Possibly looking to purchase a time share in the near future, admittedly a little nervous, HELP

We are looking to purchase a resale but what I am reading makes me extremely nervous. How do you insure that what you are purchasing is in fact legit.?

It's called doing your 'due diligence' by making sure the timeshare you are buying is truly owned by the seller and making sure all debts are paid including any mortgage balance and up to date paid maintenance fees. A contract must be in place stating the terms and conditions of the sale. DO NOT send any money upfront .... send money only after you have received the legal contract signed by the seller and then signed by you.

Another choice is using a reputable timeshare closing company to handle the paperwork.

Resale timeshare ownership is a great choice .... it certainly beats a one bedroom motel/hotel room.

How do you confirm this information? Does the resale site handle all of the contract info?

I have found a couple of listings on other resale sites. Looking for Buddy Dive in Kralendijk (Bonaire)

andreap197 wrote:

Does the resale site handle all of the contract info?

No. The resale site does not get involved in the process. It is merely a site where owners can list their units for sale/rent and buyers/renters can see the listings and contact the owners.

Once the buyer contacts the owner, the two then negotiate the terms of the sale/rental. If it's a sale, then the two decide on which closing company to use.

lancec13 wrote:

andreap197 wrote:

Does the resale site handle all of the contract info?

No. The resale site does not get involved in the process. It is merely a site where owners can list their units for sale/rent and buyers/renters can see the listings and contact the owners.

Once the buyer contacts the owner, the two then negotiate the terms of the sale/rental. If it's a sale, then the two decide on which closing company to use.

Exactly, and this is why it's always best to use a reputable timeshare closing company to make sure everything is on the up and up:

http://legaltimesharetransfers.com/

www.timesharetransfer.com (with no 's' after transfer .... this is the closing company I used)

www.timeshareclosingservices.com

http://timeshareresaleclosings.com/

I to am looking to purchase a timeshare. How do you know what the value of the property you are purchasing is when thinking of trading in II or RCI? I have been told to buy a 2BR 2BA even if you don't need it because you may be able to trade into a one bedroom for two weeks instead of one. If you buy a fixed week that will be in high demand, will you have to travel in that week only. Can you still trade for another week? It is very confusing.

It's as valuable as recent sales in the same timeshare. And be careful. Don't look at a timeshare like a home. Homes generally increase in value. Timeshares generally decrease in value. Don't look at it as an investment.

Thank you John. We definitely are not looking into it as an investment. We just want to be able to travel to different locations for less cost than we are spending now. I appreciate your feedback.

You are welcome. Having sold a timeshare I bought for $30,000 for $100 last year, I just wanted to caution you. And be sure the timeshare will really have the time available when you want it. One problem in the industry is a tendency to oversell time, meaning they sell more contracts than time available. That is what happened in the timeshare I owned. You should review your contract carefully to make sure there is some protection against this. Don't trust the salesmen!

shannae7 wrote:

We just want to be able to travel to different locations for less cost than we are spending now.

Just remember, timeshares really only allow you to vacation in resorts rather than motels or hostels. They do nothing to help you save on airfare, car rentals, activities, travel insurance, or other travel-related costs.

You may just find that accommodations for travel are really only a small fraction of your overall travel budget and expenditures. I like to look at it this way. Owning (or renting) and using a timeshare will simply reduce your travel overall expenses from $5000 to about $4800. Those are just estimates and round figures but I hope you see the point.

So if you feel that owning a timeshare is worth reducing your travel expenses by about 5%, then purchase but tread carefully and do your research.

Lance,

That's a very good analysis. A lot of people jump into timeshare ownership without doing that kind of valuable research. John

shannae7 wrote:

I to am looking to purchase a timeshare. How do you know what the value of the property you are purchasing is when thinking of trading in II or RCI? I have been told to buy a 2BR 2BA even if you don't need it because you may be able to trade into a one bedroom for two weeks instead of one. If you buy a fixed week that will be in high demand, will you have to travel in that week only. Can you still trade for another week? It is very confusing.

You can find your RCI Deposit Trading Power here of the week you're thinking of purchasing:

http://pgs.rci.com/landing/InsideRCI/depositcalc/

If you buy a fixed week then you'll have to travel that week UNLESS you deposit it in RCI and search for an exchange. Once you deposit your week you can no longer use it .... it's then RCI's week. If you buy a floating week then you can choose different dates within a range of dates signified in your contract.

Also, buy on the resale market as you can save thousands of dollars than buying from a developer and you're getting the exact same product by buying resale.

na

How did you sell your timeshare. I have one for sale and nothing is working.

The first rule when trying to sell a timeshare is to never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to do so. Anyone who asks you to do so is trying to scam you.

The next step is to find out the approximate resale value of your unit. Sadly, probably over 90% of the units available are worth around zero dollars. If yours is in that category, you might just have to give it away to a willing taker. Some owners, in an effort to get rid of their unit, are offering it for free, offering to pay the closing costs, and even the following year's maintenance fee. Or, you can ask the resort if it will take your unit back.

Now comes the part where you'll have to do a little work. Once you've determined a realistic resale value of your unit, try listing it for sale (or giveaway) here on RedWeek. Other good listing sites are E-bay, My Resort Network, Craigslist, or Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG").

Be very wary of these law firms and other questionable outfits that promise you a quick way out of your timeshare contract if you pay them a huge upfront fee.

As an owner of a timeshare, stay away from purchasing, you can rent weeks at most resorts at very reasonable rates, you can go when you want and where you want and you are not at the mercy of some trading company to find an exchange for your week. Timeshares work best if you plan to back to your resort every year. I own in Hawaii , which according to the salesperson, has the best trading power in the world, but only if you want Minnesota in February! IF you must have one , I would suggest Marriott or Westin

andreap197 wrote:

We are looking to purchase a resale but what I am reading makes me extremely nervous. How do you insure that what you are purchasing is in fact legit.?