to my desk. karilynn@hawaiidocumentservice.com

this company does refis for timeshares.

I know there was few companies that would refinance a timeshare if the balance was more than $5000.

I have to say I'm shocked that there are still companies out there that would do this. Talk about bad loans in the making! The way owners are just walking away why would any company still want to handle refinancing on a timeshare.

Unless the timeshare owner is signing over something they own like their home or new car how would this be worth anything to a refinance company? First they would need a low interest rate to even get a owner to think about refinancing and the last thing a company needs in this economy is a timeshare!

This is just one of those statements that doesn't sound right!

PHILL12

karik27 wrote:

That's why lots of people "just walk". The resort is then faced with foreclosure.

AND for everyone who "just walks", the rest of the owners have to make up the difference in the lost MFs.

mike1536 wrote:

AND for everyone who "just walks", the rest of the owners have to make up the difference in the lost MFs.

Yep, but it's happening by leaps and bounds as many people are more concerned with putting food on the table and keeping their jobs than owning luxury timeshares ..... even some Marriott owners are walking away.

I honestly don't believe the timeshare industry will ever recover from this economy as many people have changed their spending habits for a lifetime and they are saving money for other rainy days to come.

I think we will see many resorts going completely under due to lack of paid maintenance fees and foreclosures. Timshares are a luxury that many people simply can't afford any longer and I somewhat blame that on the HOAs and the developers for raising yearly maintenance fees out of the reach of many owners' budgets. Handling other people's money (without constraint and a tight budget) can be a disasterous downfall for any business including timeshare resorts.

I know when we first started timesharing in 2000 all of our maintenance fees were reasonable, but it's astonishing how many of those fees have skyrocketed since we sold them.

Phill, I really don't know if this particular refi company has changed their tune? I only refer people to them but I never get a report, so maybe you're right? I don't know, but if you want to know who I refer people to email me and I'll give that info to you.

phill12 wrote:

I know there was few companies that would refinance a timeshare if the balance was more than $5000.

I have to say I'm shocked that there are still companies out there that would do this. Talk about bad loans in the making! The way owners are just walking away why would any company still want to handle refinancing on a timeshare.PHILL12

I would be curious to know of any banks or finance companies that are financing timeshare loans (even via developers) with the rate foreclosures are climbing. Making bad loans was the reason for the recent major bank failures. Timeshare loans are a very risky business as they would be the first for an owner to default on (not their homes).

This is one reason I say the timeshare industry will never be the same after this recession ..... banks will (or already have) stop financing developer bought timeshares as being far too risky.

Also, I wonder how many owners that have signed to pay developer prices got back home and started researching timeshares on the internet to find that they could have bought the very exact same product for 75%+ less on the resale market than they signed to pay the developer and they then default ..... the numbers have to be staggering as all bubbles burst eventually and I believe the timeshare bubble has burst, however it had a good ride for many years with baby boomers retiring and wishing to travel and buying timeshares. Now boomers have seen their 401Ks dwindle to 101Ks and their pensions and stock market investments falling to record low numbers.

Phil.............TAMMAC CORP

info@tammaccorp.com 570-825-9501 800-233-8330

Hello, I would like to know what one might expect to get for points with RCI. We have 46,000 that we bought about 7 years ago for $13,000. (CAD). We purchased them at Pacific Shores Resort ( now called Aviawest Resorts) at Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C. The maintenance fee is about $550. (US). I've checked with one agency in BC and was told that they charge $1,500. no matter what one gets for the points. I've read that some points sell for only a penny ,or for just 2 or 3 cents for each. Does anyone have experience or knowledge about selling points? Thank you very much.

You would probably get more replies to your RCI points question at www.tugbbs.com .

thank you jayjay, i'll check it out.

pixie wrote:

Hello, I would like to know what one might expect to get for points with RCI. We have 46,000 that we bought about 7 years ago for $13,000. (CAD). We purchased them at Pacific Shores Resort ( now called Aviawest Resorts) at Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C. The maintenance fee is about $550. (US). I've checked with one agency in BC and was told that they charge $1,500. no matter what one gets for the points. I've read that some points sell for only a penny ,or for just 2 or 3 cents for each. Does anyone have experience or knowledge about selling points? Thank you very much.

In any case, do not expect to get anywhere near $13,000 for the resale. Redweek has one listed for sale at less than $1700.