Author: Staff Contributor

In Durango, Colorado, Wyndham Timeshare has filed foreclosure notices on 33 timeshare owners who are delinquent on their timeshare payments. The Wyndham timeshare units, formerly a Fairfield Resort, are part of the Wyndham Durango, a south Durango location at 401 East Second Ave, near the popular Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Station.

Durango, known as a winter ski destination, is also a popular summer vacation spot where visitors enjoy the historic railroad, outdoor sports, the archeological attractions at Mesa Verde National Park, and the famous Durango Rodeo.

Great Location, but Smaller Timeshare Units at Wyndham Timeshare Durango

According to a report in the Durango Herald News, several of the timeshare owners who are named in the proceeding own either multiple weeks or multiple timeshare units at the Wyndham timeshare resort. The timeshare units at the resort are atypically small for Wyndham timeshare as they were previously hotel units that were converted to timeshare in 1997 by Best Western Rio Grande Inn & Suites. The rooms do include small kitchens but no washer and dryer, however there are laundry facilities available on the property.

Although the foreclosure sale is scheduled for May 21, Wyndham timeshare officials are not answering specific questions about the proceedings, other than to identify that each of the Wyndham timeshare owners named owes in excess of $10,000.

Follow this link to learn more about other opportunities in Durango Wyndham timeshare resales.

It is hard to say which is the greater problem: the economy itself or consumer concerns about the economy. Either one gridlocks the flow of money as people spend less and worry more.

Both problems have worked against timeshare developers who must carry on despite there being fewer qualified timeshare buyers and greater reticence to part with their money by those who do have sufficient income to buy timeshare.

The gridlock stops being only a timeshare developer problem and takes on widespread economic impact in any state where timeshares represent a significant part of the hospitality industry and tax base. In Florida, home to more timeshare resorts than any other state in the US, the challenges that have faced the timeshare industry translate to a statewide problem that calls for legislators and the industry to work collaboratively on any measures that could potentially translate to relief.

Help for Florida Timeshares

Florida House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, has been working with lobbyists for the timeshare industry on a plan that will permit Florida timeshare companies to sell debt cancellation policies as part of a timeshare mortgage. Functioning like insurance, such policies would provide a consumer who buys timeshare from the developer with debt forgiveness in the event he (or she) loses his income.

Jason Gamel, vice president of state government affairs for the American Resort Development Association, was quoted by the Orlando Sentinel as saying, “It’s another good product that would allow developers to facilitate sales of time shares, bring tourists to Central Florida and give people comfort about their purchase.” Gamel compared the timeshare mortgage forgiveness policies to a type of travel insurance.

Westgate timeshare is among the Florida timeshare companies lobbying for this legislation. Westgate timeshare already sells similar debt-forgiveness policies as an option with their Nevada timeshares and their California timeshares.

The caveats of the policies have yet to be worked out, but one assumes that they cover loss of income by the head of household due to job loss or death.

The legislation (HB 61) has passed the Florida House and has been sent to the Senate for discussion. With only a couple of weeks left in the 2009 legislative session, approval of the plan may go down to the wire.

I guess you could say, I am on a roll when it comes to challenging myths and misinformation about timeshares. Yesterday’s The Timeshare Authority tackled inaccuracies about the demand for timeshare resales. Sell My Timeshare NOW’s latest press release, distributed last night at midnight, looks at a couple of other important ‘timeshare un-truths.’

Consumers deserve fair and accurate information about timeshare so they can make informed decisions about how they spend their hard-earned money. When incorrect information impacts the decision to buy timeshare, it also impacts jobs either, within the timeshare industry itself, or within the many support services that serve the timeshare industry.

Yet some of the very sources consumers should be able to turn to for reliable facts about buying, selling or renting timeshare, are among those perpetuating myths like the one that says an appraisal is necessary in order to buy or sell timeshare. That’s just wrong.

When you buy timeshare from a developer, no appraisal is done. And no appraisal is necessary when you resell timeshare. The value of your timeshare resale is determined by what the market supports, not through an attempt to assess the value of a fraction of a piece of property during a week or weeks that may be fixed or floating in a calendar year.

Timeshare Owners Deserve the Facts

When I spoke last week at the National Timeshare Owners Association‘s Baltimore educational conference, I talked about things like the appraisal myth and the myth that there is no market for timeshare resales. The timeshare owners I spoke to were all very receptive of the message. They understood what I meant when I told them that the keys to selling timeshare include marketing it to a vast, global audience and pricing it right. As I often tell timeshare owners, “It is hard to sell a one dollar bill for $20. But price it at 75 cents, and you can sell one dollar bills all day long.”

The picture on the left was taken at the NTOA meeting. Left to right, you will see Shep Altshuler, publisher of Timesharing Today magazine, Ed Hastry, who is the President of the National Timeshare Owners Association, and me. I certainly enjoyed the time in Baltimore, myth busting for a group of interested and enthusiastic timeshare owners. The picture on the left was taken at the NTOA meeting. Left to right, you will see Shep Altshuler, publisher of Timesharing Today magazine, Ed Hastry, who is the President of the National Timeshare Owners Association, and me. I certainly enjoyed the time in Baltimore, myth busting for a group of interested and enthusiastic timeshare owners.

And whether you read the straight talk here in The Timeshare Authority, read our press releases, or run into me on the street, ask me to tell you about timeshares. I am going to be out there, spreading the message and sharing the facts, because timeshare is simply too good a product to have misinformation following it around.

Follow this link to read: Timeshare Resales Advertising Executive Takes on Role as Myth Buster

I’ve heard it; you’ve heard it; you may even believe it. I am talking about the misconception that timeshares do not resell on the secondary market. Saying this is like claiming that no one ever buys a car that has been previously owned. It doesn’t make sense and it is simply NOT TRUE.

So as promised in yesterday’s The Timeshare Authority blog, I am going to show you proof that people are actively searching the internet in general, and the Sell My Timeshare NOW website in particular, for timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Proof that Consumers are Shopping the Internet for Timeshare Resales and Timeshare Rentals

Lately politicians have been using the word “transparency” to describe their practices and protocols, but, transparency in business is what Sell My Timeshare NOW has pledged to you since the first day we started, some five and a half years ago.

We publish – on our website – the real-time stats for traffic to the site. Timeshare owners who are considering advertising their timeshare resale or timeshare rental on Sell My Timeshare NOW can look at these stats and see for themselves how much traffic the website receives and what words people are typing into their search engines to get them to the site. And knowing what words or phrases people are searching for gives you a lot of insight about whether the visitors are buyers or sellers.

On the bottom right corner of the homepage for www.sellmytimesharenow.com you will see a symbol that looks like this:

When you click the symbol, you will find the Extreme Tracking results for Sell My Timeshare NOW’s website. Examine these results; they tell you everything from the operating system the website viewer has in their computer to the search engine they used to find the site, and so very much more.

Here is a screenshot from our website’s Extreme Tracking results that was taken today, April 23, 2009. This chart shows you the exact phrases or words that unique website visitors were using during a 6-minute window of time to reach the Sell My Timeshare NOW website. You will find names of different timeshare resorts, phrases like “timeshares for sale” and “time share resales” as well search terms about renting timeshare. You will see many different combinations, but an overwhelming number of the words verify a unique website visitor who had enough interest in buying or renting timeshare to be searching the internet for information and opportunities. Is there a market for timeshare resales and timeshare rentals? Clearly! And Sell My Timeshare has seen more than 54,000 offers to buy or rent timeshare in the first quarter of 2009 alone.

So the next time someone tells you how bad the timeshare resale market is, don’t believe it. Send them instead to Sell My Timeshare NOW’s website and let the numbers do the talking.